Automotive Disasters of the 70s - The Golden Age Of Terrible Cars?

[@bengorst-wright5446]

I think we will look back on the current era of cars with a similar disdain

[@preppen78]

Will anyone remember what is what between electric vehicles?

[@gillespriod5509]

​@@preppen78 nope, i stopped caring about new Cars 10 years ago and im a mechanic and entoushiast, i cant distinguish those ugly scraps, Imagine normal people how much can care about current garbage, we dont want them nor care about them😂

[@Salesman9001]

​@@preppen78 People will probably remember plug in hybrids as something like "what were they thinking?!". Regen hybrids are almost as good and are pretty good midway point between fully electric and ICE

[@pommunist]

@@gillespriod5509 I'm an oldish (shut up) mechanic, I stopped caring about new cars about the time I was doing my apprenticeship in the late 80s. If the planet gets hit with a massive electro magnetic pulse my '79 Datsun Sunny will be the best car in my street, aside from my mini, as seen in me profile pic. I often wonder if, in 30 years, how many of todays cars will still be viable.

[@piotrmalewski8178]

Especially after current cars end on junkyards due to repairs being too expensive or too challenging even for an engineer with Phd, while 90s cars will still be going, many still on original crankshaft bearings.

[@deanmercer424]

Give me 70's cars any day. Except for the rust. Simple,fixable,no gimmicks & gadgets.

[@forestghost7]

👍 I have 2 70s cars I keep them both in show cond and drive them a lot, you're totally right!

[@dungareesareforfools]

And nicely styled, in exciting colours.

[@davdave3470]

My 1959 Ford is still going strong after 42 years of ownership - I paid £350 quid for it.

[@timothykeith1367]

The 1970 American engines were detuned for emissions, but can be brought up to musclecar era spec

[@Toro_Da_Corsa]

nah they were junk. 80's and 90's were better

[@aussietaipan8700]

Aussie here, the P76 in its V8 form was a great car and far ahead of the current Holdens, Fords and Chryslers of the time. As you stated the main issue was over heating, but this was easily mitigated by using a triple row radiator which many people who owned the cars fitted. They have since become a cult car. Their credibility was won by, many were used in cross country rally's and they proved to be enduring and reliable. There are a few car clubs here that keep them alive but spares are as rare as hens teeth.

[@BTW...]

The build quality was dodgy af. I wasn't a fan of the slab sided and "Honey.. does my ass look fat in this" thing goin on.

[@markalbert4652]

Agree they certainly have a cult following here in Australia now, but as others have said, the build quality was hit & miss. This definitely hurt them at the time. I worked on & drove a few back in the day, and the V8 went well and sounded great, but the 6cyl version was seriously slow & boring. During the 80's I knew several guys that bought V8 P76's just for the engine. They would take the engine out and literally throw away the rest of the car (they were dirt cheap back then). The all aluminum V8 was great for use in a race car and some power boats due to it's light weight.

[@frankdesbaux]

Kiwi here. They were fantastic cars and Leyland should've persevered. The punched out Buick V8 was awesome. I had a P6 Rover with one swapped into it. Real wolf in sheep's clothing that was.

[@paulk1702]

Great upload. For this kid, growing up in the 70s, the TR7 was [aesthetically] a joy to behold!

[@richardbutler4654]

I loved the TR7 as a young lad. Later, a friend bought one and I always enjoyed riding in it. My dad had a Beta - fantastic car to ride in compared to the Ford Cortina it succeeded and the Talbot that followed it.

[@snowrocket]

I was around 12 when the TR7 came to the USA. I thought it was a beautiful design, and thought the ad campaign for it was great. Any styling flaws it may have had were solved by the Mazda RX-7, in particular the 1981-1985 cars. In my mind those RX-7s were the most perfectly styled cars ever.

[@buxbuster1011]

I visited my cousin in California/United States in the 80s and our plan was to criss-cross the country. We didn't intend to bring a lot of luggage so a small car was good enough for us. Went to the next used car lot and drove off in a Pinto for 500$. Altogether we clocked 17.000 miles in 6 month and never had any problems with the car in that time, just filled in gas. Best used car ever for me! But then again nobody rear ended us in that time...Worst case scenario would have been an Audi 5000 behind you, which had a reputation of sudden unintended acceleration! Good days!

[@brokenribs1530]

Audi’s unintended acceleration was another media created myth. Probably worth a video on its own.

[@ML-dl1cp]

We had a Mercury Bobcat, which was simply the rebadged Pinto. And my sister *did* get rear-ended in it and lived to tell the tale. It was written-off, however, so there was no second chance for a field test.

[@timothykeith1367]

You were more likely to die in a frontal crash in a Pinto(Datsun, Honda, Toyota) than rear end fire(statistically rarely burned to death). There is a YT video of 1972 crash tests with a Pinto on the thumbnail. The head of the crash dummy looked like a smashed melon.

[@JamesHolbrook-eh5sp]

I'd have one if I was living back in the US. Simple design, old tech, easy to fix, good on gas. Win, win.

[@erikk1820]

Jack, you got the first half of the Pinto story surprisingly right, as most people don’t. However, the Mustang II was not built on the Pinto platform. Yes, the Mustang II shared some components with Pinto, but was basically built on its own platform. It shared many less components with the Pinto then the original Mustang shared with the compact Falcon. The Mustang II was actually the car that saved the Mustang. It was the right car for the right time, and was a huge sales success

[@giantgeoff]

Thanks you saved me a post. Think of all the kit cars that employed the front suspension, including most, Cobras, big or small block.

[@Low760]

​@@giantgeofffor better or worse really.

[@Rafael-pw2hx]

The Ford Pinto uses the Ford Maverick platform sold in the United States, Canada and Latin America

[@giantgeoff]

@@Rafael-pw2hx yes and no, Yes in that it followed the design almost all American Ford front suspension designs with high spring towers acting on the upper A-arms with a narrow lower arm being also located by the anti-dive struts. While Falcons and Mustangs shared virtually all their parts the Maverick and Pinto did not. The Pinto had Rack & Pinion steering which resulted in a much simpler and less expensive and better design. Strictly when platforms are spoken of today they tend to keep the same design and parts to save engineering, time, and parts cost.

[@giantgeoff]

P.S. I spent a lot of time under them and with Motor and Chilton manuals and J.C Whitney Catalogs buying parts to fix them.

[@ThePedroDB]

A couple of other things that really disadvantaged the TR7: (1) it was designed (primarily) to meet the requirements of a US audience and released (initially) as a Coupe to avoid draconian US crash regulations that, ultimately, weren't implemented (2) it was priced FAR higher than originally intended to avoid competing with BL's other 'sports cars' of the day (MGB, Spitfire etc.). I was a Fiat X1/9 owner 'back in the day' but a couple of friends had TR7s. I think they were far better than given credit for - especially the later Convertibles. If the Rover V8 engined TR8 had reached mass global production, things might have been far better for the marque

[@reggiedixon2]

Yes, the engine chosen was not a good idea, the Dolomite Sprint engine was also temperamental but was at least interesting but yes the Rover V8 would have been the best idea

[@LarsAgerbk]

@@reggiedixon2 the 16 valve engine yes

[@JagBoxV12]

The Sprint engined TR7 was a big improvement over the standard car. Some idiot decided that the car must be tractable in 5th gear at 30mph which meant that the diff ratio remained 3.9:1 instead of the 3.45:1 that it was initially fitted with. With the 3.9 diff, there was a smaller decrease in the 0-60 time and top speed was very similar to the standard car. Too little to justify launching the new model, it was scrapped after building a small batch of press cars. The smart people bought these and changed the diff and got 2 seconds off the 0-60 time another 10mph on top speed. A true Sprint car was destroyed by a poor decision. The TR8 was a great car and what the car should have been from the start. Launching a V8 at a time when all American manufacturers were telling their public that their V8's are thirsty and so they should by the new V6's was deemed too risky so management pulled the plug. Drive a V8 with power steering and fuel a injected engine and you will love it. Manual would leave a pair of black lines in first and second gear if you wanted to be silly.

