I have a 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman in that exact same color as in the photo and yes it is very plush and comfortable. Nothing before or after can compare
those are the most beautiful car seats i ever seen. would be nice if they put them in todays cadillacs instead of the hard flat looking ones they have. i owned a 75 and 76 olds 98 regency with puffy pillow seats and they were very comfortable seats.
From Sydney, Aust'. Well said just like the Irish female singers 1990's ballad Nothing Compares to You. I have a GM-Holden Australia built pair of Fleetwood's. Sent unbuilt as parts in crates, as CKD Kits to build (completely knocked down) , as they had to be right hand drive to be able to register for road use. Built in GMH-A's Pagewood, Sydney factory, along with the "boat-tail" Riviera's. The ONLY 2 US GM cars available here from'71 to '74. Some private car companies brought in finished US LHD cars then converted them to RHD. The GMH-A ones were majorly reengineered with heavy duty suspension, transmissions, diffs, cooling systems and heavy duty wiring as our low beam headlights legally had to be brighter than the USA high beam headlights, plus we had amber turn signals/lights at the rear, plus clear turn signals at the front. BEST OF ALL, the aussie '71 to '74 only GM RHD cars have ZERO anti-pollution equipment so they are full power engines like a car from the 1960's. I have a mate with a recent LHD US import, now we can put LHD cars on historic rego plates. Paul bought a '73 De Ville sedan with a mere 16,000 miles on it and the engine is GUTLESS, I cannot believe how much power was robbed by the pollution gear. Additionally Paul's '73 de Ville has floaty boat bouncy coil springs, no rear sway bar and an almost "toy" skinny front sway bar. When you look at my 2 Aussie built CKD Kit versions, they have a pair of one inch front and rear sway bars, massively thicker steel in the springs too made by Lovell's Springs in Sydney (i have 2 Ford Aust ckd Lincolns built at Homebush, Sydney factory that also have Lovell's springs in them, a '72 mk4 Conti' coupe & a 1979 Collectors Series Town Car also both factory RHD cars), so all 4 of my cars can actually handle bends like a modern car & do not lean float & roll like a drunk. I've owned my RHD '74 Talisman in Sable black, with Gold (mustard) color interior for almost 42 years, also I have a 1972, 70th anniversary Fleetwood Brougham Cotillion white with "green-ice" leather & silk (ultra pale green) interior, bought as a "spare" car 32 years ago in case something horrible happened to the black one. ONLY In the '74 model year a Talisman had the rear console, plus a leather interior, the elderly retired German, living here in Sydney who ordered it new had it built to suit him, so it has a part leather and part brocade seating/interior trim. As he HATED velvet-velour. These are FANTASTIC cars. As an aside, RE-engineering by Ford Aust''. My aussie built '72 mk4 Conti' (deemed by aussie registration dept' a '72 as was on the road & registered for use by 2nd November '72, however it's really a '73 model as has the heavy front crash bumper). All 1972 to 1979 Lincoln Mark 4 and 5 coupes were fitted to the heavy duty Torino/Ranchero ute chassis, never intended for RHD use, this gave Ford Australia a major challenge with the short front firewall to axle ratio. Ford Aust' actually re-engineered the mk4's to use GMH-A's RHD Buick Riviera steering box & gear so the steering box is forward of the front axle and suspension GM style & has 2.7 turns lock to lock, not the usual Ford-Lincoln 4.9 turns lock to lock, this massively transforms the handling and drivability, as I have another mate Mark, with a 1977 mk5 Conti and it has dead-to-vague steering and on bends leans and rolls like a drunk, as a comparison Mark also owns a 1993 ex CHP Ford Mustang, with its "supposed" beefed up cop suspension it also leans and rolls like drunk compared to what Ford Aust's aussie engineers did 21 years earlier to the giant Lincoln coupe to make it handle. Additionally to achieve the legally required windscreen wiped area, Ford Aust' used the Trico Corporation's RHD windscreen wipe module that was fitted to all the 1959 to 1970 GMH-A RHD US vehicles built & sold here, so the right side wiper blade is covered by the left side blade in the middle of the car and both arms articulate to sweep pure vertically the front screen A-pillars.
Jimmy Carter wasn't president in 71. That's when the cost cutting started and he wasn't president in 73 or 74 when they added the big bumpers.@@KB-ke3fi
The Number One, The Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman is one of the most Gorgeous Cars ever built, Interior and Exterior. BRAVO Cadillac.....Sad we will never see the likes of these again. !!!!
There was just something so classy and menacing concerning the 72-73 Imperials. The bodies are a smooth and conservative statement-mobile. Open the doors and wow, over the top. I do like the instrument panel, it works for me. Plus, the 440 and Torqueflite transmissions, what a combination.
I have to say, the upside down speedometer and really the entire panel is underwhelming. Chrysler had many better examples of instrument panels with round gauges and speedos, but I guess round gauges would not connote elegance, as befits the Imperial. I knew someone who had a ‘69 base Newport. This panel is exactly like the one in their car. Don’t understand how these obvious mistakes are made without being caught by someone.
You missed my beloved 1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car with the Cream and Cordovan Luxury Group. It had Cream color (butter or margarine) loose pillow, leather seats and door panels with Cordovan (penny loafer) color outline welting. The visors and headlining were Cream, but the very deep pile carpet, the dashboard, the package tray and the seat belts were Cordovan. There is absolutely nothing like cruising around in a twenty foot long yellow car with a red and yellow, ultra plush interior!
We had a 77 Towncar when I was a kid. For a Landing Craft, that was a fast car. In 79 my dad bought a 79 and handed the 77 to my Mom, I was bequeathed her 70 Coupe Deville. The 79 was so slow with all the Emission nonsense. But you could change the radio station or the tracks on his Quadriphonic Stereo with a floor button
This just goes to show that these topics are all a matter of opinion. As someone who was alive in the seventies, I considered these interiors tasteful and luxurious, the colors, the button-tufting, all of it. Much of it resembled seventies home furnishings, so we didn't consider it crazy or wild, including the Williamsburg interior on the Newport, which was considered kind of staid-looking at the time, like the upholstery on an older person's recliner or something.. It was the interiors of the Jet Age late-fifties and early-sixties vehicles that looked outrageous to us back in the seventies. It's strange to me that you sometimes refer to those Jet Age interiors as luxurious or rich-looking.
The black '72 Imperial with the gold leather is absolutely stunning - if ever someone wanted to be buried with his car, this would be the one!🤣I am so glad I lived back then to have seen these on the road. Every car looks the same now and the interiors - with few exceptions - seem to be only available in black, grey or tan with bucket seats. I think the 50's through the early 80's was peak American auto.
You have to pay Bentley or Rolls-Royce money if you want anything other than black, gray or tan. Although I believe the Porsche 911 offers other colors as an expensive option.
I owned a green '72 Imperial 4-Door Lebaron. Two and a half tons of Detroit iron. When you hit the accelerator the car WENT. Maybe not like Porsche or Ferrari but POWERFUL. It had reading lights in the back and a full instrument panel, which neither Lincoln or Cadillac possessed. I would take it back in an instant.
I am restoring a 1975 AMC Matador Oleg Cassini Edition. It ABSOLUTELY belongs on this list! Copper shag carpet, velvety black upholstery, with copper buttons and stitching. Copper and black are my colors, so when I spotted this barn find, I had to own it. Exterior is white on white which isn't great, but it is a very interesting car.
