Earlier today I wrote about the experiences one might acquire with a 1976 Thunderbird. One of the themes Ford touted about their Thunderbird that year was about experiencing North America.
To facilitate your own gaining of experience, I’m opening my checkbook for you. As I have a financial interest with this, there are rules to play by…
You are taking a journey back to June 1976 and will be taking a driving tour around your continent. To minimize the worry about this once in a lifetime experience, I am buying you a new 1976 model of your choosing; I’ll even pay for the fuel. However, it has to have been sold new in your country as of June 1, 1976.
You might want to consider comfort and ability to pack whatever luggage and other accessories. Why? Lodging is on you.
There is little doubt for me a Thunderbird would be in the running. But what if it were excluded from consideration? There would be other contenders.
The first thing that comes to mind, for whatever unfathomable reason, is a half-ton van. There were no smaller vans at the time (at least in the United States) unless you went with a VW. I’ll stick with either Ford or Dodge – no, make that a Plymouth just to be different. If it was a Ford it would have to have a minimum of a 351; sorry, a 300 straight six excites me not.
The Plymouth would be 360 powered, although I’m not finding where a 360 was available. A 318 would suffice.
However, there’s a lot of wind at times and driving a van in a cross breeze is no fun whatsoever. Plus I might have to camp park in a parking garage somewhere and vans are quite tall. Roof rash is such an ugly thing. So I’m sticking with something lower profile.
When traveling bigger can often be better as it provides more stretch out room and fewer personal encumbrances. A Mercury Grand Marquis, particularly in a dark color, would be a fun choice. This might be my only opportunity to experience a new Mercury. Aluminum wheels were available on the Grand Marquis; I would prefer those as there would be no hubcaps to lose.
A 400 (6.6 liter) was standard with an optional 460. I know which one I want.
I like me some C-body so I’d also consider a gussied-up Dodge Monaco. Let’s go with red. And, just to be different, make it a wagon as it seems to be a compromise of sorts between a sedan and a van. I’d love to find a Monaco wagon to write up.
Engine choices are either a 400 or a 440. That’s an easy choice.
A wildcard crosses my mind. Having held a long time affection (also read as curiosity) about AMC let’s also ponder over a Matador wagon. Like with the Dodge, it’s doubtful I’ll see another one while navigating the nooks and crannies of North America.
I’ll go with Autumn Red, a 360, and no faux wood on the flanks.
But since the trip will be just Mrs. Jason and me, the personal luxury coupe comes into play. So if I cannot have a Thunderbird what would I pick?
A Lincoln Mark IV, of course. It’s the next best thing. But ask me again in five minutes, I may have changed my mind to a Checker Marathon.
So what about you? What would you pick for a 1976 road trip?
I’m taking the loophole here, since you refuse to pay for my accommodations, and you said “1976 model” which could be *any* model.
I’m making you pay for my lodging as well. You can buy me a 1976 GMC Motorhome 🙂
I’m just one guy, I’ll save you some dough on cost and fuel by taking the 23-foot model.
Much credit goes to he who finds a loophole. Well played!
[bows]
Well played, sir, indeed.
I was thinking the same, but bonus points if we can get the GMC in green, preferably with the EM-50 goodies.
“Such a truck would be good for picking up girls in Minsk…”
Go big or go home!
Not 1976, but I like this ad better.
Um, he did say “driving tour”. I suppose you could cut the wings off and taxi it on the highway, but that seems less than ideal. 🙂
Cool ad!
Yeah, the Cessna 177 is a bit more roomy than the 172, Ed. Good choice.
Shoot; you beat me to it. I previewed this post yesterday, and it didn’t take me long to come up with that.
Shows you how I think; an RV never even crossed my mind.
My mind went in a similar direction, but clearly I wasn’t thinking as big as you. I was just going to ask for a VW Westfalia camper van.
Although if we’re allowed to keep our vehicles until the present day, I could store it for a few decades and then turn around and sell that Westy for big bucks.
Honestly, Westfalia was the very first thing that sprang to my mind, as well.
I’ve got motorcycle trips on my brain this week, so I’d pick a new 1976 Honda Gold Wing, outfitted with the traditional WindJammer fairing and hard bags.
