Question for North American friends

[radar]

When I was a boy in the late 50s and early 60s in Australia I played with 1-75s.

I would watch grainy black and white US shows on TV - Mr Ed, Lassie, Sea Hunt.

Many of these shows invariably featured a car like a Ford Fairlane wagon. Pontiac convertibles, Chev Impalas and Cadillacs were also seen; models faithfully recreated in the 1-75 series.

We called these cars "yank tanks" cos of their size.

They were rarely seen on our roads - some one with money like a bank manager or doctor would drive a Jaguar or Humber.
Maybe an industrialist would have an American car or they were reserved as limousines for Government ministers or State Premiers. They symbolised power and wealth

Australians preferred our own Midsize Ford Falcons or GM Holdens. Smaller British and European cars were plentiful such as VW Beetle or Morris Minor.

With the demise of the Australian motor industry, our fleet is now dominated by Japanese and Korean cars; Camry and Mazda 3. I think Mercedes also make the top ten.

My question - in the USA today, is there still a large car made/sold that may still be described as a "yank tank"? Forgive the term if its offensive in any way - but that's what they were referred as. Or have you too, succumbed to market dominated by Japanese and Koreans.

Thank you
Radar

[Lee@kai76]

Hi Radar

Firstly I'm not from the US, I'm in the UK so I am not able to say exactly what is made or popular these days but I would guess SUVS and pick ups are pretty popular over there as well as large cars of a more luxury type..I'm sure the main ones are Dodge/Chrysler/Chevrolet..etc.. The camaro is very popular.... Pretty sure Japanese cars are pretty popular there too the same as everywhere else.

What did get me thinking is the movie's and TV series you mention, obviously you are older than me but do remember those series on TV, I was a lad growing up in the 70s early 80s but American cars hold a lot of memories for me too..cars like the Plymouth fury from Christine.. Dodge charger(dukes of hazard) Ford Mustang GT(Bullitt) Ford Gran Torino(starsky and hutch) And one car from your neck of the woods I think it was a Ford Falcon from the movie Mad Max.

Lee

[GHOSTHUNTER]

I think a good idea as to the type and size of cars running around the US states now, is to look at more recent and current TV shows, but I think the so-called 'World Car' put an end to Yank Tanks (a term use a lot in the 70's over here in the UK) with companies adopting a shared platform and adapting the running gear and body types into their corporate image.

The biggest car in the UK until quite recently from Vauxhall Motors was the Omega, built on a platform used by Opel, Holden, Cadillac and probably a few more.

Cadillac's finest the Cadillac STS was made as a 'Mid-Size' car, not the Grand Tourer it once was and because of this, it does not stand out from the crowd like it used to and from a distance it would be hard to tell what car it really is...looking like another Honda maybe!

Ghosthunter.

[mmi]

what I most remember for those type/era of show was the status or good money makers
1-2 steps below muscle car and 3-4 below top of the line
most studios (film/tv producers) had affiliation with the mfg and mfg would sponsor X show......they provided current profitable models for use in the show and offered 60% + of the adverts during the show of the other products in house

unless that type of show you did not see the muscle cars,which would have been mid sized, bigger engines, better speed equipment in general and possibly a lighter component mix

the wagon types were for the most part underpowered for speed but could haul the family of 6-8 plus gear to country for week trip

the boats or land yachts '56-78 (as referred to in the US) were somewhat bigger with the price $6-10K vs $2-5K to match
mother had a '70 chrysler imperial brome 3/4 of the largest ,440 sub race engine, room for 6 to stretch out in dual auto climate control (better than offered today) trunk the size of queen bed, front end bigger than a king,however(similar to todays size 10 in # 6 shoe)you had to remove tires and access panel to change spark plugs

international and gm offered the stretch 4-6-8 door trucks
all of that was going in '72 and gas crisis hastened it by 78' most were 1/3-1/2 smaller , 85' was about the end for mid size and wagons in 90's some large compacts masqueraded as large,but suv/conversion was king for virtually every family
trucks/PU have poked along basically show toys that cant haul anything
with gas issues and govt meddling small foreign suvs filled the gap
in the last 10 years catching up to govt and gas issues with foreign/world interests/platforms the big 3 have offered more 4 door PU and bigger suv cadillac escalade etc gm suburban is back for $101K and 8mpg

all I can type for now

[GHOSTHUNTER]

''mmi'' mentioned the fuel crisis in his post which reminds me of the same problem we had here in the UK in the early 1970's. Big factories were on a Three Day Week, petrol was rationed and my Dad goes out and buys an A110, Austin Westminster with a 3 ltr streight Six engine and it had the 3 carburettrs option...this equates to having all the bells and whistles!

Dad paid £20 (Yes, that's Two Tenners for it!) from his Brother in-law as he felt sorry for him over the apparant cost of running this thing, not realising the problem has now been passed to him. He kept it for Three Weeks and sold it on for £50, so it all turned out OK in the end.

Dad was used to much smaller cars than this Westminster but said it was the best thing he had ever driven and would loved to have kept it but at that time, the future prospects for long term finacial security was unknown!

Ghosthunter.