I assume you've never been to Williamsburg. The Williamsburg cloth in the Chryslers is inspired by the luxury fabrics imported from the Mother Country that were common among the elite, and the same is true of the Cadillac Monticello interior fabric.
it was the 70s!!! cars were so cool. as a kid riding in those over the top luxurious cars was an experience. i really like the plush velour over the top interiors. thanks for making this video. childhood memories relived!! the 77 newport interior was simply disturbed. #2 fleetwood interior was good taste and sophisticated in the 70s.
My favorite interior ever was the one mentioned but not shown- the AMC Matador Oleg Cassini coupe with the black and copper. I saw one once back in the eighties and would love to find one now. All of these interiors are fun though, great video!
I mean it's kind of justified given how horribly dated some of these interiors are. They've aged like fine milk, even by the early 80s. Can't forget they also had a build quality that matched by the later half of the 70s. The era was just a mashup of bad ideas and a horrendous lack of quality.
Here's one you might not have seen: 1981 Pontiac Bonneville Brougham 2 door with bucket seats and console. In this case, it's the absolutely insane combination of fabric patterns that gives it that final shove over the top. I'd put it ahead of a couple of the cars you put on the list, in fact that Marquis looks kind of tame in comparison. Another would be the Plymouth Fury (not Gran Fury) with the Boca Raton interior. It had a striped pattern similar to the '77 Bonneville, but with narrower stripes. In the end, I love the idea of the '74 Talisman, much as I liked the idea of the four bucket seat interiors in the GM-10 cars (Grand Prix SE, Cutlass Supreme International Series, and the Regal package that could be added to any model).
Eye of the beholder bro, love the Monticello in the Caddy! By the way the Williamsburg interior does have a look of what it's named. My grandparents had a couch somewhat similar to the black and white and it was an omage to colonial times.
Some of these are kinda wild, but the late 50s-early 60s had some wild intereors with two tones, swivel seats, square steering wheels and other oddities. The 61 imperial and 1960 dodges were pretty extreme. Plus enough chrome on the dash to blind you if the sun hit it.
My parents had the 1978 grand marquis brougham. White with blue interior. That car had a cigarette lighter and ashtray in each of the rear doors. It was super reliable
The GM high-end cars from that era were gorgeous. I can remember as a kid attending a car show circa 1975 and the GM cars really stood out for their opulence. Not only Cadillac but also Buick and Oldsmobile top-of-the-line models had over-the-top interiors featuring the sumptuous velour loose-cushion-look interiors shown in this video. I agree the Cadillac Brougham Talisman was the most outrageous as it took a six-passenger car and turned it into a four-passenger car but come to think about it - depending upon your circumstances maybe a four-seater is all you needed? Let's face it, today there are no cars that have 3-place seating in the front, and how many people use the middle back seat? If your Cadillac Talisman was being chauffeur-driven a four-place interior is all you really needed. Two seats in the front for driver and bodyguard and two seats in the back for yourself and your companion. Getting back to that car show circa 1975 - back in those days even as a kid they would let you climb inside the cars and sit behind the wheel and play with all the power window/seat switches. Also, the dealers would happily hand out brochures that you could collect as you toured the show much like you collected candy on Halloween. I doubt they do that today! Thank you for bringing back fond memories.
We had a 76 colony park wagon. Many summer vacations were taken in that car. Yellowstone. New Mexico. Grand Canyon. Colorado. Mt Rushmore. It was an excellent car for a family with four kids. On all day drives we’d sleep on the luggage in the back. Seatbelts not used. Plenty of space for escape from the “he’s touching me”. And my dad yelling back “knock it off”. Good times.
The 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham with Monticello Velour interior reminded me of of velour print wall paper that my parents had in their home in the 1970"s. It must have been popular at the time.
I knew Adam was going to pick the Talisman from the very beginning. Great minds think alike. I agree with all of these interiors as being over the top. I would have added the 1960 New Yorker too. :)
Dad had a '74 Olds 98 Regency; the interior was the same, as I remember. The clock was Tiffany, but, instead of a second hand, it had a 'second dot'...there was a small disc with a white dot mounted on the dial, and dot would orbit in tiny little circles. I also have to offer a defense of the #9 T-bird 'hop sack'. That looked to me like a quality wool tweed, which was very common, and popular a few decades earlier...and to some folks, it adds a bit of old-school elegance... including me! Brings the whole interior together! Now, get off my lawn! LOL! Great vid, loved it!
Olds Cutlass in ‘76 thru 78 I think had a tapestry seat material that would fit right in with these in terms of being bizarre - so wild I thought it was actually cool even though it would keep you up at night! Thanks for this series, such a crazy era.
I love and miss the mid-70's GM luxury cloth interiors. Even the Impala had rich looking cloth. Todays car seats look and feel like economy class airline seats.
It was an 80s, but my AMC Eagle Wagon had beautiful and very comfy tufted leather pillow seating as well. It also had a built-in CB radio. Breaker 19 for radio check.
There was an option package for early 70's Plymouth Furys that I believe had a Houndstooth cloth interior with a matching vinyl roof. Not over the top, just odd. Like the optional "filigreed" rub strips that could be ordered on late 70's Ford products. Special shout out to AMC's Levis Interior!
I was just thinking about the blue denim AMC interior. I believe it was in the Gremlin. I would think after few years it would have faded and looked worn like old jeans.
Oh, yeah-I can smell that cigar-smoked Talisman upholstery right through my iPad! It’d be fun to roll into a detailing shop in one of these behemoths, and watch the staff reactions.
I have to say….. I did see this with a ‘69 Continental in a ‘VERY reputable high end shop!’, in which they had no idea what they were looking at and lost my friends money/business simply because they didn’t want to spend time to research this! As such, He & ALL of his friends went to a ‘low-end’ but high quality shop, which wanted to learn & research this market and made a very successful business accordingly! It doesn’t take much effort sometimes…..
My favorites of these are the 98 and Imperial. The 98 has a lot of highlights in coziness, comfort, cruising, high-end luxury, and contemporary. The Imperial is beautifully loaded with beautiful touches and little features, aside from the dash layout. It has a nice touch of royalty, making it a perfect car for people like CEOs, Hollywood stars, Broadway stars, and Attorney General. I feel the Matador's interior has a sporty, retro theme that's perfect for the high school and college kids of the time, along with a modern-day granny. An option or package I could just imagine for the rear console on the 1974 Fleetwood is a wine package, which would include special holders for 2 wine glasses, a special compartment or holder for a wine bottle, a free bottle opener, and a free wine corkscrew. That Fleetwood has the perfect rear seating for millionaires, governors, mayors, presidents, candidates, and leaders from the White House. One interior I was thinking you were going to include was the crazy digital interior of the seventh gen Riviera.
So many of those silly interiors got polluted with cigarette burns...especially the velour ones. I always have thought it funny that those cars would have 5 ash trays and fabric that melted so easily.
I think the “Williamsburg” cloth was inspired by colonial toile print fabric. Gotta love the two tone steering column on the rosewood Monticello interior Cadillac.
One model worth including would have been the early production 1977 Fleetwoods with footrests carried over from the 1976 model. They sounded like a nice idea, but owners complained that they made the back seat feel cramped. Another interior that was "over the top" in a different way was the Gremlin Levi edition.
In the early 80s my father in law's girlfriend had a 1975 Cadillac Sedan de Ville. She was about 4'10" and weighed about 100 lbs. The seat was all the way forward and all the way up for her to drive there in Florida. She and my father in law drove it from Florida to Canada and when they returned he was still in shock with the amount of money for fuel. Lol. However, the car did not have a hideous interior as it was leather. Whenever I see one of these big Caddy's I always think of them. Good memories, when little old ladies drove Cadillacs instead of Lexus
The AMC Pierre Cardin Javelin AMX interiors were racy & fun with silver, black, & red lines on seats to headliner. Beautiful🎉. Also designer Pierre Cardin AMC Hornets were dashing as well🎉.
