The Malaise Era Part V: Even More Malaise! (Lost Episode)

[@jackeldogo3952]

When I was growing up, we lived next door to family whose father worked for GM. I remember when the Citation came out my dad was asking our neighbor about some specifics because he was thinking of buying one and our neighbor basically told him "Don't bother."

[@Dratchev241]

my grandpa worked for GM also, long ago i had the chance to buy a old Citation for $100, my grandpa told me to charge him $200 to take it then sell it to the junkyard for $20

[@cdjhyoung]

@@Dratchev241 Classic!

[@IAmAnAdowablePanto2190]

In the part of Ed's video, when he said “Know why Chevrolet call it a Citation?", I thought he was gonna say the Edsel Citation. I know you would ask me “what's Edsel gotta do with malaise era?". I would say “GM probably copied Ford's car model's name and put it on Chevrolet's car, and the Chevrolet Citation (the model name) reminded me of the Edsel Citation".

[@brooksrownd2275]

A lot of those guys were just averse to change. Some people grasped their RWD Oldsmobuick cutlass Regal Supreme until their dying breath.

[@maxpayne2574]

@@brooksrownd2275 Yes the first intro of front drive faced a lot of unjust critics

[@johnbee7729]

The Malaise ERAS are the funnest videos. Thanks Ed - hopefully we get to Malaise XVII at some point.

[@charlesbrain3872]

The American cars “land yachts” were so revolting to look at just puke!

[@be5952]

@@charlesbrain3872 Yours would be an opinion *_not_* shared by many, many buyers during the time they were made, and not shared now by thousands of old car enthusiasts who see the classic styling and comfort as positives because....oh yeah, they were---and are.

[@charlesbrain3872]

@@be5952 the 1950s land yachts made in America were the best looking cars ever made.. the 1970s and 80s I think were the ugliest thing on earth - however much you disagree. My opinion and obviously not yours. Peoples difference of opinion doesn’t have to be a bad thing :)

[@jeremyramirez9150]

​@Charles Brain 100% agree. I'd go so far as to say most American cars from the mid 50s to the mid 90s were and are hideous.

[@gabriel.954]

One family in my neighborhood had the Merkur XR4Ti, and us 13 year olds loved it. But we always thought the 4 was an "A" and used to call it the XRATi, which sounded like the end of a MaseRATI (but with a hard X in front. Like X-RATI). I guess we were just as weird as the car back then....

[@gabriel.954]

@@CrowdControl123 LMAO! Too funny. And now that you mentioned Hyundai.... do you remember the Scoupe? They had an LS model, so the rear badging read "Scoupels". It's weird things like this you notice when you have no life. Please help me.

[@McBeamer94]

Yep, I just read that as "XRATI" without even knowing what your comment would say after the first time you wrote it correctly! That says it all! 😜🤣

[@seanwebb995]

Haha, a good one from recent memory is the KIA brand logo, some people reading it as KN (looking at it, I can't unsee it).

[@gabriel.954]

@@seanwebb995 yes! I've thought the same exact thing. The new KIA logo is hideous.

[@engineer_alv]

it reminds me to some local people that named the first gen Rav4 as RavA.

[@keiththorpe9571]

"The Full Brougham Razzle-Dazzle..." Dude, you are too damn good at this!

[@lklpalka]

My poor dad bought a Phoenix and I never heard him curse until then. It was truly a POS in every way, even (or especially) the dealers. He said he spent more $$ on repairs over three years than the car cost new. Nice piece, Ed !

[@be5952]

It's too bad about the bad reliability of these cars, because as Ed pointed out, there were many good aspects of the cars. I'd also add I like(d) the styling of most of them too.

[@oscarprendergast7295]

Never heard him curse till he bought a citation!LOFL that’s funny shit bro - even thi your Pooor dad had to be subjected to this nonsense

[@dannydaw59]

No warranty?

[@zythr9999]

@@be5952 That is what was so frustrating about GM during those times.

[@johna.4334]

We want more Malaise Era videos, and we want them now!

[@rogersmith7396]

You can never have enough brougham.

[@richsackett3423]

bro...

[@rodferguson3515]

Roger Smith.... Also you can never get enough Crossovers and SUV's ...lol...

[@KoldingDenmark]

​@@rodferguson3515 I am suffocating from the look of SUVs alone.

[@rodferguson3515]

@@KoldingDenmark I know it's hurts so bad 😩

[@ericortega1745]

@@richsackett3423 ugham.

[@BradleyTurmel]

I love how specific and nerdy this stuff is, it makes me so damn happy.

[@peekaboo1575]

Episode 5/3, huh? I'm ok with that because this is your best series.

[@klasseact6663]

We have a bank here in Chicagoland called 5/3 Bank😂

[@ericvulgate]

Not that I'd ever trust a bank that so obviously doesn't understand how math works😅

[@klasseact6663]

@@ericvulgate Their motto is we are a 5th 3rd better.

[@emilyadams3228]

@@ericvulgate I'd never trust a bank with such a weird time signature.

[@steved3702]

He's not the first to reach the hallowed pantheon of a five-part trilogy! #HHGG

[@RichardFriesinger]

Finally more Malaise - Wonderful!

[@Tacko14]

Yes! We want more malaise!

[@johna.4334]

@Taco ...and we want it now!

