(first posted 3/14/2017) As the 1960s came to a close, ever increasing numbers of upwardly mobile Americans were looking to make a style statement with a new Personal Luxury car. Detroit was more than happy to serve-up swanky, semi-sporty 2-doors to fill those desires, and 1969 welcomed back familiar faces from Buick, Ford and Oldsmobile, as well as a totally revamped entrant—the Pontiac Grand Prix, along with a new offering from Mercury—the Marauder. Motor Trend put each of these through the paces in February 1969, and ranked the upscale Personal Luxury players.
Absent from the comparison test were the “ultra-high-end” Personal Luxury cars from Cadillac and Lincoln. Though both the Eldorado and Continental Mark III were highly successful, they were also noticeably more expensive, with base prices around 39% higher than the more “mainstream” personal luxury cars—equating to a $1,900 price bump before options (~$12,500 adjusted).
The Thunderbird of course was the one that “started it all” in the Personal Luxury category, when the 4-seat “Square Birds” were introduced for 1958. For 1969, the most premium Ford available was in the 3rd (and final) year of the 5th Generation “Glamour Birds.” While the overall design wasn’t brand new, the Thunderbird Motor Trend tested did have a key new feature introduced for 1969: the sliding sunroof. Less desirable were the newly enclosed c-pillars on the Landau 2-door that eliminated the rear quarter windows and made for one of the biggest blind spots imaginable. However, the cocoon-like interior laden with gizmos was exactly on target for the segment, and there was no doubt that the T-Bird still came across as a unique suburban status symbol. With sales of 33,577 for the 2-door models (the 4-door accounted for an additional 15,650 units), the Thunderbird remained a key player in the segment and undoubtedly feathered Ford’s profit nest.
The ongoing success of the Thunderbird in the “Upper Middle” market must have irked Mercury, especially since the division had nothing comparable to serve up in the booming Personal Luxury segment. So for 1969, the division responded with the Marauder, a variation of the full-size line that combined Marquis styling and interior cues with the more aggressive roofline from the Ford Galaxie 500 XL SportsRoof. The result was sort of a jumbo semi-sporty 2-door hardtop, with market positioning similar to that of the relatively slow-selling ’68 Pontiac Grand Prix. Motor Trend’s test car was the X-100 model, which looked like a bit like super-sized Muscle Car in formal garb, with flat black paint on the rear deck. Despite featuring a standard “handling suspension,” MT editors opined that the Mercury felt massive and not particularly “special” inside—a lethal combination for a Personal Luxury car. Sales for 1969 reflected this miss: just 14,666 Marauders were produced, of which only 5,635 were the X-100 variant.
The Riviera was GM’s successful answer to Ford’s Thunderbird, and the Personal Luxury Buick enjoyed healthy sales each year after its 1963 launch. Much of the Riviera’s success was due to swanky styling and the upscale imagery associated with the Buick brand at the time—the car was undemanding, comfortable and fashionable, perfect for conventional status seekers. For 1969 the formula continued pretty much unchanged, with minor styling tweaks compared to the 1968 models. Motor Trend may have yawned, but buyers continued to swoon, as the Riviera found 52,872 homes for 1969.
The sexy new superstar of the Personal Luxury category came from Pontiac, with the striking Grand Prix. Unlike previous years, when the GP utilized the platform from the full-sized Catalina, the 1969 model rode on a stretched mid-sized chassis. John Z. DeLorean and the Pontiac team spiced up the Grand Prix image with aggressive “formal” styling and an ultra-long hood, creating a car that offered a trendsetting blend of luxury and sportiness. Inside, bucket seats were standard, with a driver-centered instrument panel and a center console. Though not positioned as a performance car, the Grand Prix still acquitted itself well in the handling department, and the 400 CID V8 in Motor Trend’s test car was found to be quite spritely. The biggest gripe: the brakes, at least on the sampled car, were subpar. All in, the ’69 Grand Prix was far and away the Personal Luxury sales leader with 112,486 sold (up 255% versus 1968!), representing almost half of the segment volume.
The Oldsmobile Toronado shared GM’s E-Body with the Riviera, but was unique in featuring front wheel drive and the 455 CID V8. Olds still halfheartedly tried to position the Toronado as an engineering triumph, but other than better traction in inclement weather, there wasn’t much else to recommend the FWD set-up in such a large car. After all, what did a flat floor for center seating positions matter when the car was marketed as a 4-place specialty car? As for the styling, Olds was trying to “formalize” the original Toronado design for the coming Brougham Epoch, but the heavy-handed grille simply looked ponderous grafted onto the dramatically curved body sides. In this case, Motor Trend swooned but buyers yawned: Olds only delivered 28,494 Toronados for 1969.
When it came time to pick a winner, Motor Trend went with the original, choosing the Ford Thunderbird as the best of the Personal Luxury cars tested. It was also the most expensive car tested, at $6,940 ($45,921 adjusted), though a sizable chunk of that price premium could be attributed to the sunroof option, which added $453 ($2,997 adjusted) to the T-Bird’s sticker.
FoMoCo also took last place, with the Mercury Marauder X-100. Frankly, the Marauder really couldn’t qualify as a Personal Luxury car, it was more of a “sporty” full size coupe in the style of Big 3 offerings from earlier in the 1960s. At $4,600 ($30,348 adjusted) the Mercury’s price was significantly lower than the others as well, in part due to a lack of options. The test car did not have Air Conditioning, for example, which would have been a tough sell in the sybaritic Personal Luxury category.
Motor Trend grouped the GM offerings in 2nd (Grand Prix), 3rd (Toronado) and 4th (Riviera), while expressing a strong preference for the Pontiac. Among the GM cars tested, the Grand Prix also boasted an aggressively low price for the category ($5,810–$38,444 adjusted), even though it was nicely equipped. The E-Body cars, as expected, were fairly close in price, with the test Toronado checking in at $6,231 ($41,230 adjusted), while the Riviera was $6,556 ($43,477 adjusted).
