The 1970s Executive Car Story
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- čas přidán 7. 12. 2023
- In 1970 there was a battle for the British executive car market, with 16 different models available across Europe. It’s a fight that was even more intense by the end of the decade, and it’s something I remember well. This is the sort of car my father was purchasing, and I often went along with him to “kick the tyres” so to speak. I’m not going to talk about ultra luxury cars like Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin or Jaguar, although Mercedes has snuck in there, mainly because they were used for more regular transportation in Germany. I’m thinking more the premium mass market that was occupied by Rover in the UK and BMW in Germany, and I’m going to stick with large 4 door mostly saloons, no 2-door mid-life crisis cars!
There's a part 2 to this video: • Even MORE 1970s Execut...
Links to videos on some of the cars I talk about here:
Citroën CX: • The Citroën CX Story
Citroën DS: • The Citroën DS - a car...
Citroën SM: • The Citroën SM Story
Ford Granada: • Why did Ford's luxury ...
Opel Omega: • The Vauxhall/Opel Omeg...
Princess: • Was the avant-garde Pr...
Rover SD1: • Rover SD1 - Why did th...
Range Rover: • The Range Rover Story ...
SAAB 900: • Why did the Saab 900 u...
Volvo 200 series: • A beautiful box? The V...
I talked about the British Leyland management / union problems in the Princess Optional Extra video: • British Leyland Prince...
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#bigcar - Auta a dopravní prostředky
There's a part 2 to this video: czcams.com/video/2q0tzHgM6kw/video.html
I include all the cars I missed from this video.
Errata: Volvo made 6-cylinder engines before the Second World War.
6:53 a blue wartburg 353 behind your dad's audi 100 💀
Also the VW 411 and 412.
the RO80/K70 and 260C were very niche in the UK.
Tatra 613
Another video for another time. 😊
Really big fan of this format of covering a market segment over a specific time period, I hope you’ll continue to do more of these!
I'd like to!
yes me to love to see more
Great review, took me back.
I absolutely second that.
In Australia, Holden grafted the opel senator front onto rekord body and significantly re-engineered the chassis to accept local 6 & V8's which became the Holden Commodore. This vehicle was stronger than anything out of Europe- it had to be in order to cope with poor outback roads.
It did pretty well at Bathurst as well.
The Opel Rekord and Ford Granada each had a huge influence on the design of the two top-selling Australian cars going into the 1980s and even beyond.
The Opel Rekord was a loose template for the nascent VB Holden Commodore released at the end of 1978, still using the pushrod inline sixes and V8s from previous Holdens, whilst the design of the Granada was draped over the existing Ford Falcon floorpan to create the XD Falcon, released in early 1979.
These two dominant models in Australia signified the shift away from the previously American-dominated design and handling models and instead providing more European-influenced vehicles.
RIP The Australian Car Industry 😪
To me, it seems ironic that one of the main things customers were looking for in that market segment in those days - reliability - is also the one thing that seems to have been forgotten, or is not considered as important these days.
Longer warranties and finance deals could be the reason. Long gone are the days where most customers obtaining a car brand new are left to shell out for repairs after year one. Car breaks?; dealer’s problem. In theory, at least. Depreciation due to bad reputation?; dealer’s problem, as most are on finance, so monthly costs are fixed - if it’s been a nightmare reliability-wise just hand it back when the finance/PCP deal/whatever is coming to an end and walk into a competitor’s showroom to line up your next car.
Now reliability for the second owner … Well that’s more of a concern. They undoubtedly have to pay for any repairs.
I’m sad this class has all but evaporated.. my Dad had almost all of them at some stage. Great memories, but the Granada will always be my favourite.
There are still options like the Skoda Superb which is actually bigger than a Granada and probably beats it performance and MPG wise. Meanwhile the Tesla Models 3 and Y seems to be the "Executive Car" of choice these days.
Yeah, mine too. My father drove a Granada for years, not the same one, though. His 6th and final Granada was a Scorpio (not the ugly one). That car was a beast, so fast and so comfortable. I learned to drive in it, but my heavy right foot meant I didn't get to take it out on my own when I got my license. I remember getting very frustrated about that at the time, but in hindsight, I'd have ended up putting it through a hedge. Great memories, indeed.
