Good morning! I trust you all had a good weekend. We’re in the midst of a heat wave here in Portland, but we won’t let that stop us from checking out a couple of cool ’70s rides from opposite sides of the Pacific. First, though, let’s see how Friday’s runner-up battle went down:
Interesting… the classics edged out the sofa-on-wheels Buick, but not by much. And the Kia? Yeah, I don’t care about it either.
1976 was a dismal year for cars, all things considered. American cars just kept getting fatter and slower, like the high school quarterback at the twenty year reunion. Engine compartments became an unintelligble tangle of extra wires and vacuum lines, adding insult to the injury of lost power. The last vestiges of the good old designs were either being replaced by newer, fussier shapes, or disappearing under the crushing weight of 5 mph bumpers and landau tops.
Meanwhile, Japan was sending over boatloads of small cars that ran and drove a whole lot better than some of ours, and used about half as much gas, but often featured weird technology that didn’t always work well, and had a tendency to rust if you breathed on them hard. And, in my small town at least, faced the ire of an increasingly vocal group of folks who were convinced that Japanese cars spelled doom for their livelihoods. But they sold, in huge numbers, and changed the vehicular landscape forever.
So today, we’re going to take a look at two survivors from the Bicentennial year, both personal luxury coupes, both running and driving, both a bit scruffy. (Also, I just noticed, both red, white, and blue, if you count the air cleaners.) One is a Japanese upstart with a bizarre engine that looked and sounded like nothing else, and the other is a jumbo-sized American, clinging to the glory days of the ’60s with a neutered V8. Let’s see which one has aged better.
1976 Mazda Cosmo – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.3 liter 2-rotor Wankel, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Coeur D’Alene, Idaho
Odometer reading: 125,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep
I had to look this up – I didn’t realize that Mazda ever sold the Cosmo in the US. But they did, from 1976-78, powered by a 13B rotary and, in this case at least, a three-speed automatic. It’s a larger and heavier car than the early (and beautiful) two-seat Cosmo, but still small by American standards at the time. The American styling influence is clear, from the upright waterfall grille to the not-quite opera windows in the rear pillars. It works, though: this is a sharp-looking car.
Inisde, the feel is more European than American, with bucket seats, a center console, and an almost Alfa Romeo-like steering wheel. The Mazda Rotary logo on the horn button is a nice touch. Unfortunately, this car seems to have been parked out in the sun for a great many years; the upholstery is faded to pink, where it isn’t worn out, and the dash pad looks like someone attacked it with a machete.
Outside, things are better, with only a little rust, and a couple of dings and scrapes to add character. The original alloy wheels are present, and a great ’70s design. The American design influence was so strong with Japanese automakers in the ’70s that some US-market Cosmos apparently even came with vinyl roofs; this car has been spared that indignity.
The seller says this rotary-powered relic runs well, and it looks clean under the hood. The automatic is a bummer from an enthusiast’s point of view, and is certainly the wrong choice to back up a rotary, but as a period piece, it fits the car well. There aren’t many nice Mazda rotaries of any style left from this era, and this has got to be one of the rarest. Restoring it would be an absolute nightmare, but if you left it as-is and enjoyed it as a scruffy conversation piece, I think it could be a fun car.
1976 Ford Elite – $3,900
Engine/drivetrain: 351 cubic inch overhead valve V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Des Moines, WA
Odometer reading: 132,000 miles
Runs/drives? Sure does
Meanwhile, at Ford, Lee Iaccoca had pointed the shrink-ray at the Mustang, and apparently zapped that extra size into all the rest of their cars. Personal luxury coupes were all the rage, as was taking up as much space as possible with them. This eighteen-foot-long monster, believe it or not, was a mid-sized car; the ’76 Ford Thunderbird was even bigger, and the not-much-smaller Granada was considered a compact. Those size categories, of course, are based on interior volume, not exterior dimensions, which shows just how much wasted space there was in these designs.
What interior volume there was, however, was absolutely stuffed with comfort. Deeply padded seats worked in concert with the soft suspension to make sure no pothole ruined your ride, and the illusion of opulence was everywhere. I mean, when was the last time you saw a car with button-tufted door panels? And if I recall, these even had a very thin strip of fake wood embedded in the steering wheel rim. It’s absolutely ridiculous, but wonderful at the same time.
Part of the reason for the overwrought interior style, I think, was to distract buyers from the dismal performance. Ford offered two completely different 351 engines in 1976, and I don’t know the differences well enough to tell which one this is under all the bric-a-brac, but it hardly matters; both of them were in the 150ish horsepower range, and the 0-60 time in seconds was roughly equivalent to the fuel economy in miles per gallon – both around 13.