For any of these cars, however, the sales represented a profit bonanza for their makers. Given that the average price of a new car in 1969 was $3,400 ($22,497 adjusted), the Personal Luxury cars–typically dripping with options–went out the door for close to twice the price! No wonder Detroit loved their “upper-middle” products in the 1960s!
So imagine that you were looking to indulge with a Personal Luxury Car for 1969, which one of these would it be? Easy for me: hands-down I’d take a Grand Prix! The eye-catching style, dramatic interior, ample performance, youthful image and fair price make the GP a winner—and it was a trendsetter to boot, ushering in the new era of mid-sized Personal Luxury cars.
So that’s my pick, what’s yours?
This may only be my personal observation, but taking the article photos alone into account I feel it is fairly clear the Grand Prix is the standout of the group. The proportions just work. I also would like to state that these vehicles are about as far away from what I would personally choose for myself outside of a pickup truck.
For most years I’d say Riviera all the way. But for ’69…the Grand Prix has the looks AND the performance.
Grand Prix all the way. The Thunderbird pick has to be a joke.
Article says @the TBird“It has that exclusive diffident air known as class. Well, in my book it does smell too, but of lack of class. It looks like JC Whitney threw it together as sort of a pimp edition.
I’ll bet the GP outsold them all. The Riviera is a beautiful design and the Toronado lost its way.
btw, the Ford products seem to come w/ no destination charge – probably their only selling point.
+1 althought for the T-bird I liked the horn ring and it hadn’t got the “Bunkie beak” then Bunkie Knudsen ordered for the 1970 model year.
Ford was lucky then Chevrolet didn’t introduced the Monte Carlo one year early, could you imagine what if the Monte Carlo had arrived for the 1969 model year instead of the 1970 model year?
Wow! That stings. As a Ford guy I have to say that seems a bit unfair. Why is the Thunderbird pick a “joke?”
I read a number of non-political blogs and comment on a couple of them. Maybe I’m imagining it, but it does seem like the comment sections have become more acrimonious since the election.
I agree. I bought my 68 T-bird (which is almost identical) for looks, but I find it to be an exceptionally good driving machine, as MT concluded. Performance, ride, handling, quietness, comfort and overall quality are exceptional for the era. Even my friends who favor GM grudgingly came to the same conclusion after borrowing my car.
I like all domestic car brands and own 10 cars, so my enthusiasm is not specific to any brand. I like the GM offerings tested here and would love a Toro. . But MT is probably right in declaring the T-bird as the winner, if price is no objection. If anyone disagrees, try driving one, as my friends did.
My favorites are the bullet and flare birds, but I wouldn’t turn down any Ford from the sixties. They really were well made cars. My only ride right now is a ’68 F-250.
I am partial to Fords, but I’m not averse to other makes. There are just too many great cars out there to write off entire brands.
It’s not your imagination.
I’m NOT a Ford guy, but still agree with M/T that the T-bird was the best at defining American “Personal Luxury” at the time. Despite being the heaviest, it still performed mid-pack in acceleration and braking, Were they still made in Wixom, MI with Lincolns or regular Ford assembly plants?
For looks, I like the Riviera. The GP is just not in the same class, however successful in sales. From the rear it looks a bit like a tarted up Tempest and I never warmed up to the hood and “beak”.
This generation of Thunderbird was on a platform shared with the Mark III, as opposed to past ones on the prior Continental platform, (The Continental was moving towards big LTD status at this point). Thunderbird was still more Lincoln than Ford, but IIRC they were no longer assembled at Wixom exclusively. ? YMMV!
Their complete absence from this segment is among the biggest failures of Lynn Townsend’s era at Chrysler. Even Studebaker had been trying to play in this sandbox with the GT Hawk and Avanti. But even after Chrysler had done all the design work on the Turbine car (that would have been quite competitive with some of its details cleaned up or toned down) it never pulled the trigger.
Out of this group, it would have been between the T-Bird and the GP. The Bird still carried some cache then while the GP was scrapping for respect by providing the right concept at an attractive price. It would probably come down to a test drive, so where do I go to compare them?
It does seem a little disingenuous to include the Marauder but nothing from Chrysler. For 1969, they could have gotten a Special Edition Dodge Charger or even a loaded 300 hardtop.
In fact, imagine how differently things might have turned out if instead of focusing on a new ponycar for 1970, Chrysler had, instead, went with some sort of B-body Cordoba to take on the Monte Carlo five years earlier. It seems like the personal luxury car (brougham) market was already exploding even before government regulations, insurance hikes, and rising gas prices brought it to the forefront in the mid-seventies.
Speaking of regulations, the performance of those personal luxury cars sure wasn’t anything to write home about, with lackluster straight line performance and fuel mileage that barely eclipsed single digits.
I wonder about the performance as well. In my experience all carbureted American cars benefit from some tuning. I suspect that plenty of cars left the factory needlessly running poorly with poor mileage simply because they weren’t set up properly. I know my dad’s cars from that era weren’t .
All of my car projects benefit from a sharp tune. Carb settings and linkages, ignition timing, dwell, advance curve, and operation of vacuum control devices all can be optimized for any particular car and its environment. I’m sure this rarely occurred for any cars.
To be fair, these types of cars weren’t aimed at performance, but luxury, which meant a lot of additional, heavy sound insulation. Another commenter pointed out that Chrysler products, with their much higher NVH, weren’t included, which sounds reasonable.
These weren’t noisy musclecars, but luxury cars where having a quiet, soft cocoon to ride around in, not quarter mile times, was the focus.
It took the 1973-74 oil shortage for Chrysler to even consider a small Chrysler. In 1969 hell would have frozen over first.
A 300 would have fit in…so would a GTX.