Maybe follow old Route 66 down to California, I wonder what state all those little towns would have been in during 1976?
If I must use 4 wheels, you could still buy an Austin Mini in Canada, so I’d take that instead.
Doug, you would remove the high bumpers wouldn’t you?
Ford products are out, categorically, because of their negative lumbar support. A wagon is a good idea (as is the Motorhome Loophole) since it would give you access to a sleep-able indoor space that isn’t saturated with cigarette smoke (were non-smoking motel rooms even a thing yet in ’76?).
I think the best compromise between cruising comfort, sleeping space and urban wieldiness would be in a well-equipped compact which was the nearest equivalent new in ’76 to the fabled just-right ’49-55 low-priced three. Either a Chevy Nova Concours hatchback with 350/350, F41, radials, a tall cruising rearend, all available sound deadening and buckskin beige velour bucket-seat interior or a similarly equipped AMC Hornet in which case I’d go for the Sportabout wagon over the hatchback coupe. Yes, the Aspen/Volare wagon was a thing in ’76 but I’m not sure if its’ first-year issues would affect my road trip.
I’m with DougD here, though make mine a BMW R100RS, with luggage. I’ll supply my own camping gear.
Good choice. Meet me at the Starbucks corner of Michigan Ave and East Adams Street.
Or whatever coffee shop is there in 1976
Well I guess some of it depends on how many people I’m bringing along. With just one passenger it is hard to beat the Thunderbird, or Mark. On the other hand if that person is a significant other an Econoline with the proper period accoutrements would definitely be high on the list.
With a total of 3, 4 or maybe 5 on board I’d go with a Town Car, or again a Econoline but one configured for family travel instead making a family.
5-6 or more and it would probably be a Club Wagon.
Well, if you’re buying . . . .
I thought about an Avanti II, but that might not be ideal for this purpose.
A Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9, the teutonic big block for exploring 1976s Autobahns
This is easy enough for me, I’d take the ’76 Malibu I already own and have done many a road trip with. It’s an excellent highway car. Coincidentally enough, it was also built in June of 1976.
A K5 Blazer 4X4. Because then I can take any route I want.
Firebird Formula…My ’74 Esprit is hands-down the best old car I own on the open road. If it’s just me and my bride, we don’t need a ridiculous amount of luggage, and I love Firebirds.
Seeing as I’d rather sleep in a 1976 hotel or motel than in a vehicle, I’d take a Chrysler New Yorker Brougham. I really like covering ground fast and sitting in seats that support my back, so a Mercedes- Benz 450 SLC might be the right choice if the air conditioning can keep up.
+1 on the Chrysler New Yorker Brougham!
My choice, too. Dark green or maybe blue, with a matching leather interior. Give me those pillow-tops all day, everyday.
If I needed a bit more space, I’d step into a green Town and Country, with the dual A/C option.
I was about to say a Mark IV but then I saw that photo of the Firebird. My brother took a cross country trip in his ’73 Camaro and traded that in on a ’76 Trans Am. Nothing special, just a base T/A, 400 cubes, with an automatic. A/C of course. I got to drive it a few times and enjoyed it’s stability and effortless power. I was still making long trips on my motorcycles in those days, so driving almost any car would be a luxurious upgrade.
A 4×4 Travelall or Suburban, or possibly a 4×4 Van. Largest engine with a manual trans in whichever. I also have to say that if I made it to 1976, I ain’t coming back!
Unfortunately no Travelall for 1976 as they died after a shortened 1975 model year. You would have to settle for the Scout II Traveler. Of course it is possible that there may have been an unsold Travelall sitting on some lot in June 1976.
You make a compelling argument for the virtues of travel via personal luxury coupe… so I’ll go with a PLC, but from the other side of the aisle. Make mine a Chrysler Cordoba, but kindly spring for the $25 heavy-duty suspension option!
A Cordoba was >this close< to being included here.
While that Mercury Grand Marquis Brougham is mighty tempting, especially in that period-correct chocolate brown and with the aluminum wheels, I am not sure I could trust the seats of a FoMoCo product of that vintage to kill my back.
