70s North American "subcompact" cars, ranked.

"not for canada - australian in disguise" (for-canada) 09/16/2019 at 20:34 • Filed to: None

4

28

1. AMC Gremlin

2. Chevy Monza/Oldsmobile Starfire/Buick Skyhawk

3. Chevy Vega

4. Ford Pinto

5. AMC Pacer

6. Ford Mustang II

NOT LISTED:

Chevy Chevette/Pontiac Acadian, Plymouth Cricket, Dodge/Plymouth Colt, . All of them were pretty crap (although the Colt was a lot better than any of it’s American counterparts ), and competed in generally the same market and were sold under North American badges, but all of them were badge engineered or heavily based on foreign cars.

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MM54 > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 20:51

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I would agree with this listing, though I may put the Pacer above the Pinto.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 21:02

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I always had a “thing” for the Starfire.

Matador too big to qualify on the list? I’m sure they had a coupe version.

Jayvincent > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 21:06

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I’m partial to the Pinto (see avatar), but you can’t deny the Gremlin made a fine racecar!

ranwhenparked > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 21:11

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The Gremlin was definitely the most rugged and reliable of the bunch. If you wanted a subcompact, and had to stick with domestic, that was the one likely to give you the least trouble.

AMC seemed to target the Volkswagen Beetle as their designated competition with it, more so than the Vega, Pinto, or Cricket. The Gremlin was only a fraction of an inch longer than a Beetle, so they were basically the same size, but you could get a straight six, automatic transmission, air conditioning, power brakes, power steering, and a plusher trimmed interior. The Gremlin’s base price was only about $50 more, too (about $316 today) .

for Michigan > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 21:12

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Wow that Mustang is homely...

slipperysallylikespenguins > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 21:15

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Pacer should definitely be above the Pinto. It’s better in every possible way, except front suspension.

Also, no Maverick?

slipperysallylikespenguins > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 21:18

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Also a AMC Hornet, especially in AMX trim.

WilliamsSW > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 09/16/2019 at 21:23

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  The Matador was bigly 

facw > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 21:24

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I’ve always liked the look of the Pacer.

WilliamsSW > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 21:25

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The Vega should be 999 right after getting rear ended in a Pinto. And both AMC entries should top the list. 

not for canada - australian in disguise > slipperysallylikespenguins 09/16/2019 at 21:25

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I’m gonna be honest, I forgot the Maverick existed.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > WilliamsSW 09/16/2019 at 21:42

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Yeah, I’d forgotten it was so huge . In that vein, then, the Pacer was actually a little portly as well.

Wow. I just looked. Even the Matador Coupe was 209" long. Ouch. And, weighed close to 4000#.

WilliamsSW > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/16/2019 at 21:58

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Seems like a compact that  competed with the Dart/ Valiant/ Nova anyways ?

for Michigan > WilliamsSW 09/16/2019 at 21:59

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Yeah, I thought the Maverick was bigger than the Pinto/Stang.

Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > WilliamsSW 09/16/2019 at 23:10

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You are correct Maverick is compact not sub-compact.

WilliamsSW > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 09/16/2019 at 23:32

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The Pacer was supposed to compete with these, I think though.

Matador was more mid sized. Like a Malibu or Satellite. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > WilliamsSW 09/17/2019 at 00:14

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Yeah, I was shocked to see how large the Matador coupe really was... seemed like they’d intended it to be a “pony-ish” car, a bit larger than a Javelin. But it was huge. It didn’t look nearly that large in the 007 film where Bond chases it in the ‘rolling’ Matador.

Plus, hey, it converted into an airplane, so how heavy could it be? :)

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > MM54 09/17/2019 at 00:45

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When I was a child, the Pacers were far less likely to still be on the road than the Pintos 10+ years later. Not sure what that means, but it is something I recall.

Gremlins were clearly quality products, though, as they were easily the most numerous well into the 90s.

HammerheadFistpunch > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/17/2019 at 00:52

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my dad had that exact same Skyhawk . such a crappy family car.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > not for canada - australian in disguise 09/17/2019 at 00:56

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Those Vegas were off the road pretty early in their lives for sure, so there must have been something wrong with them. The Monzas were also rare by my childhood , but nothing like the Vegas.

ranwhenparked > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 09/17/2019 at 09:31

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The novelty car factor probably played into that. The Pacer was momentarily seen as a desirable fashion accessory around 1975-1976, then quickly went out of fashion and ultimately became an embarrassment to be seen in. 

ranwhenparked > WilliamsSW 09/17/2019 at 09:32

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It was, the Pacer was supposed to offer "big car" comfort in a subcompact envelope. The front seat area was basically the same as the front seat space in a full size car, thanks to the extra width. 

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > ranwhenparked 09/17/2019 at 12:06

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I grew up in the ghetto; people there drove anything they could get their hands on cheaply, so this sounds like exactly the kind of car I should have seen a lot of...

It would be interesting to see their total sales numbers over their runs. Maybe some of these were more common simply because more were sold...

ranwhenparked > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 09/17/2019 at 12:31

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Fell off a cliff:

1975: 145,528

1976: 117,244

1977: 58,264

1978: 21,231

1979: 10,215

1980: 1,746

American Motors needed sales to stay close to 1975 levels for 5 years straight just to break even.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > ranwhenparked 09/17/2019 at 12:33

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Wasn’t the Gremlin essentially a Hornet that they chopped the tail off? I believe they were introduced around the same time and on the same platform, sharing most of their expensive components.

The Latin American versions (made in Mexico) shared even more with the Hornet behind the B pillar.

ranwhenparked > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 09/17/2019 at 12:35

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That was it, yes. AMC got two new cars for the price of a little more than one. Dick Teague figured out that they could chop the back off the compact Hornet and spin off a subcompact on the same platform, sharing much of the sheet metal, glass, interior, drivetrain, etc. 

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > ranwhenparked 09/17/2019 at 12:46

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But how does this compare to the total production of the others? According the en.wp, the Pacer was 280k units, Gremlin 671k units, Pinto over 3M units, Vega over 2M units, etc. I’d say that the Gremlin was the clear winner purely because it was so common for so long in spite of the relatively low production. The Vega must have been a real stinker if that many were produced and they were out of service so soon...

ranwhenparked > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 09/17/2019 at 13:16

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The Vega was a piece of hot garbage. Paper thin sheet metal with poor rust protection, even by the standards of the time, industry worst quality control, and their engines leaked oil and coolant practically from new and failed early.