Cars We Loved in the 1970s

by Giles Chapman

The 1970s saw some ground-breaking new metal in British 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 favourite the Ford Cortina continued to rule the sales charts. It was a funny old time to be a driver, and Britain started to experience a love/hate relationship with the four-wheeled machine that previously symbolised nothing but speed and freedom. The economic rollercoaster sent fuel prices soaring, while the country’s roads left something to be desire, and then there was the issue of those cars it seemed British manufacturers, beset by striking workers and falling quality standards, were stalling as Japan’s Datsuns and Toyotas cruised off with contented customers. Giles Chapman documents the whole turbulent decade stunningly illustrated book, from the cars that dominated our motoring lives to the much-maligned Morris Marina and Reliant Robin actually helped drivers out of a jam.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Giles Chapman is an award-winning writer and commentator on the industry, history and culture of cars. He began his career in 1984 in automotive consultancy, moving into magazine publishing in 1985. By 1991, he was editor of Classic & Sports Car, the world's best-selling classic car magazine. Since 1994, he's worked freelance across a huge variety of media. Today, he contributes to national newspapers and motoring publications, and was voted Jeep Consumer Journalist Of The Year in 2005, BCA Feature Writer Of The Year in 2008, AA Environment Writer Of The Year 2011, and Classic Writer Of The Year in 2022 as well as being shortlisted as the 2022 Royal Automobile Club Journalist Of The Year.

He's the author of almost 60 books including 'My Dad Had One Of Those' (co-written with Top Gear's Richard Porter) that was a non-fiction hardback best-seller in 2007 and has since sold almost 200,000 copies. This makes it one of the best-selling – and most popular – car books of all time.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully nostalgic book, highlighting the cars that debuted through the decade, featuring them in the chronological order they appeared. Each one gets two pages, with a write-up from Giles (technical details, background info and/or how they affected the design of future models), a “who loved it?” caption and a contemporary review (from Motor, Car or Autocar magazines). There are also plenty of photographs (some from ad catalogues), which are brilliant. Interspersed are mini-essays (Life On The Road, Keeping Your Car Going (including petrol stations of the era), Dream Machines, Car Culture and Into The 80s) that are entertaining and informative and, again, well illustrated. Good fun, well researched and warmly nostalgic, this was a great read and I’d highly recommend it.

[TreforL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent survey of the everyday cars we used to see on our streets. Several entries covered our family cars. Giles Chapman has hit upon a pithy, visually interesting format that caters for those with more of a passing interest as well as the petrolheads who know what he's on about when he writes of camshafts, British horse power and different kinds of suspension. Even on the most famous types, he brings out plenty of facts you may not have known. A delight.

[Mark Maguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging, and entertaining review of the cars which both defined the decade, and in many cases, changed the rules of the game. The Author skilfully guides the reader through the highs, and lows of the automotive offerings of the 1970's.

The Author also demonstrates how the ever - increasing number of imports both revolutionised the technical underpinnings of the UK motor industry, and simultaneously consigned the faux-Americana of the 1960's to the history books. Indeed, far from being a decade of Tweed and brown vinyl, the 1970's represented the start of the step-change in the attitude of the UK motor industry from complacent overlord to concerned bystander, as customer perceptions of 'value' and reliability' saw them shift their attentions towards the ascendant foreign marques.