In defense of MT, I can see why they did not include a Mopar in this test. The Fuselage 300 would have seemed like an absolute whale, plus the body was no different than any other Chrysler 2-door hardtop in 1969, so it wouldn’t have passed the “uniqueness” test. The Charger was still positioned as more of a Midsize Specialty/Muscle Car, and its primary targets included the LeMans/GTO, Cutlass Supreme/4-4-2, etc.. Sure the Special Edition dressed things up, but other than the leather (not offered on any regular GM A-Body), it wasn’t much different than adding luxury options to a GTO, for example (which was common).
The Marauder was a stretch too far already…
I disagree, what exactly was the Coronet R/T targeted at then? The GTO was a Tempest with an endura bumper. The Charger shared no panels at all with the Coronet, and the majority were 318 or 383s, shod with vinyl tops(SE or not). Plus the Cutlass supreme WAS personal luxury, it was not equal to the 442, but it was still a lesser effort than the Charger as far as differentiation.
And what happens when you add muscle car options to the Grand Prix? They were available.
I think it comes down to image and price. Personal Luxury cars were aimed at older, affluent buyers. Grand Prix had a youthful flair, but it was still aiming for thirty-something and forty-something customers, and was served up with a decidedly upscale vibe (even for the performance oriented SJ). Look at the shots from the brochures: the Grand Prix illustration features a couple in formal attire–the message is sophistication. The Charger SE shows a woman in a bikini–the message is “parTAY” on those leather seats.
The GTO still had a very distinct and desirable image in the late 1960s–it was definitely seen as more than just a Tempest in the eyes of target customers. Like the Charger, many GTOs were relatively tame automatics, quite a few with vinyl tops (not that you’d guess that after visiting a present day classic car show).
Take pricing into account as well. The Charger started at $3,020 ($19,983 adjusted), while the GTO Hardtop was $3,156 ($20,883 adjusted) and the Grand Prix was $3,866 ($25,581 adjusted). Adding options would have more or less moved the prices in lockstep, so the GP would typically have always been at least ~$850 more expensive ($5,600 adjusted) when comparably equipped. Also keep in mind that the GP dramatically undercut the prices of the typical Personal Luxury car–the Riviera had the next-lowest base price in the segment–it started at $4,701 ($31,106 adjusted), so leagues more expensive than the Dodge.
The GTO still had a 400 V8 standard though and with a base price of $2,831 it undercut even the Charger slant 6 ($3,020), the Charger R/T being the closest equivelant of the GTO package started at $3,592, so obviously you’re paying for extra.
I don’t dispute marketing directions being different, but marketing doesn’t equal reality and sometimes a car finds a different audience than anticipated, like the Honda Element. I’m not saying it’s equal to the Grand Prix but if Motortrend put a Charger SE in the mix the Marauder would still be the most out of place car in the pack.
The Charger was a unique car with what seemed to have been it’s own market, a car that was both a performance car, and personal ‘sporty’ car (if not a luxury car). Indeed, it seemed that the only other competing car was the short-lived AMC Marlin.
In effect, the Charger was an intermediate-size ponycar meant to placate Dodge dealers who were clamoring for a version of the Barracuda. It has to be one of the last times in Chrysler’s history when they made a conscious effort to not have Plymouth and Dodge vehicles competing for the same market.
I did think it was strange how Dodge could offer both the Charger and Coronet R/T at the same time, though. The Coronet R/T (and sister Plymouth GTX) were the main competitors for the GTO, not the Charger (although I’m sure it was cross-shopped).
The 300 was the first car I thought of as being more in tune with the Marauder.
my 1968 Electra with essentially the same 430 ci engine but carrying around an extra 150 pounds and with a peg leg 2.78 rear end gets to 60mph in 6 seconds and runs high 14s after mild ignition tuning.
By mild I’m talking about different springs in the distributor and slight tweaking (more like slight bending) of the secondary rod hanger in the carb.
The stock timing setting on the Big Block Buick were terrible. Most stock distributors added around 24* mechanical advance with the engine really liking it closer to 32*
Chrysler did an attempt in 1965 when they introduced the Monaco who was originally scheduled as a rival to the Pontiac Grand Prix. However some cool heads first decided then the Monaco share the same roofline as the Polara and then, the Monaco nameplate had replaced the Custom 880 and inherit the sedan and wagons of the Custom 880 in 1966 (there was plans for a 1966 Custom 880 from photos depicting some clay models of a proposed 1966 Custom 880 as shown in some Collectible Automobile articles) and the top-of-the-line Monaco 500 tried without success to chase the Grand Prix while by 1968 people flocked to Coronet and Charger instead.
I wonder if the 1971 Plymouth Satellite Sebring was a sort of attempt to go in that market? Instead of Sebring, I would had chosen Belmont (as a nod to the 1954 show car) for a nameplate.
Satellite Sebring was plusher mid size, but aimed at Torino Brougham and Chevelle Malibu.
“I wonder if the 1971 Plymouth Satellite Sebring was a sort of attempt to go in that market? Instead of Sebring, I would had chosen Belmont (as a nod to the 1954 show car) for a nameplate.”
Most definitely. There’s a CC on the Satellite Sebring Plus which points this out. That car, and the third generation Charger SE (particularly the ’73-’74 version with the special, scalloped quarter windows) were all Chrysler could do to get into the personal luxury market until the 1975 Cordoba arrived. I’d go so far as to suggest that the personal luxury market was the reason Chrysler came up with two different B-body cars for 1971 which shared no sheetmetal between the 2-door and 4-door versions. In fact, you have to wonder how things would have played out if Chrysler had, instead of concentrating on the disastrous E-body had, instead, came out with a B-body Chrysler personal luxury car for 1971 (and what it might have looked like).
Mercury was in the same boat. Ford limited themselves to the Thunderbird until 1974 when the (Torino) Elite and upsized Mercury Cougar arrived to do battle with GM’s array of personal luxury cars. The zenith of the personal luxury car period seems to be 1975-76 when everyone (save Plymouth) had at least one car in the personal luxury market.
