Ha, ha. Hilarious. Ten more reasons to hate the malaise era.

I got to admit they did have far better all around visibility in those cars plus they built them assuming everyone was at least 6' 5" 275 #'s and always had at least 5 more friends just like that with them at all times!

They may have been called full size sedans and wagons but they still came with engines that most of today's pickups cant touch for displacement and torque numbers!

The good ol Battle wagon and yard barge era. Cruise ships on wheels that is!

You could melt down an aircraft carrier and it would only make a half dozen or so Chrysler Imperials in return!

You might die in a head to head car crash but you could take down a full grown bull moose any day and drive way!

"You could melt down an aircraft carrier and it would only make a half dozen or so Chrysler Imperials in return!"

Love it!

Agree, the good old days of Detroit Iron.

I love malaise with bologna and cheese....but seriously folks, one of my favorite cars I've owned was a 1973 Cadillac Eldorado...Hood was a mile long, had a 501, didn't really start moving till you hit about 75.....front wheel drive, the leather on the seats was so thick it was like sitting on my Gma's plastic covered couch....it was so long it was like driving a parade float, and that's what it felt like, you were a parade going down the road.....This one pictured below closely resembles it, but without the fancy roof and trunk.....

Of the 20-some cars I've owned, my favorite may be the anthracite gray 1978 Saab 99EMS, smack dab in the middle of the "malaise". It handled wonderfully on 60 series tires, had a huge hatch that I actually fit a new clothes dryer in (box included), heated seats and a sunroof. It took the rest of the industry 10 to 15 years to catch up. Same setup as this turbo, but in a dark gray.

We Aptly named by '77 Buick Electra Limited... "Galactica"....

This thing was monstrous.....

Funny thing.... I figured out that by lightly accelerating and keeping it down to 55, timing stops etc, I could manage 32mpg out of that beast.... It had a 403 Olds engine and very bald tires..... I was a broke college kid and by default an early hyper miler...

I think that most everyone who lived through or grew up near that era all remember a friend, family, member or even themselves having one or more of those 3+ ton land yachts that would pull mid 20's MPG numbers on a regular basis without even trying.

I know I did and they were the same guys who taught me about re tuning and reworking emissions compliant vehicles by removing the load of unneeded crap from the engine and re tuning for power and efficiency made a world a difference in a vehicle!

Gut the catalytic converters, remove smog pumps and all unneeded vacuum controls, re jet or replace the whole carburetor, open up the air intake ducting and filter system and most any land barge would get at least mid 20's while any smaller mid size went into the mid 30's and the little bitty econo cars would easily run 40's - 50+ MPG in normal driving.

As a teenager during the Malaise Era, I think that you're right that there were some good cars produced then. The darkness was caused first by rising insurance rates, then rising gasoline prices (started by the 1974 Oil Embargo). We got discouraged from driving, and the manufacturers started to use cheaper materials. Metal was thinner and rusted sooner, interior plastics kept breaking, and those tape stripes peeled off. "Muscle" cars didn't live up to their heritage - not that they were bad cars, they just didn't match expectations. 1981 ushered in the first computer-controlled engines, and the EPA strangled them with clunky emissions systems. Although they weren't nearly as complicated as today's cars, the average shade tree mechanic couldn't work on them anymore. You also couldn't buy a new convertible after 1976 unless it was a high-priced exotic. Too many models became bland and ugly. You could find performance in surprising places if you paid enough - how about those V8 Cosworth Vegas? (Just ignore those rattletrap 4 cylinder Vegas.)

No doubt that the right Malaise Era car in good condition draws interest at car shows. A lot of people still remember them, but few kept them since they weren't worth much. It costs as much to restore a Malaise Era car as a '60s Muscle car, and you get more performance from the '60s car.