19th Sep 2015, 15:35
Why is there a 50s car on here? And a Volt which has absolutely no comparison as far as ride and room. Where should the family sit? It's not the good old days. It's a long wheel base sedan review. You can buy a nice brand new Cadillac sedan today vs a Volt.
19th Sep 2015, 17:18
Don't give up yet, now I'm scratching my head on your claim that Buicks from the '70s are not luxury cars.
Are you referring to an entry level Skyhawk or Apollo? Or are you referring to a fully loaded Electra, LeSabre, Riviera or Centurion, which were a step shy of a Cadillac?
20th Sep 2015, 01:28
It's all in perceptions. Do you remember the Cadillac Cimarron?? Probably not because you are too young, so I will fill you in. It was a compact luxury sedan Cadillac introduced in 1982. It was loaded with the luxury trimmings of the day, but at its core it couldn't hide what was painfully obvious, it was a gussied up Chevy Cavalier. Any car can masquerade as a luxury model, but only the ones that are truly engineered to be so give that feel.
You are probably under 50 and subscribe to the school of thought that electronic gizmos like navigation, heated/cooled seats, bluetooth, lane departure warning, back-up cameras, and I could go on and on make a luxury car. The simple fact is that only 1 of those things actually contributes to the comfort of the car; the heated/cooled seats. The rest are just simply fun gizmos. I will admit that I have all of those in my full-size crossover, they are nice to have, but I would give them all up if it had a velvety smooth ride like a full-size 70s luxury car.
Cars have been getting smaller with each re-style for decades, and the sad fact is there are very few large cars even remaining on the road to remind us of how far we have fallen. Some of the older cars that were once considered mid-size look huge among all the tiny plasti-blandmobiles. People have been forced to accept less and less comfortable cars for well over 30 years now. How quickly we forget what we once had. You drive your little Volt and enjoy it. Frankly I would much rather have a real luxury car with room to stretch out, styling that stands out from the crowd, and a ride that is like a cloud. To get that now one would have to pay $300K for a Rolls Royce.
The electronic gizmos are nice, but I would leave them any day for a real luxury car. Sadly though, the masses have been brainwashed like yourself and most would pick your car over a real luxury car like a '79 Continental. But since when does popularity make something good? Need I bring up the fact that Obama managed to get elected twice??
20th Sep 2015, 14:01
Take a 800 mile plus trip like we did in an early 70s Buick Riviera. Lot of money to buy one in the day. Pure luxury and absolute comfort. Scratch your head as you probably never rode in a brand new 70s luxury full size Buick. 4 people with luggage for a week. The car pushed 90 mph for a good stretch on parts of the isolated highways we had back then. I agree with gizmos. And we were not old owning these cars then. Good jobs, pretty successful. Many people want a really nice luxury car and will pay for one. A lot of us just have utilities and property tax to pay. Why not a great car that many of us have with no car loans as Boomers. Gadgets aren't enough. I don't think this guy gets it. How many people are going to buy a new Volt on here as a result. They might however buy a new full size vehicle, which might have to be a loaded SUV for now.
20th Sep 2015, 21:19
I bought my daughter a new Mazda 3. The gizmo she likes the best is a hands free phone. It also must be a luxury car. She has the new compact car and the luxury of not paying for it. That's a luxury car by its very definition.
22nd Sep 2015, 11:11
My first used car in 1971 was a 1950 Plymouth 4 door with 6 volt positive ground and 3 on the tree. Ran well, but I wonder if my 50 bucks was well spent. Took forever to stop with drum brakes. My girlfriend had to get out half the time to push start me. 10 years later I was buying new full size cars and didn't have to have my wife push it. The former girlfriend didn't stick with me. The heap may have been part of it.
22nd Sep 2015, 17:19
Times change, and with it the desires in what people want in a car. The truth is that those things you seemed to detract from are in fact commonplace features on luxury cars. People these days - myself included - spend a LOT of time in their cars on their long commutes. So more attention has been placed on the interiors. Yes - luxury cars from the 70s were the expression of what people of the day expected in their "luxury" cars. But the same is true today, and any company whom wishes to stay in business has to address those changing tastes.
22nd Sep 2015, 19:18
People that shop in the luxury segment want highly optioned, high end cars. Those with discerning taste have a multitude of domestic and import high end models. Some of us drift back and forth, and can pick full size Jaquars, Mercedes, BMW, and Audi models that are either designed for upwardly mobile consumers, mature owners, and/or those in the higher income segment. If your home is paid off by 50, why cramp up in little cars. I don't care how many toys are in them.
Times change and I cited a few import models alone on this comment that will be more than glad to take your money. If I drive an hour or more each way, I can surely afford the gas or I would turn down the position. In effect, you are donating 10 hours plus a week of your very own time unpaid on the road.
The luxury cars we have do long distance driving very frequently. You have yet to comment on sizable space for 4 with luggage on a trip. We are not skimping on pennies. My family would stay home vs being cramped up with luggage on distant trips. Must make do isn't making it.
19th Sep 2015, 06:54
Suspension systems haven't really evolved too much, so in a way, the simple short L Arm front suspension, rear coil multi link suspension still does a great job for what it is in creating a smooth comfortable ride.
The problem with strut based cars, is that it doesn't allow for much freedom of movement or suspension flexing like the basic front coils with a shock inside does. A double wishbone is another design and is superior to the standard strut based system that you see in every car today from precise handling, to a smooth ride.
In the higher end luxury cars, we are now seeing more sophisticated computer controlled suspension systems for improved ride.
I still find that the older luxury cars from 60s-70s ride better, and are more comfortable than some of the newish luxury cars I've driven, because even though they have a PCM controlling every tiny movement at each wheel, that doesn't automatically mean that the ride will be smooth and comfortable. Body structure, suspension tuning, vehicle weight, all make a difference in how well the car will ride IMO.