If it is just my wife and I, then I’ll take either a Colonnade Buick Regal coupe with every option in the book, including the Buick road wheels, plus bucket seats or the 60/40 bench seat. Since you’re paying for the gas, I’d want the biggest engine available. For two people, I see no reason for something larger – I just never understood the appeal of the huge Thunderbirds, Marks, Eldorados, etc. – and as it is, the Regal is inefficient enough!
If there are more than two people along for the ride, I’ll go two sizes up and get a Buick Electra 225, again with all the trimmings, for a valedictory ride in the last really big GM C body just before the first generation of downsized models are introduced.
I had a 75 Limited 2dr and it certainly was a great road trip car. It also towed a small travel trailer very well.
I did a cross-country trip in a 64 Thunderbird. Comfort is key, so my first choice is a 450SEL (great seats). If that is a violation because it is not domestic, then a New Yorker Brougham. I was tempted to spec a gen 1 Seville, but it’s trunk is too small.
Also runs… Town Car, Grand Marquis, and Mark IV.
First, I’m a FoMoCo guy, so my choices are limited to the Ford Family of Fine Cars.
Having said that, and having much personal experience with the LTD, Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Continentals of the era, I’ll take the Grand Marquis. The one in particular would be dark brown metallic/white vinyl roof with the saddle leather/cloth interior and a 460, the exact car my paternal grandparents had new and that I did a lot of early driving in. What a highway car.
If I had to pay for the fuel, I’d take a Grand Monarch Ghia. Same luxury, half the girth.
I think I would go with a van, as it worked well for Least Heat Moon in Blue Highways. My preference would be a Dodge window van with the slant six, and the A833 4 speed OD manual. I like the GMC motorhome idea also though!
Sentimentally, I’d pick a car I actually owned at the time, until 1998: My 1976 Dodge Aspen sedan. But actually I’d have probably picked a 1975 Imperial (the 1976 New Yorker Brougham was the same car but decontented some, and MAYBE there would be a leftover prior year car at a dealer; if not, the 1976 NY Brougham).
I actually did a couple of semi-cross country (MD-NM) trips in my ’76 Eldorado convertible. Wonderful long distance car, really covered ground, was relaxing and you felt refreshed at the end of the travel day.
I’ll take a Rolls-Royce Camargue in Regal Red with tan leather. My staff can follow in a Greyhound bus.
I’ve mulled this for a while today, Jason—-and had the benefit of others’ thinking. I’d just have to go FoMoCo, and think the big Mercury Colony Park wagon will do nicely: near-T-Bird-and-Lincoln kind of luxury, but then a capacious workhorse too. Back in pre-eBay (and internet buying/selling) days, one just stopped at every antique/resale shop and scanned advertisements, looking for a “find”–which is of course today often just a click away. And so my ideal vacation vehicle needs a goodly amount of cubic feet. Who knows–if you’ll spring for the tow package, I might find some rust-free, 4-wheeled western delight and be willing to haul it back to the Midwest–perhaps even to tuck it in a barn and keep it nice for you until I meet you around 2017!
While I think the Grand Marquis is an excellent choice I do believe that your pick of the Colony Park is even better. Great road car and in a pinch you could easily sleep two nice and comfy in the back with the seats down. Of course I’d have to balance that against the Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9 or BMW 635 CSi Grand Tourer.
Probably a Mercedes 450SLC makes more sense but road trips are supposed to be an adventure so I will take a Bricklin SV-1. 1976 is the second year so hopefully a few of the bugs are worked out but new enough that people would enjoy seeing it along the route.
The mechanicals bit are at least serviceable along the way.
3 immediate choices, which might reflect my European outlook
A Jaguar XJ12C – the shorter 2 door XJ12. with that V12 engine
A Ferrari 308GTB, in red (obviously). Less luggage but fewer overnight stops?
Or a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL6.9. Mel Nichols penned a truly wonderful story of doing just that, from LA to New York in CAR in the summer of 1977, with David Davis. Still one of my favourite drive/car/travel stories ever.
Now going onto ebay to buy another copy…..
While 1976 isn’t one of my favorite years for automobiles my vehicle of choice for 1976 would be either a Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a 350 and swivel buckets, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with a 350 or a Mercury Grand Marquis with a 460, I prefer these cars to have a darker color, I do find 1976 to be a little better than 1974-75 (which were IMO the worst years of 1970’s automobiles).