The seller says this Elite runs and drives fine, though they suspect a vacuum leak somewhere, and note that it could use a front-end rebuild to fix some play in the steering. It also has some telltale bubbles in the vinyl top, indicating rust underneath. Aside from that, however, it looks like a disco-era time capsule.
Let’s be honest – both of these cars are absolute crap compared to even the least-expensive new car today. Every aspect of automotive design and manufacture has improved since 1976: engineering, metallurgy, build quality, everything. But these cars represented the best that automakers could accomplish with what they had, within the constraints imposed upon them. And hey, they’re still here, still alive and kicking, so that’s saying something. Which one has stood the test of time better?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
100% read that as “Americans…”
Also 100% EV swap that Ford Elite
RX-5 all day.
The Cosmo was sold here as the RX-5. Parts for a 12a are easy to find, and they run forever. The dash pad is going to be the hardest thing to replace though.
Cosmos all came with a 13B, I’m not sure if parts are easier or harder to come by than a 12A these days, I pretty much quit rebuilding rotaries in the Nineties.
As much as I love Seventies rotary Mazdas, I have to pass on the Cosmo, they’re ugly fat pigs to begin with, and saddling that 13B with a Jatco slushbox is cruel and unusual punishment, seeing as how sourcing a 5-speed, console and pedal/clutch-hydraulic system these days will be well-nigh impossible. Coupled with an interior that looks like dogs have been living in it, I have to go Team Ford on this one.
Emotional vote for the Ford for me. I took my behind the wheel test in my dad’s 79 LTD II. That car was all hood but the AC was ice cold and probably the only reason I passed. I was also able to use the car for a few high school dances since it was fancy. I miss velour interiors.
It’s gotta be the Mazda. Interior is horrible but rotary (even paired with an auto) + the Landau roof on the Ford (yuck) makes this easy for me
That Mazda’s seats look like they have decades of spilled cocaine on them, I’d rip them out and put them on a pedestal as a modern art piece titled “Blowin’ and Rollin'”.
Cosmo wins on the exterior, Ford on the interior, both lose on the engine. But I’m Team Never Landau, so Cosmo’s my vote.
That Cosmo is going to be a nightmare to make right re: finding parts, but once you get there, it’ll absolutely be special. The rotary engine has two niches in Mazda’s world view: sports cars and luxury cars. The luxury car side was never really marketed in the US, and possibly not outside of Japan (which is why we never really got the Cosmo save apparently during this brief window). The power delivery is very sporting, but it’s also smooth as glass. Putting a proper automatic behind it isn’t the worst thing in the world, just luxury focused rather than sport.
I’ll take the Ford as a restomod project. I prefer the 1977 LTDII/T-Bird/Cougar that expanded on this car with better detailing inside and out, but it’s still got plenty of character to mold into something fun.
The Mazda is lovely, but I don’t relish finding parts for that generation of the rotary. And it suffers from a lot of the awkwardness in the body styling that shows the designers were on the right track, but execution fell apart somewhere along the way. I kind of feel the same way about a lot of early-to-mid-70s mass-market Japanese car designs. The second-generation Datsun/Nissan Silvia/200SX closely matches this car’s styling, just adapted for late 70s folded-paper aesthetics, and it holds up better in my opinion. But by then, the Japanese manufacturers’ design studios had matured and gone more international, so they were really starting to hit their stride with appealing designs.
The Elite is in much nicer condition and is realistically the better buy but I just can’t force myself to pick it over the Mazda
Tough one… all set to vote Mazda, but getting the interior presentable will be a nightmare finding parts. Plus it’s a Wankel with an auto. I’m going Ford today for condition and ease of maintenance and parts availability.
OK, this is like taking home the glamour girl instead of that Ivory-soap coed with the soft shirt and genuine smile.
I’ve always loved the Elite, and if loving it is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
Ford, please.
I like the Mazda – especially the wheels. It’s a good size and an interesting around-town car. Unfortunately you would get around town slowly and would sweat your huevos off while doing so, because it looks like there is no AC.
The Ford OTOH is a monstrous land yacht, but it’s a land yacht with an interior in much better condition. Regardless of the current state of the vacu-suck lines under the hood, in states not called California it should be straightforward to swap in a crate engine and an LSD so SS Elite could get out of its own way.
And the roof? Pull off the vinyl and throw it away. Do whatever metalwork is required to address the rust. Paint the area formerly covered by vinyl in the same color as the vinyl to maintain the overall look of the car.
One trick for this is to use truck bed-liner instead of paint. Line-X offers custom color matching.
https://www.linex.com/bedliners/xtra
That’s a good idea. I like spray-on bedliner, and the idea of custom colors is intriguing.
So far I’ve used the black rattle-can type on a wagon (for a garden tractor) and a work platform for motorcycles with pretty decent results.
Uh, neither?