My aunt purchased a 1976 Oldsmobile Omega Brougham. This was such an eyesore in colors. The metal body was a light blue, the vinyl roof was a rich aqua color, the dashboard was a deep royal blue, the vinyl covered armrest/center compartment was a medium blue. When it came down to the seats, which the front were race car sport seats in a vinyl since it was so hard compared to leather with about 4 buttons each squared off for the back support and elevated squares for the seat part with the same 4 squares with buttons in each square that were a stark white. The backseat was also white. The 2 doors were overall white, with a white armrest with a small door puller at the farthest point to the hinges, the silver door handle was in a black cubby, and had a medium blue carpet for the bottom half of the door that matched the floor carpet. The rear defroster was a fan that had a toggle switch for low and high which the center position was off. The steering wheel was for the mist part blue with a cutout in the rim for a plastic wood trim. It is amazing how this car came off the assembly line, in the entire 10 years she had it, it never passed inspection on the first time, at that time they wanted brand new cars inspected instead of putting a 4+ years inspection sticker on car from the factory. By the time my mom started driving it, the car had 26,000 original miles on it. I really didn't see what made it a Brougham, all it had was a basic am radio, wipers, heat, a/c, and defroster fan. There was nothing special about it, especially having a floor shifter.
Interesting writeup. Surprisingly the Oldsmobile Toronado Brougham interiors, 75 through 78, especially the 77 model with those thick pinstriped pillow back and pillow bottom seats were left out. Ever see a 77 Toronado Brougham interior in bright red with the gold pinstripes down the seats? Insane! The 72 98 Regency started it all and although it's just my opinion, I believe the top 3 plushest automobile interiors from the 70s are the 75-76 Buick Park Avenue, the 74-76 Fleetwoods especially the Talisman and the 76 Fleetwood Brougham D'Elegance but don't Forget that Toronado Brougham pin strip masterpiece.
I remember back in '75 they offered, on the Continental Mark IV, a white and red leather interior called "Lipstick" and another one that was in aqua colored velour! Who also remembers the Olds Toronados in the '70's that had those tufted velour seats with the multi-colored triangular pattern? That was such a fun period for car interiors!
If you do a Part II, be sure to include early 70's Cadillac "Maharajah Cloth", 78 Eldorado Brougham "big leather pillow seats", Pinto's wild plaid interiors in the later 70's, and Pacer's "Navajo Cloth" seats.
I was surprised not to see the Palm Beach edition of the Buick LeSabre on the list. It was rather sedate compared to some of the Cadillac fabric patterns! The later Imperials from '67-68 and '72-73 are some of my favorites. The '67 looked like it had splits strategically placed with what looked like suede inserts. A childhood friend owned a '71 Plymouth Gran Coupe with the paisley top and interior. Because the car was brown it looked somewhat tasteful. I can't remember the last time I saw one like it.
I just bought a 1982 Collector Edition Corvette, and I would have loved to have seen that car make this list. Those beige to dark brown color gradient door cards and seats in conjunction with the thick beige shag carpeting made the interior, rather hilariously, look 70's and 80's at the same time.
Nice! There was one in my mother-in-law's neighborhood for years. Had the gradient fade in the fender vents. Never saw it move; the owner just had it parked at the end of the driveway without a cover. One day it got hauled away on a flatbed. Hopefully it went to an owner that would take care of it.
Make fun of them if you want. Some of these cars were done 50 years ago. They were quiet, comfortable, and attractive. Wed be lucky to have interiors this accommodating now. I drive high end luxury vehicles and the interiors are all the same; sleek, bucket seat, european type interiors. Not badmouthing current luxury interiors as they are wonderful in their own right.. But nothing compares in comfort to those 70s/80s velour, pillowtop seats. Nothing. And I'm 45 not 75 years old.
I think the Olds wins again but I have to say that I am a massive fan of the T-bird sedan with suicide doors. I think it is one of the most elegant US cars of the late 60s.
The Pierre Cardin interior for the Javelin 1972-73 I think is my all time favorite. You can research it and the thought process that was going on for 5-6 other designed that didn’t make it into production. They make the one that did look tame. While we are on AMC, can’t forget the Levi Edition Gremlin, I believe Hornet, and also the Jeep. Very very cool and stylish, but of course it wasn’t actually blue jean material. Great imitation. Hard to find now because they didn’t wear well, and even harder to find in a tan denim. Not sure which vehicle offered that. I’ve heard old timers say you could order anything from AMC, so there may have been one or two Ambassadors with a Levi Edition interior. Hahahaha
Though it was pretty similar to the Olds 98 shown, I had a 76 Toronado with the tufted pillow seats. It was a tweed like velour with a few different shades of blue and white. I called it the funky 70s disco interior. It was funky but oh so comfortable. Absolutely the most comfortable and best riding car I’ve ever been in. God I miss that car.
13:31 - I had ‘78 Canadian Pontiac Parisienne, with light blue velour interior. It was comfortable car. Dash had annoying end extensions, looked nice. But if I didn’t pay attention, I bash my knees on them while getting in or out of the seat. That 1970s red pattern design was very popular in Europe. My parents had living room chairs with similar green, white and black plaid. Bright happy loud colors were in style. Vehicle manufactures took advantage of it. Now we wonder how in earth people liked funky color patters.
The examples of button-tufted seats are mostly tasteful and attractive, in comparison to the Williamsburg pattern, and almost all of the reds and stripes. They would appeal to an extremely narrow market, if they had any appeal at all. I guess the fact they went away within a year or two reemphasizes the fact that many of these designs and colors were not good ideas. In spite of bright plaid pants and platform shoes for men, which were popular around 1973. I’m 6’6”, and I remember two pairs of shoes I had around age 19-20, with 3” heels. I wore ‘em, but they weren’t very practical. Ah, youth!
Great video and choices. My step-grand parents had a 1976 Electra Park Avenue Limited with that amazing velour interior. I still have fond memories of riding in that car. They followed it up with the same, but a 1982 model year coupe…with actually a gorgeous ruched velour interior…that in some ways was even more stunning than the button tufted 1976. Of course, the 1976 was especially memorable because of the yacht size of the vehicle.
I was a fan of the Chrysler Newport Special Editions that had a burnt orange exterior and an interior based on the look of Navajo blankets. My uncle bought one in the spring of 1973 and I loved it. It was, however a terrible car to drive with completely numb power steering and the strangest most non-linear power brakes I had ever encountered.
There were a bunch or special limited edition 73 Newports, like the Mariner 2dr, which used a boat theme with special blue paint on white and blue interiors with ship anchors all over. I find that fitting lol.
