In this thread are three awful cars.

[Jesda]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob6JHimnKeM[/youtube]

I guess the Diplomat is better, good enough for police use at least, but what a pile of suck overall.

[sbird1]

Indeed. 3 very forgettable cars. Cool video though. I like how they show the "map reading light" so many times, like it's such an incredible feature. Also, I HATE red interiors... once again.

[Chaotic_Warlord]

You know they picked the worst of the Cutlass models to use as an example, the Cutlass Supreme Brougham is the better comparison, but also was a much better car. Also I thought that the police used Dodge Darts and Dodge Chargers back then. Don't see to many Dodge Diplomat police cars anywhere.

[Jesda]

I remember seeing a lot of M-body cop cars in the 80s. The most noteworthy were featured in early seasons of Law and Order. I think the Cutlass Salon was closest in price, but its a manufacturer video from Chrysler, so they definitely picked the worst competitor they could.

[Dattebayo]

Spare us from the rear leaf-spring hell!

[Jesda]

I cant believe Ford sold two million Granadas. They bet on the ignorance of their customers and won.

[Dattebayo]

Doesn't that mean "grenade" in spanish?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Those pants are hilarious.

[alms24sebring]

That was the longest commercial ever but now I want a high tech Chrysler Diplomat. 70's videos are so awful. He even had the 70's voice language. I was expecting Sally Sue and John boy to test drive the car.

Man, Im glad that I wasnt a 70's baby. When people in 2051 watch videos of us in 2011 excited about an iPad, they might laugh the same as I laugh at old technology and all of its nicotine brown... colored... stuffs.

[AZhitman]

I cant believe Ford sold two million Granadas. They bet on the ignorance of their customers and won.

The comparison to the M-B should have gotten them sued. Those two cars don't even belong in the same magazine, much less on the same page.

M-B got the last laugh - 90% of those are still running.

BTW, the bustle-back Cutlass and Seville were just as awful new as they are old. Even as a kid, I retched a little when I saw them.

[Ozzie]

I THINK I only have 1 question about this........
What is so great about a PADDED vinyl roof?
Is it there to help retain MORE moisture when it DOES crack and leak, compared to a non padded vinyl roof...
Therefore helping rust out the metal roof faster?

I herped so hard, I derped.

[Bubba1]

All three were horrid cars. Saying one was better than another is akin suggesting which plague was better. That was an era that the big three probably would prefer us to forget about. The ad was awful too, but a fun find.

[Encryptshun]

For all the times I grew up hearing that Japanese cars were cheap knock-offs of European models, it's kinda funny that Ford would be point-for-point highlighting the same practice as the primary reason for buying a Grenada.

[Bubba1]

I THINK I only have 1 question about this........
What is so great about a PADDED vinyl roof?
Is it there to help retain MORE moisture when it DOES crack and leak, compared to a non padded vinyl roof...
Therefore helping rust out the metal roof faster?

I herped so hard, I derped.

There was nothing great about the padded vinyl roofs, and they actually date back to the 20's. Unless you garaged the cars and kept up with the preservatives, they'd eventually deteriorate and look like cr@p. The fad with vinyl roofs seemed to peak during the 60's and 70's, when manufacturers noticed many suckers, er customers were willing to pay a premium for them. Go figure.

[MinisterofDOOM]

What is so great about a PADDED vinyl roof?

Nothing, unless you're the kind of guy who shopped for Cutlasses in the late 70s. To everyone else the appeal is entirely baffling.

You know what's really stupid?
They NEVER WENT AWAY.

Toyota still offers a padded roof option for the Avalon (which out-geezers anything Buick has ever built).
Mitsubishi also apparently* offers(ed?) a padded roof option on the effing GALANT of all friggin' cars.
*I've seen many like this, so I assume it's a dealer option.
And of course lots of Devilles still come with them.

And what's worse than manufacturers still offering the option is that LOTS OF PEOPLE STILL BUY IT.

I don't get it.

Also, rear windows that don't roll down is wow. Add some wing glass or something so it can at least open a little bit. Damn.

[Kompresshun]

My first car was an 88 Mercury Grand Marquis with the half vinyl roof, we had to have it re-dyed twice over the course of 3 years and I thought it was the dumbest looking thing to put on a car.

I thought the vinyl roofs had died out until I started working for Lincoln/Mercury in 2005, sadly I was wrong

BTW, the bustle-back Cutlass and Seville were just as awful new as they are old. Even as a kid, I retched a little when I saw them.