[@Alpostpone]

Not something you hear every day

[@Drewza71]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Pedro-hn7nj]

Excellent series! A quick note anout the Lee Iacocca story at the end, Alejandro De Tomasso was Argentinian, like Horacio Pagani. They both managed to create their dreamly sport cars in Italy. Horacio Pagani even made it there by the recommendation of Fangio, the famous racer.

[@bennri]

I.A.C.O.C.C.A. "I Am Chairman Of Chrysler Corporation of America"

[@JohnSmith-rw8uh]

De Tomaso family is italian argentinian like a lot of argentina, many escaped that dump of a place. Argentina has many italians

[@vincedibona4687]

Convenient of you to leave out the second “of”. 🤣

[@Tsotha]

hence his given name being Alejandro not Alessandro

[@Harv72b]

I guess around 1987ish my father decided to replace his first generation Ford Taurus with a Mercury Sable. Maybe he got a promotion I don't remember or something, but anyway we all went down to the (not actually very) local Mercury dealership on summer day to watch him make the purchase, and that was the first time I even became aware that such a thing as "Merkur" existed, because they also had one of each model front & center in the middle of the showroom and *boy* did that salesman try to switch my dad over to a Scorpio. Of course my father was the kind of stubborn that he wouldn't change out of his assigned seat if the airplane was crashing, so that went nowhere. The salesman then eyed up my 15-ish year-old frame, deduced that I would be needing a car pretty soon, and launched into trying to sell _me_ on the X44TI. And to be honest, he largely did. I like the shape, the rear louvers, and the deep red paint job. I liked the numerous speakers inside which he dutifully pointed out to me. I liked the "exotic" sounding name and the fact that nobody else had one (in hindsight, probably literally). Unfortunately I happened to glance at the sticker in the window at one point, and while I don't remember exactly what they were asking for it (it was, of course, a fully loaded model), I do remember instantly and instinctively knowing that the chances of my father spending that amount on my first car were precisely equal to the chances of my father sprouting wings and flying around in a diaper every Valentine's Day. Always have kind of remembered the looks fondly, along with the rough Chrysler equivalent (the Conquest TSI) of that era. Who knows, maybe one day I'll talk myself into buying one off the "classic" car market, although goodness knows what a relatively rare car like one of those would fetch in running condition these days (actually I just looked it up and stock XR4TIs are still selling at auction for well under $10K... 🤔).

[@be5952]

You write well. You should do more of it (with one teeny suggestion of a couple more paragraph breaks just for visual ease of reading). Good job.

[@dannydaw59]

Those XR4ti's were very unreliable. Something having to do with the turbo and oil burning off.

[@sebastiend.5335]

That was a nice read. Keep it up! Greetings from the Netherlands

[@torgrimmyt3549]

I lost it at "Ford Sauerkraut" & "Ford Bratwurst". Well done!

[@AndrasMihalyi]

Ford Landwirtschaftsausstellung would have been even better 😁

[@RichardFriesinger]

@@AndrasMihalyi for 4WD models!

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

That would be like marketing the "Ford Taurus" and "Ford Fusion" as the "Ford Sweet Chicken" and the "Ford Sour Chicken" in modern times, in reference to this funny Ford commercial from 2014: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6CThoiHhq-gnZI

[@phantom0456]

I love seeing old footage and wishing that I somehow had the ability to step back in time to see and experience how things were back in a given era.

[@crustyoldoffroader7436]

I lived through it. Trust me, you’re better off watching Ed’s videos. It was a rough time for diehard car guys.

[@jeffruebens8355]

​@@crustyoldoffroader7436 I remember Ricardo Monteban talking about the special Corinthian leather in a Chrysler Cordoba. We all laughed, no one knew anything about Corinthian leather.

[@forddon]

@@jeffruebens8355 "Corinthian leather" is spanish for naugahyde

[@no1DdC]

@Modern Classic Collectables It's not worse now. Build quality and reliability are better than ever and - regardless of the drivetrain - there's an overabundance of powerful cars. Every electric car you can buy is at the very least quick off the line, with many even modest models being more powerful than sports and even some supercars were during the malaise era. Legislators have learned from the mistakes of the 1970s and 1980s and so have most car manufacturers. Sure, crossovers are swallowing everything, but there is still plenty of variety.

[@fazole]

Most people had nothing to judge by in the US. Japanese cars were called "rollerskates" due to their tiny size. German cars were rare and waay out of the price range of most people, except the compact Volkswagens and vans. Then the idea of luxury and comfort were being heavily pushed. They were rolling plush couches compared to the 60s cars. My dad didn't like the Mercedes for their stiff handling because he was used to the wet spaghetti noodle feel of the American land yachts.

[@christopherkraft1327]

Hello Ed, you have managed to capture the best (or worst) of the malaise era of American automobiles!!! Thanks for sharing another fun video!!! 👍👍🙄

[@martinneumann7783]

What I do learn from episode to episode: American cars and marketing strategies are… special. Thanks Ed; dank je wel.

[@LooseNut099]

Special as in especially stupid.

[@dannydaw59]

Americans don't like letters and numbers in the names of cars for some odd reason.

[@vincedibona4687]

Yes, we from the USA are weird; we even name our kids actual names as well! Same with our pets. Gosh, it’s so weird. 🤣😂🤣

[@darwinskeeper421]

Curiously, the Lincoln Versailles was equipped with a narrow version of Ford's heavy duty 9 inch rear axle (the ring gear was 9 inches in diameter) that had disc brakes. These were often fitted into classic Mustangs when the Versailles (and some Granadas & Monarchs) were parted out.