Why was it your favorite?
Why was it your favorite?
@@tsh1158 the family connection, when my Dad finally progressed to a Granada Ghia I really thought we’d arrived! However, it must be the 1970s cop show ‘The Sweeney’ which cemented the car in my affections!
As a new driver in the mid eighties I could only afford 70's cars and after my fathers experience with BL motors ( unreliable ) I opted for a fiat 132 with the 2.0l engine ( insurance wasn't what is now thankfully ) . You could watch it rust but you could also go sideways with rear wheel drive in the wet . Good times !
I had a Toyota Starlet. It was fun too. I miss it.
You knew you had made it when you were given a Ford Cortina with a cassette radio and vinyl roof.
Someone I knew had that and Aircall. A bit like a mobile phone except the only people you could speak to were the secretaries at a message bureau.
Ford Granada
This is like my father’s wish list from the 1970s rather than what he actually drove. Although always ‘British’ (mostly Ford) and our next door neighbour who always had a Renault (school teachers who spent the summer holidays camping in France) was thought of as rather eccentric.
Finally someone talks about the Citroen CX being launched and shows the original "drum-speeds" rather than the later more conventional ones. I had an estate (Safari?) and boy was it wierd ... a real experience but scary on traffic jammed roundabouts if you forget the self-centering steering.
Loved this video... so many memeories
The original speedo looks so cool.
That was a trip down memory lane.
In the 1960s a schoolmates Father had a BMW saloon which seemed very exotic back then.
In the 1970s my best friends mother had a Mercedes, then a Citroen DS23 estate which I went in twice a week. The school headmaster had a Rover P6 while his secretary had a Lotus Eclat How did that happen ?
Finally a mention for the Austin 18-22. The first time I saw one was while waiting for the school coach. I guess it was a company car as it was being driven like one with no regards for running in, more testing the performance. It really did look impressively futuristic back then.
Regarding reliability, there were also problems with rust, which would eventually finish off the Lancia brand in the U.K. As people said you can bolt on new parts except for the body. Did anyone ever have a 1970s Ford that didn't need the suspension mounts welding before it reached ten years old ?
p.s. A Lancia in the U.K. video would be good. Were they really as bad as the urban myths made out ?
Yes it really was that bad. Considering Lancia were part of Fiat at that time they seemed to bare the brunt of the rust problem. I remember seeing a Beta that was only a couple of years old with holes you could your fist through! It was a real shame because the Beta was a great drivers car and practical (in 5 door form) to boot!
The W123 was a very popular choice among taxi drivers in Greece as well, and the same should said of the Audi 80 B2, and Datsun/Nissan Bluebird (more specifically, the 910, U11, and T12).
The other problem with the Lancia Gamma was the engine, using full lock could break the timing belt to one of the banks of cylinders. The steering pump was driven off the camshaft on one side (flat 4 engine).
The first new car my father bought was an Opel Rekord station wagon in 1964. Then he bought an Austin 1800, 2x VW K70, Dodge Dart, before he bought his first Audi 100 in 1974. After that he only drove Audis, about 15 total, petrol, diesel, Quattro etc. His brother was a keen Saab fan, with 99 EMS, 99 turbo, 900 turbo etc. Great video that brings back many memories of my growing up with a family with a great interest in cars.
As a dependent of an US Army civilian in the late '80s, I bought an '82 Granada 2.8i. It was cheap. I Kept it until I returned to the States for college. Great on the Autobahn. Recaro seats. Had some flaws, but I miss that car.
Many thanks for this look back. Your dad had great taste by sticking to the Audi 100 and then 200. My father also briefly owned an NSU Ro 80. The car my father owned longest was an Opel Caravan registered in 1959 and lasted over 15 years.
