Need a realistic vehicle for someone to own during the early 1970s

[One_ping_only]

I was about to suggest a Ford station wagon but wonderer had not only already mentioned above but provided a photo of said station wagon. My uncle owned one and I remember my cousin's and I sat I. The back seats which faced backwards. It's be perfect IMHO with what you're looking for.

 

[Comshaw]

Any full-sized car of that era would pull a trailer of most any size.
From 1969 through the late 70's Chrysler had this behemoth:
Chrysler Town & Country 9-passenger station wagon.


It worked well for a family with a bunch of kids or one that had to haul a bunch of kids. And it would haul any trailer you wanted to attach to it.

Or, another long-forgotten but popular auto of that era (they made them up to 1974), the AMC Ambassador. This is a 1968 model:





Comshaw

 

[Rob_Royale]

Classic cross country move could have been A Ford country squire station wagon. Made all through the 70s so pick the year you want

Most of what was commonly available in the seventies would have been able to tow a small trailer. My wife and I did a coast-to-coast trip with a 2k-pound U-haul in a '73 Plymouth Scamp that did have a slant-6. But the most common towing vehicle would have been a station wagon as IARainman suggested. Most of them came with a V8 and could tow very well.

EDIT - I'd also like to commend you on posting this. I do appreciate it when writers do a bit of research for the sake of authenticity, even in erotica.

 

[MrPixel]

Hmm. Being warned against using a specific model to pull a trailer, then doing so anyway, could provide an interesting bit of characterization. If I was writing something longer, it could even provide a plot point of the car breaking down on the drive…. For now though, I’m leaning towards a more dependable vehicle.

A plot bunny for you re. breakdowns - U-Haul was notoriously bad in that era. The trailer was more likely to fling apart than any hooptie pulling it. A wheel falling off, axles breaking, stuff like that. Think about that when there was no such thing as cellphones.

It's been a while since I looked, but there was this ominous sticker on the trailer fender intended to be seen through the driver side mirror "45 MPH SPEED LIMIT". Can you imagine doing a cross-country move like that? Even given the 55 mph max of the era, which was notoriously ignored.

 

[MrMikelobe1952]

I know you have had enough answers
but here is what I owned from 1971 until 1975.
It would readily hand a Uhaul trailer.
In fact, it did.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Uh. Gas lines were in '73-'74. The machinations during my second year in college that I had to go through to put gas in my '66 Beetle so I could drive the 80 miles for nookie with the GF...

We broke our cherries in that car.

Since you brought up this topic, do you mean in the back seat? I know I had a story where a guy was glad he didn't have to use a VW Beetle. He had some roomier but junky thing like an Austin Marina (in 1977 or so).

 

[gunhilltrain]

Ah yeah good point. I’m needing ideas that make sense for Canada, though I’d hope that anything popular in the US could be plausible to see up there?

I think Canadians mostly drive whatever Americans use. There are a few model nameplates that are Canadian-only, the the actual cars are not different.

 

[MrPixel]

Since you brought up this topic, do you mean in the back seat? ...

Nope. Front passenger seat. Remember it well.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The the 1976 election happened and we got double digit inflation and gas lines, and all that. But rather go into politics, I'm going to go find that thread with the bare chested redheads...

A slight detour into politics. Mister Pixel is correct, the gas lines started in 1973 when OPEC, which has many Muslim nations, wanted to temporarily punish the West for supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur war. They cut oil exports, but then relented in the spring of the following year. I was eighteen then, so I remember it well.

OPEC = Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations, a sort of cartel that still exists.

 

[Comshaw]

A slight detour into politics. Mister Pixel is correct, the gas lines started in 1973 when OPEC, which has many Muslim nations, wanted to temporarily punish the West for supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur war. They cut oil exports, but then relented in the spring of the following year. I was eighteen then, so I remember it well.

OPEC = Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations, a sort of cartel than still exists.