[@volktales7005]

All the hot-rodders in my area coveted the Versailles for that reason alone!

[@captlazer5509]

My dad owned a Lincoln Versailles new and drove the sh-t out of it. Yep rear disc with a 9 inch differential. Something you are likely to see at a dragstrip. He had a business and drove easily 40k a year. The car was not babied. Sold still running with over 200k miles. Reliably. Ed is wrong unless bullet proof is a bad thing.

[@darwinskeeper421]

@@captlazer5509 Depends on the caliber.

[@captlazer5509]

@@darwinskeeper421 3.50 tracton-lok set up and could be switched out to a 4.11's. Many of the diffs ended up in classic Mustangs. Plus there's survivor Versailles still on the road 40 years later.

[@xaenon]

IIRC the 9" axle with rear disc brakes was standard in Granada/Monarch if you ticked off the box for the 351 engine - and yes, the 351 was optional in those cars for the first 2-3 years. It was also optional with the 250 straight-six and 302 V8s. And cars with rear discs needed hydraulic boost for the power brake assist. He's absolutely right about the Granada/Monarch riding on a 1960 Falcon platform - though not exactly. It would be more accurate to say a 1966 Fairlane platform, which is a sturdier, revised version of the 1960 Falcon platform. Granada/Monarch was a weird car. I had one with a 250 engine, C4 automatic, and a strange integral-carrier axle in the rear with an ultra-conservative 2.47:1 ratio. Acceleration wasn't great, but on the freeway it could actually turn in 22-23 miles to the gallon. It also had the heavy-duty suspension, with a beefy front sway bar and quick-ratio steering. I could thread a needle with that car, and it still rode halfway decent. And as far as malaise-era cars go, it was impressively reliable. It was 22 years old when I sold it, and the guy I sold it to was a friend. I know he was still driving in in 2008.

[@fredmeyer1898]

Nothing says "malaise" like a Gen 1 Citation with an Iron Duke!

[@johna.4334]

True that. Note: This same 2.5L engine was used in the US mail delivery trucks if I'm not mistaken.

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

That Iron Duke was utter trash. Self imposed vapor lock on first year Cherokees the moment the engine met 90+ ambient temp.

[@austinpeterson4898]

The iron dukes are as uninspiring as they are reliable

[@UberLummox]

The Shitation makes me wanna puke. An insult to humanity. Like all the other US cars past about '72. Fvcking depressing as hell.

[@ABRetroCollections]

@@Vicus_of_Utrecht You kidding me? I use to beat up on a Chevrolet Celebrity with the 2.5L. That engine had a cracked head that caused it to idle high at 30F. That car ran from when it was new in '87 right up to when my step-father got rid of it in the early 2000's. The engine was pulled from the chassis, and it was still running the last time I saw it in 2013.

[@tomlewis3658]

This was another excellent episode in the series. As a long-time K car owner, I have to point out that at 20:15, the underhood shot of the TC talks about Mitsubishi engnes used in these cars, but the on-screen image shows the Chrysler 2.2 turbo engine. The Mitsubishi engine that was used in the TC was a V6, the 6G72.

[@staffy73]

Indeed! A Mitsubishi sourced I4 Turbo like from the conquest would have been a huge improvement if it could be fit for fwd

[@billyjoejimbob56]

@@staffy73 True. BTW... The 2.6 liter I-4 engine optional in original K-cars was also from Mitsubishi. First in the industry with balance shafts... was a very good engine!

[@colinschmitz8297]

There was also a 16 valve headed engine based on the Chrysler 2.2 engine block that was credited to Maserati (though I think I read somewhere that Cosworth might have been the one who built the head).

[@randymagnum143]

The worst engines Chrysler ever used. The 2.6 and the 3l v6. Mitsubishi is trash.

[@bahnspotterEU]

The insanity of American-sized cars: when a Mercedes S-Class is called “compact” in comparison.

[@garnix6390]

A fatherly friend of mine had a Ford Sierra Cosworth, and took me for a ride with it. Damn cool car!

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

Yeah, that a car that needs a spoiler warning! 😛

[@jmi5969]

These American horsepowers always bewildered me. How in the world could they get them so low, 133hp from 5 liters? I have no logic explanation other than the excessive use of white powder substances at all corporate levels.

[@johnz8210]

@@alicunte5624 Yes, many of these V8 engines were on the drawing board not long after WW2.

[@GeeEm1313]

Emissions equipment.

[@eskieman3948]

There is one other factor that everyone is missing. In '73 (I think), auto manufacturers were providing horsepower figures that were measured at the rear wheel (dyno measured). Previously, the power was measured at the transmission output. BIG difference if you measure at the rear wheel - BIG difference. Between the archaic early emissions reduction technology, and measuring the power at the rear wheel, you'll see a major drop in HP & torque figures.

[@Rocketsong]

Smog equipment. A 1971 Chevy V-8 developed twice the HP of a 75.

[@DripDripDrip69]

There's no reason to blame it on emissions, Japanese imports at that time made more HP out of smaller engines while still meeting emissions. They just didn't try hard enough.

[@marcbeebe]

So good to see someone telling the truth about the malaise era! There is this tendency today to pretend those cars are somehow desirable and collectable. The fact is they weren't any good new, and they didn't get better with age. The automotive world would be better off if every last hint of that time period were erased; it was that bad.