In 1990 after graduating from Uni I was in the market for a cheap car. My cousin had a 1978 Ford Granada "Ghia. It was absolutely beautiful to me anyways. I later bought an Opel senator also known as the Vauxhall....... something 😀. The Opels 3.0 was a variant of the powerplant in the Opel Monza. Very potent indeed
My uncle had a Monza 3.0 coupe. Very cool car
@@GShockWatchFan. I agree 💯
My old man had a Senator too, 3.0i, absolute beast and then bought an Omega GSI3000 24v. That was written off in 1991 He was heartbroken. Loved that car.
My 2nd car at 18 was a Renault 30 TX 2.7 V6i manual. For the time it was an amazing car. Super comfortable and the UN1 manual box was bliss. Was not bad on fuel either. I was the envy of many at college with my 155bhp Luxobarge as they called it. From what i remember it was really reliable, never had any issues. I just changed oil and plugs. My Dad had a R20 TX 2.2. They were basically the same car as the R30 but with a 4cyl engine and slightly less options.
Before the Opel Senator/Monza, there was the 6 cylinder Commodore B in saloon and coupe form which ran from '72 till '77. Very stylish and in manual 160bhp fuel injected form was a match for a V8 Rover P6 3500S!
Before senator there was the KAD series (kapitän-admiral-diplomat) , senator was more something in between KAD and commodore actually. The KAD died in late 70s got replaced by senator but senator wasnt exactly KAD successor, it was between commodore and KAD
@6:59 I see Wartburg 353 (East German car) in the background. My favourite executive cars from the 1970s are Mercedes-Benz W123, Audi 100/200 (C2), Ford Granada MkII, and Opel Senator (facelifted A2).
Yessssss! I actually shrieked when I saw the Wartburg :) 353s were imported into the UK until 1973 as Wartburg Knights, although a large stock compiled by dealers continued to be sold throughout the 70s. The one in the picture is a Mark4 (a pretty arbitrary pretence of offering 'new models') from 72/73
European middle class is dead. So is executive cars class. No more Omega, Scorpio, 605, XM, 166, Thema and so on.
Scorpio live on in India as SUV.
Now it's all stupid SUVs and useless Crossovers, both hideous and completely unnecessary vehicle classes. I hate it.
Nobody knows what you’re talking about 🙄 Middle class is bigger than ever and executive options are better than ever 🙄
@@verttikoo2052you dont even know what midle class is😂
Elite and peasants...destroyed by Marxist loving politicians! When you realise that 30m people were let into the UK In that time,and Labour only ruled for 13yrs,out of 43,both are different sides of the same coin...Middle Class is extinct!
You are one of the best ones out there. Thank you for this!
The Rover SD1 was great for building the Audi brand in the UK. Everyone I knew wiith an SD1 had so much reliability trouble they moved on, and it was to an Audi in every case.
and was way reliable than Audi
The large chemical plant in my town ditched Austin Rover in the ‘80s for their company cars. They already offered Ford as a choice, but seemed to swap in Vauxhall or VW/Audi instead of Austin Rover. I think they stuck with them long enough to have bought a few 800 series, but that was the end of buying AR cars - no more after about ‘87.
Well, according to ThamesTV some Japanese cars were considered luxurious enough to be pure "executive car" in late 70's.
Indeed. Names like Toyota Crown, Datsun Laurel or Mitsubishi Galant Sigma come into mind.
No matter what car was put in front of him though, Thames’ Tony Bastable seemed unimpressed and borderline angry.
@@BungleBare well, I always like his comments on US cars.
Always love to see a new video on the best car channel on YT. Thank you!
I love this 😍 please make more of these 'decade by decade' videos 💛
Great video. Clearly I love your usual format of deep diving on one cars story, but I really enjoyed this switch up in format to more covering a whole segment of history.
Very enjoyable! Thanks for making this.
I really enjoyed this and hope to see other segments covered in future videos. Great format. Thanks.
As usual brilliantly researched and presented. A lot of memories for me in there. Many thanks.
I love this channal, brings me back to my youth....all those beautiful cars.