[@manelpujales1705]

I dream to build a Tony Pond coupe replica, from an V8

[@Ribeirasacra]

@@reggiedixon2 It was not a Sprint engine as such. I have a BL dealer workshop manual. In that the sprint engine has it's own section. If the sprint engine was so terrible hen how come the 1850 Triumph engine did not have the exact some reputation?

[@Phiyedough]

If I could buy a brand new Marina or Allegro now I would do so. I am quite happy with 1940s technology, as were the millions of Morris Minor drivers.

[@johnwh1039]

Allegro was modern tech

[@no1DdC]

Because they didn't know any better.

[@NoFaithNoPain]

The Marina was excellent actually. A bit rusty but I toured the alps in it in 1981. Simple, reliable, the 1800 was powerful and super simple to work on!

[@johnwh1039]

Agree. The one out family had, and which i had as my first car, was good.

[@kins749]

The Marina wasn't a disaster at all, it was a traditional rear-wheel drive saloon which people wanted as evidenced by the sales figures. It wasn't exciting but it wasn't meant to be, the Allegro is the much bigger disaster

[@ThePedroDB]

The Marina was a disaster. It was supposed to be a Cortina competitor but in order to rush to market and 'save costs' they based it on an ancient Morris Minor chassis. It was dommed by 'penny pinching' from the start. Even by 70's standards the drivetrain was horribly crude. The handling and ride quality were equally poor. My Dad had one for couple of years (I learned to drive in it..) but replaced it with a Renault 16 fairly shortly thereafter. What a difference..

[@kins749]

@@ThePedroDB Sales figures don't lie, the Marina was a best seller, I drove a couple and they were OK, just average 70s motoring

[@edsworld4550]

I agree, the Marina was a good car. I really liked the one I had. It was not as plush inside as the MK3 Cortina but was still a great drive. The Marina also had some success in motorsport which is not mentioned by the haters. I think it’s fashionable to dump on the Marina ( probably due to Clarkson and the other two “experts “).

[@williamwoods8022]

@@edsworld4550 The Marina was an excellent car by the Mk2 - the 1978 Marina 1.8 HL/TC that I owned was a far plusher car inside than a Cortina and a more fun car to drive fast and hard as well - far better than the Mk3 Cortina 2.0 GXL that my brother owned at the same time and far more reliable than that car as well. Steve Berry that used to also present Top Gear says the same thing about the people who respout the drivel they heard on Top Gear from Clarkston etc in his video on the Ford Mondeo and in his live video over on his Steve Berrys Big In The 90s KZbin channel - so not all Top Gear etc presenters think the same re the Marina and Allegro etc.

[@Locost59]

Yes the Escort, Viva, Avenger and all the Japanese rot boxes were all on live axles too.

[@Haffschlappe]

I have a 1976 Leyland Princess 2200HLS Despite people Tell this car is horrible its pretty nice and reliable

[@jabberwockytdi8901]

Drove a friends dads 2200 a few times back in the day , fast for the period, quiet vs your average family saloon of the day and rode well.

[@Phiyedough]

I think there was an element of luck with British Leyland cars. I had an absolutely appalling Mini 1275GT but my Allegro that was made within 6 months of the Mini was a good car. People mostly only talk about the bad ones.

[@timleech]

Yes but that doesn’t make for click bait headlines though.

[@saulmc8920]

Lovely motor

[@frankdesbaux]

Just don't let 4 teenage boys take one away on holiday. We found the weakest link. The oil pan.

[@AntoniusTyas]

If your Marina doesn't come with a piano on top, is it even a Marina?

[@pauldelaney5990]

Oh no!! Anyway.

[@bmstylee]

Well it does increase traction on a rough rally special stage.

[@billeves4627]

@@AntoniusTyas I doubled my money on one in the 80s.

[@tazareal]

@@billeves4627 The piano or the Marina? ;-)

[@lional6291]

@@tazareal kzbin.info/www/bejne/ep-Vh3-unJaCiMk

[@benfinesilver2250]

Thank you for passing my time with interesting and fun videos. Merry Christmas.🎉

[@Redriguez]

Is your boiler playing up Jack mate??

[@tsr207]

The Morris Marina was a good cheap car - I drove one and never had a day's issue with it. Too many people believe the rubbish talked by the three assassins of the British Motor industry who presented a car show for a while. Many people bought British cars because their parents did and because it seemed the right thing to do. Yes, they had industrial problems but Clarkson and Co never mention how incompetent the upper management were with bad decisions in models and cost cutting.

[@geoffburrill9850]

Well said. It is usually condemned by those who have never driven one.

[@660einzylinder]

Clarkson forgets that Ford, Chrysler (Rootes) and Vauxhall all made some pretty rubbish stuff during the 1970's. The MK1 Escort was a dull rot box made mainly of 'last just long enough to get past the warranty' parts, but we're not allowed to criticise it. The Viva got flabby and bland, the Hunter was kept in production for too long. That's just scratching the surface. Management incompetence, government interference as well as industrial relations issues all plated a part.

[@kevthedynamo]

Yes, I couldn't stand those three idiots led by Clarkson! I remember the video when they wrecked the leyland cars and tried to sight the Datsun 120Y as a good car. It was a rust bucket, just like the British offerings, but you might still see a Leyland Marina if you look hard enough,but I'm damned if you will find a Datsun 120Y!

[@lucindafergusonart]

I owned several Marinas and an Ital, the Marinas were very badly made with dodgy gearboxes ,broken cables you name it anything on a cable snapped , probably let down by component manufacturers anything that could break would much inferior product to Ford equivalent , although the Ital I had was much better put together and was very reliable, doesn't mean I didn't like the Marina but any Leyland product from the 70s had quality problems, somehow Fords seemed to work better

[@briancarton1804]

The Morris Marina was out of date before it hit the market. Out of date engines , gearboxes , electrics and steering gear and suspension. Compared to a Ford or Vauxhall it was rubbish.

[@lunabouch]

Here in the USA I think the Chevrolet VEGA was probably one of the worse cars from the 70’s.

[@alexjenner1108]

How can we make an engine top heavy and unreliable? Hey. lets put an cast iron head on an alloy block, maybe that will work. Not to mention aluminium alloy block used coated cylinder bores which was still quite a new thing at the time and GM wasn't they only one to have problems with that.

[@Number27]

Will look at that.. not one I was familiar with!

[@lunabouch]

@ you’ll find it interesting. I had a couple of friends who had them who bought them used. The oil consumption was legendary.

[@AndrewVanDay]

Here in Europe we think all American cars of the 70s are the worst cars of the 70s 😅

[@Jonathan-dq8hb]

Most of the serious problems were addressed with the "Durabuilt 140" . The later Iron Duke 2.5 was even better. ​@@Number27

[@hunchanchoc8418]

Yes, the Marina was outdated, but it was pretty roomy, had a big boot, and transported families from A to B. The big thing was, its mechanicals were well-proven, accessible, and ludicrously simple: Parts were cheap and so were maintenance and repairs. I preferred the Citroen GS, but I bet I wouldn't have preferred the ownership experience.

[@applecounty]

My Dad had a Morris Marina - DOC 60K. It had the 1.8ltr engine as opposed to the 1.3ltr which, if I recall correctly, was under powered.

[@hunchanchoc8418]

@@applecounty The Marina was conceptually a copy of the Mk2 Cortina, and the 1.3 versions of both were similar. We had a 1.8 - it would do an indicated 100!

[@Tourist1967]

Citroens were fine as long as they were properly maintained. Servicing was a little on the expensive side, though. Just look at the number of DSs still on the roads.

[@hunchanchoc8418]

@@Tourist1967 Well it's a crime not to save a DS! I've owned a 2CV, an AX and a BX, and I'm a fan of Citroens. Most marques are fine if they're properly maintained - thing is, you could service a Marina at home; I wonder how many GS's went to fleet buyers? Very very few, I'd imagine!

[@Tourist1967]

@@hunchanchoc8418 No fleet manager would take that risk! DSs are now very expensive where I am and no longer terribly safe either. I'd consider a well looked after CX, though. Recent enough to have ABS and fuel injection, at least.