[kwakers]

Hello! Yank Caveman Kwakers here. In upstate New York where we are living, most every family has a full sized Pickup Truck now that is a Club Cab/ King Cab four wheel drive. Quite a few of the company work trucks have switched over to the diesels offered by each manufacturer, but they tend to be too expensive for all but the young and stupid who lift them 4-6 inches in the air to look down on the rest of us. Leasing, or Fleecing as I call it, has taken over our culture so that car ownership is a thing of the past, upkeep is back at the dealership, and everyone has a 10,000 to 12,000 mile a year limit on their travels in them as "leased cars". Any additional miles are rated at 20 cents per mile on most leases today over here. That may sound like a lot of miles to you guys, but most years I have put 20,000 miles plus on whatever breaker's yard castoff I have parked in our driveway. Our Son's 2004 Nissan Pathfinder has 275,000 miles +, My Wife's 2004 4X4 GM Tracker has 265,000 miles on it, and the early 90s Stealths/ Mitsubishi 3000s I drive year round all have 160,000 plus miles on them.
Back to the original question: The Station Wagons of the 50s- 70s have become minivans for families to travel in, the full size land yachts of that era have pretty much been replaced with midsize cars with the same names but at the same high prices for much less of a quality car. Dodge Charger 4 doors are now the Police Specials instead of the big Impallas and the huge Fords of just 15 years ago.
The muscle cars in "Young at Heart" America are now back, with the best selling still being the retro Ford V-8 Mustang, retro Dodge Challenger (with a 720 Horsepower optional motor that sounds like a stock 318 of the sixties until you open the throttle!!, Whew).... and the not so retro Chev. "chopped" and widened Camaro which I am not as fond of. What a strange look that one now has.
Japanese Cars are all over because they are/ have been much more dependable and affordable than most of the U.S. built cars ever will be. British cars are at Car Shows as Antiques, but newer German built BMWs and Mercedes are still the status symbols of those over here who are "Making It".....Joe in Florida would see perhaps a very different view without the Snow we get up here every year. Thanks for asking this Question, it was fun giving this one some thought. Kwakers

[Tinman]

Like Kwakers said, Yank Tanks are now Pick-up Trucks and full size SUVs (which are often built on a pick-up truck platform). Mid size pick-up trucks and SUVs come next.

That latest rendition of the Chevy Camaro is a horrible thing and I can't see it winning any sales records. First and foremost, they've made a car that's impossible to see out of. I rented one for a weeks use while on holiday/vacation and was never more happy to get rid of something at the end of the week than that thing. Everything about the car screamed cheap and shoddy (as well as needlessly oversize and heavy). I had a close friend tell me about renting the same car and his very first complaints were: You can't see out of it, and it feels like a lego toy.

The newest version of the Mustang is by leaps and bounds a better car all around.

Chrysler/Fiat - They would probably go into bankruptcy again if it were not for aggressively marketing and selling to law enforcement agencies all over the country. Their pick-ups come third after Chevy and Ford but still out sell most of their own cars. Their real problem is quality and reliability and they are on the bottom of every consumer list published. Remember all those law enforcement agencies that boost Chrysler's sales figures, well that quality and reliability issue is hurting them. Too many have had repeated recalls that affect their entire fleets. Combine that with general poor quality and reliability means you have an alarming percentage of your feet down at any given time.

My brother-in-law and I rented a brand new Dodge Charger on a recent trip in Canada. Silly us, we thought it would be fun. Items in the car were literally breaking and breaking off during casual use of the car (not to mention the thing's a gas hog). On our 3rd day, they had to come out and pick up the car with a flat bed tow truck and take it away. The rental agency send out someone to pick us up so we could get another car, we finished up the trip in a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (which was a pleasure to drive/ride in and got good fuel economy). I really don't see how Chrysler says in business.

[radar]

Thanks for the replies - enjoyed reading them. I only travel to US one time in 1987 returning to Oz from U.K.
Stopped California and Hawaii only.

As I have boasted elsewhere 2017 saw me fulfil lifelong dream and do something rare - buy a new car.
GT V8 Mustang convertible.
First new car since 1976.
First USA car.

Largish here by contemporary standards, especially since I had pair of Mazda MX 5 before.

Number #1 seller here is Toyota Hilux dual cab ute, followed by Ford Ranger equivalent. Not quite as big as F250.
People movers like Honda Odyssey.
Otherwise Camry/Corolla/ Mazda 3 and 6/ and Korean SUV abound.

So in answer to my question - other than dual cab Utes and pickups - NO Yank tank or land yacht like Cadillac or Giant Lincolns are now available?

[ChFalkensteiner]

So in answer to my question - other than dual cab Utes and pickups - NO Yank tank or land yacht like Cadillac or Giant Lincolns are now available?

Full-size Cadillac and Lincoln sedans are still being made, presently called Cadillac CT6 and Lincoln Continental, respectively. You can look them up on Wikipedia if you like.

They are not as big as they used to be, but downsizing happened already forty years ago, and since the late 1970s sizes have remained the same approximately.

They may sell in smaller quantities nowadays than in the past, as surely SUVs have taken away some percentage of sales.

Over here in Europe the Cadillac CT6 is officially available from GM dealers, but it is rather rarely seen on the road. This, however, is not much different from how it used to be twenty, thirty or forty years ago.

[radar]

Watched 3 Billboards outside Ebbing.
Featured car is what looks like a mid 70s Rambler Matador station wagon - correct me if I'm wrong. There is one scene with camera positioned behind driver and passages. Cinema screen matches windscreen dimensions.
Giant land yacht gives illusion of whole cinema in rear seat, cruising down road.
Guessing couple of hundred folk easily accommodated in rear of one of those.