Lovely video that captured so many memories of my childhood! Like your Dad, mine changed cars every 2-3 years. The 70’s started with a TR4a, sold (to accommodate me) for a Triumph 2000 estate, followed by the Vauxhall Victor FE estate, Citroen CX (I’ve never been more excited by a car), Peugeot 505, and ending with an Audi 100. I think it was all this variety that sparked my obsession with cars!
Love all your videos. Great insights and no histrionics as per other CZcamsrs more please! . My dad had a Granada . Happy memories ❤
I love your content, and this format is extremely enjoyable!
Kudos!
Thanks for another excellent material. It was a pleasure to drink a beer and listen to you.
The first generation Holden Commodore (from 1978) was based on the Opel Commodore, so there's no surprise in their likeness.
But what is amazing is how alike the second generation Ford Granada and the Ford Australia XD (& XE) Falcon are.
When you put that picture of the two on screen together towards the end, it could have easily been the Falcon vs the Commodore!
As far as I know the Granada and XD Falcon platforms are completely different, and the XD Falcon is larger. I believe the XD chassis was still largely related to that of the XR Falcon of 1966.
It went even further back, with elements of the original American 1959 Falcon, and parts even persisted to the very last Falcons produced in Australia, mainly in the wagons.
@@owenshebbeare2999 And the Barra straight-six was a descendent of the original 144 c.i. Falcon six of 1960.
My dad had a 1985 Ford Granada 2.8 Ghia and I was 7 years old. It had rear headrests which was amazing back then
incredibly handsome cars. especially the estates.
Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s Wales, there weren’t many BMW’s, there was the odd Audi and VW, but there was a lot of Fords and Vauxhalls, cars like the Granada mk2, the Carlton and then later the Ford Granada Scorpio.
I think Rover cars were only aspirational executive cars before they got sucked into British Leyland, the SD1 was a cool car but quickly fell out of favour due to build quality issues.
Great informative video again sir, I did wonder when exactly the German brands started attracting more British buyers.
Yet another brilliant video, thank you
As always it's a great video with amazing narration.
Great vlog as always! From 1976-1982 we had a VW K-70, the grandfather of the VW Passat. Great car! Keep up the good work!
Again, what a great video! Thanks for that 😊
My father had a used car dealership in the 80’s..luckily I’ve owned/ driven most of these…thanks for the memories..( current Volvo owner)…my 76 Audi was a fave & my Saab 900 ( paid my 72 Merc)..( US)…even a Rover3500 & a few Peugeots..they were dirt cheap then
Great video! As an American kid growing up in the late 70s and 80s, I envied the variety of European offerings in this class. To my eyes, the first-generation BMW 5 series is one of the most beautiful cars ever produced.
You should see its European version. It was completely spoilt as seen here by your safety bumpers and the unnecessarily blobby sidemarkers.
everyone forgets the Chrysler 180/2L... not surprising it's the rarest car in the UK. (it looks like a big Avenger with big diamond shaped rear lights). my friends father had one and it was the smoothest car i'd ever ridden in for the time.
Chrysler had the 180, a bigger, automatic Avenger.
Originally designed to be Hillman and Humber
Also forgotten is its successor the Talbot Tagora. A car that, if you were being charitable, could be described as adequate.
@johnmcgrady2985 we had a neighbour who bought matching Tagoras for him and his wife. They were the only ones that I saw.
@@colrhodes377 Fewer than 20,000 Tagoras (Tagora? - what would the plural of it be?) were sold in the four years it was on sale. Across Europe. Your neighbour probably bought 1% or so of the Tagoras (Tagorii?) sold in the UK that year.
Sorry, did I say sold? I should have said registered. Talbot resorted to giving a few away to staff at Coventry City FC when they were shirt sponsors in the early ‘80s. Their then MD Jimmy Hill was probably the only celebrity Tagora driver.