[@rodferguson3515]

As usual Edwardo you are so correct with a extended description of the horrible malaise era and how it destroyed the Dominance of the American car industry. (Which unfortunately was self-inflicted by itself). Great analysis on this subject. . Bravo sir...!!!!.

[@terribelbliss9646]

Hi Ed, thanks for the review, very nostalgic. I think it was the EPA CAFE standards that really hurt the big three. It gave the Japanese and Europeans a foothold as they were already meeting the standards. Things might have been much different had CAFE been relaxed and the Americans given a few more years to develop their engines, Instead it set them back over a decade. Yes, Xcar was crap, but that chassis spawned the Lumina, et. al. K-cars were exactly what was needed at the time, good on gas, got people back to work. Yes they were cheaply built, but to be honest Chrysler divisions were kind of like that anyway. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@wincrasher2007]

the poor gas mileage during that early 70's oil embargo gave the entry to the Japanese - the government mandating improvements lagged what happened in the market by several years. What put the nail in the coffin was the lack of quality found in American cars in the 80's. Poor labor relations, poor engineering choices (severe cost cutting trying to compete) and a disastrous, over ambitious implementation of robotics in manufacturing put the American manufacturers on a doomed trajectory. The financial crisis of 2008 was the final straw and pushed them all over the cliff. Without the TARP money, none of them would exist today - even Ford who falsely claimed they got no bailouts. Now they are all facing the conversion to electrics. Tesla nearly put them out of business, but surely there will be some significant consolidation as gasoline is phased out and cars overall become more expensive and less desired by the younger generations.

[@jasonyu6649]

It’s more about how rubbish American cars were (and still are), and got exposed until there was a crisis like Fuel Crisis. Ford can do more decent vehicles with the German division, and clones from Mazdas. GM benefitted a lot from having Vauxhall/Opel, otherwise it could have been much worse. Chryslers? A joke at all

[@dannyg6592]

Great episode. I worked for the LM Division of Ford when Merkur was sold in the US. I had many XR4Ti and Scorpios company cars. They were excellent European sport sedans and competed favorably in performance with BMW and Mercedes. The biggest problem with Merkur was LM dealers did not know how to sell them to the type of customers who drove BMW and Mercedes. It was far easier for LM dealers to sell Grand Marquis and Town Cars, as those buyers were very loyal and those big luxury cars sold themselves.

[@rudiknaus4139]

Greetings from Germany! The Mercury Monarch and the Lincoln Versailles were also sold here in Bavaria, Germany, the luxury US appearance and V8 engines made them outstanding here with much more prestige than German cars of this time, except the 450 Mercedes, which wons a test against the Cadillac Seville.. when I first saw the Seville live, I will never forget: quiet and majestic like the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, love at first sight! 🇺🇸❣️

[@marvindoolin1340]

Quite a walk down memory lane. I remember hearing of Merkur and wondering what it was. So far as I can remember I never saw one. We bought one of the first mini-vans -- a 1984 Plymouth Voyager with a 5-speed manual (we ordered a Dodge, but the Plymouth was available much sooner). That minivan took my family on several vacations to the UP and northern Ontario with almost no problems. My daughter's first car after college was a Citation. She pretty quickly "upgraded" to a Dodge Colt.

[@marcusdamberger]

Of course that Dodge Colt was really a Mitsubishi in disguise.

[@billyjoejimbob56]

@@marcusdamberger True... which explains why it really was an upgrade!

[@williamsauve6058]

Thank you Sir, I love your videos . Man the truth does hurt. Please more Cadillac stuff. Love from Canada and thank you for the Tulips.

[@ninjajunpei1984]

To be fair, the K platform for Chrysler was a saving grace as well as acquiring AMC for the Jeep platform. The little K cars were a dependable platform. Were there problems? Yes, but what car company at the time didn't have problems? Also remember that Chrysler also had the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon hatchbacks that were very similar to the VW Rabbit here in the states.

[@Primus54]

My ex-father-in-law owned an Omni and Horizon and did his own maintenance and repairs. He gave the Horizon to his youngest daughter and kept the Omni. He managed to get it to 280,000 miles when some black ice put him into a culvert and it ended up on its roof. His previous car had been a VW Rabbit and he loved hatchbacks.

[@joaquinperez9146]

The 9 inch rear-end differential unit out of a Lincoln Versailles has become a highly sought after part for hot-rod and high performance enthusiasts because it came with disc brakes and could be easily swapped into many other vehicles from that time.

[@mikehedrick7223]

Weren't the rear ends independent with disk brakes. I was working at a Lincoln Mercury dealer ship in the body shop when they came out. I thought the rear end would be great in a hot rod. I thought the Versailles was a nice car the trunk was covered in plush carpet like the front cabin, quiet and smooth ride.

[@ce1622]

Good sleeper car emissions removal and 4brl or EFI

[@kevinfitzgerald1010]

You don't miss a trick, Ed. I'm from Detroit, immersed in car culture, and you bring such incredible insight to the table. My late father, a '57 Chevy man, would have loved you.