[@peterholloway3711]

Hi Jack, congratulations on all your painstaking research culminating in such a fascinating video. I was a young cop in Kent in the early 70’s. We used… wait for it… Hillman Imps, Ford Escort Estates and Morris Marina 1.8 Estates. The Traffic guys used Vauxhall Ventoras, Rover 3500S and the first Range Rovers. My recollection of the Marina in service was quite favourable. Built to a price, the interior trim didn’t fare well. I had one myself, a 1.3. When I drove it back from a fresh MOT, one of the front bottom trunnions gave way on a bend and the suspension collapsed. The only way to test the trunnions was with a big lever. If it hadn’t been regularly greased it would corrode and just lift out, usually on a tight lock. Memories! PH

[@worthington3637]

The Marina was no-where near as bad as you claim. I had one in the 70s. It needed better tyres to improve handling, I fitted Dunlops. The engine was easy to work on for amateurs, with parts available at low cost, off the shelf in Halfords. Things like seat belts were standard and the venerated 1.3 engines were reasonably fuel efficient. At the time, the choice of UK-made low-cost family cars available in the UK was extremely limited. The main thing to keep an eye on was rust in the sills and boot.

[@weaton25]

Being old I can remember all of these cars in the 60s/70s etc and the real problem with all of the cars made at that time from not just the UK but all over the world was down to rust today cars are scrapped mostly for electrical problems in the 60s it was not unusual to find a five year old car with rust holes in them at that time practically every car I owned ended up being sold not for any mechanical reason that can be fixed quite simply but rust was a killer even the ones that did get underseal it was put on top of the rust.

[@Chris-v4z1t]

My first MGB GT was only 5 years old when rust loosened the rear spring hangers,.... I had one of the first rear wheel steer cars ... 😅

[@piotrmalewski8178]

In Poland we had a way of dealing with that. Back in the 50s and 60s, those who knew, would have the car dismantled and body parts sprayed with hot grease that become solid after cooling and eliminate contact between metal andything causing corrion on all invisible parts. A few decades later when Polonez was suffering from corrosion issues, FSO applied similar conservation technique using a chemical called 'Fluidol' which was a mixture of oil, wax and corrosion inhibitors. It was an option and on some markets made standard with lifetime corrosion warranty. I bought a 1989 unit with this option. Looking into gaps between body pannels, one can see a disgusting sticky substance covering the medal but it has preserved the car well.

[@2DogsVlogs]

You are absolutely correct. I had a 1970 Ford Galaxie and the suspension was awful. It spent more time getting wheel alignments than it spent on the road (almost). We lived off a 4 lane road and to turn right almost required a 3 point turn, the turning circle was as bad as a bus. No rust after 9 years and sold it because of the oil crisis in 1979. It was garaged for all but 2 years of its life. Later I had a 1983 Mitsubishi Sigma. When it was 5 years old it had more holes than metal. It had spent all of its life outside but the metal was so thin I had to do a lot of rust repairs. More recently I had a 2009 Chrysler Sebring. After 3 years the bonnet had rust bubbles and rust above the left back wheel arch. Thought it would be fun owning a Chrysler, it was and a very nice car but so rare no-body knew what it was and had to take a bath and trade it.

[@billeves4627]

In Australia the Leyland cars like the Marina and P76 were all roto dipped and lasted much longer than their competitors. I have never seen a P76 as rusty as the one it the video. I had a Marina from 82-89 and it was rust free.

[@admiralcraddock464]

I had a five year old MK3 Cortina that had the front wings falling offrom rust, and a 10 year old MK1 Cortina that you could see the ground thought the floor. As you say, todays cars are usually scrapped due to the electronics failing and being to expensive (or impossible) to repair.

[@billolsen4360]

3:45 I can just see John Cleese calling up BL fleet sales and saying, "I'd like to order some awful cars, please. A model with outdated suspension components, COMPLETE Lucas electrical and an ugly body. Thank you, I'll hold on. You say you only have HOMELY bodies? Not ugly, eh? Well, these will be rental cars for tourists coming from places that we DON'T particularly LIKE, so I venture to say that we'll have to go with homely. Can you also install LEAKING sunroofs for under £180 per unit? Oh, SPLENDID! GUARANTEED to leak?! SPLENDID! SPLENDID!"

[@Treviscoe]

Bravo! You've got Cleese to a T there.

[@thomasherzig174]

the Subaru 360 is not ugly, but cute. They are collectors items now

[@MetalTrabant]

Exactly, one of the cutest cars ever, a little wonderbug :)

[@nudibanches]

Agree. Not quite a Fiat 500 but it has definite appeal.

[@tenpoundburrito]

I know a lot of people in other countries think of the Ford Mustang as a muscle car, but it was not. A muscle car was a fullsize coupe with a big block motor, like the Ford Torino, Chevrolet Chevelle, and Plymouth Road Runner. The Mustang was instead a pony car, designed as a more compact (for America) car with a decent-sized motor and based on a cheaper model, the Ford Falcon. Think of it as halfway between a sports car and a muscle car. It's larger and doesn't handle as well as the sports car but has more practicality, and is also smaller and more nimble than a muscle car. The idea behind the Mustang II was similar. People complain about its' horrible performance, but it was about on-par with its' competitors at the time. The 1976 Ford Mustang II with the 4.9L V-8 for example made 140 horsepower, which wasn't much less than the 155-155 horsepower in now larger and heavier Camaro with the larger 5.7L V-8. If you are going based on size, then the Mustang II would've competed with smaller vehicles at that time, such as the Plymouth Volare (140 horsepower 5.2L V-8), Chevrolet Monza (125 horsepower 5.0L V-8), and AMC Hornet (145 horsepower 5.0L V-8). Against those numbers, it doesn't look so bad.

[@jamesengland7461]

I think it's reasonable to consider pony cars as a subset of muscle cars. As for the lack of power in that era, couldn't be helped, as I'm sure you'd agree, due to new emissions regulations. The Europeans didn't have this problem and likely don't fully appreciate it. American cars began using unleaded fuel in 1973 while in the UK they didn't quit making cars meant for leaded fuel until 1986!

[@lasticonoclast]

@@tenpoundburrito Indeed, it was often referred to in derogatory terms as the “secretary’s car”. Our neighbor back in the late ‘70s bought a Mustang II GHIA with vinyl “landau roof”, and she epitomized Mustang owners.

[@robredz]

@@lasticonoclast There was a Mustang 2 in Colwyn Bay in 1970's it couldn't catch a 2 litre Capri which had a Pinto derived engine with some cam wear problems(UK sort of Mustang equivalent early 3 litre V6 MK 1 preferred nor to go round corners.)

[@pauldoree3967]

@@robredz My dad had a Mark 3 Cortina 2000E which used the same pinto engine. It went through 3 camshafts before Ford finally released a modified oil feed pipe that sat above the camshaft, with bigger spray holes. My dad and I got very good at pulling the cam out 🙂

[@robredz]

@@pauldoree3967 My dad had a Mk3 2000 GXL apparently they had roller bearing cam and didn't suffer like the facelift 2000E and other s from that series, some early 1600 MK5 had s pushrod Kent engine .

[@plutothe9th361]

Merry Christmas Jack, and to your family and Pistachio. Looking forward to more Pantera videos.

[@markwilliams5654]

What's the point of having a big house when you can't afford to turn the heating on

[@Number27]

1. Don't really have a big house.. 2. This room is above the garage and currently unheated 3. If you want to help me heat it become a channel member!! 😀

[@royfellows5468]

It keeps the Rolls Royce in petrol. You asked for this one. LOL.

[@Redriguez]

@@Number27 nice retort old boy. I was only messing with my “broken boiler “ comment.. would never actually troll someone for wearing a jacket indoors! Apologies if came across impertinent. Best wishes

[@reggiedixon2]

@@markwilliams5654 These days with the cost of heating, you don't need a big house for it to be pretty extortionate

[@juppzmuda9725]

@@reggiedixon2 Thanks to green fairytale tellers...