1976 Olds Delta 88. Quite capable at a cross country drive, and lots of room to carry two people and their luggage. Drive out to Vancouver, down the coast to California, across Texas and New Orleans out to Florida, and back up the east coast to the Maritimes and then home to Ontario. I would need a month off work.
The best answer for me has to be the easiest answer. 1976 chevrolet subburban 2 wheel drive 3/4 ton with the Silverado package, the tow package, the 454 and in that amazing burnt orange collor over cream. All the bells and whistles offered, Wich was not much untill 1977… You pay for the 6.5 mpg and me and the fam-a-lam enjoy comfortable, spacious cruising, and I just might pick up a new fangled camper on my dime, sence you so graciously bought us the truck… Did I say 6.5mpg? Well it might be 4.5 after the trailer is hooked up! No worries, we typically only travel 800 miles in a day when we road trip, once a week so…
For me it would come down to two choices:
1) GMC Motorhome
2) Buick Estate wagon
For road tripping I’d want something comfortable, reliable and not too heavy on gas. A Mercedes 240D would be slow but sure and my cousins actually drove one on a cross country trip in the early 80s. Other options would be a kitted out BMW R90 /6 motorcycle or a Ford Econoline camper (VW Westfalias are a bit too slow). As an oddball, how about a Blazer Chalet?
It would have to be a Dodge Tradesman short wheelbase, customized of course. Just like the one I used to have when I was younger. Love that stupid thing.
I’d go with what I had albeit ownership was in 1988.
1976 Chrysler Newport Custom 4dr. Hardtop.
400 4bl full options
Black with the red “tartan” interior option.
I did a lot of long distance running in that car and it was a dream to drive. Especially if someone else is paying the fuel bill. Even back in 88 that was the proverbial nail in the coffin. Bought a 78 Cordoba with a 360 and nearly doubled my gas mileage. But it couldn’t touch it on the freeway for putting the miles on.😎
As far as 1976 cars go, I did own one in 1980-’81. It was a Ninety Eight Regency Sedan and it was awesome. but if it’s gonna be what I really want and it’s free on top of it then I must go with one that I still lust after to this day…
A 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham Sedan. Particularly the one used on the ’76 Brochure, in beautiful (extra-charge) Florentine Gold Firemist
I would love one of the GMC motorhomes, but it’s probably overkill for my needs.
The practical real world answer is a Cutlass Supreme.
However if Mr Shafer is paying the bills I’m going for an Eldorado convertible.
It’s a fictional trip using fictional money, so spend all you want!
I think I will be joining Messrs. Raser and Carr to form a three car caravan of 1976 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9’s. As long as mine has a bordello red interior I’ll be happy.
As Gottlieb Daimler himself said so succinctly: “The Best or Nothing at all.”
Hotels? Freeways? Bah, you all are getting too civilized. Jeep Cherokee Chief with a 401 & Quadratrac. As many dirt roads or no roads as possible. Tent as weather permits. Lay the fart sack in the back when it rains.
I was trying to find some evidence for a second loophole, if the ’77 GM B-Bodies were perhaps on sale by the deadline. Sadly, no dice.
So, I’m going to go with an Electra as JP wrote so well about here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1976-buick-electra-limited-eat-drink-and-be-merry-for-tomorrow-we-diet/
Black, please, with the Bordello Red interior, leather if available.
If I’m not a badass, might as well cross the country like one.
1976 is nearly the last chance to get a classic Detroit land yacht. The contenders for me are:
1.) Lincoln Continental Town Car – would be built for another three years, but ’76 is the last year with the nice grille and 2nd to last with fender skirts and the wall-like real Lincoln dashboard before they switched to Ford/Mercury parts.
2.) Oldsmobile Toronado – with front drive, high-mount brake lamps, optional dual front airbags, and optional ABS. Ahead of its time!
3.) Olds 98 Regency sedan – nicest looking of GM’s big cars that year. Again make mine with the rare dual airbag option.
4.) Olds Custom Cruiser, with front-facing 3rd row seats and power clamshell tailgate. Not quite as plush as the other Oldsmobiles here, but still the coolest wagon since the ’55 Nomad.