The Charger SE definitely should have been in this test, it’s very close to the Grand Prix in execution
The main problem with the Charger (and the Satellite) was their lack of sound insulation and NVH (noise, vibration & harshness) issues. Even a die hard #MoparMan such as I was noticed this.
Mopar got better on the facelifted ’73 models and MUCH better on the 1974-78 models.
Unfortunately, 1973s anti-NVH modifications came at the cost of handling and stiffness.
GM cars already lacked handling and chassis stiffness, so nobody noticed much.
A separate road test of GP SJ vs. Charger SE would have been interesting [cool].
ChryCo went all in on muscle cars and full size fuselage look for 1969, then walked back to ‘formal’ later than Ford and GM. Chrysler brand cars being all full size was turning them into “old folks” cars, the Cordoba broke that trope.
I wonder at the exclusion of Chrysler products in this compare as well. If MT put the Marauder in the mix the surely the 300 would have qualified as a test subject. Having driven both, the 300 would have come up better than the Merc IMHO. I’ve never had the opportunity to drive a ’67+ T-Bird but had enjoyed a ’66 thoroughly. My brother had a ’70 Riv which was nice overall but didn’t particularly impart any ‘specialness’ in its experience. I am a bit biased though; I have either driven or owned one of every generation of Toronado and for me, that will always define ‘personal luxury’ because of the competence of the FWD system. The ‘luxury’ of knowing I’d never get stuck on W. Pa winters was indeed a bit of luxury! It wasn’t until the post ’86 edition that I stopped owning a Toro, though I did have the “pleasure” of owning an ’87 Riv that I chose because of the whiz-bang control layout!
It is called “rigging the test”.
I am guessing that, of all the American car makers, Ford spent the most advertising dollars that year at “Motor Trend”?
Even as a precocious, car obsessed child, I never quite believed “MT” and took their road tests “with a grain of salt.”
“Car & Driver” became my “go to” car magazine for over 30 years.
C&D was my “go to” mag for a long time until I realized I could pretty much predict which cars would win their comparison tests. At least as much as any other car magazine, I got the idea that often the winner of a comparison test was decided BEFORE the “contestants” were even assembled and the losers had the deck stacked against them.
C&D is only decent when they test a car by itself.
NOTA…I would take a 300 (or a Charger RT-SE, or a GTX) over any of them.
As a Ford “guy” what puts most of the other cars AHEAD of the Thunderbird is that the ‘bird looks kind of tired. I mean, after all the 69 was the 3rd year of this particular model….and it shows with the front and rear treatments.
Yeah, I would have probably gone for the Grand Prix in 1969. More than the other cars, it says “here’s a young up and coming” person. And let’s face it, it’s obviously a man’s car.
All that said, the early GPs don’t look quite right to me. Much more so than the similar Monte Carlo, the rear half of the GP looks too….flat? The front half of the car says proud bald eagle while the rear half says mild and meek pigeon.
A 72 would probably be more to your liking, Howard. It got the “boat tail” rear that was a lot more interesting.
You are correct, the attention given to both ends of the GP was most obvious starting with the 72s, I ” think ” (not sure) that the 74s through 76s are even better as they look a bit more muscular than all the models before them.
By itself I actually like the 70 Thunderbird, and if this comparison had been of 1970 models INCLUDING the Monte Carlo, I would have had to flip a coin for help choosing between a Thunderbird and a Monte Carlo….with the Chevy probably getting the nod if it had the “right” options (like full instrumentation and floor shifter, for a start).
And like others here, a convincing argument for including the Dodge Charger wouldn’t have been difficult. Certainly MORE than the Marauder, the Charger SE should have been here.
The Grand Prix facelift for 1971 brought the boat tail look to the rear, along with a revised front-end with dual (instead of quad) headlamps and a modified grille. This styling carried over to ’72.
Regarding the 1970 Monte Carlo, be sure to check back on Wednesday for a post that will include another MT comparison test…
The Tornado body was even older than the T-bird.
FWIW that T-bird look was fairly distinctive. But Ford must have thought the GP look was the future because they quickly messed up the clean looks by grafting on the Bunkie beak and a fastback, and turned it into a wannabe Pontiac.
It’s not so much that the basic body was old, but that the “facelift” and “buttlift”(?) for the 69 models were neither cohesive with each other nor all that…tasteful (?).
Of all the cars here, the Fords are probably the least attractive (to me, anyway) as they look like matrons. The Thunderbird looks like an older lady who is wearing too much jewelry while the Mercury (actually a very good looking car), looks like a middle-aged lady wear a too long dress or a dress a few sizes too big.
I think one of the biggest challenges for manufacturers in this segment was that these buyers were so fickle and style conscious. A look that was “hot” for a year or two would soon be seen as “tired” while buyers gravitated to the “newest” designs. Makers that tried restyling existing bodies to feel “current” often produced subpar results, like the ’68 – ’70 Toronado, ’70 Riviera, ’70 – ’71 Thunderbird.
Agree 100%, “style” was #1 choice back then for upper class car market. Didn’t want to spend money on “last year’s car”. Only brand loyalists would stick with an ‘old style’.
Probably to no one’s surprise, I’m going with the Riv’ and the G.P. of this lot. I don’t get why the Marauder was selected as it’s a full sized car. (A nice one,but it’s not a PLC) a Cougar XR7 may have been a better choice. It may have been Mustang based but seemed more ‘Bird than ‘Stang.
I also think the Eldorado and Mark should have been included anyway, Even with the price jump they still were (as actual cars) close relatives of the Riviera/Toronado & Thunderbird.
I find the Riviera the most attractive of the group, but all these cars are just too lush and plush. In 1969 I would have walked into my local BMW dealer, the late, lamented Boulevard Import Service, and driven out with a new 2500 sedan. That’s just me, though.
I also wanted a larger, 4 door BMW of this time period.