[@user-lc7jb3ux6f]

Growing up in Australia and being a proper car tragic from an early age, I clearly recall my excitement at seeing the P76 in the flesh and my disappointment when production stopped. The P76 iteration of the rover v8 is one of the better versions. No surprise to hear that the opposition possibly sabotaged the project by putting pressure on suppliers. Great episode thanks and Merry Christmas from down under

[@billeves4627]

And Wheels Magazine Said McPherson strut not suitable for a large car. But when Commodore was released an Australian car finally had a world class suspension.

[@barrycuda3769]

Did you know that there was no 6 cylinder option for the P76 in New Zealand, only the v8.

[@mesodatasystems]

I am retired now but worked in the auto and related industries in South Australia for much of my working life. The conspiracy theorists would love to believe that the big US companies destroyed Leyland in Australia but the truth is that the component manufacturers didn't have the capacity to supply Leyland in the small batch runs that the P76 etc needed. The thing that destroyed the P76 (as Jack mentioned) was the failure of the parent company to properly fund the project and hence the quality problems. The big 3 in the 70's could never be accused of good quality, but the Leyland cars were at a different (lower) level.

[@user-lc7jb3ux6f]

@billeves4627 no double standard there😀

[@normandiebryant6989]

Three teachers at my school bought them in 1973 and the rust was bubbling through the bottoms of the doors by the following year. They all traded them in by around 1975. I've read elsewhere that, because the UK parent didn't finance a new factory, the P76 was assembled in the same factory as the Morris 1100, Mini, & Kimberley, etc, and the lines were too close to each other for the P76 on to have their doors opened without hitting the car doors on the adjacent lines. This slowed some operations and caused some damage that then had to be repaired.

[@lasticonoclast]

The problem with the Pinto was NOT the location of the gas tank, but the fact that a bolt was placed on the rear axle such that in a rear end collision, it would puncture said gas tank. Ford refused to redesign this obvious flaw, figuring it was cheaper to settle lawsuits. I remember when they were first released, and as with most American cars of the mid ‘70’s to late 80’s, quality control was abysmal. The Pintos were indeed terrible cars and deserved their poor reputation.

[@seed_drill7135]

Yes. And there was an internal memo documenting the cost benefit analysis. We studied the case in law school.

[@piotrmalewski8178]

Correct. Many cars used the same layout at the time were crash tested and didn't suffer fuel leaks. It was a standard positioning of fuel tank for most front-engine rear wheel drive cars, and a few cars kept this layout past 2000. The main reason fuel tanks were moved between the axles was switching from steel to plastic ones. Steel would bend on impact but most of the time didn't leak, while plastic would break.

[@MrGoogelaar]

@@piotrmalewski8178 Metal fuel tanks are actually more prone to leak, with plastic tanks there is no corrosion as with metal tanks, metal tanks have seams that can develop leaks while plastic tanks are seamless and plastic tanks can flex more without causing too much fatigue to the material it is made off. In most cases a well made plastic tank is better than a metal tank.

[@graydanerasmussen4071]

I think with any car built to such a low price point, you'll have quality control issues. Of the big 3's "import fighters", it rusted and overheated less than the Vega, and it had better mileage and safety features than the Gremlin (and looks, though I kinda like the goofy Gremlin). Safety-wise (apart from that stupid decision), it was no worse, and probably a bit better than the imports it was competing against. For what it was, I think it was a decent car. I would probably have gotten a Maverick, if I was looking for a cheap car in 1971...

[@davidnorton573]

There was another significant issue; the tank was formed of two pieces of metal, the bottom being a bathtub, the top a flat plate, that were simply crimped together. In an accident the crimp would separate after the tank was pressurized spraying fuel from the crimp area at the top edge of the tank. The second issue was that the tank was installed though a hole in the floor, so that crimp was inside the cabin, which could cause a jet of atomized fuel to be potentially expelled inside the cabin. Any sparks from tearing metal (the unshielded nut on the panhard rod for example, as you note) would ignite that jet, and the rest, as well as the occupants, were history. For the record I learned to drive on my mother's Pinto.

[@reincarnatethylacine70]

One of the main reasons Italian cars suffered from rust was the extremely poor labour relations in the Italian car industry which caused an unwanted side effect of partially completed bodies being stored in the open air whilst inumerable industrial strikes played their way out over the manufacturing process.Many italian cars from that era came with preistalled rust issues before they left the factories.

[@SchitzyLipservice]

I'd heard a similar story about the Mk3 Cortina at Dagenham, where strikes had resulted in bare body shells('body in white')being left outside in the weather. Usually that shell would have no reason, or means, to leave the line. So, if true, maybe they were put on dollys or something?

[@nomayor1]

My uncle had bought a fiat 127 new. Within three months it had rot, not rust, rot.

[@TONE11111]

my fiat tempra... gearstick came off in your hand occasionally, the oil cap never fitted on properly, among other weird things

[@michaelbacon561]

I think your comments about the styling of the TR7 and Princess are a bit unfair to the designer Harris Mann, most of whose work was corrupted by circumstances beyond his control. The original design of the Allegro was also spoilt by the later requirement to house a tall power unit, the E Series. The swage line on the TR7 looks tame today after the fussy and overwrought efforts of BMW and Audi, to name but two makes guilty of producing some really ugly efforts.

[@fredbloggs8072]

I rather like the look of the TR7 now, although I wasn't so keen on it at the time. Sadly, even Joanna Lumley and the New Avengers couldn't save it.

[@michaelbacon561]

@fredbloggs8072 It has aged well, especially the front aspect which still looks really good. The convertible looks fantastic. I guess it was ahead of its time.

[@fredbloggs8072]

@@michaelbacon561 I agree. Apart from anything else. I suspect the radical change in design compared to previous TR's didn't help it much. People at the time didn't really know what to make of it.

[@dungareesareforfools]

I don't get what people hate about the Princess, it was ahead of its time. Look at the way the wipers are tucked below the top of the bonnet, for example. Almost all cars then had them stuck on the scuttle above the bonnet, impeding airflow.

[@TonyMoore-q6t]

@@dungareesareforfools Ahead? Multiple American cars had hidden wipers years before the Princess!

[@Northernlanes]

can't agree about the TR7, it's a good looking desirable car

[@waltertaljaard1488]

The most disastrous car of the seventies was the Alfa Sud. Handled, ran and drove like a dream. But already rosted in the showroom.

[@georgebettiol8338]

That's a fair call. However, the Mark 3 Cortina was a close second when it came to oxidation - or simply put a rot box.

[@cameroncameron2826]

Don't get this silly car video maker going about italian ( russian ) steel. Hes at his most incoherent.

[@applecounty]

@@cameroncameron2826 Cheap, high carbon steel. Period.

[@cameroncameron2826]

@@applecounty Pot metal from russia as their soaring export data of the time illustrates.

[@Summers-lad]

@@cameroncameron2826 Looks like you didn't watch the video or listen to what he said.

[@egyeneskifli7808]

Well, Lancia really never recovered from the Beta. Oh wait. Since the introduction of the Beta in 1972 they won 11 Manufacturer Championships in rally with their cars (1 witht the Fulvia, 3 with the Stratos, 1 with the 037 and 6 consecutives with the Delta). And they still hold the most winning manufacturer record despite haven't entered the WRC scene since 1993. What a disaster!

[@JDWDMC]

That was despite the production cars available to the public, not because of. They were utter junk. Wonderful for the first year of ownership and then a decaying millstone after that.

[@AndrewKerr2406]

Totally agree, has a Beta Coupe followed by a Prisma, they both literally fell apart on my drive, every time I washed them I discovered a new that spot. Despite that, I loved those cars.

[@jehib8533]

Well, motorsports success is all well and good, but how many cars have Lancia been selling recently? After the horrible Frankensteinian creations that were the Chryslers with Lancia badges, it has been selling only the Ypsilon for quite a while. And while that still is quite successful in Italy, it is not sold anywhere else. Unless something really drastic happens in the near future, Lancia as a marque is dead .