5.) Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman. Oh-so-posh seat cushions look about 8 inches thick, plus matching throw pillows.
6.) Chrysler New Yorker Brougham 4 door hardtop. Most elegant lines of this group.
I’d love any of these, but I need to choose just one so I’ll go with the Lincoln, which is probably the smoothest riding, quietest, and most isolated.
’76 Mercury Marquis wagon with a 460 or a 245 Volvo with a stick. Or maybe swap the Volvo seats into the Mercury. I can just imagine the look on the Merc dealer’s sales chud’s face when I ask if there is a front seat delete option (for credit of course)
For me, the choice would be a 1976 Plymouth Gran Fury 2 door hardtop or the Brougham in a 2 door.
It’s 1976, so we have the 55mph speed limit and cops with x-band and k-band radar. The only fun that can be had is with a car that handles curves.
My choice would be:
VW Scirocco with the 1.6 5 speed
OR
Fiat X1/9
Great choices!
I’d like to own a Sirocco but I haven’t seen one locally in years
In June, 1976 I was graduating from High School. Parents had a 1973 Ford Country Sedan, which wasn’t a personal luxury car, but had more luxury features (air conditioning, AM/FM stereo, power locks) than its predecessor, a 1969 Country Squire but both were full sized cars.
It took me another 5 years, but in 1981 I bought a ’78 Scirocco…favorite of all the cars I’ve owned (albeit I’ve only owned 5 cars in 46 years that I’ve been a licensed driver). I do know it was a great car for the 22 year old me, but wouldn’t quite the same for the 62 year old I am now.
Didn’t get to drive a Fiat X1/9 but did test drive a Bertone version probably in 1986 or so..it handled great but was just too small for me…plus as a hatchback fan, didn’t have enough storage. Frankly I don’t really know why I test drove it except to satisfy curiousity of how it drove (similarly tried a 1st generation MR2 back then).
In 1976, I needed something practical to get me through 4 years of undergraduate school up in Vermont, which I got…nothing exciting, but it did the trick….and changed my life as a result. Now I’d like one of the full sized cars that are extinct but were common back then…now I know why they were popular among the older set, which I am now, but back then I wasn’t much interested. Also we’d gone through the first fuel shortages in 1974 and though we hadn’t yet been through the ones in 1979, I knew I would get a car that was good on gas. Did I want something like a full sized Dodge Fury with a 383 or 400?…sure, but didn’t think I would be able to keep gas in it, so it stayed off my list. Plus, my Father also owned smaller cars starting in 1966 as a 2nd car to our larger family vehicle, so I was used to smaller cars pretty early…even though I’ll admit I’d prefer a large one for a road trip of any long duration.
Wild card entry here.
“However, it has to have been sold new in your country as of June 1, 1976.”
My country is Australia. Our engineers were really having fun in the seventies. Stylists too. And I often daydreamed about taking an Aussie Ford to the US. Everyone knows how to fix a Ford. And since Jason’s paying, let’s go big.
The Ford LTD P5 had three months to go till the new model, but I prefer this style anyway..
For me, a Pontiac Grand Prix. A beautiful PLC in 1976.
Pleasingly for the budget of our esteemed contributor, my wants are relatively modest, though I am a snob and Mr Schafer would be paying in strange brown dollars bedecked with emu and a frowny Queen for a car not on his continent.
I would not rub sweaty shoulders with the local hoi or the polloi in their locally-made Holdens or such, because though these machines could be got with long wheelbases and large V8’s, they were to a car equipped with back-slumping seats, with wind noise, blousy steering and naff handling. Oh, they were tough enough and they got to There from Here alright, but these several features wore the driver out in the process.
No, I would order a car not made (though assembled) locally, a car that despite being an 8yo design by then was still far in front of the US-style stuff in seating, steering, brakes, handling, ride and stability (and even wind noise below 70 mph), and that is a Peugeot 504. As I’m not paying the tab, I’ll get the aftermarket aircon, too.