I had “Automotive Lust” SO very badly for a Bavaria!
One ride in one quenched my desire, though.
Here in Hot & Humid, often rainy New Orleans, a powerful air conditioner is always needed, perhaps 11 months out of the year.
The “Factory approved dealer add on” A/C was about as good as a cool, damp wash cloth on your face.
I love the X100, but it clearly does not belong in this group.
The sedans weren’t up to the luxury level of B-O-P and Chrysler, either, according to other comparison tests @ MT.
If ever a car needed an “it factor” to succeed in its segment, this was it. In ’69, the Grand Prix had it.
But, I have a soft spot for that Maurader – as stupid as it was to try and stay in this segment with a full-size car when Pontiac, Buick (Wildcat), Oldsmobile (Starfire), Chevrolet (Impala SS) and Chrysler (300) were all seeing impending doom for the big sporty car.
I came close to telling my dad I wanted a ’69 Maurader for my first car! In 1982, I was shopping with my him (on my dime and his co-signer signature). The new car dealer used sections were full of beautiful full-size iron that had been driven from garages by the receding memory of the 1979-80 oil price spike. I was in heaven, except I knew such cars were not very cool with my cohort, and the idea of 10 miles per gallon was hard to take when coolness and 15 MPG was merely a Cutlass Supreme away.
For a moment, I sat in that big light green fender skirted beast, and was amazed. Due to their rarity, I had almost never seen a Maurader, and had never been close. Like Motor Trend, I found the car almost shockingly big, and I’m a fairly tall guy. The horseshoe shifter was about as cool as things got for me, and the tunnel rear window, skirts and hidden headlights made for a quite decadent package.
I extricated my almost woozy self from the car, and walked past a ’72 Caprice coupe and a few GM B body convertibles like I’d just been put close with girls that were beyond me – I was just too young, poor and inexperienced to make it work.
Within days, a practical and easy to work on ’73 Cutlass Supreme was the envy of my friends, and I really enjoyed my first time as a car owner, but I’ll never forget that flirtation with a Maurader.
As much as I could and did admire the exterior; one short test drive in a 3 year old, 40K miles, used car Maurader changed my mind.
I ruefully agreed with my Father’s opinion that it was a “Powerful Pig”. Numb, slow geared steering, “Tip Toe Touchy” power brakes, slow, sloppy shifting automatic transmission, noisy but quite effective air conditioning……but LOTS of bottom end grunt.
I am with you on the Marauder-Love. My father was in the market in late 1969 and brought home a 1970 Mercury brochure. He must not have been crazy about them because he gave it to me pretty quickly. (He answered the siren call of a 70 Mark III). I fell in love with that big, gaudy Marauder. The Monterey was too boring, the Marquis too old-man-stuffy, but that Marauder was Just Right for this 10 year old car nut.
The joke turned out to be on Dad because the Mark III was a total POS. Who knows, maybe a Marauder would have been a great car. 🙂
Mercury probably should have substituted the Marauder for the Cougar, which was much more of a personal luxury coupe out of the gate, and each update pushed it deeper into the segment.
I’ll pick the Grand Prix, make mine a 428 with a 4 speed.
Maurauder didn’t belong, agree, was fading segment. But, ’69 Cougars were still compact ponys. The ’71 was more personal lux, though a bit small, still. Not til’ 74 was Cougar a true mid size
’69 GP started a new market segment that exploded, mid-size personal lux. BTW: Cutlass Supreme didn’t got the G* body/formal roof yet, until ’70.
* aka A-Special body
For the sake of this comparison test only the GP is mid-sized, there was a sort of goldilocks thing happening with size in the personal luxury segment at the time and while I’ll agree the Cougar was too small and mid-size was just right, it was definitely a personal car and an outlier among ponycars with a level of luxury more on the level of these bigger examples. I credit the Cougar for opening the door for a downsized Grand Prix.
DeLorean wanted a smaller GP, with unique body, for some time. Cougar was meant to be a Mustang derivative its first few years.
And Iacocca wanted a car between the Mustang and Thunderbird, the Grand Prix was equally as derived off the Tempest as the Cougar was the Mustang – wheelbase stretch up front, extra sound insulation totally unique sheet metal and plush interior. It pioneered the idea of taking Thunderbird/Riviera like Luxury car amenities down to a smaller size, pretty much paving the way for the Grand Prix and the 70s PLC movement the Cougar would later be “adjusted” for.
The GP and Monte were the A body special. The G body designation came later.
Pity the gorgeous ’73 dashboard and interior wasn’t in the ’72 Grand Prix.
Would have been cool if there was a test of ’69 Maurauder, Chrysler 300 and Buick Wildcat. All with top engine choices.
There was a Motor Trend comparison test of a 1969 Wildcat versus an Olds, Pontiac, and Chrysler:
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/members/AardvarkPublisherAttachments/9990486998936/1968-12_MT_1969_Olds_88_Wildcat_Bonneville_Newport_Test_1-8.pdf
Pages are not in order and there’s a page missing about the Chrysler, so it’s unclear why a 383 Newport Custom was chosen for the test (versus a 430 Buick, a 428 Pontiac, and a 455 Olds) – but the Newport is called a handmade prototype in the article, so perhaps no ’69 300s had yet been built.
In that article, They refer to “Ask the man who owns one” as an old Buick slogan ?. Packard died 4 years before I was even born and I knew that It was a Packard slogan by the time I was 10.?
My pick of this litter would be the Grand Prix. A T-Bird would rate a test drive, though.
If money was no object, then the blue Eldorado pictured.
Why the editors picked the Marauder over a Cougar XR7 would make a good question.
Prolly because FoMoCo paid (in advertising dollars) “MT” to promote this model.
’69 Cougar was a compact pony car still and wasn’t true mid size til ’74.
Size. The Mustang-based Cougar was a compact.