[@juststeve5542]

The sales figures in the UK never recovered. Eventually they dropped RHD production completely (their top selling car at the time was the LHD only integrale), and then they dropped out of the UK market. I owned quite a few Lancias in my young days, fantastic cars, amazing to drive, but they rusted (as did many brands in those days, Datsun anyone?). But that did make them a cheap second hand buy, and if you were practical with your hands, you got to drive some great cars! I mourn the loss of the brand, they to be little more than a badge that FIAT now stick onto a model designed somewhere else.

[@nomayor1]

We see this on the roads, everywhere, every day.

[@MineshShah]

The real reason the SV-1 failed was because Briklin refused to install ashtrays into the cars! I mean- Making a car in the 1970's with no ashtrays is doomed from the start!

[@KevinDoyle-r1w]

Loved this show, Took me back to happier days of motoring when you could tell what car it was from any angle, unlike today when all look alike. I drove the Marina and loved it. Thanks for the memories, keep up the good work mate

[@alansmith2426]

I think the TR7 looks mega cool. I would have a properly built version today.

[@bruceschneider4928]

That Triumph concept car is hideously bland. If they make that, it will kill the company again.

[@TheJonathanNewton]

Looks like a bar of soap with a few holes punched into it. Absolutely horrendous.

[@dungareesareforfools]

It can't be worse than MG's "revival".

[@TheJonathanNewton]

@ I’m not even counting that one! 😡

[@markholroyde9412]

OP likes it.......🤣...fkn chocolate eclair, with no chocolate on coming down the street....bahaha

[@nigelalderman9178]

I used to work on cars a bit in the 70s. The Italian steel was very hard compared to others and probably contained a lot of lightweight scrap and unknown alloying elements. I remember that all the shearing metal from a big scrap metal dealers I knew went to Italy. I had a FIAT 125s from one year old. It was finished at 5 years due to extreme, mostly internal, structural corrosion. The rear crossmember was gone. I went to Mercedes until the early 90s then Toyota. I still have a Sprinter.

[@vernevens1598]

Now every car on the road is an ugly, low quality pile of junk. The only difference today is that cars are so overpriced nobody can afford them.

[@thomashodges-qu9mw]

I worked at a Ford dealership that took on a Bricklin franchise, their main problem was they were in such a rush to get cars to the showroom that they sent them to us missing parts, they first had AMC 360 V8s, then later the Ford 351. Not really what I considered slow, but not a ball of fire either. Since I had a AMC at the time, and the first cars used a lot of AMC s small parts, The Bricklins became my responsibility to get them ready for sale. it was 2 years of hell. I was overjoyed when they went out of production.

[@meeshker]

I raced Victor Gauntlet from Silverstone to Buckingham in a Hillman Marina. He was in the Aston Martin reg AML1. He couldn't get past us on the windy roads it wasn't until he got a long straight that he was capable of passing us. We were flat out all the time. He used to wear a flat cap . He took his hat off and bowed as he passed. Met him at the race the next day and he said he couldn't believe how fast a 1300 marina could go. We kept the car a couple of more years and the car squeeked permanently after this drive.

[@stuwilsonrallying]

I have a TR7 and have had a couple over the last 10 years or so. I like the shape of it and the body line up the side. As you pointed out, i think the biggest fault was the questionable quality due to the industrial action in the '70s Mine is fitted with rhe Dolomite Sprint engine which makes it quite lively, i think a better option than the V8 in standard tune

[@rorymcloughlin2023]

Just found this channel and looking at the cars reviewed I have many hours of joy, can't wait!!!

[@gar6446]

The VW's with the carb above the exhaust manifold used to catch fire regularly. Yet they were advertised as reliable. Rust killed cars so quickly, No inner wing linings, box sections collecting salty mud from the road etc, it was nothing to see 18month old cars riddled with tin worm. The electrostatic paints produced under licence from france helped at BL, plus the widespread introduction of plastics helped with the rust, but BL was so far behind in production tech and investment it was too late for them really.

[@robertharris7027]

What VWs do you refer to?

[@bikeaddictbp]

@@robertharris7027 I'm sure he's referring to the air-cooled engines and the fuel line feeding the carburetor being routed in a rather iffy manner. Fuel line from the pump to the carb passes really close to the ignition distributor, too.

[@bikeaddictbp]

On the no inner wing (fender) linings, the 1976 Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen come to mind. The Valiant and Dart that those cars replaced, were better.

[@Low760]

​@@bikeaddictbpmy Volvo 122 had no inner liner but many are still around.

[@F40PH-2CAT]

Thank you for correcting those Pinto myths.

[@brerrabbit9585]

Well, at least there was NOT a proliferation of faceless, ubiquitous SUVS flooding the market like roaches

[@SmokyPondFarm]

Jack, this was so entertaining. It made my day! Thank you!

[@Terry.W]

I had three Ladas all starred first time even in the coldest winter they were roomy easy to park and built like tanks ..and I sold them at a profit ...I miss my Lada..

[@jeriatrix4526]

I've had, over the years, several british cars. Two TR3s, two TR4s, an Austin Healey, a Sunbeam Alpine, a Hillman, an English Ford, and lastly, a non-Brit '82 Mazda RX7. The Alpine burned through four clutches in the short time I owned it, a weird diaphram contraption instead of springs and pressure plate. Moved from New Jersey to California in '63 and drove the Healey all the way. My wife's favorite was the RX7. My father in law had a '60 Morgan Plus Four. Classy little ride. Fond memories connected with all of them.😊

[@whynot6795]

Maybe there will be a video about how the auto workers' strikes destroyed the UK car industry

[@ivormacadam]

I know that Jeremy F1 Clarkson didn't like the Marina, but I had one, and had the pleasure of photographing the mileometer turning over at 100,000 miles, just outside Gatwick Airport. Only the 1300 cc, but very driveable, did the simple job it was made for, and served me well for many a year. Bought it for £175 from the company pharmacist, and several years later, when upgrading to an estate car, put it through the local auction, and got £85 for it. Compare that depreciation with a "Burn Your Driveway" or similar of today.

[@Jorqell]

The Ladas of the 70's weren't any worse than cheap western cars, really. The Lada compared favorably to a 124 in a durability test! Of course, the 124 was in its way out when Lada production just started, so the Lada was antiquated from day one. Those cars stayed top sellers in Finland from the late 70's to like 1997, when the imports were discontinued. Quite a few survive still.

[@kristoffer3000]

They get an extremely undeserved bad name, they were actually pretty damn good. Just made for a purpose, which was to get you where you were going pretty much regardless of where that was and be very easy to fix if it broke.

[@erikk1820]

No, they were at least as bad as they are reputed to be. They were incredibly poorly built, of rough materials that weighed too much. Their only advantages were that they were cheap, and they were easy to fix.

[@kristoffer3000]

@@erikk1820 Wow, pretty impressive that supposedly extremely poorly built cars have lasted to this day with several hundred thousand kilometers on them in some extremely harsh environments on very rough roads. Still being used as daily drivers as well, not garage queens like the small handful of contemporary cars that are left. Almost as though you have literally no idea what you're talking about.

[@erikk1820]

@ sigh. As I said, they were poorly built but rugged and easy to repair. And yes, I’ve driven and worked on home market ones in the Soviet Union, as well as Canadian market ones. They are shit cars, but can be kept running. Actually, I haven’t seen one on the roads in Canada in probably 30 years. They all returned to the earth. Further, I do recall seeing them at the Toronto auto show when they were just introduced to the Canadian market. They were the only non-luxury car that had the doors locked, since a few days into the show, the interiors were already falling apart.

[@jabberwockytdi8901]

Quality was an issue , def worse then western cars. Friend of mine had one and said was fine as long as one could live with having to change a worn out part several times untill one got a good parts.

[@will4688]

Nice Kyosho and great video.

[@darrenmartin4014]

I must be odd having liked the TR7 design. Also had a Yugo van ran for a couple of years, agricultural but reliable.