I love this format of your videos. In other words, different car models related to market position and price/class. This video is like my childhood in my father's cars. I was born when my father had a Mercedes-Benz W110 190 ("Heckflosse"). It was a 1964 model and thus already 3 years old when I was born. Three years later in 1970, the Mercedes was replaced by an Audi 100 and my father got 10 extra horsepower to play with. We kept this car for 5 years when my father bought a Volvo 245 (station wagon) in 1975 and thus had 7 extra horsepower to play with (now a total of 97 horses). He must have been happy about this because 5 years later he bought a Peugeot 505 and it had 96 horsepower. He still had this car when I moved away from home in 1985. Incidentally, my first car a couple of years later was a well-used Mercedes-Benz W201 190E with 122 horsepower and a four-speed manual gearbox which was actually well optimized for the traffic of the time.
Wonderful topic. Thank you!
Great video as always thank you
Terrific work! Loved it! 😊
Really enjoyed this. 17 minutes flew by!
I liked this a lot, felt like a magazine review from the time, well done.
Your dad had great taste in his cars - love the Audi 200! Fabulous video. Cheers from Brisbane
I can remember being round your house in Walsall, when your Dad stuck is head in and asked you to ‘move cars’ on the drive, he must’ve needed to get out early each day ?
From that era, I can also remember:
- my first flight to the US started with being chauffeured to Heathrow T1 in an Senator 3L which was probably the poshest car I’d been in at that point (1994) . Shout out to Peter MacL whose borrowed his wife’s car and driver to make this happen - very thoughtful indeed as this was my first international flight and I was nervous…
- my grandfather had 2 Opel Mantas , a 2L T reg (1977?) and a 1.8L B reg (1984)… he was convinced that a car couldn’t be ‘sporty’ if it didn’t have a hatched back …
- around 1995 I started getting a lift to work in a Citroen CX estate, which seemed hugely long and low … Citroen was daring to be different again.
- later I would have my own Citroen Xsara and Renault Scenic and while both were ok, the reliability issues were still very much there… I didn’t have any more French cars after that.
Hope you're doing well Jo.
The Peugeot 504 had a recent moment in the sun as it was the car of Martin Short's character in the Disney+ show 'Only Murders in the Building'. I think it was to suggest he was big in the '70s. I don't think Peugeot have been on sale in the US for a while.
There was one in the Ben Affleck film, 'The Accountant',stunning looking car...it's 21st Century EV upgrade is £3/4m,only around 20 built!
Peugeot, along with Saab, Volvo, etc. were very popular here in the 1980's due to a strong dollar and our domestic suppliers gross incompetence.
Also rather big part in Bond's For Your Eyes Only
This has made me think I’d love to see a video about model suffixes like GTI, GSI, CL, GL etc, what they were all supposed to stand for and represent. I’m sure you’ve touched on some of this in what I’ve seen, but I think a deep dive would be great. Thanks for your lovely work!
Agreed!
These videos are a work of art...❤😊
Well presented and great content.
Wonderful video! Cannot wait for the sequel and then a massive hot hatch video (please)
Wow, what an overdose of some of my favourite cars. Not many here may agree, but I absolutely loved the MK4 Ford Zodiac, in Executive trim of course. The Granada was a giant leap forward, and a very impressive car for 1972. Our doctor had three P6 Rovers on the trot, then went for a Peugeot 505. Having owned a Rover P6, I think they were one of the greatest cars ever put on tarmac. Great idea to do this format. Really enjoyed, and thanks.
Great montage, enjoyed it thoroughly....
Thanks for such a great summary of 70s large family and executive cars. I adored following all the new car releases back then and had boxes of brochures, including all the 18/22 marques prior to the model becoming the Princess. Such a shame BL failed so badly and we ultimately lost our home owned motor industry.
I loved the German cars back then, heightened by a couple of exchange visits there. It was a long while before I could afford anything upmarket. I bought my first BMW in the mid 90s - a 4 year old ex company 3 series, and currently have several of their cars (& bikes), though none are the exec class covered here. I'd happily buy British but there's just no options, indeed finding any non SUV cars seems tough these days. The 2/3/4 series BMWs plus several of the Skoda models are just about the only things left on the market that I like now. Sad times.
I think Alfa Romeo's Alfetta saloon should have got a mention, it was a good rival to the BMW 5 series.