[@AeroGuy07]

I owned two of the X-body cars, a 1984 Citation and a 1980 Phoenix. In my defense both cars were given to me for free. The Citation had a very thirsty 2.8L V6 automatic and the Phoenix had a slightly less thirsty 2.5L Iron Duke 4cyl and a 4spd manual. The Citation ran fine, and handled terribly. When the water pump went out I tried replacing it myself and it leaked because there was one bolt I couldn't tighten properly. The head gasket blew and I junked it. The Phoenix was a death trap that actively tried to kill me several times. It's main weapon against me was it's right front brake caliper. It would blow without warning and it didn't matter if I used a new, remanufactured, or used caliper when I had to replace it. I used trees, telephone polls and building ls to prevent major accidents. It's other weapon was the steering rack. It would bind, then let go suddenly. The last time it tried to kill me was a combination of the brakes and steering. But in the process it wounded itself. I was going around a downhill righthand bend that went off camber about halfway through. The steering bound up, then broke free just as I went off camber, throwing me sideways at 50mph. As I was about to regain control the caliper blew and I sped up heading almost head on into guardrail. Hitting the guardrail on the right side sent me back across the road into another guardrail, which sent back across the road where I hit the concrete lip of a bridge railing. That folded the right front A-frame like a piece of paper. I had it towed home and it sat for 6 months before I junked it. It still ran, but I know it was crushed. And that made me happy.

[@Nutella2004]

I'm so glad cars have changed...

[@MrsBirdiegoeshell]

found you by accident, and enjoyed every part of it. As a German, I was a bit flabberghasted by the translation of mercury because normally, mercury in German is Quecksilber, which makes even less sense for a car. On the other hand, in the late 90s, I was a proud student owner of a used Ford Sierra, aka "Fort Bratwurst".

[@TheTransporter007]

Hands down the greatest automotive (history) channel on the internet!

[@ericknoblauch9195]

My uncle was a GM guy. He used to talk about how good they built cars in the 1970's. He bought a Citation in 1980 when they first came out. He had nothing but problems with it. When FORD came out with the Taurus in the 1980's, I went to visit him. When I arrived, I noticed the Citation was gone from his garage, and in it's place was a brand new FORD Taurus. He then became a FORD guy, and quit being a Chevy guy. He told me he got rid of the problem child when it developed transmission problems at 60,000 miles. He also never went back to GM, and stayed with FORD. He told me it was FORD that had the best cars.

[@blipco5]

The American "malaise " cars were the best thing that ever happened for the Japanese auto manufacturers.

[@acrummey85]

You have an error. The American Capri was not based on the Mustang II, it was based on the later Fox body Mustang. Love your videos, and I think this is the first mistake I have seen. Please keep them coming.

[@MightyMezzo]

Dave Barry wrote that the secret motto of US auto manufacturers was “We’ll do whatever it takes to make you buy an import.”

[@johanvangelderen6715]

Chevrolet did an excellent job of selling Toyotas to their former customers.

[@drg5352]

@@johanvangelderen6715 So did Chrysler. The Ultraflight will probably remain as Chrysler's reputation until whatever the parent company is called this week finally kills the brand off. Next year most likely. Dodge won't be far behind.

[@duffyrobert19]

Thank You!!! Thank You!!! Was Jonesing for my EAR fix! I love every one of these and look forward to their arrival!

[@joshriver75]

I spent a lot of time at a Lincoln/Mercury dealership in the 80s. When Merkur arrived most who inquired actually got the name correct but read the model "XR4Ti" as a word..."Zer~rati"

[@tino897]

Never heard anyone call a Sierra that way as in the vid. Lovely video tough

[@banpeinet]

Great video, thanks Ed! 😂 One note on the Chrysler's TC: jalopnik ran a story a few years ago that it's Oprah window actually worked as a magnifying glass. This meant they had to replace melted rear floormats regularly in southern states. Just think of the fire hazard this causes when you accidentally leave some paper or cardboard in the rear of your car! 😂

[@7cougar0]

Oprah= opera, just saying.

[@Rick-S-6063]

You meant an opera window. Oprah might get her lawyers after you for misuse of her name. ;)

[@banpeinet]

@@Rick-S-6063 I didn't even notice! she can sue Android's auto correct! 😂

[@MarinCipollina]

I have to admit as a long time fan of your channel, that you have outdone yourself with this one. I concur absolutely with every comment contained herein. You have to ask yourself; "How could US auto executives have been so arrogant and clueless at the same time?" It was stunning! I'm glad we survived that benighted era.

[@maxpayne2574]

Chevy Citation was a great car. I had a brown one just like you showed. It had 300,000 when I parked it, it still ran great. It was almost imposable to get stuck. I changed a front CV shaft with a large vise grip and a pickle fork in about 15 minutes. I plowed snow up to the front bumper anything the front went through the back would just slide over. I used it to move once, with the back seat down it had a lot of space. I even hauled my deck turned upside down and strapped to the roof.

[@sssaaabbb888]

Time 20:27. Chrysler sold 7301 TC’s over 1989-1991. 1989 had 2 engines, a Turbo II by Mopar & a twin cam turbo by Maserati. 1990 started the Mitsubishi 6. I have a 1989 i4 SOHC. Great car. Your channel is amazing. I like your refreshing unbiased commentaries.

[@MrJommins]

Once again, well done Edward, bravo! You are truly without a doubt, my favorite KZbinr. Keep up the great work!

[@jul1440]

I can't say that I am the #1 biggest fan, but after binging a few hours of this channel, the Malaise Era series is by far my favorite EAR episodes. And it seems like there is still so much to tell on the subject.

[@rogersmith7396]

My dentist had a Murkur. He told me how much it cost. I was appalled. I had to bite my tongue to not tell him what a POS it was.

[@chewybunz]

But, it wasn't.