[@pcno2832]

Good job with the Pinto story; it's good to hear the truth about that car for a change. As for the Mustang II, basing it on the Pinto was actually not a bad idea. The problem was that Ford was going through a drivetrain crisis in the USA at the time; they had not prepared their designs for the 1974 and 1975 emissions regulations and their cars were failing left and right, with some in danger of being ordered off the market by the EPA. Ford was left scrambling to apply quick fixes that left their cars short of both power and efficiency. They were also slow to put catalytic converters on their cars, leaving the V8 version of the Mustang II with a detuned 125 HP, a 13 second 0-60 time and economy of below 10 MPG. If Ford had had had better engine choices, the new smaller Mustang would have been viewed more favorably, but even the way it was, it was the best selling Mustang since the mid-1960s.

[@geoffburrill9850]

Tr7 wasn't bad once the quality issues were sorted, in fact once they had stop producing cars at the Liverpool factory the quality very much improved. However like the Lancia Beta, Triumph's reputation was ruined though it did prove the best selling Triumph of all time.

[@torquerulesok4278]

Excellent video! Love the Weber DCOE on your desk. Had one on my Mini Cooper.

[@vietgrove]

BMW also owns Riley, which is an odd one keep hold of. The old BMC/BLMC marque I'd love to see revived is Wolseley - nice comfortable luxurious interior, smooth ride, cute little light-up badge in the radiator grill. An old blokes car to be sure, but I am an old bloke, so... If I think of "worst car of the 1970s" my usual thought is one of those machines that overpromises based on its looks and has catastrophic unreliability as part of its thing - the ro80 and the Stag being the obvious choices to me. Especially the ro80 - was there a better looking 1970s sedan? I don't think so, as well as that it handled very nicely and the engine was a strong puller, at least it was when you first got it. Possibly apocryphal, but supposedly German drivers of this vehicle, when they passed another one coming the other way, would hold a hand up, and how many fingers they held up, that's how many warranty engine replacements they'd had. I think my choice would be the American market version of the xj6 where they had to make the car comply with new emissions regulations and rather than spend any actual money, blm just detuned the engine. So your new alleged "sports sedan" would eat the dust of just about anything else marketed as such. The Marina/Ital I think was not so much bad as utterly mediocre in every way imaginable. In this respect I suspect it was no worse than contemporary similar rootes or Vauxhall cars. Perhaps if blmc had made a Marina equivalent to the 1600e or the escort Mexico then they might be a bit more fondly remembered but that would have entailed blmc management not half-assing everything and when did they EVER do that.

[@NeillGraham]

The Marina is also a great source of parts, keeping many Morris Minors on the road! For that reason alone, thank you BL!😂

[@fasthracing]

Marina TC . I would rather like one.

[@Cuddlebear074]

Another entertaining video of yours. A few thoughts on this: The Pinto was indeed not worse or more dangerous than any other compact car of its day. It wasn’t even about the position of the gas tank, but the wiring going around it and a fragment of the rear bumper that could puncture the tank open. But was addressed and improved with the facelift. After all, there were 27 fatalities reported for the Pinto - Audi’s lousy designed TT claimed far more. The Bricklin (with a C) was marketed as “Safety Vehicle” (SV-1) with sturdy bumpers, an integrated roll cage and additional beams in the door structure - all very ahead of its time. 1974 cars were powered by an AMC 360 V8 generating 220 hp, 1975 model used a Ford 351 V8 with 175 hp, which actually performed better than 360 V8 cars. Besides the awful build quality, the cars main problem was its passenger room - I am a 6’0/182 guy and couldn’t even get the door closed. The handling on the other hand was actually good - Bricklin used a chassis derived from an AMC Hornet, which was known to be a decent race car.

[@danieljames2015]

Always chuckle when the Marina/ Allegro are described as the worst Cars ever, when you have Ladas, FSOs, Wartburgs,Trabants, Yugos etc. They were adequate for the time, cursed by bad quality control/ workmanship in the BL Factories.

[@piotrmalewski8178]

Perhaps because East Block cars have never had any serious market shares. Some also had their perks, like crumple zones, reinforced doors or 4 disc brakes or electric windows, features often not seen even on premium cars at the time. Not to mention things like standard alternator when even that was an optional extra on cars like Ford Cortina.

[@kristoffer3000]

Those were all very reliable cars made for a mass market but hit with massive propaganda here in the West because socialism is the boogeyman. Turns out that the capitalists that own the media and thusly our minds don't like it when their extreme wealth is threatened.

[@AlfaGTA156]

Sorry , the allegro was a turd in every respect. It was ugly, the engine was asthmatic. At the same time my Father had Fiat 124 special T. 1600 twin cam; disc brakes all round, a five speed manual gearbox; it was leaps and bounds ahead of the turdsville allegro🤣🤣. The only downside it rusted as quick as other cars of the era.

[@thomasherzig174]

the Lada ( as the Seat124) is based on the fiat 124, which is one of the most successful car designs in the world. when it was launched in 1966, it was a conservative, but modern and practical car, the engine was a OHC , ( while BL, still used the outdated A-series engine) Almost 20 million Fiat 124, Seats, and Ladas have been produced until 2017. Sure, the Lada was outdated from the 1980ies on, but it was robust and easy to repair. The trabant and Warburg offered good indoor space and had front wheel drive ( what was still not common in the 1960ies). the Trabant has a quite iconic design, forsake better than the allegro or marina . there are more people making an effort to keep a Brabant alive than an allegro. In the 1990ies the mercedes A-klasse failed the so called Elch-.test and tipped over in a sharp corner, while the Trabant passed the test with ease

[@danieljames2015]

@@thomasherzig174 Fiat 124 WAS a good Car. The Lada and FSO were certainly not.

[@simonturner5450]

Bought a Marina for my wife to learn to drive for £20 as she wanted a car that if she crashed it it wouldn’t matter. Me and my Dad replaced the rear end using sheet metal from a busted washing machine and replaced the big end bearings. Once she had passed her test we sold it for £275 to someone who described it as the best handling car he had ever driven, better than an Escort Harrier he said. He then sold it on for £400 which amazed me

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

One could also say that Ford vastly under estimated the "cost of death", which is of course something that can not always be counted in money. And that is something that bean counters often do. The societal cost of death is of course much higher.

[@stephenricketts7764]

If I had to pick one of the cars you mentioned it would have to be the 'Briklin' . The others had their faults but the main problem with many cars of that era was rust. The second problem was industrial relations and unions being in charge rather than management which was very poor and frightened of the unions. I am speaking for the UK here but others had similar problems I believe. The fact that the Morris Marina sold very well does say something for the car. The TR7 you could say was a 'Marmite' car but as others have said if they all came with the V8 or at least a better engine then things might have been different. Having said that you do see them at car shows today so some people like them. Thanks Jack for an interesting video, enjoy what is left of the Christmas season and hope you and Pistachio have a Happy New Year. 👍👍

[@fredfarnackle5455]

The Leyland P76 was vastly underrated, it was in fact not too bad at all. It had a lot going for it but was killed by adverse commentary. I think there is probably quite a lot still happily motoring around even now.🇦🇺

[@Low760]

The p76 was better than the Holden Kingswood, ford falcon and the Chrysler valiant. Strikes affected all of them but Leyland just couldn't manage strikes.

[@Turitea]

We had a 6-cylinder. It was a good spacious vehicle. I wonder how many have survived

[@andrewh.8403]

The P76 will always be quoted by Australian car enthusiasts as "ahead of its time" in a way that showed sadness of the premature demise. The design was great. There's more than one Aussie saying referring to the size of the boot. Design criteria in part was, it had to hold multiple 44gallon drums . The boot was cavernous. Compared to what the Big 3 were pumping out it was ahead of its time and the punters balked, I'm ashamed to say. A neighbour (UK expat btw) owned a Marina. She'd give me a lift to the station in the mornings. I was desperate to avoid catching the bus....

[@williamegler8771]

The Mustang II was never designed to be a "MUSCLE" car. The vehicle was designed to be everything from an economical commuter car to a moderately quick good handling sporty coupe based on the options chosen.

[@Chris-v4z1t]

Didn't one of "Charlie's Angels" use one ? ...... Sums it up.