I was born in 1977 and the cars that we had that i had earliest memory of was a mid 70's chevrolet work truck and a 1973 buick century with the bucket seats and white interior, memory of the century is pretty vague as it was sold and a piece of crap 1973 pontiac lemans was bought but getting to the point all had vinyl seats, roll up windows probably no AC or non working and this was all in the New Orleans urban area. Then one day we get a brand new 1984 Buick LeSabre limited 2 door. The thing that through me for a loop that i absolutely loved was that it had plush velour seats. I use to have a few plush velour sweaters that i loved, now here i am i a car surrounded by it it was just too awesome. That car will always have a special place in my heart as the first nice car we ever had, power door locks, windows, seat, antennae, cruise control etc all things that i didn't even know cars even came with. I actually thought it was a cadillac at first because of the wire wheels, thought every car with that was a cadillac. My girlfriend rolls her eyes when i talk about how i cant stand modern cars and your choice is either leather or some crap cloth and how i wish velour would come back and you do not know what you are missing out on.
this was a awesome video . As a kid born in 74 by the 80's I was very familiar with 70's car interiors really brought back some childhood memories of cheap 70's cars my Dad bought in upstate NY
You missed the 1971 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe with the Paisley interior and matching vinyl top in Tahitian brown and Tahitian brown paint. Gorgeous car...had two and want another.
I love the 70s tuck and roll velour upholstery. You really don't appreciate it until its 90 degrees so you don't burn your legs or when its -10 degrees and you're stuck in a snowbank waiting on a tow truck. The other nice thing about the velour seats, in the 70s land yachts, is that the back seat was a wonderfully comfortable place to nap on your lunch break or hiding from guests during family reunions and gatherings.
Perhaps another overall over the top line might be the Spirit of 76 option, which was available on every Chevy from the Vega to the Vans. Wild graphics, ( on trucks and vans) and loads of red white and blue inside and out. The perfect parade cars lol
I had a 1982 Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham that had a beautiful burgundy velour pillow button tufted interior. It was so comfortable. I wish car manufacturers would go back to making car interiors more luxurious again
Haha!! Seeing the title I first thought of AMC - and you got it!! Great~! Although the AMX also had some interesting and radical patterns in their vinyl designs.
The Peugeot 106 „cartoon” edition is also worth a mention. It had 106 shaped headrests, and upholstery with cartoon 106’s on it. Also there was the „Kid” edition jeans interior which was looked completely bonkers.
REALLY ENJOYED!! HAD TO MAKE SURE YOU HAD THE 1975 76 PARK AVENUE AND 74 FLEETWOOD TALISMAN 4 SEATER!! OTHERS THAN COME TO MIND WOULD BD THE CADILLAC FLEETWOOD DELEGENCES, ELDORADO BARRIATZS, AND THE DESIGNER AND COLLECTORS SERIES LINCOLN TOWN CARS AND MARKS!! THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID!!
I love those Imperials....my Uncle bought one new and I rode in it 8 years later in 1980,it was smooth,quiet,the quietest car I ever rode in and the seats were the best seats ever! Ultra comfortable...Effortless power and at 90 mph it rode like it was doing 30 ,didnt notice the speed and thats what you want in a car planted and smooth.I always wanted a 69-73 Imperial...Triple black 2 door would be the one I am after.
So it’s considered nuts back in 1974 to buy a luxury car with 133” wheelbase and 4 doors with only 4 seats. Now that’s been normalized with the Porsche Panamera, MB S-Class and the BMW 7 series since they now have that as an option. Also can now get pillows in those cars I mentioned as an option. In other words, the Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman seems to have started a trend 40+ years ahead of its time when it came to car interiors.
I miss American cars with wild & crazy interiors like this- My parents drove VW & Mercedes, so it was not in my base of knowledge, but THEIR friends had cool, lavish luxury cars like this… the BARCELONA is on my Bucket-List..!! (Also a ‘74 Caddy Talisman..!) The Regency and the Park Avenue also ruled in my Young Mind… PLUS any MILF who drove an Eldorado with an Astro-Roof..!! “Mrs. Robinson will drive you to swimming lessons today, is that OK..?” “It’s totally fine..!!”
The Cadillac Talisman reminds me of my grandfather. He had a 70s era Cadillac. The interior was brown but the fabric was still so soft after all those years of him owning the car. I loved riding in his car, I still remember the smell of stale smoke. Unfortunately, after he died the car became a victim of "cash for clunkers".
Correction: I had a two door 71 thunderbird Landau and it had the same tufted cloth interior that you showed in the four door version. The coupes did not all have the potato sack (optional) or vinyl (standard) As I said the deluxe cloth interior was also available on the two door. OMG the Pontiac red/black/white interior is horrendous. Lol
I don't like leather seats. I think a vinyl wrapped seat with cloch inserts is the best. Leather might last longer (especially the plastic sealed junk they use now), but cloth is much more comfortable. My favorite is the GM velour of the 80's. Great stuff. I don't understand why everyone thinks leather seats are so great. In my opinion they're uncomfortable. Cold in the winter. Hot I the summer. They don't breathe. They just aren't good. The only exception being old leather seats that were actual soft leather. But I would still rather have a cloth of some kind
The mark 3 Lincoln coupes 69/70 had awesome interiors, i can never forget one I saw with gold leather seats, and the door cars were literally works of art
I have a 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman in that exact same color as in the photo and yes it is very plush and comfortable. Nothing before or after can compare
I also have a 76 Fleetwood in silver! Not a Talisman though. There can't be too many of these Fleetwoods left out there.
Nice, these seats look magnificent.
those are the most beautiful car seats i ever seen. would be nice if they put them in todays cadillacs instead of the hard flat looking ones they have. i owned a 75 and 76 olds 98 regency with puffy pillow seats and they were very comfortable seats.
From Sydney, Aust'. Well said just like the Irish female singers 1990's ballad Nothing Compares to You. I have a GM-Holden Australia built pair of Fleetwood's. Sent unbuilt as parts in crates, as CKD Kits to build (completely knocked down) , as they had to be right hand drive to be able to register for road use. Built in GMH-A's Pagewood, Sydney factory, along with the "boat-tail" Riviera's. The ONLY 2 US GM cars available here from'71 to '74. Some private car companies brought in finished US LHD cars then converted them to RHD. The GMH-A ones were majorly reengineered with heavy duty suspension, transmissions, diffs, cooling systems and heavy duty wiring as our low beam headlights legally had to be brighter than the USA high beam headlights, plus we had amber turn signals/lights at the rear, plus clear turn signals at the front. BEST OF ALL, the aussie '71 to '74 only GM RHD cars have ZERO anti-pollution equipment so they are full power engines like a car from the 1960's. I have a mate with a recent LHD US import, now we can put LHD cars on historic rego plates. Paul bought a '73 De Ville sedan with a mere 16,000 miles on it and the engine is GUTLESS, I cannot believe how much power was robbed by the pollution gear. Additionally Paul's '73 de Ville has floaty boat bouncy coil springs, no rear sway bar and an almost "toy" skinny front sway bar. When you look at my 2 Aussie built CKD Kit versions, they have a pair of one inch front and rear sway bars, massively thicker steel in the springs too made by Lovell's Springs in Sydney (i have 2 Ford Aust ckd Lincolns built at Homebush, Sydney factory that also have Lovell's springs in them, a '72 mk4 Conti' coupe & a 1979 Collectors Series Town Car also both factory RHD cars), so all 4 of my cars can actually handle bends like a modern car & do not lean float & roll like a drunk.
I've owned my RHD '74 Talisman in Sable black, with Gold (mustard) color interior for almost 42 years, also I have a 1972, 70th anniversary Fleetwood Brougham Cotillion white with "green-ice" leather & silk (ultra pale green) interior, bought as a "spare" car 32 years ago in case something horrible happened to the black one. ONLY In the '74 model year a Talisman had the rear console, plus a leather interior, the elderly retired German, living here in Sydney who ordered it new had it built to suit him, so it has a part leather and part brocade seating/interior trim. As he HATED velvet-velour. These are FANTASTIC cars.