Why does size matter? Personal Luxury was previously defined by full(standard) sized cars, but the intermediate 1969 Grand Prix in this very test eschewed that requirement, so why couldn’t compact? The interiors are plushy, and there really isn’t a substantial drop in space where it counts(none of these cars are very space efficient).
Really the PLC segment at it’s core is the same exact formula as ponycars
Yep! The Cougar (Particularly in XR7 form) always “hit” me a a sporty PLC in the T-Bird / Gran Prix mode. It (to me) was a perfect product for Mercury, A Mustang with some of Thunderbird’s luxury and “presence”.
If “size didn’t matter”, then why did the ’74 Cougar grow to mid size, and thus sell more? Cougar was aimed at sporty car market first, and then grew.
If size mattered as it pertained to the test the Grand Prix would be excluded, as all of the cars it is up against are full sized.
The Cougar’s growth to midsize reinforces my point. It was always a personal luxury car right from inception, it was just too small for most as the segment adjusted. It’s sporting intentions were always either symbolic(brief SCCA career) or forced also-rans (GT, GT-E, Eliminators) and the relative low collectability compared to Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, Barracudas and Challengers is proof positive the nostalgia crowd doesn’t even remember the Cougar doing sporty things, they remember the vast majority of them as being mini Tbirds or Mark IIIs, shod in vinyl tops, plushy tan leather interiors and muted colors seen on them. In 1974 the Cougar easily could have followed the Mustang to the Mustang II chassis, but it didn’t. Why? because the Mustang was a car that started small and every enlargement was seen as unnatural mission creep, the Cougar on the other hand? That transition was very natural.
It may have been considered too small as a criticism in this 1969 test, but it was very much in the demographic audience for a personal luxury coupe. And all of these cars had a sporty flare to them, they wouldn’t be naming a car with no sporty flare whatsoever “Grand Prix” afterall.
“Why? because the Mustang was a car that started small and every enlargement was seen as unnatural mission creep, the Cougar on the other hand? That transition was very natural.”
I couldn’t have summed it up any better!
+1?
Mercury didn’t have a Thunderbird or Mustang, per se and the Cougar being a Mercury was closer to a PLC befitting the upscale market position.
I can’t believe the optional 8-track player in the Toronado was so poorly integrated into the dashboard (i.e., not integrated at all, simply stuck on), as seen in the photo. Of course, the one that could be ordered in the GP was even worse: at the rear of the console, with the slot facing forward.
If you think that is poor integration, you should have seen the units a few years earlier. The factory 8 track in my Grandfather’s 1967 Caprice included stereo controls for the factory four speaker system, and the unit either hung from the dash or sat on the tunnel, filling almost the entire space from dash to floor. As a small child, I was squished into the middle front seat a few times, and even below age 5 there was no leg room for me.
But, damn, it was cool. It was color coordinated with the interior, and had a ton of stainless trim with several chrome knobs. And, the sound was amazing if you were used to the typical one speaker AM car radios of the time.
Yet another way that Pontiac’s dashboards were superior among GM cars in those years: When the 8-track deck option was first offered for 1967, those in the full-size cars were given a proper enclosure (incorporating a matching ashtray drawer cover above). This same unit became an integral part of the console on cars so equipped.
We had this deck in my family’s ’67 Executive wagon. Speaker placement was idiosyncratic: front center for one speaker, right rear (top of wheel well) for the other.
Looking at this, it’s hard for me to choose, because I think these all have their faults. The T-Bird doesn’t work, I would much rather it be the four door version, but that would’ve disqualified it. The Marauder is the best looking IMO, but personal luxury coupe it’s not. The Riviera and Toronado started to slide in terms of appeal, and I’ll be 100 percent honest, I’ve never found the Grand Prix of this model year attractive. The overall styling to me is sort of meh, and the front end of it I find absolutely hideous.
Honestly, even though it’s not presented here, I would’ve forked over the extra cash and just gotten the Mark III.
Also, observing what JP said, the fact that Chrysler didn’t have anything in this segment is indicative of how far behind the times they were. Especially considering the Fuselage bodies started to come out for 69, which I think would’ve been the perfect opportunity to jump into this segment. I could imagine a PLC from Chrysler taking styling cues from the Imperial or the New Yorker, how much of a success it would’ve been, I don’t know. But, it’s certainly interesting to think about.
I’m curious to know how much average age of purchaser varied with these. I’ll guess T-bird as “oldest” and GP as “youngest,” but who knows?
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Fond Memory: teenage me taking my father’s new ’69 Mercury (albeit regular-fuel 429, so “only” 320 hp) out to see how fast it would go. “Floaty” at an indicated 117mph on deserted interstate, but it still felt as though it hadn’t quite topped out. I’m of course lucky I didn’t hurt anyone else–much less myself.
One data point: My grandfather bought a new silver 1966 Riviera when he was 61. I’m sure lots of others in his cohort were buying Rivieras all the way up to 1970. But when it was time to trade in the Riv, the 1971 model repelled him (as you’d expect) and he instead chose a white ’71 Electra coupe. Among the 1969 cars reviewed here, the Riviera was the most dignified-looking and the most elegant (despite the heavy bumper-grille), and so might have attracted older buyers.
My then teenage uncles wanted my Grandma to get a new Riv, but a firm “No” to that. Electras were her choice.
Actually all 429s were High Comp premium fuel then, even the 2-barrel. No regular fuel 385 series until 1972.
I’d pick the Riv, the the T Bird, then the Coronado and the Marauder in that order. Why not the GP? I really hAted that stupid, worthless in-windshield antenna they laud, as well as those awful, widely separated faux square headlights and the heavy handed neoclassical stand up grille. It could be accurately said that the T Bird lost its class in Gen V, but the Grand Prix…Ugh. The worst of both personal and luxury to my eyes.