Yeah, gas lines were the pits. I was in the army and married. We bought a brand new 1973 Ford F100 pickup with a 240 cid 6 cylinder and a three-speed manual transmission. We decided to drive from Fort Lewis Washington to Muskogee Oklahoma to see my mom. A stupid move that. We ended up sitting in gas lines every time we had to fuel up. A long, long trip.


Comshaw

 

[Seadog777]

A lot of it, really does depend on the location and area that you are talking about.

City and country are two completely different lifestyles, which require different types of vehicles.

 

[gunhilltrain]

AMC Hornet
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1971-amc-hornet-sc-360-4

This is what U-Haul offers now. It looks like the 4 x 7 utility trailer could be towed by say, a Hornet, which was a "compact" car in its time. Usually the owner's manual will tell you the maximum weight the car will tow.

https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/

 

[Superfungurl]

Has to be realistic, I owned one!

 

[PantsAndPencils]

A lot of it, really does depend on the location and area that you are talking about.

City and country are two completely different lifestyles, which require different types of vehicles.

Hmm. I’m thinking, like, upper-middle-class, maybe? Like, the whitest-bread suburban stereotype—the ideal average, if you will

 

[gunhilltrain]

Hmm. I’m thinking, like, upper-middle-class, maybe? Like, the whitest-bread suburban stereotype—the ideal average, if you will

That may be more middle-class than upper-middle. (See Paul Fussell's book about social class in America. It's perhaps a bit dated and somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but still useful.) It partially depends on the occupation of the dad in the family (as of 1982, when the book was published). Doctors are often in the upper-middle. Sales reps are in the middle.

Don't sweat it. The ideal average you mention will likely have a full-size American car. There are many to choose from. Mercedes-Benz and such were still niche makes. It's possible the son would have a purple Dart, but the family wouldn't use that for towing. You said Canada? Pick a town that you want and fictionalize it if you wish. (I did not fictionalize the name in a story set in Edison, NJ.)

Pontiac, Buick, Ford, Mercury, Dodge, Chrysler - any big car from them will work fine.

 

[MrMikelobe1952]

Hmm. I’m thinking, like, upper-middle-class, maybe? Like, the whitest-bread suburban stereotype—the ideal average, if you will

Is this a car for a young person or a middle aged couple?
Male or female?

 

[nice90sguy]

Cars, like clothes, are an indicator of character. The car you choose for your charatcers needs to fit their personailities.
So: Are they aspirational? Rich? Rural? Young? Quirky? Environmantally consicous? Romantic?

Are they Europeans?

Your question is impossible to answer without more detail about who the people are!

 

[nice90sguy]

Any full-sized car of that era would pull a trailer of most any size.
From 1969 through the late 70's Chrysler had this behemoth:
Chrysler Town & Country 9-passenger station wagon.

Similar to the "Colony Park" station wagon featured in my illustrated "Libby" story. Love them.

 

[MrPixel]

Cars, like clothes, are an indicator of character. The car you choose for your charatcers needs to fit their personailities.
So: Are they aspirational? Rich? Rural? Young? Quirky? Environmantally consicous? Romantic?

Are they Europeans?

Your question is impossible to answer without more detail about who the people are!

Precisely. The era we're talking about here is pretty much the nadir of "car culture". Choice of automobile reflected one's personality and social status. Also to be considered for the time is that women did not buy cars, they had cars bought "for them" by the dominant male in their life, be it Dad, husband or brother, and the men's biases would be reflected in their "recommendation".

We've sorta stepped into a sociology minefield here.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Any full-sized car of that era would pull a trailer of most any size.
From 1969 through the late 70's Chrysler had this behemoth:
Chrysler Town & Country 9-passenger station wagon.



Comshaw

We had a 72 Pontiac Bonneville sedan; 454, dual Holley carbs standard.
Put a hitch on it, it would pull a semi trailer, I'm pretty sure.

Will neither confirm nor deny it would easily do 125. (don't tell my mom I said that)

 

[MrPixel]

Will neither confirm nor deny it would easily do 125.