As an aside, RE-engineering by Ford Aust''. My aussie built '72 mk4 Conti' (deemed by aussie registration dept' a '72 as was on the road & registered for use by 2nd November '72, however it's really a '73 model as has the heavy front crash bumper). All 1972 to 1979 Lincoln Mark 4 and 5 coupes were fitted to the heavy duty Torino/Ranchero ute chassis, never intended for RHD use, this gave Ford Australia a major challenge with the short front firewall to axle ratio. Ford Aust' actually re-engineered the mk4's to use GMH-A's RHD Buick Riviera steering box & gear so the steering box is forward of the front axle and suspension GM style & has 2.7 turns lock to lock, not the usual Ford-Lincoln 4.9 turns lock to lock, this massively transforms the handling and drivability, as I have another mate Mark, with a 1977 mk5 Conti and it has dead-to-vague steering and on bends leans and rolls like a drunk, as a comparison Mark also owns a 1993 ex CHP Ford Mustang, with its "supposed" beefed up cop suspension it also leans and rolls like drunk compared to what Ford Aust's aussie engineers did 21 years earlier to the giant Lincoln coupe to make it handle. Additionally to achieve the legally required windscreen wiped area, Ford Aust' used the Trico Corporation's RHD windscreen wipe module that was fitted to all the 1959 to 1970 GMH-A RHD US vehicles built & sold here, so the right side wiper blade is covered by the left side blade in the middle of the car and both arms articulate to sweep pure vertically the front screen A-pillars.
Lucky man you are !
Writing from France.
What a time to be alive... When designers and engineers had equal footing with the bean counters.
@@jacknapier7740 Yip....Jimmy Carter and the EPA destroyed the luxury car era forever.
Those fabrics are proof the big three didn't do drug testing in the 70's. I always thought the Matador was a hideous, ugly azz car.
I remember the plush interiors I also remember that the Renault had the most plush interior even though I never had one.
Well said.
Jimmy Carter wasn't president in 71. That's when the cost cutting started and he wasn't president in 73 or 74 when they added the big bumpers.@@KB-ke3fi
The Number One, The Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman is one of the most Gorgeous Cars ever built, Interior and Exterior. BRAVO Cadillac.....Sad we will never see the likes of these again. !!!!
Some of them may have been “over the top,” but at least the buyer had a choice of color besides tan, black or grey.
Really? Tan and grey? Wow, you must be buying luxury cars. Most cars have a choice between black interiors and black interiors.
Oh how I miss the 1970s! A lot of that exuberance spilled over into clothing as well.
remember that these became road slugs as the gas prices went up and the TOP SPEED was 55 MPH... nation-wide!
Big cars, big engines... 150 HP!
You mean you miss being young.
I'm with ya
55 SAVES LIVES!
There was just something so classy and menacing concerning the 72-73 Imperials. The bodies are a smooth and conservative statement-mobile. Open the doors and wow, over the top. I do like the instrument panel, it works for me. Plus, the 440 and Torqueflite transmissions, what a combination.
my 69 fury coup has the same lighting for the guage cluster,ive always liked it.@@ericruud9328
I have to say, the upside down speedometer and really the entire panel is underwhelming. Chrysler had many better examples of instrument panels with round gauges and speedos, but I guess round gauges would not connote elegance, as befits the Imperial. I knew someone who had a ‘69 base Newport. This panel is exactly like the one in their car. Don’t understand how these obvious mistakes are made without being caught by someone.
the 66/67 chargers had the best dash clusters in my opinion,with the elecro luminescent blue lighting@@johnlandacre767
You missed my beloved 1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car with the Cream and Cordovan Luxury Group. It had Cream color (butter or margarine) loose pillow, leather seats and door panels with Cordovan (penny loafer) color outline welting. The visors and headlining were Cream, but the very deep pile carpet, the dashboard, the package tray and the seat belts were Cordovan. There is absolutely nothing like cruising around in a twenty foot long yellow car with a red and yellow, ultra plush interior!
We had a 77 Towncar when I was a kid. For a Landing Craft, that was a fast car. In 79 my dad bought a 79 and handed the 77 to my Mom, I was bequeathed her 70 Coupe Deville. The 79 was so slow with all the Emission nonsense. But you could change the radio station or the tracks on his Quadriphonic Stereo with a floor button
I love each and every one of those interiors. Today's cars are so boring in comparison.
Many of the car interiors in this video should be referred to as "Mobile Living Rooms" with a large couch with a steering wheel.
The Park Avenue had a matching velour headliner too. These interiors were stylish in the 70's. Hell we wore paisley pants.
This just goes to show that these topics are all a matter of opinion. As someone who was alive in the seventies, I considered these interiors tasteful and luxurious, the colors, the button-tufting, all of it. Much of it resembled seventies home furnishings, so we didn't consider it crazy or wild, including the Williamsburg interior on the Newport, which was considered kind of staid-looking at the time, like the upholstery on an older person's recliner or something.. It was the interiors of the Jet Age late-fifties and early-sixties vehicles that looked outrageous to us back in the seventies. It's strange to me that you sometimes refer to those Jet Age interiors as luxurious or rich-looking.
The black '72 Imperial with the gold leather is absolutely stunning - if ever someone wanted to be buried with his car, this would be the one!🤣I am so glad I lived back then to have seen these on the road. Every car looks the same now and the interiors - with few exceptions - seem to be only available in black, grey or tan with bucket seats. I think the 50's through the early 80's was peak American auto.
You have to pay Bentley or Rolls-Royce money if you want anything other than black, gray or tan. Although I believe the Porsche 911 offers other colors as an expensive option.
I owned a green '72 Imperial 4-Door Lebaron. Two and a half tons of Detroit iron. When you hit the accelerator the car WENT. Maybe not like Porsche or Ferrari but POWERFUL. It had reading lights in the back and a full instrument panel, which neither Lincoln or Cadillac possessed. I would take it back in an instant.
Everything now is a monotonous black or grey or silver both exterior and interior.
I am restoring a 1975 AMC Matador Oleg Cassini Edition. It ABSOLUTELY belongs on this list! Copper shag carpet, velvety black upholstery, with copper buttons and stitching. Copper and black are my colors, so when I spotted this barn find, I had to own it. Exterior is white on white which isn't great, but it is a very interesting car.
I have several Oleg Cassini shirts. I bought them new with tags from the 70's.
I assume you've never been to Williamsburg. The Williamsburg cloth in the Chryslers is inspired by the luxury fabrics imported from the Mother Country that were common among the elite, and the same is true of the Cadillac Monticello interior fabric.
it was the 70s!!! cars were so cool. as a kid riding in those over the top luxurious cars was an experience. i really like the plush velour over the top interiors. thanks for making this video. childhood memories relived!! the 77 newport interior was simply disturbed. #2 fleetwood interior was good taste and sophisticated in the 70s.
I've always had a soft spot for that Matador Barcelona both the interior and exterior...there was nothing like it back then!
My favorite interior ever was the one mentioned but not shown- the AMC Matador Oleg Cassini coupe with the black and copper. I saw one once back in the eighties and would love to find one now. All of these interiors are fun though, great video!
What would have been a great video is ruined by too many snide comments. I’d take any of them over the boring black interiors of today.
I mean it's kind of justified given how horribly dated some of these interiors are. They've aged like fine milk, even by the early 80s. Can't forget they also had a build quality that matched by the later half of the 70s. The era was just a mashup of bad ideas and a horrendous lack of quality.
I loved that velour interior back in the day, so comfortable.
I had a velour interior in my '86 Mercury. Soooo comfortable, even with the '80s vibe that it had.
