Whether you’re examining mainstream brands or luxury makes, the traditional full-size car category is one of the smallest classes in autodom for 2017. Before the rise of SUVs and crossovers, however, large cars were the preferred family haulers. Looking back at Consumer Guide’s historical review coverage reveals a level of diversity in the class that’s surprising by today’s standards. In fact, for 1970, Consumer Guide divided the large-car segment into four groups: Standards, Medium Standards, Luxury Standards, and Prestige.
The vehicles in each group fall right around where you might expect them to, with a couple of odd exceptions. The Pontiac Bonneville, for example, is a Luxury Standard, the Pontiac Executive is a Medium Standard, but the Pontiac Catalina, oddly, has seemingly been forgotten, though by price it would likely have been slotted in the Medium Standard group.
For a complete rundown of all categories used by Consumer Guide in 1970, click here.
Included among the Medium Standards are a couple of sporty vehicles that arguably deserved their own category: the Buick Wildcat and Mercury Marauder. Of course, adding a Sporty Standards category would have raised the large-car group count to five, which seems like a lot.
The price of entry to the Medium Standard club is a little over $3200, with a few examples breaking $4000. The cheapest model in the Luxury Standards group—the Pontiac Bonneville—started at $3832.
As you might expect, there’s nothing but V8 engines to be had in this group of cars, though the size range–318 cubic inches to 455–is broad.
Buick LeSabre
Base Price: $3419 (Sport Coupe) – $3739 (455 Hardtop Sedan)
Overall Length (inches): 219
Curb Weight (pounds): 4100
Base Engine: 260-horsepower 350-cubic-inch V8
Buick Wildcat
Base Price: $3948 (Sport Coupe) – $4079 (Convertible)
Overall Length (inches): 219
Curb Weight (pounds): 4300
Base Engine: 370-horsepower 455-cubic-inch V8
Chrysler Newport
Base Price: $3514 (Base Sedan) – $3925 (Convertible)
Overall Length (inches): 224
Curb Weight (pounds): 4600
Base Engine: 290-horsepower 383-cubic-inch V8
Dodge Polara
Base Price: $3224 (Base Sedan) – $4079 (Custom Hardtop Sedan)
Overall Length (inches): 220
Curb Weight (pounds): 4000
Base Engine: 230-horsepower 318-cubic-inch V8
Dodge Monaco
Base Price: $3604 (Hardtop Coupe) – $4242 (Wagon)
Overall Length (inches): 220
Curb Weight (pounds): 4000
Base Engine: 290-horsepower 383-cubic-inch V8
5 Largest Passenger-Car Engines of 1979
Mercury Monterey
Base Price: $3248 (Base Sedan) – $3676 (Custom Hardtop Sedan)
Overall Length (inches): 222
Curb Weight (pounds): 4100
Base Engine: 265-horsepower 390-cubic-inch V8
Mercury Marauder
Base Price: $3503 (Base Hardtop Coupe) – $4136 (X-100 Hardtop Coupe)
Overall Length (inches): 220
Curb Weight (pounds): 4100
Base Engine: 265-horsepower 390-cubic-inch V8
Oldsmobile Delta 88
Base Price: $3604 (Town Sedan) – $3729 (Custom Holiday Sedan)
Overall Length (inches): 219
Curb Weight (pounds): 4400
Base Engine: 250-horsepower 350-cubic-inch V8
Pontiac Executive
Base Price: $3538 (Base Sedan) – $4160 (Wagon)
Overall Length (inches): 224
Curb Weight (pounds): 4000
Base Engine: 265-horsepower 400-cubic-inch V8
The 1970 Auto Brochure Power Quiz