[@westmus]

@@Chris-v4z1t Yes it was back in the day an popular car. The right car for the times, nobody in the US was asking for high horsepower muscle cars in those years. The oil crises and expensive insurances had highly dampened the interest for such cars.

[@JohnSmith-rw8uh]

@@Chris-v4z1t 2 of them did, Sabrina a Ghia, and the character farrah fawcett played a cobra

[@CarlSchaller]

I drive a 72 Ford Falcon. Before I retired it reliably did 1000 km per week, every week for years, and I still drive it

[@Retro_Rich]

Used to always see cars overheated at the side of the road in the summer. Cooling systems have improved a lot. If you played street football and the ball went under a parked car their was a deluge of iron oxide dropped. When it rained the streets were full of rainbow patterns. Many tings have improved since the 70’s

[@georgebettiol8338]

I also recall the rainbow patterns on the wet road surface. This was largely attributatble to the very leaky engines of the period made even worse by the fact that engine crankcase oil vapour was simply vented directly out of the engine below the car. The requirement to reduce engine oil leaks and fit the engine with a positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system has greatly reduced the amount 'dropped'oil' on modern roads.

[@ianmangham4570]

Great intel 🤠🙏 i fell asleep listening AGAIN 😊 MERRY CRIMBO and Happy New Year everyone 🇬🇧👌

[@johndoyle4723]

The Marina was OK, cheap to run and repair, just a bit boring, but the door handles, well they went on to great things. The TR7 was a victim of the times and the industrial conflict, and unfairly portrayed as the Hairdressers car.

[@AledPritchard]

What a fascinating video. I knew about these cars, but I knew the myths behind them, especially the Pinto. You’ve just provided some interesting myth busting. Thanks again Jack, I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas.

[@Number27]

You too Aled and Thanks for watching!

[@AledPritchard]

@ Thank you, I watch every video, a great channel. Buon Natale!

[@keithhooper6123]

Bit unfair on the Marina and Allegro.Knew owners of both,who had years of happy ownership.

[@colinhooper1933]

I've never seen someone that did the same username setup like I did AND be a Hooper at the same time LOL

[@keithhooper6123]

Hi,thank you for the comment.Well,you have,now.

[@cameroncameron2826]

With the guy who lead the most vicious anti british propaganda mission in history now claiming to 'standing up' for british farming i think we can expect all the doors to fall off that next.

[@lestrem11]

@@cameroncameron2826 Actually Clarkson was right. The cars were, by and large, dreadful. Once British British Leyland buyers saw and drove Japanese cars our industry was toast.

[@cameroncameron2826]

@@lestrem11 There were some good jap by 1980, but now generations of people who were not there who are social enginerrred to think there were no good british cars.. Clarkson has never been 'right' !!! - he's a fascist that helped destroy british industry. They want the whole country now mate - they asset stripped everything after first sabotaging the factories with enemy within. Wheres has every single british national asset ? Its in europe mate and its all owned by the aristocracy. You pay your electricity bill to them, your gas bill, your water

[@joechamberlain7441]

I used to drive my Dad's 1.8 Marina estate a lot when I first started driving. I really loved that car. Powerful for its day, comfortable and roomy. It was great fun to rag around the country lanes, a lot of modern drivers don't know what a simple rear-wheel drive car feels like. I liked the looks of it too. The one unequivocal crticism though was rust, that killed it in the end, like every other car from the era.

[@3ducs]

Earlier this month I bought a '59 Austin Healey 3000 project car, looking at the steering shaft running all the way forward to in front of the axle brings out the lack of safety considerations in that era. Not to mention the gas tank in the trunk/boot.

[@john1703]

Alec Issigonis (Mini, 1100, 1800) believed that the best safety feature, to make drivers concentrate, would have been a nine inch dagger sticking out of the steering column.

[@theapplepaul]

A friend of mine lost his Austin Healey 3000 when it spontaneously burst into flames. He was fortunate to get out of it quickly. Beautiful but deadly cars.

[@georgebettiol8338]

@@theapplepaul I'm pleased that your friend did not perish due to the car fire. However, the Austin Healey 3000 does not have a repuation for spontaneous combustion. I know of a number of cars that have caught fire - usually due to a complete lack of maintenance, and in particular, not attending to ageing rubber fuel hoses which have a definite life. I know of at least one situation where the owner unknowlingly replaced high pressure fuel injection hoses with 'low pressure' carby rated fuel hoses with the obvious ugly outcome.

[@rope3051]

@@theapplepaul As @georgebettio says: there must be a reason, and you are not telling what it was. But you have the audicity to tell us those cars were 'deadly': you are doing a 'Clarkson". Spoiler alert": ALL cars were deadly because of drivers and tinkering by fools who didn't knew what they were doing.

[@theapplepaul]

@rope3051 My friend had mot 'tinkered' with his Austin Healey. And it was well maintained. As in professionally restored.And his dream car. Not saying all Austin Healeys are bad, just relating his experience. I had an MGB back in the day, never caught fire but did have some issues. Early British roadsters are known for having some challenges, especially but not exclusively in the electrical system. They are still magic, you just need to be aware.

[@relaxeddigger91]

My dad bought a P76 when we lived in Australia. Always loved travelling in that over the long distances in Australia.

[@finlayfraser9952]

Jack, are you cutting back on the central heating? Seasons greetings! The cut of Briklin's suit tells you all you need to know about him.

[@Redriguez]

Great video as always Jack mate. Thank you and merry Christmas brother.

[@ethelmini]

Nothing wrong with the Marina, other than the barons of the British press having their own concurrent trade union bashing wars. BL had split their badge engineering along FWD & RWD lines Austin were FWD & mostly Longbridge in origin. Morris was RWD & from Cowley. Nothing sinister happened, RWD was just rationalised out of the (then Austin Rover) range.

[@bullettube9863]

The main problem with the Pinto was that the differential cover was held on with nuts on long studs, which made it easier to assemble at the factory. If the car was hit hard enough from the rear the tank would be punctured by the studs and a mere spark would ignite the gas leaking out. The exhaust pipe was also in front of the tank but it was tested and found to never get hot enough to set the gas on fire. I remember the repair kit, in addition to bolts to replace the studs, was a metal shield that would guide the gas tank downward in a rear end collision. The gas filler neck was also modified, so that it would disconnect without breaking at the tank. This improvement was done on all cars of the period.

[@TheManFrayBentos]

Of the 800,000 Marinas sold in the UK, only 700 were not driven on salty beaches.

[@person.X.]

Yes I had a good laugh at that bit of footage. 😆

[@hohenzollern6025]

That is an ancient Kyosho on that desk. I was too young to be able to afford a good one like that. I had to play with my Tamiya Grasshopper until I got a job, then finally got a JrX2 to race. Still have it of course. But kudos sir. That is a classic.

[@baheh1801]

I didn't recognise it as I was a fan of tamiya when I was young although a friend of mine did get a kyosho later on although I forget what it was , I could be wrong but if my memory is right I think it might have had chain driven 4wd. He started with a hornet but I never was a fan of the bathtub type chassis.

[@hohenzollern6025]

@@baheh1801 Yeh they were 4wd, decently competitive too, at least in the 4wd category, pretty good cars. The RC10 pretty much dominated the 2wd races until Losi released their JrX2, and i snatched one of those up. Nobody in my town raced 4wd tho, so those Kyosho cars were just kinda expensive bashers. But I recognized that thing right away. They were a pretty big deal for the rich kids =D

[@mikem3695]

Over here we refer to NHTSA as "nitsa". No surprise that the media distorted flaws in these cars. I enjoyed this video.