OMG! Some of these interiors make me wonder if the designers were on ACID!
I thought the industry standard was coke back then?
Here's one you might not have seen: 1981 Pontiac Bonneville Brougham 2 door with bucket seats and console. In this case, it's the absolutely insane combination of fabric patterns that gives it that final shove over the top. I'd put it ahead of a couple of the cars you put on the list, in fact that Marquis looks kind of tame in comparison.
Another would be the Plymouth Fury (not Gran Fury) with the Boca Raton interior. It had a striped pattern similar to the '77 Bonneville, but with narrower stripes.
In the end, I love the idea of the '74 Talisman, much as I liked the idea of the four bucket seat interiors in the GM-10 cars (Grand Prix SE, Cutlass Supreme International Series, and the Regal package that could be added to any model).
I loved the Boca Raton seats.
That Williamsburg cloth from Chrysler is soooo busy. Ouch!!😮
Certainly is entertaining 😊
Eye of the beholder bro, love the Monticello in the Caddy! By the way the Williamsburg interior does have a look of what it's named. My grandparents had a couch somewhat similar to the black and white and it was an omage to colonial times.
Some of these are kinda wild, but the late 50s-early 60s had some wild intereors with two tones, swivel seats, square steering wheels and other oddities. The 61 imperial and 1960 dodges were pretty extreme. Plus enough chrome on the dash to blind you if the sun hit it.
My parents had the 1978 grand marquis brougham. White with blue interior. That car had a cigarette lighter and ashtray in each of the rear doors. It was super reliable
We had a 1977 Grand Marquis Brougham. Brown interior. Loved it! Drove it all through high school.
The #1 is simply gorgeous!
The GM high-end cars from that era were gorgeous. I can remember as a kid attending a car show circa 1975 and the GM cars really stood out for their opulence. Not only Cadillac but also Buick and Oldsmobile top-of-the-line models had over-the-top interiors featuring the sumptuous velour loose-cushion-look interiors shown in this video. I agree the Cadillac Brougham Talisman was the most outrageous as it took a six-passenger car and turned it into a four-passenger car but come to think about it - depending upon your circumstances maybe a four-seater is all you needed? Let's face it, today there are no cars that have 3-place seating in the front, and how many people use the middle back seat? If your Cadillac Talisman was being chauffeur-driven a four-place interior is all you really needed. Two seats in the front for driver and bodyguard and two seats in the back for yourself and your companion.
Getting back to that car show circa 1975 - back in those days even as a kid they would let you climb inside the cars and sit behind the wheel and play with all the power window/seat switches. Also, the dealers would happily hand out brochures that you could collect as you toured the show much like you collected candy on Halloween. I doubt they do that today!
Thank you for bringing back fond memories.
Please stop saying fake woodgrain...that's REAL imitation wood. 😂
We had a 76 colony park wagon. Many summer vacations were taken in that car. Yellowstone. New Mexico. Grand Canyon. Colorado. Mt Rushmore. It was an excellent car for a family with four kids. On all day drives we’d sleep on the luggage in the back. Seatbelts not used. Plenty of space for escape from the “he’s touching me”. And my dad yelling back “knock it off”. Good times.
Those T bird interiors were great so much detail and work that went onto the them. Also the Imperial gold leather interior. Wow.
The 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham with Monticello Velour interior reminded me of of velour print wall paper that my parents had in their home in the 1970"s. It must have been popular at the time.
We had that in our dining room (installed ca 1970). Luckily it was tan on cream!
Why is this nostalgia so therapeutic? ❤️
I knew Adam was going to pick the Talisman from the very beginning. Great minds think alike. I agree with all of these interiors as being over the top. I would have added the 1960 New Yorker too. :)
Dad had a '74 Olds 98 Regency; the interior was the same, as I remember. The clock was Tiffany, but, instead of a second hand, it had a 'second dot'...there was a small disc with a white dot mounted on the dial, and dot would orbit in tiny little circles. I also have to offer a defense of the #9 T-bird 'hop sack'. That looked to me like a quality wool tweed, which was very common, and popular a few decades earlier...and to some folks, it adds a bit of old-school elegance... including me! Brings the whole interior together! Now, get off my lawn! LOL! Great vid, loved it!
Olds Cutlass in ‘76 thru 78 I think had a tapestry seat material that would fit right in with these in terms of being bizarre - so wild I thought it was actually cool even though it would keep you up at night! Thanks for this series, such a crazy era.
I love and miss the mid-70's GM luxury cloth interiors. Even the Impala had rich looking cloth. Todays car seats look and feel like economy class airline seats.
I LOVE these interiors!!
I like the 1978 Marquis wagon with the two-tone green. It's gorgeous! Somehow it reminds me of a Christmas tree.
It was an 80s, but my AMC Eagle Wagon had beautiful and very comfy tufted leather pillow seating as well. It also had a built-in CB radio. Breaker 19 for radio check.
There was an option package for early 70's Plymouth Furys that I believe had a Houndstooth cloth interior with a matching vinyl roof. Not over the top, just odd.
Like the optional "filigreed" rub strips that could be ordered on late 70's Ford products.
Special shout out to AMC's Levis Interior!
I was just thinking about the blue denim AMC interior. I believe it was in the Gremlin. I would think after few years it would have faded and looked worn like old jeans.
I remember that Bonneville sitting new at Gillman Pontiac in Houston.
Oh, yeah-I can smell that cigar-smoked Talisman upholstery right through my iPad! It’d be fun to roll into a detailing shop in one of these behemoths, and watch the staff reactions.
I have to say…..
I did see this with a ‘69 Continental in a ‘VERY reputable high end shop!’, in which they had no idea what they were looking at and lost my friends money/business simply because they didn’t want to spend time to research this!
As such, He & ALL of his friends went to a ‘low-end’ but high quality shop, which wanted to learn & research this market and made a very successful business accordingly!
It doesn’t take much effort sometimes…..
My favorites of these are the 98 and Imperial. The 98 has a lot of highlights in coziness, comfort, cruising, high-end luxury, and contemporary. The Imperial is beautifully loaded with beautiful touches and little features, aside from the dash layout. It has a nice touch of royalty, making it a perfect car for people like CEOs, Hollywood stars, Broadway stars, and Attorney General.
I feel the Matador's interior has a sporty, retro theme that's perfect for the high school and college kids of the time, along with a modern-day granny.
An option or package I could just imagine for the rear console on the 1974 Fleetwood is a wine package, which would include special holders for 2 wine glasses, a special compartment or holder for a wine bottle, a free bottle opener, and a free wine corkscrew. That Fleetwood has the perfect rear seating for millionaires, governors, mayors, presidents, candidates, and leaders from the White House.
One interior I was thinking you were going to include was the crazy digital interior of the seventh gen Riviera.
So many of those silly interiors got polluted with cigarette burns...especially the velour ones. I always have thought it funny that those cars would have 5 ash trays and fabric that melted so easily.
I think the “Williamsburg” cloth was inspired by colonial toile print fabric. Gotta love the two tone steering column on the rosewood Monticello interior Cadillac.
I really love those pouffe seats. It's such a shame that we never got them here in Europe.
One model worth including would have been the early production 1977 Fleetwoods with footrests carried over from the 1976 model. They sounded like a nice idea, but owners complained that they made the back seat feel cramped. Another interior that was "over the top" in a different way was the Gremlin Levi edition.
Those Fleetwood footrests could be flipped up and out of the way.
The Levi interior was the one I was waiting for.
I like the Imperial interior, and I usually don't like metallic leather treatments, actually I like most of them....having grown up in the era.