Oh, yeah. Pegged the speedo in Dad's Country Squire a couple of times. >>120. His '69 Mach I was tested to 150 on I-5, verified by my buddy's stopwatch. And I had backed off when the steering got "floaty".

Problem was the "go fast" thing was totally out of control. The cars of the era - tires, suspension, brakes, chassis... all of it - were incapable of handling the speed the engines were capable of generating. After I had the Mustang for a week on my own, he later took it to his best friend (a superb mechanic) to inquire about "loose steering". Dad was informed that welds on the suspension towers were broken. It simply was not built to handle neither the speed nor the hard accel/decel I gave it on the twisty canyon highway during that trip.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Oh, yeah. Pegged the speedo in Dad's Country Squire a couple of times. >>120. His '69 Mach I was tested to 150 on I-5, verified by my buddy's stopwatch. And I had backed off when the steering got "floaty".

Problem was the "go fast" thing was totally out of control. The cars of the era - tires, suspension, brakes, chassis... all of it - were incapable of handling the speed the engines were capable of generating. After I had the Mustang for a week on my own, he later took it to his best friend (a superb mechanic) to inquire about "loose steering". Dad was informed that welds on the suspension towers were broken. It simply was not built to handle neither the speed nor the hard accel/decel I gave it on the twisty canyon highway during that trip.

Yeah, that Bonneville, as heavy as it was, would start to float because of the updraft. Scary...

 

[MillieDynamite]

I can confirm that the 74 Firebird Forumal 400 would exceed 150 miles an hour. My father had one and bought one exactly like the one he had in the 70s. On a closed track, we hit 155 and could have gone faster if I'd had the guts to push the pedal down to the metal. My father said he'd had pegged the speedometer on his original 74 when he was young and dumb. On the highway, no less. That was 165 miles per hour or better (once you hit the peg, it doesn't tell you how much you've passed the mark.)

We had a 72 Pontiac Bonneville sedan; 454, dual Holley carbs standard.
Put a hitch on it, it would pull a semi trailer, I'm pretty sure.

Will neither confirm nor deny it would easily do 125. (don't tell my mom I said that)

View attachment 2314526

 

[gunhilltrain]

Cars, like clothes, are an indicator of character. The car you choose for your charatcers needs to fit their personailities.
So: Are they aspirational? Rich? Rural? Young? Quirky? Environmantally consicous? Romantic?

Are they Europeans?

Your question is impossible to answer without more detail about who the people are!

I know it's a pain to read all the posts in a thread (I rarely do myself) but he already told us. And of course now I can't find it. Part of it appears in post 67. He said that they were middle-class, suburban Canadians, presumably white. The "ideal average is" the term he uses. So they are not rural, quirky, romantic, rich or any of those characteristics. He doesn't need to over-think it. Just pick a large American-made car (the assembly plants in Canada were owned by American companies) and he's got it.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Oh, yeah. Pegged the speedo in Dad's Country Squire a couple of times. >>120. His '69 Mach I was tested to 150 on I-5, verified by my buddy's stopwatch. And I had backed off when the steering got "floaty".

Problem was the "go fast" thing was totally out of control. The cars of the era - tires, suspension, brakes, chassis... all of it - were incapable of handling the speed the engines were capable of generating. After I had the Mustang for a week on my own, he later took it to his best friend (a superb mechanic) to inquire about "loose steering". Dad was informed that welds on the suspension towers were broken. It simply was not built to handle neither the speed nor the hard accel/decel I gave it on the twisty canyon highway during that trip.

Since you mentioned this, I would never drive at 150 mph except with a car modified for it, and on a closed track. Also, my own skills couldn't cope with it. You'll notice that stock cars are a long way from the original vehicle. At that speed if the smallest thing goes wrong. . .

And oh, you just passed a state trooper waiting for such a situation. Those guys do know how to drive fast, and they can bring in a lot of back-up as needed.