The Cosmo is rare & cool-I dig that weird middle window-but it’s terminally degraded by the sun inside and constricted by a 70s-era automatic. It’s not something I covet enough to do the work to make it an engaging vehicle to drive.
I spent far too much time in two different early 70s Coke-bottle Torinos during the late 80s to want to have anything to do with that Elite. I prefer a lightweight underpowered shitbox to a floaty underpowered PLC.
Due to purely personal biases I’ll sit this one out
I know the Ford is the better option for parts availability and overall condition for the money, but then I have to look at it every day, so for that reason alone I’ll take the Mazda
Doritos Locos Vamos
These are tough choices. I would choose the Ford, because at least the automatic is the right transmission for that car … But just under an old vinyl roof makes that a hard pass. I really don’t want an automatic rotary powered vehicle with a trashed interior though … Damnit, at least it looks good though, I guess I’ll take the Mazda.
I forgot about the Elite, I love it.
Mazda for me, but I have the feeling if I went to inspect I would also be enquiring about the Lancia Scorpion / Montecarlo parked behind it?
I voted for the Mazda looking Matador, or is it Matador looking Mazda?. And having lived in the 70s, I have no love for the Fords of that era.
So the choices are a big, heavy car with no power and terrible gas mileage, or a smaller, lighter car with no power and terrible gas mileage?
I picked the Ford. At least I can get parts for it.
Gotta go for the Mazda. Even if you can’t get parts, just find a wrecked RX7/8 and drop a newer rotary you can find parts (that you’ll need to rebuild again and again) and have a conversation piece. The rust under the vinyl of the Ford = new roof. Even with the 351 (W or C??) it’s not “cool” enough to save.
I loved my 86 RX7, despite it being the second or third slowest car I’ve ever owned, just because of that marvellous stupid engine.
When it needs a rebuild you can put it off for a while by just pouring gas down the inlets and having the rotors spin round like a water wheel. It makes about the same power, and might even use less fuel.
Mazda choice here. This is kind of an RX2 with more weirdness baked in. I would manual swap it, fix the dents, hire an upholstery shop to fix the seats, and take on that dash myself. And just for shock value, I would install a vinyl top.
Sometimes you don’t get the Cosmo you want, you get the Cosmo you deserve.
That’s what Kramer’s Mother said.
I’m not sure what would cost more, restoring a rotary engine when it inevetably goes bad, or fuel for the Ford. But those comfy seats push it over the edge. I’ll take the Jeff. Err, Ford.
Because many RX7s continue to be raced, there are a reasonable number of rotary rebuilders around the country. It is actually easier than a piston engine but does require some unique skills. Soooo, it’s not cheap but it is not crazy expensive either.
My co-worker has one and just paid ~10k in maple money for a rebuild. That’s more than enough to make it too risky in these parts, anyway.
That is obscene. Those engines are dirt simple to rebuild. Seriously?
Ya, I know he had a few other things done, but it sounded pretty pricey to me too.
I’ll take the Ford, while removing the vinyl top and fixing the rust, I’ll take out the 2 side windows and make them into 1. Then paint it some 70-80s wild metal flake
Chose the Ford, only because I actually would have a prayer of working on it myself. Mystery vac leak on a malaise-era dinosaur? Hells yes, let’s dust off those skills again, find the thing and probably plug it with a screw or something stupid.
Also, PA doesn’t require front license plates, so it’s practically begging for one of those novelty bicentennial plates to adorn the front bumper. Seriously, it would totally complete the old-mannishness of this thing.
Idk about PA, but here in Indiana you can run year of manufacture plates, provided the car is registered as a historic motor vehicle, and you keep your BMV-issued historic plate in the vehicle somewhere. Find a ’76 plate, fill out a form, and that’s it.
It looks like someone added a black painted coffee can under the hood? I don’t know what all goes on these.
Both cars belong to the ugliest designs ever category, though.
The coffee can was Ford’s version of a fuel system evap canister in the 70s. The rubber lines and fittings are on the end you can’t see in the photo.
Yes, it really is a food can of some sort. For the rudimentary emissions systems of the day, it worked and it was probably a lot cheaper than designing and manufacturing a new canister when they could use an existing production technique and materials to build one. It just looks funky. Always did. My family had a 1977 T-bird and it had exactly the same can under the hood. Also, between the treated metal that the can was made from and the paint Ford used, I’ve never seen one rust through, personally at least. So they did something right, and it was a thrifty solution. Can’t really fault them for that.
Also, I seem to recall Ford used different size cans for varying engine and fuel system requirements. I had a 1983 F-150 with the 300 straight six, and it had a smaller can for the same function. More like a big tuna can than the ones for V8s, which are more like big baked beans or pork-and-beans cans. (Why yes, I am old enough to remember various canned foods and their sizes…)
My 92 F-250 with the 300 six has the same coffee can as the Elite, except with rust holes in it