Welcome To the "Motor City Malaise" Blog!

Call me strange, but for as long as I can remember, I have had a great fondness for American vehicles from the 1970s- particularly, the mid-late '70s "Malaise Era" offerings by Ford, General Motors, and especially Chrysler. Names that come to mind? Cordoba. Magnum. New Yorker 5th Avenue. Elite. LTD II. Versailles. Fleetwood Brougham. You get the picture. The first question that may come to your mind is: Why? After all, that era is widely regarded by car buffs and historians as a sad sidebar to Detroit's otherwise glorious motoring history and pedigree. The cars of that period were often huge, thirsty, choked by smog/emissions equipment (to meet increasingly stringent government regulations), and by the late 70s & early '80s, very technologically outdated.

To that end, I don't really have any one good reason for my life-long love affair with these vehicles. Rather, it's an amalgamation of various factors:

• I grew up in a staunchly MOPAR household, developing an early love for classic muscle cars such as the Dodge Charger, Coronet, Plymouth 'Cuda, Road Runner, etc.
• I have always had a fondness for 'The Underdog', whatever/whoever that might be at any given point in time. In the case of historical vehicles, it would be hard to argue for a more worthy underdog than the 1980 Chrysler New Yorker 5th Avenue Edition, or the 1977 Ford Ranchero GT, or the 1979 Dodge Magnum XE GT. 
• Expounding on my previous point, I have always found myself outside the mainstream, whether that be my tastes in music, my choice of literature, or (in this case) the cars that I love. So it makes a lot of sense that as something of a "car hipster", my tastes would naturally follow in this manner. 
• Many of these cars are both rare and attainable. After all, '70s Camaros and Trans Ams are a dime a dozen...and you're still paying an arm and a leg for a well-maintained or restored example. Don't even mention classic MOPAR muscle cars...I could never afford a '71 Plymouth GTX unless I was a lottery winner or hedge-fund manager! However, a '75 Imperial LeBaron sedan? A '76 Ford Elite? A '79 Chrysler 300 Special Edition? All very rare, very affordable cars, for what they are.
• These cars positively OOZE character. The miles of chrome trim, the formal roof and fender lines, the "rich, Corinthian leather!", the charming way that the Big Three would endlessly reconfigure, recycle or gussy-up old, tired platforms and sell them as 'deluxe', 'limited', or even entirely separate 'editions'...all this adds up to create a level of camp that you absolutely have to admire in retrospect. 

On this blog, you will find posts dedicated to specific car models, including photos and documentation (always credited to the source(s)), historical facts, personal anecdotes, and lots of fan-boy gushing. I don't claim to be the "resident expert" on any of these cars. I am simply a huge fan of them. One of my long-term personal goals is to own one of these cars as a Daily Driver one day. After all, what's the point in plunking down cash for a nice old ride, only to let it collect dust for 300 days out of the year?

Thanks for visiting. Check back for frequent updates!