I set myself a size constraint for these cars, and the Alfetta was a little small (even shorter than the SAAB 99 which talked about but didn't really consider for this list as well).
This is a great video. My Dad had a Rekord back in the 70s in Ireland. I always aspired to own a Senator. They looked so cool.
Much appreciated!
I learned to drive with 1970's cars, owned a few too (Swedish, German & Italian ones).
Wonderful trip down memory lane!
Great work! I was owner of Fiat 850, BMW 1600, Citroen BX19, Opel Ascona, Daewoo Cielo, Peugeot 405, Dacia Sandero, Suzuki Vitara and I like the fact that you cover in part my history!
Great video, thank you!
A video actually worth making,no one talks about the 70's
Very good analysis of the cars of these years ( a french supporter of your videos)🚙
Ford Granada was never seen in Australia. It's clear though that the XD Falcon (1978) took styling cues from the mk2 Granada. Around the same time, Holden (nee Opel) Commodore was a top seller - not only in the executive market.
See this is not fair. Now i want get a skoda superb. Ur content is so good. Allways well put together and delivered.
And i love modern skoda cars.
My videos make you want to get cars that aren't featured in the video? Wow - that's powerful! 😉
Growing up in South Africa in the late 70s and early 80s, the two cars that were luxury kings were the Mercedes W124 and Ford Granada. My grandad had quite a few Granadas - the V6s were uprated to 3.0 rather than 2.8 because of the heat and a company in Johannesburg did a factory approved V8 Mustang engine conversion too! They also sold a 3.0 V6 Cortina and Sierra XR8 - again with that lovely 5.0 litre Mustang engine but was a factory built model. By the time he moved back to the UK in 1990 he was a big Volvo fan… I am too now being on my 11th! Great video.
I relate to so many of these. Thank you!! After watching this video, I tried to find a good official definition of "Executive Car" and ... I haven't yet.
It's a thing in the UK, but yeah, I don't have a definitive definition: www.topgear.com/car-reviews/find/body/executive
I haven't seen the video yet. I gave it a like because I know it's going to be good.
Thanks.
Really enjoyed this 👍
Loved this video as it was all the cars from my era growing up a kid in Leicester and my parents were starting to get richer. They had cars like the Herald and Morris Minor but ended up with Granadas and big Vauxhalls much to the annoyance of the neighbours who couldn't keep up. Cars were just so much better then.....
Enjoyed this, good to see an E23 as I bought one earlier this year. Just saw part 2 two 😎
Great video! British Leyland designed an estate SD1 concept but chose not to put it into production. It must have been good though as BL Chairman Sir Michael Edwardes used it as his personal car.
It's on display at the British Motor Museum now.
Been a Knight of the Realm says it all...had engineers ran BL,we could have been like Germany today!
BL designed and tested many variants and new models and then bottled it when it came to invest in the production facilities needed. Triumph prototypes such as the Dolomite replacement SD2, and TR7 based Lynx 2+2 coupe spring immediately to mind. All that money spent, and engineering talent wasted, only to pull the plug late on in the process and not bring them to market.
@@BungleBarethe Lynx prototype is in the same area as the SD1 estate at the museum with the hatchback Mini replacement as well. You're right about these ideas being dropped late in the game.
The problem with BL was the BMC part. Leyland (Rover Triumph) were profitable before the merger. They would still be with us I suspect.
If BMC had gone bust Leyland and others could have picked the good bits off their bones. Jaguar and MG probably. Who knows Abingdon might still be going.
Brilliant show to get info, i watched all the videos, relaxing and good info for a car enthusiast. And i can relate to these cars, the german ones at least.
It's funny how in Australia the commodore executive was the base trim spec. So a lot think that an exec is a lower spec car. But actually it's supposed to be more elite.
One thing has me giggling: You introduce the German made cars of the era as the pinnacle of quality and luxury.
My first car was a Volvo 244 GL black leather, tinted windows, automatic transmission, made 1977. I loved it for its smooth engine. The Borg-Warner BW55 automatic transmission also was used by Jaguar and Rolls Royce, wasn't it? It did however change gears superbly smoothly and was an absolute gem! I got my 244 when it was 14 years old. It was in pretty much mint condition!