You see, in 1976, to do the 10,000 mile lap of Oz, much of the way was on unmade roads. The Big Three cars certainly had ride height and general locally-inserted toughness to cope with this sort of punishment, but they did little not to include the driver in their agonies. A 504 could be driven quite serenely at about 60 or 70mph across miles upon endless miles of corrugations with hardly any concentration, and at similar speed even if great drifts of bulldust were in the way (and yes it’s a real thing, talc-like powder that is slippery and can hide gigantic holes). The mechanicals were pretty simple and certainly durable, and familiar enough in remote places to be fixable in the rare event that they broke. And no matter how much the generous Mr S was to pay, 30-35 mpg with a big tank is what matters when there can be 700 miles or more between stations.
So, French it is (and so French it is, too). Even on the mostly two-lane blacktop highways between the eastern coastal cities, the conditions of them were (are) so crapulous that all the same considerations of drivabilty apply, with the added delight unique to Oz roadmaking of so-called “coarse chip” bitumen surfacing: for that, read “bloody loud roaring.” Again, for years, Peugeot had invented the miracle of silence in the suspensions and the locals, disgracefully, had not. In fact, it took the locals many more years produce the needed Oz versions of the posho Parisian, namely, all the good compliant fine-handling and ride and steering stuff fitted to a big Oz-sized car with a decently big engine.
All that spake, if we had had super-smooth multi-lane whooshways to knock off a thousand miles in a day (and cheap gas available every ten of those miles), I’m afraid would have to knock our kindly Mr Schafer over in the rush for the silent and torque-laden and airconditioned mobile velour beanbag that is the Mark IV.
For those conditions, surely anyone would.
Different tools for different locales. You don’t use a screwdriver when a crescent wrench better fits the need.
I had a new 1976 Eldo convertible and it was a great highway car. Traveled from VA to NYC, Miami, Houston. Lots of interior room for pets, and large trunk for luggage. Power and comfort so could not ask for anything more.
I scrolled down through these today and wondered why no one spoke up yet for the “Last” Eldorado Convertible until you Alfred. That would be my pick as well. Unless by some chance they were no longer being sold by June 1976 according to the rules that Jason has set forth…
If they were all sold out by then (I just turned 16 and can’t recall exactly when the ’76 Eldos were all gone), I’ve got to go with the Mark IV with the 460. Although I really like the Merc, that car is just a little to big for my needs. It would be just the wife and I.
Some folks here complained about the FoMoCo seats back then, but my great uncle had a Marquis, and those seats were VERY comfortable, from what I recall.
As long as the A/C works, the 8-track plays, and I’ve got an Esso or Gulf gas card, I’m game!!
To set the mood, need Ted Nugent, Kansas, Bad Company, & ELO in the stack of 8-tracks.
Could we stay at the Holiday Inn “Holidomes” along the way; they have the in-door pools!! Best Western will also do.
We could eat at Burger Chef along the way? Better yet, a HoJo.
Did I fail to mention bell bottom jeans, silk shirts, and leisure suits packed in the hard side Samsonite luggage in the trunk??
As it turns out, my folks bought a new 1976 Ford, and we went touring in it, to the Black Hills in South Dakota that summer.
Twelve year old me was thinking like a twelve year old, and not particularly appreciative of our new LTD. A base trim model with AC and and AM radio rounding out the option list, I thought it a bit plain. With two siblings to share the back seat with, I wondered why we couldn’t have bought a Country Squire wagon instead. And, I recall the Thunderbird I saw at the dealership looked a hell of a lot snazzier.
Thinking now, I was chauffeured by my folks in air conditioned comfort in a brand new car that was trimmed like a top line Ford of the early ’60s. Ford had mostly given up on true stripper cars in the ’70s, at least among their larger offerings, and our car was quiet, smooth, comfortable and smart looking on the road.
To have been fortunate enough to have taken family vacations in a comfortable and utterly reliable new car is something I’m a lot more appreciative of now.
So, Dad and Mom, props for treating me to a vacation in near the top of Ford’s food chain in the summer of 1976.
I can finance all of us if I’m allowed to call a stockbroker and scour the used car lots on my trip for SS 454 Malibus, Plymouth Superbirds and Shelby Mustangs to pack away in storage to be sold now.
Sold in my country…can I get away with gray-market imports? I would take a new Citroën CX. Big Citroëns sound like the last word in long-distance comfort, especially if I’m not responsible for upkeep and repairs.