Cars We Loved in the 1970s

A fascinating look at favorite cars of the turbulent 1970s

The 1970s saw some ground-breaking new metal in British showrooms—the Renault 5 established the new "supermini" class, the Volkswagen Golf gave the average family car a hatchback and top quality, the Ford Capri made sporty cars available to everyone, and, despite all of this, that old favorite the Ford Cortina continued to rule the sales charts. Yet drivers started to experience a love/hate relationship with the four-wheeled machine that, previously, symbolized nothing but speed and freedom. The economic rollercoaster sent fuel prices soaring, and it seemed British manufacturers, beset by striking workers and falling quality standards, were stalling as Japan's Datsuns, Hondas, and Toyotas cruised off with contented customers. Britain's new Rover 3500 was exciting and the Jaguar XJ12 an awesome engineering achievement, but the solid quality of BMWs and Mercedes made more sense. Giles Chapman documents the whole turbulent decade in this fascinating and entertaining book through the cars that dominated, and he explains how the much-maligned Morris Marina and Reliant Robin actually helped drivers out of a jam.