Ranger Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 My buddy just bought a '76 Deville. He stopped over with it this afternoon to show it to me and to fix a few things. I had forgotten just how big these aircraft carriers were. The trunk was cavernous. Two guys could easily lay down in there, side by side, without bending your knees. The hood appeared long enough to land a DC-6 on. I took it for a short drive and just getting into the throttle a little you could hear the carb start to howl. I didn't want to nail it too hard as he said it cost $18 round trip just to bring it out here . Road feel was nonexistant as it wallowed down the highway. Looking down that lengthy hood from behind the skinny steering wheel was like a tug boat captain looking across the 3 barges he was pushing down river ahead of him. Handling was almost scarry. How did we drive these things? We had to remove the rear seat. There was actually enough room for two of us to get in there and work side by side. Amazing! Also had to get under the dash on the drivers side. There was actually enough room to get in there and work, see and reach all the components. The doors are massive as it is a coupe, but very tinny sounding when closed by todays standards. They needed to be slammed quite hard to close them, not like todays cars that close with a very gentle shove. Lifting the hood took two men and a boy. You could actually see the ground from the engine compartment, but leaning over the radiator, I was a good two feet short of being able to even touch the firewall, and I'm 6'2''. We had it backed up to my garage door. When he started it and left, the garage smelled like exhaust that I haven't smelled in years. I guess they were still pretty inefficient at burning fuel in '76. It was about 65 degrees outside and just idling for a short time left a puddle of condensation from the exhaust. It was quite a trip to see and drive, but I don't think I'd want to have to use one as a daily driver again. We've come a long, long way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 I miss the old full sized cars - except for the low fuel economy...I think it is all what one is used to as far as size/handling. The cars have improved over the years and it is easy to become accustomed to the improved handling without noticing it until you go drive an older car. If someone drove a 1946 cadillac in 1976, they'd probably say some of the same things. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenJ Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 You remind me of my '72 Marquis Brougham. Remember the TV commercial where this guy is cutting a diamond in the back seat? It was supposed to demonstrate how smoothly the car drove. Okay, maybe you're not old enough to remember. You could play half court basketball in the back seat of that thing and server dinner for three on the dashboard! I'm not sure I ever found out where the trunk ended. I think it had two zipcodes. Regards, Warren There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. - Ludwig von Mises Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 You remind me of my '72 Marquis Brougham. Remember the TV commercial where this guy is cutting a diamond in the back seat? It was supposed to demonstrate how smoothly the car drove. Okay, maybe you're not old enough to remember. Regards, Warren Unfortunately, I remember it well Warren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenJ Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 You remind me of my '72 Marquis Brougham. Remember the TV commercial where this guy is cutting a diamond in the back seat? It was supposed to demonstrate how smoothly the car drove. Okay, maybe you're not old enough to remember. Regards, Warren Unfortunately, I remember it well Warren. Sometimes with age, comes wisdom. Of course, there are other possibilities . . . . AUTHOR: Don Marquis (1878–1937) QUOTATION: Between the years of ninety-two and a hundred and two, however, we shall be the ribald, useless, drunken, outcast person we have always wished to be. We shall have a long white beard and long white hair; we shall not walk at all, but recline in a wheel chair and bellow for alcoholic beverages; in the winter we shall sit before the fire with our feet in a bucket of hot water, a decanter of corn whiskey near at hand, and write ribald songs against organized society; strapped to one arm of our chair will be a forty-five calibre revolver, and we shall shoot out the lights when we want to go to sleep, instead of turning them off; when we want air we shall throw a silver candlestick through the front window and be damned to it; we shall address public meetings (to which we have been invited because of our wisdom) in a vein of jocund malice. We shall … but we don’t wish to make any one envious of the good time that is coming to us … We look forward to a disreputable, vigorous, unhonoured, and disorderly old age. ATTRIBUTION: DON MARQUIS, The Almost Perfect State, pp. 183–84 (1927). There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. - Ludwig von Mises Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximln Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 <<The trunk was cavernous. Two guys could easily lay down in there, side by side, without bending your knees.>> LOL. I had a 75 Sedan de Ville when I was 16 and I could easily fit my 12 speed bicycle into the trunk and close it normally with no problem! Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeal1892 Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH The way he talks about the reminds me of my Roadmaster and how large it was. Mine was a 1994 with the LT1 in it and it got 29 mpg easy out of the interstate at 70 ! Although it doesnt handle near as well as my Seville ever thought of I miss that car more than any car I ever have had ! My best friend and I had matching Limited Edtions. I recall reading about how it was a car from the 1970's LOL It truely was with mondern day fuel econ. Michael - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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