Sports Cars, Pickups, and Sedans dominated
the vehicle marketplace in the 1970s. Recovering from the social and political havoc
of the '60s, manufacturers of the '70s regrouped and explored new designs, coming up with new
hits for car buyers. We've gathered a list of some of the best
and most unusual vehicles you could purchase during that decade. I'm
Glenn and let's have a look. Number Fifteen A radical redesign happened to the popular
Buick Riviera in 1971. The car was revealed with long flowing lines and featured a fastback
style dramatic boat-tail rear window and trunk area. Larger and heavier than the previous design,
the new Riviera design was apparently inspired by the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray split-window
coupe. The 455-engine produced 255 horsepower. Performance did stay reasonably brisk, with
a 0 to 60 time of 8.1 seconds for the GS version. But reviewers say the Riviera's sporty image
was rapidly fading, and sales were down, as Buick executives said the boat tail deck style
might have been too radical for buyers. Number Fourteen This Canadian built sports car, named after
its American Creator Malcom Bricklin, was only manufactured from 1974 to 1975. It had gull-wing doors, and its body was a
colored resin bonded to fiberglass. The SV-1 stood for "Safety Vehicle One" and was promoted
as a very safe car to drive. Production problems and parts availability
plagued the company, so they produced less than 3,000 vehicles. One version had a Chrysler
Slant-6 engine, with the suspension, brake parts, and steering wheel from other larger
manufacturers. Later, prototype Bricklins used V-8 engines. Number Thirteen Chevrolet, in 1976, produced a scarce pickup
edition. Their special edition K10 was called "The Spirit of ‘76 Scottsdale Bonanza" and
was made to help celebrate America's bicentennial. This edition was rare indeed, with only 500
produced. The ones with the red, white and blue striping
and baby blue paint were even rarer, as most were painted white. The pickups package included
a unique grill, A/C, dash gauge package, automatic transmission, and power steering. The truck
had a 350 V-8 engine and novel interior touches, including red, white, and blue seat upholstery. Number Twelve The Piper P2 was an evolution of 3 previous
sports cars, the GT, GTR, and GTT produced by the small company, Piper Cars, a United
Kingdom manufacturer of specialist sports cars. Having little luck racing, the company focused
on its newest design, the Piper P2. It had several chassis, interior, and body improvements. Produced through the mid-‘70s, British Regulations
made times difficult for Piper, and they only built an estimated 80 to 100 of these vehicles.
Today only 57 Piper road cars are said to be in existence. Number Eleven This French designed and built car seemed
advanced for its time as it contained many forward-thinking and unusual driving qualities.
The company had bought Maserati and used its performance engine technology to produce a
Gran Tourismo car, which was the SM, first shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1970. Due to government regulations in France at
the time, the engine was limited to 165 cubic inches and had 174 horsepower. Reviewers found
the car to have excellent handling, comfort, and extremely efficient braking. Number Ten You might not see one of these 1977 Falcons
anywhere else but in Australia, as Ford produced this unusual combination for the Aussie market.
They were hitting the younger buyers with this "Crusin' Van from Ford". The Falcon was successful in the mid-‘70s
and was styled similar to the American Ford model Fairlane. It came standard with a 200
cubic inch, 6-cylinder engine with two choices of more powerful V-8's as options. Radio and
Air Conditioning were also optional. I'm Allie, and it's Mind's Eye Trivia time.
By looking at just these images, do you know what this is and where it's from? Leave the
correct answer or your best guess in the comment section below. Number Nine Could this be the original "Mini" or maybe
a "Micro" van? This 1972 van from Honda of Japan was built and sold in their home country.