In the early 80s my father in law's girlfriend had a 1975 Cadillac Sedan de Ville. She was about 4'10" and weighed about 100 lbs. The seat was all the way forward and all the way up for her to drive there in Florida. She and my father in law drove it from Florida to Canada and when they returned he was still in shock with the amount of money for fuel. Lol. However, the car did not have a hideous interior as it was leather. Whenever I see one of these big Caddy's I always think of them. Good memories, when little old ladies drove Cadillacs instead of Lexus
The AMC Pierre Cardin Javelin AMX interiors were racy & fun with silver, black, & red lines on seats to headliner. Beautiful🎉. Also designer Pierre Cardin AMC Hornets were dashing as well🎉.
My aunt purchased a 1976 Oldsmobile Omega Brougham. This was such an eyesore in colors. The metal body was a light blue, the vinyl roof was a rich aqua color, the dashboard was a deep royal blue, the vinyl covered armrest/center compartment was a medium blue. When it came down to the seats, which the front were race car sport seats in a vinyl since it was so hard compared to leather with about 4 buttons each squared off for the back support and elevated squares for the seat part with the same 4 squares with buttons in each square that were a stark white. The backseat was also white. The 2 doors were overall white, with a white armrest with a small door puller at the farthest point to the hinges, the silver door handle was in a black cubby, and had a medium blue carpet for the bottom half of the door that matched the floor carpet. The rear defroster was a fan that had a toggle switch for low and high which the center position was off. The steering wheel was for the mist part blue with a cutout in the rim for a plastic wood trim. It is amazing how this car came off the assembly line, in the entire 10 years she had it, it never passed inspection on the first time, at that time they wanted brand new cars inspected instead of putting a 4+ years inspection sticker on car from the factory. By the time my mom started driving it, the car had 26,000 original miles on it. I really didn't see what made it a Brougham, all it had was a basic am radio, wipers, heat, a/c, and defroster fan. There was nothing special about it, especially having a floor shifter.
Interesting writeup. Surprisingly the Oldsmobile Toronado Brougham interiors, 75 through 78, especially the 77 model with those thick pinstriped pillow back and pillow bottom seats were left out. Ever see a 77 Toronado Brougham interior in bright red with the gold pinstripes down the seats? Insane! The 72 98 Regency started it all and although it's just my opinion, I believe the top 3 plushest automobile interiors from the 70s are the 75-76 Buick Park Avenue, the 74-76 Fleetwoods especially the Talisman and the 76 Fleetwood Brougham D'Elegance but don't Forget that Toronado Brougham pin strip masterpiece.
I remember back in '75 they offered, on the Continental Mark IV, a white and red leather interior called "Lipstick" and another one that was in aqua colored velour! Who also remembers the Olds Toronados in the '70's that had those tufted velour seats with the multi-colored triangular pattern? That was such a fun period for car interiors!
If you do a Part II, be sure to include early 70's Cadillac "Maharajah Cloth", 78 Eldorado Brougham "big leather pillow seats", Pinto's wild plaid interiors in the later 70's, and Pacer's "Navajo Cloth" seats.
1969 Mod Top Barracuda and Satellite.
1970 Fury Gran Coupe.
I was surprised not to see the Palm Beach edition of the Buick LeSabre on the list. It was rather sedate compared to some of the Cadillac fabric patterns!
The later Imperials from '67-68 and '72-73 are some of my favorites. The '67 looked like it had splits strategically placed with what looked like suede inserts.
A childhood friend owned a '71 Plymouth Gran Coupe with the paisley top and interior. Because the car was brown it looked somewhat tasteful. I can't remember the last time I saw one like it.
I just bought a 1982 Collector Edition Corvette, and I would have loved to have seen that car make this list. Those beige to dark brown color gradient door cards and seats in conjunction with the thick beige shag carpeting made the interior, rather hilariously, look 70's and 80's at the same time.
Nice! There was one in my mother-in-law's neighborhood for years. Had the gradient fade in the fender vents. Never saw it move; the owner just had it parked at the end of the driveway without a cover. One day it got hauled away on a flatbed. Hopefully it went to an owner that would take care of it.
Congrats on your purchase! Enjoy it
Make fun of them if you want. Some of these cars were done 50 years ago. They were quiet, comfortable, and attractive. Wed be lucky to have interiors this accommodating now. I drive high end luxury vehicles and the interiors are all the same; sleek, bucket seat, european type interiors. Not badmouthing current luxury interiors as they are wonderful in their own right.. But nothing compares in comfort to those 70s/80s velour, pillowtop seats. Nothing. And I'm 45 not 75 years old.
The 1968-70 Dodge and Plymouth cars with the floral interiors that were supposed match the Mod Top vinyl tops.
Oldsmobile Cutlass (I think it was available on Salon, Supreme and Cruiser) (late 1970s) with the Navajo interior.
I think the Olds wins again but I have to say that I am a massive fan of the T-bird sedan with suicide doors. I think it is one of the most elegant US cars of the late 60s.
I totally agree!
I’ve owned quite a few of these top 10. Good memories of a great time.
I have a 73 AMC Javelin AMX with a Pierre Cadrin interior that is pretty wild too. I thought it might have made it to your list. Cheers
The Pierre Cardin interior for the Javelin 1972-73 I think is my all time favorite. You can research it and the thought process that was going on for 5-6 other designed that didn’t make it into production. They make the one that did look tame.
While we are on AMC, can’t forget the Levi Edition Gremlin, I believe Hornet, and also the Jeep. Very very cool and stylish, but of course it wasn’t actually blue jean material. Great imitation. Hard to find now because they didn’t wear well, and even harder to find in a tan denim. Not sure which vehicle offered that. I’ve heard old timers say you could order anything from AMC, so there may have been one or two Ambassadors with a Levi Edition interior. Hahahaha
Though it was pretty similar to the Olds 98 shown, I had a 76 Toronado with the tufted pillow seats. It was a tweed like velour with a few different shades of blue and white. I called it the funky 70s disco interior. It was funky but oh so comfortable. Absolutely the most comfortable and best riding car I’ve ever been in. God I miss that car.
13:31 - I had ‘78 Canadian Pontiac Parisienne, with light blue velour interior. It was comfortable car. Dash had annoying end extensions, looked nice. But if I didn’t pay attention, I bash my knees on them while getting in or out of the seat. That 1970s red pattern design was very popular in Europe. My parents had living room chairs with similar green, white and black plaid. Bright happy loud colors were in style. Vehicle manufactures took advantage of it. Now we wonder how in earth people liked funky color patters.
The examples of button-tufted seats are mostly tasteful and attractive, in comparison to the Williamsburg pattern, and almost all of the reds and stripes. They would appeal to an extremely narrow market, if they had any appeal at all. I guess the fact they went away within a year or two reemphasizes the fact that many of these designs and colors were not good ideas. In spite of bright plaid pants and platform shoes for men, which were popular around 1973. I’m 6’6”, and I remember two pairs of shoes I had around age 19-20, with 3” heels. I wore ‘em, but they weren’t very practical. Ah, youth!
We have to remind ourselves that Adam was not born until the 1980s so he has no personal recollection of the popular styles of the 1970s.
Great video and choices. My step-grand parents had a 1976 Electra Park Avenue Limited with that amazing velour interior. I still have fond memories of riding in that car. They followed it up with the same, but a 1982 model year coupe…with actually a gorgeous ruched velour interior…that in some ways was even more stunning than the button tufted 1976. Of course, the 1976 was especially memorable because of the yacht size of the vehicle.
