When talking cars with people, I always have heard one line at one time or another: “When I was a kid, it seemed like everybody in the neighborhood owned a (Vehicle X). You saw them everywhere!” A lot of the younger guys I know from the military and college had two specifically picked out: mid-1990s Ford Taurus, the round one, or a Chevrolet Celebrity (or one of the GM cousins). I’d be hard pressed to think of two cars I saw a lot of, but there is one that stands out in my mind even better than that: The Ford Maverick.
Allow me to explain a little: Between the ages of about 3-6 years old, I grew up in Colorado Springs. (For those of you with age jokes at the ready, that would put the year range at 1986-89.) Technically, what little memory I have of that time period should be running around, playing, general kids stuff, right? Sure, there are Super Soaker fights, downhill Big Wheel races, and Nintendo galore, but in Colorado Springs it seemed like everybody and their mother had a Ford Maverick or Mercury Comet, and they were all about the same color: tomato red, a faded lemon yellow, a moderately light blue, white, or the pea-green color of this pretty much unmolested 1975 I found for sale just outside of Somerset. Some were sedans, some were coupes, none were Grabbers, Comet GTs or the really awkward Stallion packages. They had hubcaps, most were six cylinders and all were just good, solid basic transportation. And most were in the junkyard by the time I hit middle school…shame.
What was the car you saw everyday growing up, that everybody in the neighborhood owned? Not the hot rods, but the real basic car that was freaking everywhere.
Growing up in Newcastle upon Tyne, England all I ever seem to remember are Morris Minors crawling around emitting clouds of blue oil smoke from their decrepit engines and skidding along on bald tires.
How I wished I was born in the USA!
Australia in the 70’s – easy. Holdens/Falcons/Valiants. Vary unusual to see Jap cars at least in the early 70’s….a few pommy cars, very occasional US car, and virtually nothing with 2 doors….
I follow up on this international convention :).Growing up in Norway(Born in 66)we had loads of beetles and Volvo Amazons..usually beige or light green,and no extra options..american cars around,where Ramblers and Valiants with a six and a 3 speed.
Nova’s and Dodge Dart’s. Novas were built at the Tarrytown GM plant and lots of people in the area worked there. Darts because they were cheap. Lots of GM B-bodies too.
I remember a lot of Ford Granadas. Could be because my parents had one.
Being a little older I saw mostly Impalas, Galaxies, Polaras, etc.. My sister had a clone of that green Mavrick in the 70s
Chevy Impala. Everyone on my block (N. Merrick, Long Island) seemed to own one . . .except us. We owned a Chrysler 300
My mother had a ’79 T-bird and my dad a ’78 Cougar. Even into the 80’s you couldn’t swing a dead cat by the tail without hitting one, they were everywhere. Probably a lot you you don’t know or remember when the “all new” 77 t-birds hit the showrooms there were waiting lists and even dealer mark-ups on them.
I got my license in ’79 and grew up in suburban Cleveland. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, seemed to have a Malaise Era Colonnade Monte Carlo. Even I, a hard core Ford guy, ended up with one, albeit a roached heap purchased in ’84, 3 years after I graduated.
Early 80’s Alberta, Canada Chevette’s, Chevette’s, Chevette’s every damned where and then we moved into the neighbourhood. We were sane with a 70 Challenger, 73 Challenger and 69 Coronet 2dr HT that I still own.
When I was 15 or 16 years old in 71-72 …. It was Pintos and vegas EVERYWHERE.
Tori ps, wagons, Pintos, Monte Carlo/ Malibus
Torinos, nice auto edit
G-body Regals (We even had one) and the ’89-’94 Olds Cutlass Cieras (Also had one of those)
As a teen in a mid-Seventies South Florida suburb, my parents and I lived next to an over-55 community. Nearly everyone there owned a Slant Six Valiant or Dart; the slightly more well-off had hulking Caddies and Lincolns.
Growing up in the late 80’s/early 90’s before the mini van craze took over, it seemed like G-body GM’s were everywhere (Monte Carlo, Cutlass, Regal). My parents had a white early 80’s Cutlass “Calais” with the anemic v6. Pretty car, but couldn’t get out of its own way.