[@jasoneldridge4738]

It was a European Ford Sierra, and a p.o.s ,they all rotted away within 8yrs

[@welleffitthen]

Merkur Scorpio or xr4ti? Might have even been spelled Skorpio, was bigger than the xr4ti only sold in the US a couple years. Not sure which W. German market car the Scorpio was based on. Radical looking, both cars, you were never going to see yourself coming down the road towards you in the same car. I always liked both because of the dare to be different styling, not the me too styling that started then and unfortunately still hasn't ended with most makes.

[@chewybunz]

@@welleffitthen The XR4TI was essentially a hot rod edition of Ford's Sierra, which was a radical break from the boxy Cortina, in the same way that the Taurus was from the 1970s-developed Fairmont. The Scorpio replaced the more conventional European Granada.

[@rogersmith7396]

@@welleffitthen All I remember was it was extremely expensive. Like lower level Mercedes.

[@robertwoodpa6463]

You are amazing for a young non-American You sum up the era so well. I was there. Imagine going from the great American cars of the 60s to this crap.

[@MarinCipollina]

I was there. Not exactly a sentimental journey.

[@danr1920]

I owned a car from that era, we need a stronger word than "malaise"!

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

Pestilence...

[@johna.4334]

POS?

[@AaronOfMpls]

I can think of a few, but they're not exactly SFW. 🙂

[@Innerspace100]

Fermented horse manure...

[@slappy8941]

Malade.

[@computernerdinside]

Thought I would mention, if you thought the Pinto was bad, in the late 90s and early 2000s, jeep also had a rear mounted fuel tank that achieved the same effect when rear ended at the wrong angle. They handled it much worse. Those jeeps are still on the road to this day. It’s definitely worth researching. Also, the reliability and quality issues listed in this video, contrasts most old timers who complain that cars just don’t last like they used to. Nevermind that an engine from the 70s needed new rings at least after 100k miles, where more modern cars can often run well over 3 times that.

[@bigmacmach1185]

My favorite videos of all your videos. Great history and the sarcasm is fantastic 😅

[@JonosBtheMC]

5:00 First American car to have Halogen headlights. In Europe we'd been using them for so long by then they were a part of popular culture. "Quartz Iodide?" "Yes, Charlie." - The Italian Job, 1969

[@OLDS98]

Excellent job Ed. It was informative and funny as well. It made the points. You covered a lot as well. Thank you Ed.

[@Sevenfeet0]

The 1980 Chevy Citation was my first car as a 16 year old. It was new as my mother had purchased it through a friend who worked for GM. The good things about the car was that it ran. The bad thing about the car? Everything else. The Iron Duke engine was noisy and slow. The car began to rust after only a few short years. The entire front end shook if the car exceeded 73 MPH and the dealership couldn’t fix it. There was more, but you get the idea.

[@autochatter]

Great vid Ed! The Lincoln Versis was Fords Cadillac Cimarron Lol

[@peteryeadon946]

I love this channel, you have depth of knowledge plus a sense of humour! Your American! You Americans don't take the Mick of themselves, they just don't! You do, I love it. Thank you for a very informative and fascinating channel to watch. 😊

[@maruad7577]

After driving cars for 52 years, the Chevy Citation still holds the position of being the worst car I ever drove.

[@Kiddman32]

All you need to know about the Xr4ti has been supplied by sports-talk host Jim Rome. His dad foisted one of these on him for his first car... Much like the 1981 Ford Escort I have mentioned in other comments on Ed's Auto Reviews and other bad-car videos, it was a nightmare. And Rome has mentioned the thing numerous times over the years in a hilarious way, noting that the very second it went past the 15k mark on the odometer and was no longer on warranty, the Xr4ti would break down in every way possible. He said he could hardly even get to the supermarket without some random service light on the dash lighting up, or the car busting out a new leak of mysterious multi-colored fluids, or smoking at stoplights, etc. He finally managed to trade the thing in at a loss Later he found that the dealer had tried to take it to an auction yard and it exploded on the way there.

[@davioloplatinum7065]

good gift for easter! thank you for this ed

[@cdsandiego]

I haven’t ever enjoyed a car history video like this one-let alone laughed so hard my sides hurt. Brilliant, Ed. Brilliant! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@toddr737]

Thanks Ed. I hope you will read Lee Iacoca’s autobiography, it has a lot of interesting details about his time at Ford and Chrysler. When Ler had made the verbal deal for Ford to buy Honda (right before the 1973 Oil Crisis), and Henry Ford killed the deal, telling Lee “small cars mean small profits”. Oh, what might have been.

[@wincrasher2007]

Iacoca was one of those guys who truly believed his own bullshit. Lack of self-awareness and fallibility is what generally does them in.

[@tomhamm6484]

Ford would have ruined Honda. They would have managed to destroy the perceived quality of the Honda.

[@tomgoss9765]

I was Born in 64, the year of the GTO, rode bikes around all the Muscle Cars left around in the 70s as kids, even owned one in the 80s. The Malaise Era is an ongoing American Legendary Heritage Nightmare.v. Thank you, carry on..

[@jetg2059]

The eighties were a bad time for American car builders thank God for the Japanese they made them change

[@bw8632]

I never get tired of these videos. My only complaint is there isn’t more of them. Great work!