Based on their 1971 Honda Life sedan, the step van was marketed toward small businesses
and shop owners who needed a small economical delivery vehicle. It drove like a passenger car and featured
a low step floor, had a 30 horsepower, 22 cubic inch, two-cylinder water-cooled engine,
front-wheel-drive with a manual transmission, and the rear end had a two-piece horizontal
clamshell gate. Honda sold a little over 17,000 of these cute
little vans. Number Eight The years between the early ‘70s to Mid
'80s saw little change in the body styling of General Motors and Chevrolet pickups, but
that didn't stop them from producing a multitude of special editions to appeal to a broader
audience of buyers. Enter - two upscale editions for the discriminating
man, the Beau James, and Gentleman Jim. The 1975 Chevy "Beau James" Sierra Classic
was dressed in blue and silver paint and had wire hubcaps, a unique hood ornament, and
a distinctive chrome decal on the side. It also featured full instrumentation, velour
seats, air conditioning, and cruise control. It was available with a 4-barrel 350 or a
454 V8 engine. Not be left out, in 1975, GM presented their
"Gentleman Jim" Sierra Classic pickup in a plush black and gold motif. The interior featured
a brown theme with vinyl bucket seats, a center console, and plenty of woodgrain accents and
door storage pouches. It also featured their two most powerful V-8 engines. The truck had
all the options, like A/C, tilt steering wheel, power brakes, and a stereo radio with an 8-track
tape player. Number Seven Another impressive looking sports and rally
car out of Italy was the Lancia Stratos HF, or more simply known as 'Lancia Stratos'. It had a 146 cubic inch V6, and a 5-speed
transaxle from Ferrari, independent suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, and four-wheel disc
brakes. The Stratos had 190 horsepower and could travel faster than 140 miles per hour. They produced only around 500 of the Stratos,
and it is now highly sought after by collectors Number Six With the Bora model, built from 1971 to 1978,
Maserati produced its first mid-engine sports car. Its first engine was the well-known quad-cam
287 cubic inch V8 with 310 horsepower, and it was rear-wheel drive with a five-speed
transaxle. The later engine used was a 300 cubic inch V8. A first for a production vehicle, the Bora
had adjustable pedals and standard A/C, tilt/telescopic steering wheel, and power windows. Sales of the Bora suffered from the oil-crisis
of the time, plus plans for racing the Bora faltered. Maserati only built a total of 564
units. Number Five Manufactured by Alpine, a company that developed
faster versions of Renaults, this sports car is a slick two-seater. Their first model was the A310, which featured
six headlights and had a fiberglass body over a tubular steel chassis. It had a longitudinally-mounted
four-cylinder engine in the rear, driving the wheels through a manual five-speed gearbox
with 94 horsepower. Despite its small size, the Alpine A310 did
feature a pair of rear seats for tiny passengers! Number Four This sleek-looking "Jarama" grand tourer debuted
in 1970 and was Lamborghini's final front-engine V-12 model. It was broad and low and had a 350 horsepower,
238 cubic inch V12 engine, with a top speed of 160 miles per hour. Styled by designer Marcello Gandini from Bertone,
it had seats for four passengers. Two models were available, the original GT and the GTS
that produced 365 horsepower. It featured several modifications and extras,
like power steering and an optional Chrysler automatic transmission. Production of both
models totaled only 328 units. Number Three Designed by the famous movie car creator George
Barris, this heavily customized 1972 Lincoln Mark IV was nicknamed an 'American Rolls-Royce'. This thing was sure to draw stares as it drove
down Hollywood Boulevard. It featured gold leaf accents, heavy lacquer, and wacky lanterns
in place of headlights. The interior was literally fit for a king,
with gold trim, a TV, Italian door handles mounted on Italian marble slabs, Persian rugs,
and a wet bar in the back-seat area. Number Two Another uniquely refreshing ‘70's vehicle
was the short-lived version of the Plymouth Road Runner, called the Superbird. This vehicle was a radical alteration of the
Road Runner with a pointed nose and high rear wing on the tail. Three engine options were
available with many of Superbirds equipped with a 440 cubic inch and some with a 426
cubic inch Hemi engine. The company produced an estimated 2,000 Superbirds
in 1970, and dealers sold them across the US and some in Canada. It’s believed that
over 1,000 of these vehicles exist today. The little Honda Z was the forerunner of the
popular Civic. Sold until 1974, it debuted in Japan in 1970. A few of these mini size cars made their way
from Japan to America in the early ‘70s. In America, they were running with a 37 cubic
inch engine and first sold at motorcycle dealers until new Honda auto dealers opened. The Z had seats for 4, but the rear seat was
tiny. Honda ended production after the arrival of the Civic in 1974. Number One Internal struggles within American Motors
Corporation may have limited sales of these sharp vehicles, but the company put its best
foot forward with this 340-horsepower vehicle. The clean lines of the Rebel combined with
the distinctive Red, White, and Blue stripes were sure to catch the eye of prospective
buyers. First introduced in 1967, the Rebel replaced
the Rambler Classic. In addition to 6-cylinder engines, they also added a powerful 390 cubic
inch engine. In collaboration with Hurst Performance, they
brought out their high performance 'The Machine' for the Rebel's last model year. Adorned with
bright patriotic red, white, and blue striping, 'The Machine' debuted at the National Hot
Rod Association's drag race finals in 1969. So, nostalgia fans, which supercar or pickup
is, or was your favorite? Did you ever see some of these, in-person
way back when, or maybe owned one? Let us know in the comments! Also, don't hesitate to tell us any suggestions
you have for a future video. As always, thanks for watching! Hi everyone, if you enjoyed this video, leave a comment about what you found to be the most interesting and why. Also, to get notified when a new video is posted, hit the bell icon below right next to the subscribe button. Thank you for watching Mind's Eye Design!