[@OzziePete1]

I started driving cars in late 1970s. So too, my friends. Some of us owned our own cars, others borrowed Mum or Dad's. A friend borrowed his Dad's P76 quite often. We could all bundle in. This one was a 6 cylinder but it was a solid car. This guy was going to refuel his Dad's car after one of these trips. His home street ended a block before the main highway where the fuel station was. He forgot that he was on this street and *not* on the one that went straight through to the highway. He drove straight into a gutter and barrier at 60Km/h head on. P76 was a write off but the Police reckoned he was lucky to be alive and that the car saved him from certain injury, if not worse. I got to drive this P76 before it got written off.... It was strange as it had a wedge shaped body. Parking it was a nightmare.The rear windscreen didn't give you much view and the side mirrors showed more body than you wanted (because of the wedge). To many Australians, it was the wrong vehicle for that time. People had started downsizing cars because of the fuel costs. Holden & Ford were both being asked to improve their fuel efficiencies on their family sized cars.

[@Bob-nu3xe]

Well Jack I have an advantage over you here, I started driving in the 70s also I was in car sales in the 80s so I did drive a lot of British and import cars over that period, I also worked at a Fiat dealership too, let me say the Lancia's were fabulous way ahead of BL and Ford but the BL/Fords were cheap to maintain and parts ready available Datsun very popular and reliable, the worst car I have ever driven and remember it to this day was the Larder 1200 the steering clutch and brakes were so heavy you needed to be a power lifter to drive one! Mini's were chuckable tuneable and cheap plus always someone in the market for a mini!

[@TIMMEH19991]

70s ladas and skodas were truly dreadful cars, only surpassed in awfulness when Dacia and FSO briefly came onto the scene in the 80s. Another almost completely forgotten car that was really bad was the DAF 44

[@Treviscoe]

@@TIMMEH19991I had to travel to Sussex at the height of the blizzard in January 1987, and when I got to the railway station in East Grinstead and needed a lift to the hotel, literally the only car that was still moving was an FSO taxi (which I naturally took). Not the most sophisticated of cars but they were built to withstand Polish winters.

[@helios1912]

I was an apprentice mechanic in 1974 in my suburb of Cincinnati Ohio. One autumn day, a steady customer drove in in his Marina. Just bought. He wanted us to install air conditioning. We all kindly smiled and declined after a quick look at his British import.

[@Unimatrix69]

Worst car of the 70's: Fiat 124, rusted even in dry climates. and boiled over if ambient temperature was over 25 centigrade.

[@Steve-i3m6s]

I owned a tr7 for several years, easy to repair and fun to drive and mine was an eearly 76 car with the marina gearbox and banjo rear end. The tr7 was not a sales failure, it was the highest selling tr ever. What killed it was labor strikes and denial from rover to give its v8 for the car when requested delaying the intro of the tr8 which may have saved Triumph at least for a while.

[@stephenc6955]

The most dangerous of all were the Japanese. Paper thin sheet metal and zero rigidity.

[@robertharris7027]

Most reliable car in the family back in the 70ties (we had Mercedes, VW, Fiat, Renault) was the Civic. A Honda.

[@nakoma5]

Unless you had a Benz, Volvo or Saab they were ALL deathtraps.

[@fredfarnackle5455]

I had a near new Datsun 180, it went very well and was quite good overall but one day my 5 year old son gently leant against its side and I saw the panel give under his weight, then resume its shape with a 'boingg' when he stood away from it. I sold it as quickly as I could and got more for it than I paid!

[@bradenriley9066]

Very true. Toyota had serious rust issues in the united states to the point the government got involved. Even today Toyota still has rust issues with their frames.

[@KevReillyUK]

The KZbin algorithm is serving up some gems today. My two takeaways from this video: 1. The UK media has been pumping bulls**t into the public consciousness for a lot longer than I'd thought. 2. In an alternate reality Canada could have made _Back To The Future_ ten years sooner and the arrival of the Bricklin time machine in 1945 would have been awesome. FWIW I really liked the exterior TR7 design back when my age was measured in single digits. I still kinda do, if I'm being honest. Merry Christmas!

[@clownworld-honk410]

Triumph Dolomite Sprint. Engine probs from day one. Good when they worked.

[@john1703]

The TR7 used a 2 litre version of the non sprint 1850 Dolomite engine.

[@TIMMEH19991]

suspension and brakes were just not up to the job of the car either. Its a shame because had they addressed that and sorted the engines reliability they were cracking looking cars.

[@jamessmith-on3jf]

@@TIMMEH19991 My inlaws had an automatic sprint in the 80s it was bought with a blown head gasket they owned it 5 years did 60000 miles when they sold it at 130000 mile it was still running sweetly. All it needed was regular maintenance points/plugs fluid/oil changes and new radiator plug leads 12 vane water pump at was very reliable.

[@kenvaughan6694]

One of the biggest weaknesses of the TR7 was the adherence of the chassis to the main body. It was often reported that in most cases these cars would be driving down the street and you almost hear them coming closer to you, not because of the roar of the engine, but by the rattling sound the car made

[@gwheregwhizz]

To be fair, you're unlikely to be brake checked by a Pinto.

[@spikespa5208]

But look out for that Audi 5000 behind you.

[@kimwalton2873]

I think you forgot about the Chevrolet Vega from the 1970s. I had one of these and because of the tiny radiator it overheated whenever you gave it the beans. It used a quart of oil every 200 miles with less than 30,000 miles on the car. Also in an era of rusty cars it takes the crown.

[@ThePeca1988]

The 70s were still better then anything made these days 😂

[@cappaculla]

Now that's bull

[@NigelDixon1952]

My mate's dad had a brand new 1970 Moskvich. Said it was fantastic for the price, great ride, luxury. It had practically rotted away 12 months later!

[@alaricbragg7843]

Late Christmas Wishes! Thank you for remembering the P76, they were very popular in New Zealand and some were built here, to a better standard than the Australian-made cars! Actually it was other British Leyland makes Jaguar and Rover who felt threatened by the P76 (Which was better than most of their sedans and about to be sold in the UK.) and conspired to undermine P76 production efforts.

[@erroneouscode]

Competing with Rover and Jaguar in the UK would have had some bearing on BL's decision not to import the P76 but you also have to consider what an upset the 4.4L version of the Rover V8 would have caused in the UK with so many existing and upcoming models slated to use the 3.5L version. The north-south adaptation of the usual fwd east-west E series 6 also didn't really fit in with what BL were offering in the UK on other models at the time.

[@Jack908r]

Had a buick back in the day. Bumpers rusted off as a matter of course. I kept mine in place with some old coat hangers. Rear windows on the car didn't roll down, because it was an option. Had a v6 engine that was the perfect blend of a an 8 and a 4. Fuel economy of an 8 with the power of a 4. Sill below the windshield rusted out, and when it rained, it rained on my feet. Do not miss those days at all. You can have em.

[@Soryt]

i was a mechanic these days and the worst car i worked with where all the British Leyland cars and the Allegro was a realy nightmare for customers

[@grahamjesson5464]

Ahh. the allegro makes your lip curl doesn't it. with its square wheel, makes me feel far more bilious than the marina.

[@williamwoods8022]

You must have been a crap mechanic then as they were very simple cars to work on and were actually very reliable as well depending on how they were looked after like most cars. We owned tow Allegros in our family - my brother then mothers 1978 Allegro 1500 LE and my 1980 Allegro 1750 TC Equipe and they were both excellent and very reliable cars - then again we looked after and serviced our own cars because most mechanics were COWBOYS who ripped people off with saying that the cars needed things replaced when they didn't and then cleaning the old part to pretend that it was replaced and then charging the owner for the fake new part and other scams they pulled on people and then when the car had reliability problems re those parts or broke down later the car/manufacturer would then get the blame especially when these COWBOY mechanics blamed them for the problems. I later worked in a garage in the 1980s/90s servicing and looking after many types of cars and the BL cars including Allegros and Marinas were no problem for reliability and working on - the biggest problem with ALL cars back then was rust especially as most owners never bothered to try and rustproof their cars to try and keep it at bay.

[@Chris-v4z1t]

I drove a 1300 Allegro round Thruxton circuit and it was as quick as any of their other school cars,.... Stable, safe, able to get the power down..... No doubt in every day use they had their issues, but most of my 70s cars were scrapped before they had a chance to break (rust)

[@benzinapaul7416]

KZbin not pay the heating bills Jack? Must admit I'm watching wearing my coat too 😂