[@tspidey007]

My parents bought a Chevy Citation. I will never forget that car. Literally months after they bought it, we received recall notices in the mail almost every week. I swear that almost every part on that car was recalled and replaced over the next 3 years. It was totaled when someone hit while it was parked. Unfortunately, instead of buying something better, my parents bought another GM special, the first generation Cavalier. My sister and I called it the Cadavlier since it was constantly breaking down. As a Michigan resident and having grown up during this era, I have really enjoyed this entire series. It is such a testament to how the Big 3 have taken this state downhill. My biggest fear right now is that the Big 3 haven’t learned their lessons with this push to BEVs (granted it is being helped along by the climate change wackos and government commies). They will push these vehicles on consumers that are not ready for mass production, and sales will decline until they go bankrupt with no bailout this time.

[@jaapverhoeven422]

A Buick Skylark! In 1980, the local Opel dealer here in boring NL suddenly had a shiny black Buick Skylark standing in the showroom between the boring Asconas and Kadetts. So my dad bought it and was very proud of it. It was 2.8L V6 Limited Edition, 4 doors. Don't remember if it had a lot of recalls and how these were handled by the local Opel dealer, and how that worked with American GM cars imported into Europe. Ofcourse it had a km/h speedometer, and it's catalytic converter removed (no lead-free petrol in Europe back then). All the malaise-era memes applied to that car, but in general it was not bad. Our expectations were maybe also a bit different. The V6 was OK, reasonably powerful. At the end of it's life I drove it once all the way to Spain with friends, no problem at all (apart from a dead battery).

[@charlescrossman2225]

HOORAY FOR MORE MALAISE!! THANKS ED!!!

[@Wild-Dad]

I like how you used an old Ford/Mercury dealership from Mississauga, Ontario as a background introducing the Merkur twins!

[@Mart77]

Wonderful video, please continue making these. You can make next video about Europe/Asia bad era. For example The Alfa Romeo Arna, a hunk of sadness designed by Japanese and engineered by Italians. Or Honda Crossroad, just a debadged Land Rover that they tried to sell in Japan.

[@johna.4334]

The only thing worth salvaging from the Granada and Versailles was the rear end; the axle with disk brakes bolts right onto an older Mustang.

[@kanchingyg]

Yesss! I love this series

[@armitage1950]

I don’t care what anyone says- I will always love the massively over-sized, under-powered luxo barges!! My Mark III is a dream to drive.

[@Adiya_55]

Ed : "This is the final chapter of malaise era essay" Also Ed : SIKES!

[@IAmAnAdowablePanto2190]

I think Part V was the most interesting part of the Malaise Era Series. It talks a lot about the Big Three struggling in the Malaise Era, trying to make a good car by making a new model, or maybe even make a new car manufacturer if they need to. The car world's not flavorful without a lot of car manufacturers in existence. If people had a hard time pronouncing Merkur, then pronounce it “Mer - Ker", instead of “ Mer - Qeir".

[@stephanbode548]

The models from Ford Europe were even an old design. I was behind the Europeans like Renault, Peugeot, Audi etc. These old Ford models had only advantage of being cheap.

[@danpatterson8009]

If you were a car guy who lived through that era you felt that cars had peaked in the 1960s and were never going to be fun again. Big bumpers, smog carburetors, and downsizing to meet MPG targets were pure buzzkill. It didn't help that U.S. automakers had such a hard time changing course and the cars were mediocre at best. This opened the door for Japanese competition to scoop up younger buyers without memories of WWII who prioritized value and reliability over perceptions of status.

[@GenXtra65]

Brilliant! All the bad memories come back to life! 😂

[@SlackActionBumble]

When he started talking about Chrysler and mentioned Maserati, I was just like oh no, OH NO

[@TonyLasagna]

One of my favorite EAR series! MOAR MALAISEEEEE.

[@stephenmoxley3004]

Great video, Ed. I agree with you on all points of these awful cars. Actually, the only good thing about the Lincoln Versailles is the disc brake rear axle. It will fit in a Mustang or Falcon, without too much modification. Lots of guys pull these out of junkyards for their project cars. Keep up the great work.

[@johnz8210]

That's so true. They're used in some mid 30's Ford coupes, too.

[@sneaks01]

Great job as always!!!

[@shawntherapidlyaginghipster]

Loving these videos, Ed. Not only do I learn lots of new stuff every time I watch, I'm thoroughly entertained. Keep up the awesome work. S

[@klasseact6663]

That "compact Lincoln" pic you posted was on The Tail of the Dragon, you need to drive that road Ed💯👌

[@Woody_Florida]

Glad you pointed that out, I noticed that too. Ed has to check out the tail of the dragon if he comes her again. Best drive in north America.

[@klasseact6663]

@Floridaboi Woody it's a great drive, along with The Devil's Triangle & Moonshiners but the best view is the Cherahola Skyway

[@Woody_Florida]

@@klasseact6663 I truly appreciate the tips. I am always looking for new and better drives, wether for two wheels or four. The next trip I want to drive, in my mr2, is the grandfather mountain viaduct.

[@klasseact6663]

@@Woody_Florida where's that at?

[@Woody_Florida]

@@klasseact6663 it's actually called the linn cove viaduct in Avery county north Carolina. So cool, some Rick old property owner held up the building of the road in court for decades. So they had to build this long viaduct that floats around the top of the mountain. Beautiful

[@hard2getitrightagain314]

My parents bought an 81 citation with a six banger over 4 manual gears and, while many engineering deficiencies were obvious, it was an amazing vehicle.

[@hard2getitrightagain314]

We got it second hand in 1986 or so

[@TheHelado36]

Man that Sierra was such a beautiful car !

