We have been digging on these 1970s promotional and sales videos lately and they just keep getting better. This time we’re back into the 1970s and instead of just sticking with one year of manufacture, we’re taking a trip northward through the 1970s. Starting with the 1974 Chevy El Camino, heading into the 1977 model year Camaro, and then landing with an excited thud on the 1978 Monza. Because our car addled minds are ever changing, the only one of these cars we’d leave on the table is the 1977 Camaro. You can have that. We’ll take our 454 powered Chevelle SS, which made no power, we get it and we’d also take the 1978 Monza with a four speed and a 305. Again, not a rocket ship but if we had a time machine those would be the two machines we would grab.
It’s pretty interesting that the big block trooped on in the El Camino trooped on until 1975. By that time the 454 had been reduced to a 215hp rating and the 1970 LS6 powered models were either snickering in the background or weeping for what a weakling their younger brother was born as. Obviously it did not take much to make the power gap up back then (nor does it today) but it was a long fall after just a few years from the peak of the era.
One of the things we love about the Monza promotion part of this film is how quickly the announcer gets the words, “tough cast iron engines” out. This was a short time from the nightmare of the Vega’s aluminum engine and they wanted consumers to know that those days were over and that the iron block stuff would keep them running for ages. Listen close to the spark plug change interval in the Monza section of the video and contrast it to today’s recommended interval. Wild.