If you do the math, that puts that purchase into the early Nineties, so not too long after the wall in Germany had come down, and friends of my gran finally had scratched up enough money to replace their 2 stroke cardboard-car with something real. It was a white BMW 520, around the same age as my Volvo. The poor beamer had rust all over, was deafeningly loud and the ZF automatic shifted so bumpy and reluctantly, it was a pain! They had bought the car near ours and I delivered the car to them, some 400 Kms of drive. It was tinitus-inducing noise in there!
From how I remember the era, the Audi 100 engines often were ridiculously weak, under 100hp for cars that big, they corroded away like sand castles (I did take a look at some before getting my Volvo, but their state of decay usually was so bad, I never even test-drove them). The reason Audi introduced zink galvanized bodies was that they were about to destroy their (not really brilliant) reputation with the poor durability of their cars. (Volvo had started that with their 100 series models in 1962, by the way. By another way, the 200 was not a new design, it was little more than a facelift of the 100 with a different front and rear. The inline-six of the 164 was replaced with the Peugeot/Volvo/Renault V6 in the 264 and the red block four cylinder had its camshaft moved to the cylinder head and slightly bigger bores, That was it, the model was basically ready to be one of the best buys for the next 19 years!)
Mercedes were overpriced yet quite good with their corrosion resistance but the seats were a joke and again, that ZF transmission or the crazy loud and wimpy Diesel engines… Nah! 🥴
My father used to buy the big Opels, Admiral and Diplomat. He died when I was 12, so we never got to the Senator, but I remember at least 4 of them and brief switches to Mercedes (an older S-class, didn't last long with us. I vaguely remember that the maintenance was to pricey for his liking and its interior's smell made my sister throw up) and a Granada Turnier which was announced a total after a TÜV- examination not too long after we had bought it.
Thing is, I owned my Volvo for longer than I had my father. Actually my good old 244GL sits in a friend's shed waiting for its restoration nowadays. Won't be too much work, and if I had the means, I would do it myself!
This was the quality level of the German cars back then, in such a short time, my father went through so many of them. Yes, he never bought them new, he preferred to let others pay the drop in value of the first 5 years, but still. They weren't too impressing in quality after all!
Oh, and the fantastic Citrôën CX was missing in your list!
The E34 model was when the BMW 5-series became good. Still, when they had automatic transmission, they behaved weirdly. An uncle of mine got one of them when I already had my Volvo. Before his beamer, he had a Ford Scorpio 2.9 Ghia. Despite quite liking the E34's looks, I thought that both his Scorpio and my 244GL were comfier rides than his new car.
…and more reliable… 😊 That beamer was one expensive mess! But it was fast, I'll give it that.
Yes BMW were fast and now more than ever o be avoided if you look for a sensible used car.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, a really enjoyable vid. I will never forget my dads Austin Princess. I honestly thought we had hit the pinnacle of motoring luxury (although after six months he would say shhh can anybody else hear that funny sound?).
Ford Granadas and Opel Commodores as luxury executive cars in the UK, widened/lengthened variants with big 6 and V8 motors as family hacks and taxis in Australia. 5.0-5.8L high performance V8 versions underpinned the glory days of Australian Touring Car racing.
I think one of my new favourite videos. Some of my favourite cars are the RWD European exec cars from the 60s - 80s, hence the episodes about the Volvo 200/700/900 series are highlights for me
I personally prefer the German models - especially the Merc W114/W123, and BMW 3 and 5 series, though may be interested in the Peugeot 504/505, and certain British models as well.
When I was in 6th grade, my Dad began looking for a replacement for our failure-prone 74 Chevy Nova sedan. He seemed very impressed with the 4-speed manual Audi Fox he test-drove. In the end, though, the Nova was traded for a new 76 Ford Torino coupe with the 351M V8.