[sx moneypit]

My first car was an 88 Mercury Grand Marquis with the half vinyl roof, we had to have it re-dyed twice over the course of 3 years and I thought it was the dumbest looking thing to put on a car.

I thought the vinyl roofs had died out until I started working for Lincoln/Mercury in 2005, sadly I was wrong

BTW, the bustle-back Cutlass and Seville were just as awful new as they are old. Even as a kid, I retched a little when I saw them.

[sx moneypit]

I cant believe Ford sold two million Granadas. They bet on the ignorance of their customers and won.

I was working in the new car department when the Granadas came out,they sold a bunch of them and we would just about have reconstruct the cars before a customer took delivery.

[Jesda]

The padded roof had the "look" of luxury. I don't know why, but eventually every cheap box on the market got one and it no longer looked expensive.

Modern cars don't come with them, but dealers are happy to charge a pile of money to install them. Usually they're a hard canvas instead of padded vinyl.

[Kompresshun]

The padded roof had the "look" of luxury. I don't know why, but eventually every cheap box on the market got one and it no longer looked expensive.

Modern cars don't come with them, but dealers are happy to charge a pile of money to install them. Usually they're a hard canvas instead of padded vinyl.

At least it made sense on the Grand Marquis, Town Car, Devilles, and ect. I looked at the window sticker on a Grand Marquis with one of the canvas roofs a while back, it was like $1,900 extra for that crap!

I guess Grandpa and Grandma are still suckers for them though, i'm sure we'll see the Taurus and MKS running around with them soon too

[Bubba1]

My first car was an 88 Mercury Grand Marquis with the half vinyl roof, we had to have it re-dyed twice over the course of 3 years and I thought it was the dumbest looking thing to put on a car.

I thought the vinyl roofs had died out until I started working for Lincoln/Mercury in 2005, sadly I was wrong

BTW, the bustle-back Cutlass and Seville were just as awful new as they are old. Even as a kid, I retched a little when I saw them.

My wife and I had leased an 1988 GranMarquis (36 month) for her work vehicle. If I recall, that awful half vinyl roof was standard equipment. I remember our vinyl was fading pretty badly by the end of the lease. I actually liked that car as it rode like a baby carriage (great for long trips) and the trunk and back seat were cavernous. Plus people would usually move over and let me pass thinking it was an unmarked cop car.

[Kompresshun]

My wife and I had leased an 1988 GranMarquis (36 month). If I recall, that awful half vinyl roof was standard equipment. I remember our vinyl was fading pretty badly by the end of the lease. I actually liked that car as it rode like a baby carriage (great for long trips) and the trunk and back seat were cavernous. Plus people would usually move over and let me pass thinking it was an unmarked cop car.

It was standard to my knowledge as well, I loved the car aside from the roof(due to upkeep and quality) and the color of the car(it was like a taupe color, it was always cloudy looking). It was an AWESOME road trip car, my buddies thought it was awesome because it looked like a cop car too.

I wouldn't just be dying to have another one of those, but i'd love to have one of these:



Give me one of those with a built small block ford with a turbocharger

[sx moneypit]

My wife and I had leased an 1988 GranMarquis (36 month). If I recall, that awful half vinyl roof was standard equipment. I remember our vinyl was fading pretty badly by the end of the lease. I actually liked that car as it rode like a baby carriage (great for long trips) and the trunk and back seat were cavernous. Plus people would usually move over and let me pass thinking it was an unmarked cop car.

It was standard to my knowledge as well, I loved the car aside from the roof(due to upkeep and quality) and the color of the car(it was like a taupe color, it was always cloudy looking). It was an AWESOME road trip car, my buddies thought it was awesome because it looked like a cop car too.

I wouldn't just be dying to have another one of those, but i'd love to have one of these:



Give me one of those with a built small block ford with a turbocharger

Or a Powerstroke diesel .

[RCA]

Doesn't that mean "grenade" in spanish?

In Spain it means pomegranate and in Portuguese it means grenade.

[driverdriver]

I learned to drive in a mid 80's Diplomat with bling-the Chrysler Fifth Avenue.

Those cars where durable. From time to time, I still see them on the road; which is great feat up here since we use corrosion causing road salt in the winters which has reduced many cars to dust.

[Chaotic_Warlord]

It was standard to my knowledge as well, I loved the car aside from the roof(due to upkeep and quality) and the color of the car(it was like a taupe color, it was always cloudy looking). It was an AWESOME road trip car, my buddies thought it was awesome because it looked like a cop car too.

I wouldn't just be dying to have another one of those, but i'd love to have one of these:



Give me one of those with a built small block ford with a turbocharger

Or a Powerstroke diesel .