I would have to choose either the Pontiac Grand Prix or the Mercury Marauder X100 if I were looking at a high end personal luxury car for 1969, I’m surprised how lighter the Pontiac Grand Prix is compared to the other cars they’ve tested, also was the 1969-72 Pontiac Grand Prix a full sized car or a midsized car?
1969 to the end of the line, Grand Prix’s were in the mid size class. The 62-68’s were full sized.
Someone up-thread said quite a few GTO’s were sold with vinyl tops. I agree that many bought since they were “in style” by trendy buyers in ’68, and they weren’t going to drag strips.
So, the mid size GP took this set of buyers away from “Goats” and led to its sales decline, along with other factors.
The Grand Prix was the trendsetter, a mid sized and priced PLC with muscle car swag. It broke out the segment that became such a big seller in the 70s. My Aunt bought a new GP and it really did get a lot of attention. The Thunderbird had such high quality because at this time, it was the sister car to the Lincoln Continental. It was pretty much built to the same standard. This lasted through the Mark IV era. During this time the T Bird was an acceptable car to the Continental buyer. The downsized intermediate T Bird was cheapened considerably in build quality and of course in price. It was no longer in the same league. The Riviera is always a favorite with me, and the earlier Toronado was a styling and engineering sensation when it debuted. I don’t think that they were as plush as the T bird, even the Eldorado wasn’t a really plush car at this time. The Mark III had it beat. I really like the Marauder, but it’s obvious that it was never going to find a large audience. I would think most of the buyers would come from existing Continental sales. The two door Lincoln coupes of this period were very nice, I got to drive my Dad’s ’69. The car of my choice and the one that projected the image I wanted would have to be the Grand Prix.
This to me is Exhibit A of “the good ol’ days weren’t all that good.” Re: Rudiger’s comment, even in the pre emissions days, it took approx 6.6 liters of smog belching points breaking fury to break the 10 second 0-60 barrier, and at 10 mpg on a good day. Nowadays the closest equivalent to these cars would be the Challenger, which requires only 3.6 liters of displacement, is considerably quicker, gets 31 mpg, and if treated with a modicum of maintenance will easily run 200K+ miles. Its modern equivalent is cheaper, roomier, and handles better. The Challenger thanks to fuel injection and modern electronics will start every day no matter the weather and run efficiently for longer than any of these cars would.
I don’t really grasp the concept of a personal luxury coupe, which seems to be a vast car outside with a bare minimum of interior space, especially in the back seat. I suppose the statement is to look Young and Single and Fun in the way that nowadays people eschew minivans in favour of crossover thingys, but I suppose another reason is that these cars could be often equipped in a more luxurious manner than their sedan counterparts and that in those days, no rear doors for kids to open was considered a safety feature. I do love a large car but it needs to be large inside as well.
I would call these more of a practical mid-life crisis car. These were about style. 45 year old Dad may not have been able to sell a Corvette to Mom, but these were fairly practical with a decent backseat for 2 or 3 young kids to use occasionally. This was the era of the 2 car family, so Mom would have a wagon or a big sedan for normal family duty.
This was how Dad felt sporty and successful at the time when he was able to afford something nicer. This was a HUGE market in the 70s as the price of entry came down with the likes of the Monte Carlo and even the Cutlass Supreme.
Nailed it! In 1972, my Pop was 45 with 3 kids. For our family car, driven primarily by my mother, we had a ’71 Olds Ninety-Eight with base trim. Pop was looking for a nice car for work/evenings out/running errands that could serve as back-up for family duty. He was trading in a ’68 Cougar and wanted something roomier and a bit more posh but still trendy/youthful. His choice? A 1972 Pontiac Grand Prix. Great style statement, didn’t break the bank, could put a kid or 2 or 3 in the back as needed from time to time.
Think from the perspective of 1969 looking back at cars build 48 years prior, and our advances from 48 years ago won’t seem so comparably impressive. Sub 10 second 0-60 times don’t matter when the rest of traffic isn’t moving that fast, that stat didn’t matter then, doesn’t matter now.
When the 1st Gas Crunch hit, many full size cars were traded in for “smaller” GP/Cutlass etc. Same with Cordoba, taking in old Furys, Newports and Polaras.
By 70’s even “Mom” wanted into the style. 😉
The Toronado had sophisticated four-wheel drive… Who knew??
Front-wheel-drive, not four. Oldsmobile was careful to deemphasize that as a “selling point” in advertising of the Toronado in order to avoid losing their traditional clientele yet still gave that item of technical advancement some mention.
After all, Olds was often GM’s “starter car” for new innovations – such as the Hydra-Matic transmission and then the high-compression OHV V8 engine, along with the hardtop coupe and later the hardtop sedan body styles. Plus a few “klunkers” such as the 215-inch aluminum block V8 and its turbocharged variant, and then the diesel engine.
The 215 v8 was a Buick design, but adding the Turbo was Olds’.
Thunderbird first offered a factory sliding metal sunroof as an option in 1960. I believe it was subsequently dropped from the option list in 1961 and not offered again until this 1969 model debuted.
http://automotivemileposts.com/prod1960tbird.html
For most years I would pick the Riviera, i really like the 66/67 years, not so much the 68/69/70, so I would pick the Grand Prix, then the T-bird, then the Riv, Toronado and the Marauder at last.
Nice comparison test!
I didn’t care much for the way the headlights were positioned in the 1968-69 Toronado’s/Riviera’s at all, I’ve thought it was a huge downgrade to the 1966-67 headlight’s, I’ve thought 1970 was a big improvement over the 1966-67 E-body cars, from first to last I would pick the Grand Prix, Marauder, Thunderbird, Riviera and Toronado.
My choice: Grand Prix. I thought so then, and among the selections of the time, I think so now.
The year-later Chevrolet Monte Carlo lacked the panache, but was DIFFERENT from its Malibu parents, so succeeded. Another contender for 1970 was the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, with the same roofline as the Grand Prix and Monte Carlo.