[@freeculture]

In the middle of the "square" 80ies, yeah it made quite the impression. It also used the new "stuff that compresses" to absorb the energy of a crash than the rigid metal stuff that would just transfer it directly to the driver. So, fiber glass? vs metal body. It was lighter. Here sold as "Ford Sierra", no Merkur. XR4TI was one of the models available in 83 or so. Other models would be called things like "280 LS" and there was even a station wagon variant. It was sold with a V6 engine, they got some reputation as being fast and some people drove them like crazy, but they didn't handle that well at high speed, i think it over-steered or something, many crashes.

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

​@@freeculture into the late 00s Sierras were one of the stereotypical Street racer cars in the UK. They were the last midsized ford with rwd and had infinite possibilities for engine modifications on a budget. Made great drifters.

[@CUSTOMWORKS7.3PSD]

132k subs is a crime, this is great works should be 1 m

[@realcanadian67]

"I can extract more horsepower out of my farts" Died at that line.

[@veamer19]

Same!! I’m stealing this remark!! Thanks Ed! 😂

[@rangerrick816]

I will have to say - I bought a 1990 Chrysler LeBaron convertible with the 3 litre Mitsubishi V-6 and kept it for 26 years and 150,000 mile - I never had a lick of mechanical trouble, but the top was looking pretty ragged by the time I sold it. Keep up the great work Ed - your channel is highly enjoyable !

[@marcusdamberger]

I'm guessing you had a garage (keeping the cloth top out of UV's etc) and maybe not one of the states that annually puts down salt and brine (i.e. sodium chloride). So many of those cars rusted away or faded away in the sunbelt states.

[@meierb75]

So. One cool thing about the Merkur xr4ti. The Cologne V6 it was supposed to get from Germany didn’t pass US emissions. So, it actually got an engine upgrade to the 2.3L turbo engine from the Mustang SVO.

[@sutherlandA1]

And built in Brazil if I'm not mistaken

[@meierb75]

I am afraid not. They were built along side the XR4i in Cologne, Germany and tweaked in Rhine for North America compliance because they sold them in Canada as well. The tooling cost alone would have cost millions running operations outside Cologne.

[@meierb75]

I was very close to buying one about a year-and-a-half ago, but opted out after viewing the mechanic’s report.

[@Dietzebacher]

I‘m a German car enthusiast. Your videos are very interesting and exeptionally entertaining. Thanks Ed!

[@johnd8892]

On my trip to Europe in 1980 I was surprised to see how many Chrysler Valiants were being driven around. Numbers, although still rareish, were far in excess of any other US car of the era. Yet Chrysler canned it as Ed said.

[@UHF43]

Barreiros of Spain manufactured and sold them as the Dodge Dart.

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

Valiants were extremely reliable they were used as taxis in Scandinavia and were one of the best selling cars in South Africa. Other American cars were either not sold or weren't as durable

[@johnd8892]

@@indiekiddrugpatrol3117 interesting to hear that. Was in the top three sales wise in Australia for most of the sixties and seventies too. The last Chrysler Valiants made anywhere were the unique Australian ones last made in 1981. Also all were fitted with the Australian Hemi six from 1970 apart from those optioned with the 318 , 340 or 360 V8. All the earlier sixes were the 225. The 170 being unknown in Australia.

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

@@johnd8892 in the UK there was a few knocking about, Chrysler tried selling them through their UK (Hillman/Humber) dealerships as luxury cars I'm pretty sure the ones we got were Australian examples but they never sold here like they did on the continent I'd doubt more than 20 survive today.

[@johnd8892]

@@indiekiddrugpatrol3117 many in Australia were amazed to see a few survivors in the recent Hubnut Australia Day at the Ace Cafe vid. Not sure if this Ed channel suppresses links but will try a link.

[@redram5150]

My father, oddly, has fond memories of his Citation. Bought the X-11 the first year they came out. He liked it so much he bought one even though the only interior color option was red, and he hates red interiors. Salesman told him that was the only option with the X-11 and bought. The following year they offered interiors in gray and blue, his favorite colors. He’s still annoyed at that.

[@bobtepedino5661]

Great video as always, Ed! You missed the opportunity to call the Versailles a compact "BIMP-mahbeel."

[@derekguitarmax9140]

The best channel on KZbin! Thank you Ed!

[@danielstickney2400]

The problem with the X-cars premature rear brake lockup wasn't a matter of stopping distances, it could cause the car to spin out of control. And Ford did themselves no favors by softening the suspension tune and replacing the European-spec Sierra's smooth Europeans six with the rougher 2.3 turbo 4 from the Mustang SVO, which had an unfortunate tendency to cook their turbo bearings, especially if you didn't have the patience to let the turbo spool down before you shut off the engine and cut off the oil supply.

My parents had a Citation. I remember it as a good car. It was much more reliable than the midsize front wheel drive VW Dasher they replaced with it. It was roomy smooth quiet and got good gas mileage. I guess the quality inspector was working the day it was manufactured. They purchased GM front wheel drive cars from then on and always had good results

[@I_stand_with_Israel.]

Great video, Ed. The German word for mercury is „Quecksilber“, though. 😉 „Merkur“ is the planet closest to the sun.

[@Tsotha]

Merkur is also what the planet (and the Roman deity it's named after) are called in Danish

[@American-Motors-Corporation]

Great video! So make one on AMC please! Talk about the concord and other models but have a segment on the Concord!