OPEC and the Biggest Gas Guzzlers of 1973

we'll wait to see as soon as it gets up to a dollar and a half gallon you'll see all the gas you want there will be no more lines tomorrow morning in the 1970s OPEC the organization of petroleum exporting countries tightened the spigot on oil shipments causing a real shortage and sending the economy into a panic gasoline prices shot up dramatically ending the era of 30 Cent per gallon gas Forever This is the story of the mpg gas guzzlers of 1973. during the oral Embargo of the 1970s shortages cropped up and service stations closed when they ran out of gas which was often lines would often start forming well before the stations ever opened it was an ugly time needless to say sales of big cars and trucks fell like an anvil down the Elevator Shaft if your experience with any of these vehicles involved consuming more or less fuel than we're about to show you here then let us know leave your comments below introducing the solid feeling for 73. introducing the new Buicks the Buick Riviera it was a personal luxury car that was marketed by Buick from 1963 to 1999 with the exception of the 1994 model year as General Motors first entry into the personal luxury car market segment the Riviera was highly praised by Automotive journalists upon its high-profile debut with a curb weight of 5101 pounds a 455 cubic inch V8 and 260 horsepower this Beast averaged 9 miles per gallon Monte Carlo by Chevrolet certainly its elegant styling has much to do with its success but there's a reason for Monte Carlo's popularity that has to do with Elegance of Another Kind next on the list is the Chevrolet Monte Carlo deriving its name from the city of Monaco the Monte Carlo was marketed as the first personal luxury car of the Chevrolet brand introduced for the 1970 model year the model line was produced across six Generations through 2007 with a Hiatus from 1989 through 1994. Monte Carlo was a closely aligned variant of the Pontiac Grand Prix through its entire production with a curb weight of 3883 pounds a 454 cubic inch V8 and 245 horsepower the Monte Carlo came in at nine miles per gallon a combination of engineering changes have been incorporated into the toronado's powertrain significantly improving fuel economy next on our list is the Toronado with heavily revised styling from its first generation the Toronado transitioned from a GT style car into a more luxury car it was now more similar to the Cadillac Eldorado than the Buick Riviera with styling taking several cues from the 1967 through 70 El Dorado with a curb weight of 4841 pounds a 455 cubic inch V8 and 250 horsepower this front-wheel drive only achieved 8.5 miles per gallon [Music] next on the list the Ford Thunderbird the sixth generation of the four Thunderbird is a large personal luxury Coupe and was produced from 1972 through 1976 almost to Lincoln the 1973 Ford Thunderbird bird was one of Ford's biggest passenger cars to date and it sold like no other bird before it that move paid off big time for Ford with sales increasing from 36 055 to 57 814. the 1973 model year was Ford's hottest yet for its personal luxury Coupe a sibling of a Continental Mark IV this generation of a Ford Thunderbird was the largest ever produced weighing in at 4 797 pounds with 212 horsepower this Behemoth rated at 8.5 miles per gallon the engine advancements give you finer performance and start to stop I like the traction and stability of front wheel drive next on the list is the Cadillac Eldorado the ninth generation El Toronto was substantially redesigned growing two inches in length six inches in wheelbase and featuring standard fender skirts all of which gave the car a much heavier appearance for 1973 the car featured a massive egg crate Grill new front and rear bumpers a new deck lid rear fenders and tail lamps oddly enough the 1973 Eldorado was chosen as the official pace car for the Indianapolis 500 in 1973. it was only the second time Cadillac had been afforded the honor the first time was in 1931 but it was still odd for 1972 the official pace car had been the Hurst Olds Cutlass for 1974 it would again be a Hearst holes Cutlass Cadillac wouldn't be given the racing oval's honor again until 1992 when it's two dorellante received the nod the 500 cubic inch 8.2 liter V8 remained an El Dorado exclusive at 5012 pounds and only 235 horsepower this Beast rated its 7.5 miles per gallon the 1973 Continental Mark IV newly minted silver introducing the 1973 Continentals it is a very good year next on the list the Continental Mark IV the third generation of the mark series The Mark IV grew in size over its Continental Mark III predecessor as with the previous generation the mark IV saw little direct competition in the American Marketplace competing nearly exclusively against the Cadillac Eldorado which was redesigned for 1971. with the curb weight of 5134 pounds a 460 cubic inch V8 and only 212 horsepower to pull this lanyard it only achieved 7.5 miles per gallon our Lincoln Continental four-door sedan and Coupe designed for an even more comfortable ride than r72 last on our list and the Beast with the least when it comes to miles per gallon is the Lincoln Continental for the 1970 model year Lincoln introduced the fifth generation Lincoln Continental building on the success of the Mark III introduced the year before Lincoln sought to modernize the Continental for the 1970s after a nine-year production run although shorter in wheelbase and slightly narrower than the 1958 through 1960 Lincolns the addition of five mile per hour bumpers make 1970 through 1979 Lincoln's the longest automobiles ever produced by Ford with a curb weight of 5282 pounds a 460 cubic inch V8 and 212 horsepower this big boy was rated the worst for 1973. at a measly 7 miles per gallon [Music] well what'd you think did you own one of these cars man what kind of mileage did you get or maybe you have a family member who's driving one of these Big Boys around what are they getting for gas mileage we want to know leave your comments below again thanks to all our subscribers for helping support our Channel we are growing and growing and we owe it all to you guys so thank you very much if you're not a subscriber please help us out subscribe to our channel it's absolutely free like subscribe and hit the Bell this is Michael J with the Boker Brothers we will catch you again next weekend [Music]

Channel: Boca Brothers Classic Cars

Views: 487,998

Keywords: barrett jackson auction, barrett jackson tv, big cars, boca brothers, classic cars, gas guzlers, gas guzzlers, luxury cars

Id: 8VrjlpAdTrU

Length: 8min 39sec (519 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 04 2023