I was a fan of the Chrysler Newport Special Editions that had a burnt orange exterior and an interior based on the look of Navajo blankets. My uncle bought one in the spring of 1973 and I loved it. It was, however a terrible car to drive with completely numb power steering and the strangest most non-linear power brakes I had ever encountered.
There were a bunch or special limited edition 73 Newports, like the Mariner 2dr, which used a boat theme with special blue paint on white and blue interiors with ship anchors all over. I find that fitting lol.
I was born in 1977 and the cars that we had that i had earliest memory of was a mid 70's chevrolet work truck and a 1973 buick century with the bucket seats and white interior, memory of the century is pretty vague as it was sold and a piece of crap 1973 pontiac lemans was bought but getting to the point all had vinyl seats, roll up windows probably no AC or non working and this was all in the New Orleans urban area. Then one day we get a brand new 1984 Buick LeSabre limited 2 door. The thing that through me for a loop that i absolutely loved was that it had plush velour seats. I use to have a few plush velour sweaters that i loved, now here i am i a car surrounded by it it was just too awesome. That car will always have a special place in my heart as the first nice car we ever had, power door locks, windows, seat, antennae, cruise control etc all things that i didn't even know cars even came with. I actually thought it was a cadillac at first because of the wire wheels, thought every car with that was a cadillac. My girlfriend rolls her eyes when i talk about how i cant stand modern cars and your choice is either leather or some crap cloth and how i wish velour would come back and you do not know what you are missing out on.
I like the 75-76 buick park avenue's ! Even the lasabres at the time had very comfortable interior's and drove like a dream !
this was a awesome video . As a kid born in 74 by the 80's I was very familiar with 70's car interiors really brought back some childhood memories of cheap 70's cars my Dad bought in upstate NY
You missed the 1971 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe with the Paisley interior and matching vinyl top in Tahitian brown and Tahitian brown paint. Gorgeous car...had two and want another.
I love the 70s tuck and roll velour upholstery. You really don't appreciate it until its 90 degrees so you don't burn your legs or when its -10 degrees and you're stuck in a snowbank waiting on a tow truck. The other nice thing about the velour seats, in the 70s land yachts, is that the back seat was a wonderfully comfortable place to nap on your lunch break or hiding from guests during family reunions and gatherings.
Perhaps another overall over the top line might be the Spirit of 76 option, which was available on every Chevy from the Vega to the Vans. Wild graphics, ( on trucks and vans) and loads of red white and blue inside and out. The perfect parade cars lol
I had a 1982 Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham that had a beautiful burgundy velour pillow button tufted interior. It was so comfortable. I wish car manufacturers would go back to making car interiors more luxurious again
As a Gen X, I really miss these old beasts. You youngens don't realise what you missed.
Haha!! Seeing the title I first thought of AMC - and you got it!! Great~! Although the AMX also had some interesting and radical patterns in their vinyl designs.
For me, the smoothest designed exterior of those 10 given is Olds 98 Regency (#6).
I'm 63 yr old and I'm not seeing outrageous but rembering how comfortable those cars were compared to today's hard euro style seats.
The 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon (Tahoe Cloth) and the 1979 Cutlass Supreme Brougham (Mohave Cloth) are interesting too.
Love that Imperial gold interior. And I grew up a GM person. (My dad was a GM employee).
Adam, The interior of that Matador coupe 19:27 is ten times better looking than the exterior. 😝
The Peugeot 106 „cartoon” edition is also worth a mention. It had 106 shaped headrests, and upholstery with cartoon 106’s on it. Also there was the „Kid” edition jeans interior which was looked completely bonkers.
I remember the Levi's "denim" interiors AMC offered in the 70's....the Peugeot jeans interior is a new one to me.
Williamsburg cloth gets my vote. I like it.
Adam does a real service to the collector community and car enthusiasts in general. Great, informative videos. Thanks Adam.
REALLY ENJOYED!! HAD TO MAKE SURE YOU HAD THE 1975 76 PARK AVENUE AND 74 FLEETWOOD TALISMAN 4 SEATER!! OTHERS THAN COME TO MIND WOULD BD THE CADILLAC FLEETWOOD DELEGENCES, ELDORADO BARRIATZS, AND THE DESIGNER AND COLLECTORS SERIES LINCOLN TOWN CARS AND MARKS!! THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID!!
I love those Imperials....my Uncle bought one new and I rode in it 8 years later in 1980,it was smooth,quiet,the quietest car I ever rode in and the seats were the best seats ever! Ultra comfortable...Effortless power and at 90 mph it rode like it was doing 30 ,didnt notice the speed and thats what you want in a car planted and smooth.I always wanted a 69-73 Imperial...Triple black 2 door would be the one I am after.
Absolutely Beautiful American Land Yacht Era Engineering!!! Please bring this back in 2025 ♥️🇺🇸♥️
So it’s considered nuts back in 1974 to buy a luxury car with 133” wheelbase and 4 doors with only 4 seats. Now that’s been normalized with the Porsche Panamera, MB S-Class and the BMW 7 series since they now have that as an option. Also can now get pillows in those cars I mentioned as an option. In other words, the Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman seems to have started a trend 40+ years ahead of its time when it came to car interiors.
They are all fantastic interiors, Adam...I think I like No. 10., The 1978 Mercury Marquis/Colony Park the most.😊🙌
Much more interesting than today's molded plastic!
I miss American cars with wild & crazy interiors like this-
My parents drove VW & Mercedes, so it was not in my base of knowledge, but THEIR friends had cool, lavish luxury cars like this… the BARCELONA is on my Bucket-List..!!
(Also a ‘74 Caddy Talisman..!)
The Regency and the Park Avenue also ruled in my Young Mind…
PLUS any MILF who drove an Eldorado with an Astro-Roof..!!
“Mrs. Robinson will drive you to swimming lessons today, is that OK..?”
“It’s totally fine..!!”
The 74 Fleetwood with the four dedicated private seats does appeal to me as extremely luxurious. Reminds me of Rolls-Royce.
The Cadillac Talisman reminds me of my grandfather. He had a 70s era Cadillac. The interior was brown but the fabric was still so soft after all those years of him owning the car. I loved riding in his car, I still remember the smell of stale smoke. Unfortunately, after he died the car became a victim of "cash for clunkers".
Correction: I had a two door 71 thunderbird Landau and it had the same tufted cloth interior that you showed in the four door version. The coupes did not all have the potato sack (optional) or vinyl (standard) As I said the deluxe cloth interior was also available on the two door. OMG the Pontiac red/black/white interior is horrendous. Lol
I think two more Cadillacs could be added: the 73 Coupe deVille Brougham de Elegance and the 79 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz
What was outrageous about the 1979 Eldorado Biarritz interior? It was rather tasteful with leather interior. My mother had one of those.
That Buick Park Avenue interior looked inviting, to me …
I don't like leather seats. I think a vinyl wrapped seat with cloch inserts is the best. Leather might last longer (especially the plastic sealed junk they use now), but cloth is much more comfortable. My favorite is the GM velour of the 80's. Great stuff. I don't understand why everyone thinks leather seats are so great. In my opinion they're uncomfortable. Cold in the winter. Hot I the summer. They don't breathe. They just aren't good. The only exception being old leather seats that were actual soft leather. But I would still rather have a cloth of some kind
The mark 3 Lincoln coupes 69/70 had awesome interiors, i can never forget one I saw with gold leather seats, and the door cars were literally works of art
Nothing like driving around with a car that has a couch in the front and the couch in the back holy shit good times