Lately we’ve been seeing more and more cars at shows and races with 1970’s inspiration. Hell, some of them may just be straight out of the ’70s, we’re not really sure. What we do know is that fender flares and ’70s style paint are getting to be more and more common. And this weekend when we were at the Goodguys show in Scottsdale we saw a couple of cars that looked like they had just been pulled out of storage, shined up, and brought to the show after being put away in 1978. It was cool as hell.
Seeing them, and more and more cars with fender flares lately, got me thinking about some of the stuff you used to see back then and wondering which of those trends or styles might come back.
Which trend do you think will make a comeback? Which one would you like to see comeback? Or do you want all of them to be forgotten?
I’ve put together a couple to choose from, including the amazing body mods and flares that became the norm and are demonstrated here with the Corvette from Corvette Summer.
Street Freaks are another crazy 1970’s trend, and we’ve got one of those to check out, solid axle, in the air, ladder bars, and all.
Less crazy, and quite frankly the most “normal” of the trends was the common stance seen in the photo of the 2nd Gen Camaro below. Tires that stuck out, long shackles, traction bars, etc. This was the normal 1970’s stance.
Finally, we’ve got a custom van to check out, because nothing says 1970’s like a custom van.
I like the mid-picture with the 70’s Camaro stance. I also dig some fender flares on some cars. As a whole the 70s and even some of the 80s trends should never return. however, there are some that still have a place and perhaps even a resurgence. I remember all the air shocks back home growing up. Lots of traction bars, cragars, and L60 or bigger tires sticking out of the rear wheelwells. It seems the flares were hit and miss. Some of the worked and some didn’t. I don’t miss the vans. I like vans….don’t miss the fully-carpeted interiors, multiple windows, captains chairs made out of kegs, and all that other junk. The black chevy van that runs up at Milan….I’d own it. Certainly there are others too. Street Freaks….nope. We have a gasser craze going on now what everything seems to need a straight front axle and fenderwell headers. I think that’s enough.
the Camaro’s stance is the least offensive looking – but its not too good….I kinda like the toughness it can portray done right, but it’d never float with Aussie cops in this day and age. It was desirable, lets say but not popular in Australia cos it was a total cop magnet and would land you a defect notice before you knew what hit you – I’ll never forget, at 12 years old, my brother and I were hitch hiking to the drags and an FJ Holden pulled up – huge stance, 12″ wide rears but basically bog stock suspension with foot long shackles. It looked sooo cool pulling up and we were excited to ride in it, but the reality was it felt absolutely horrible to ride in. Felt like we were perpetually driving down a very steep hill on 2 flat tyres, squirming all over the road. The driver had to slow down to a crawl for corners because the whole mess would lurch sideways and the wheels would rub on the leaf springs…..yeh, not a trend that wants to hurry back any time soon…
All I can say is that there had better be some serious car crushers around when anybody re-creates these four wheeled abortions for real!
You know the golden rule – never go back! So let’s keep our roads free of bad 70s horrors and hunt down all the arbiters of bad taste that dream of inflicting it on us mere mortals!
The silver camaro is what is going to come back slightly. I hope the speed part ads with the hot chicks comes back.
Which of these would I like to see a comeback? None of the above.
Lived it once, that was enough
All of the above
Panel Paint for sure!!!!!!
Why not, I like new trends and old one’s returning it’s refreshing to see except maybe Pro-Touring which is getting kind of stale!
Does that Roadrunner come with a trunk full of live white rabbits?
The flat plane crank sure makes a distinctive exhaust note.
Just like the street gassers, the ’70’s era will make a come back for the same reason. The ’70’s street machines were what us middle aged guys first saw as kids in our budding gear head years. It is what we saw at car shows. And, like other things at middle age, we want what we saw as kids. No different than the restored muscle car rage of people in their ’60’s. It’s what they saw as kids and yearned for.
I already started seeing the vans making a comeback in SoCal before leaving. Van clubs are gaining members and people are finding custom vans in garages and putting them back on the road. At one of the HRM cruises, there were six vans that looked like they were stuck in a time warp for forty years.
I hope to see more of all of them at the shows in the future. I have even contemplated going ’70’s with one of my cars.
When I was in elementary school, the school bus route took us past the local hot rudder’s house. He seemed to have a different car every month (Camaros, Chevy IIs, Chevelles, Cutlasses, GTOs), all done in the stink bug stance of the 70’s with Cragars or slots, shackled leaf springs and ladder bars etc…
I still think this style is cool.
I have always loved the 70’s Vans and would like to see them in a modern interpretation
Love the SidePipes on Vettes and Shelbys, again I’d like to see a Modern Version
Hopefully none of them.
Corvette Summer type? Hell no. Even as a kid I didn’t like them.
Street freaks? They’re donks with smaller wheels, Never saw the point.
Set ups like the Camaro? Oh yeah, bring it on. That’s what hot rods looked like when I was a kid. It’s outdated, but not offensive.
Vans? I actually like em. At the very least they are fun to laugh at.
The Camaro is OK… and yes, it’s typical of the day. The rest are atrocious just as they were jokes in their day too.
I never knew that fat white letter tires and Keystone Klassics went out of style. Hell I like gold anodized moroso valve colors. I think folks should build what they like, who cares if others don’t like it. If I was Bill Gates rich I would swap a cummins into my Matador, slap on a lace paint job and stick on some 24″ wheels just to see peoples’ confused and bewildered faces.
Raised white letter tires would be cool to have again…at least in modern sizes anyway…
70’s vibe cars and vans make ANGRYJOE less angry…almost…warm and fuzzy…to answer the question…all of the above…But in reality teh middle never really left…there have been cars like this on the road everywhere I’ve been since I can remember…
Not being a corvette guy…I would absolutely rock the Corvette Summer car!! Not old enough to have a van at that time…I would do one. Panel paint, lace paint, drops blown out…why not? Hey, if we all liked the same thing, we’d be driving red 32 roadsters. I’m okay with the crazy show cars coming back. If you don’t like it, don’t build it!! Bring back the 70s!!
Fun but boring
I have a better car than that
I know the 70s vans are coming back may not be in big numbers but once in a blue moon you see on that rolled out of the 70s. the is 3 round hear I own one a 1979 ford e 100 shag carpet on the floor and walls, bed in the back , leather roof liner leather door panels,mural on the side, ice box sink. I would love to see custom paint jobs like the 70s, and the grassers make a return