Chrysler missed out…it took them until the Cordoba, in 1975, to enter the market and that was probably done only because their midsize body was undergoing a facelift that year.
How did they do brake testing back then? The distances seem pretty short for 4500 pound cars with rear drums. 115 feet for the Marauder (the article calls it “phenomenal”), seems ridiculous. I’m looking at a Consumer’s Report page from 2012 that rates the “best cars for braking”, and the best rated sports/sporty car then was the Porsche Boxster – it took 112 feet. 130 feet (Thunderbird and Toronado) seem to be pretty good today.
This was such a style-conscious segment so I’m going to talk only about looks.
The Marauder? I find its rarity fascinating and its looks intriguing on first glance. But it really does look tank-like and unappealing upon closer inspection. No thanks.
The Grand Prix? I want to like it but that front end treatment is heavy-handed and the rear end is lazily styled. These were not great years for Pontiac styling… I actually find the Colonnade Grand Prix to be better-looking, and I found the full-size Pontiacs looked much nicer by 1973 than they did in 1970, 1971. Still, the GP was the best buy out of this lot.
The Thunderbird? No thank you. This generation has some nice details (hidden headlights; taillights) but lousy proportions.
The Riviera? Handsome but almost anonymous. Perhaps I only feel that way about it considering the context it is in here, surrounded by very glitzy, chrome coupes. The Riv has aged the best, that’s for sure.
Finally, the Toronado. To paraphrase Ricardo Montalban, “I hate what they’ve done to my car”. The ’66-67 Toro is one of the best-looking cars of all time. The ’68-69 models are like taking a beautiful model and giving her bright blue eye shadow, coral lipstick and a bad wig. The frontend treatment is just nasty. The 1970 revision was a slight improvement but still nowhere near as beautiful as the ’66-67. And after all of that chasing of the mainstream, Toro sales never really took off.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought the 1973 full sized Pontiac’s were betting looking than the 1971-72 full sized Pontiac’s, IMO the 1973 full sized Pontiac was everything I wished the 1971-72 Pontiac’s would’ve been, I normally find vehicles built in 1973 to be inferior to the earlier 1970’s vehicles but the full sized Pontiac’s were an exception.
Riviera.
“…when 16 inch wheels were considered small.”
Sometimes old is new again!
I have to go with the Grand Prix, too. I loved theToronado and the Riviera but for the purpose of this exercise, it’s the GP for me.
For anyone who drives regularly in poor weather, snow or rain, the Toro wins hands down. True luxury is safety, and they were really quite amazing in snow or any kind of slippery condition. True they were not as pure styling-wise as the ’66/7s, but still handsome to my eye and still real luxury inside. A GP felt cheap in comparison And that big flat floor was really nice on long drives with all the side to side foot room. Biggest downside was gas mileage: 10-11 in town, 13 hwy, but if you’re buying in this class in 1969, who cared? I loved my ’69 and would love another. This one is identical, down to the same color.
” {Mopar} complete absence from this segment is among the biggest failures of Lynn Townsend’s era at Chrysler.”
Agree, was foolish to wait until 1975, kicking and screaming, to get a mid-size Chrysler.
Instead, Ma Mopar expected the 1968 performance car market to last well into the 70’s. The big Fuselage cars turned off full size buyers and cost a lot to bring out, then re-tool again for ’74.
At 1971 Chicago Auto Show, Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge exhibits still had “go-go” dancers and psychedelic colors, like Austin Powers was asleep for 3 years. A year later, ’72 display was wood paneling and subdued, vinyl topped, cars.
While Cordoba was a hit, the ’75-’78 Plymouth and Dodge B bodies faded into fleets. GM/Ford were selling mid size cars like pancakes.
Yeah, the Monaco really wasn’t it — it was a perfectly decent Mopar, but as a Thunderbird rival, it was a nonstarter — and the Charger was really a different sort of car.
I disagree with the people above who think the Charger S/E should have been included. I think it would have been clearly out of place (more, probably, than a Cougar XR-7). If it had been a comparison between the Charger and the Grand Prix, that might have made sense, but next to the Toronado, Riviera, and Thunderbird, the Charger would look like showing up to a banquet wearing a football jersey.
As for the inclusion of the Grand Prix, it was in an interesting position in that it had effectively been downsized from previous years. Motor Trend had included it in their previous personal luxury car comparison (August 1967), where it had been about the biggest of the bunch, and the subsequent diet and exercise program hadn’t really changed its mission that much. If it had gone the other way (if it was the GTO that became a long-nose personal luxury car with Duesenberg model designations), it might have been a harder call.
Either the 300 or the GTX.
It’s a hard decision because I like the Riviera and the GP. But since this is 1969 and not 1966 or ’67, I’d go with the GP. I preferred the front styling of the Riv in ’66 and ’67 but not in ’69.
“In the good old days …. when 16 inch wheels were considered small” – I see I’m not the first here not to be too quick to write off something as old and done with.
1969 what about when the personal-luxury coupe market started to bifurcate. There were some seriously upscale, expensive luxo-coupes like the Eldorado and Mark III that were designed for and bought by the truly wealthy, but the big growth was in lower-priced, slightly smaller cars like the Grand Prix and later the Cougar, Monte Carlo, and Cordoba that while marketed as “luxury” cars, were really aimed at middle-class buyers willing to splurge a bit on a nicer, more stylish car. By the mid-’70s, there were lots of such buyers.
The interior shot of the Riviera showing the dash and steering wheel looks remarkably like that of several Chrysler products from ’79 to ’87. My first thought was “how did a photo of a ’81 Imperial sneak in here?”
The “Riv” is my fav here.
The Riviera, then GP, Toronado, X-100 last.
I’ll take a Grand Prix SJ, 4-speed and 428HO, and switch out Ralleye II wheels for those tacky wire wheel covers.
I have to add though, I’d not be the least bit unhappy with any of those other vehicles: I like them all to varying degrees for various reasons.