Dad had the Viscount, with its (faux?) wood accents and articulating map light , then the Victor and Ventora (eventually getting an estate version of the latter), closing out the decade with VX 4/90. Mom always had Viva estates, but to close out the ‘70s, got the Chevette hatchback. Somewhere along the way, we had a Cavalier. That must’ve been Mom’s car, but before the Chevette. The only other car that we had in that decade was a 1971 Austin-Healey Sprite Mk IV, which we bought used in ‘74 and which I began to drive in ‘75.
Very few people bought Exec cars with their own money in the 70s. They were a tax dodge due to the high income tax (upto 98% tax band). Most cars were bought by Company Fleets and were used to define job grades L, GL, GLS, Ghia etc. My Father changed cars frequently due job moves, cars such a Hilman Hunter, Humber Sceptre, Capri, Cortina THEN he moved to Audis, he had maybe 5 of those. I now lease a car and change every 5 years and get hammered by the BIK.
The 1980 Ford Capri I bought was previously owned by an advertising agency despite me knowing the sellers son.
Nowadays, it is leased EVs which are the big tax dodge. Work have a "Salary Sacrifice" scheme where you pay just a minimal "Benefit in Kind" payment instead of income tax and national insurance if you lease one.
I can remember clearly visiting my late dads cousin who was the sales manager at the Keithley co -op Renault garage an seeing the new out 30 ts on a slowly rotating turntable in the centre of the showroom, looked very nice.
British Leyland (or rather BMC) did actually launch a new luxury car after 1963 (in1967) - it was the Austin 3-Litre. But it was quite a failure and only on sale for a few years. Whoever thought it was a good idea to to reuse the doors from the Landcrab? It made the car look almost identical to the Landcrab to the untrained eye.
Thanks for the memories - my favorites were the BMW 5 series, Ford Granada and Audi 100.
Lots of nice cars to look at back then - no SUVs (almost), no crossovers, no oversize "trucks", no blacked out "privacy" glass, no black wheels, no black interiors and no Nissan Pukes. Also no 20mph zones, no speed bumps, no traffic calming street furniture and no "holier than thou" cyclists in rubber suits. Happy days.
That metalic orange/brown 5 series looks wonderful.
Fun fact, the Audi 100 would go as far as China and Russia, where it served as the basis for Hongqi cars and the GAZ-3105 respectively. The Hongqi replaced the previous Hongqi CA770 limousines, which were based on their predecessor, the Hongqi CA72, which was a copy of the 1955 Chrysler Imperial, while the GAZ-3105 replaced the GAZ-14 limousine, which was basically a rebodied GAZ-13 limousine, which in turn was a version of the 1956 Packard Patrician. Obviously, the Audi based cars were much smaller and lighter than these previous vehicles. What a crazy story of "exotic-developed" vehicles.
2 minutes walk from my house there are a pair of Fiat 130 saloons sitting on a driveway, they've been there at least 20 years and it's a miracle they have survived at all but one doesn't look too bad.
Can't be many around
My father had three 2nd gen Granada's, all V6. 2.3L, 2.3GL and 2.8iGLS. Loved them all.
Wow, what a fantastic video. Thanks so much for posting such a well researched video, excellent. Takes me back to when cars were cars. These days, yawn SUV and EV heaps of junk.
Out of all of them, the 505 and CX were by far the best looking imho.
Happy Christmas Mr Big Car. Keep up the good work and looking forward to next years videos already! 🙂
My late parents owned a couple of 1970s executive cars: the first was a '76 Granada 2000 L and after that was a' 79 Vauxhall Royale 2800. They weren`t brand new cars as we were very working class. Granada was bought in 1980, Royale was bought in 1985. I was 7 going on 8 years old when the latter was acquired.
I recall seeing a few Audi 100 Avants (C2?) in the mid 1980s and the Ford and Vauxhall looked positively ancient compared to one of those.
When the blue car turns off the road at 8.36 it reminds me of the area where the film Clockwise was filmed.
Nice ending of the video with that early E28..❤️
Pleased you featured the Series 1 Audi 100! My parents had an LS automatic in white from 1973. They’d had a couple of P6s before that. And then we had a Series 1 Granada L automatic in the famous caramel brown metallic.