A good friend of the family was a big car guy in the 70s. He was a professional truck driver, and got hit by a train at a street with faulty crossing bars. He spent the remainder of his life as a paraplegic.
So he needed large entry doors, and he liked big engines. A 66 Toronado. then a 71 El Dorado, and then another Toronado, this one a '73 with dual square head lights out front of that Olds 455. All of which were a sheer pleasure to ride in. I still love the lines of the 66 Toranado.
One of my Aunts drove a pilot car to accompany mobile home transporters across the country in the early 70s. Her pilot car? A 1971 Buick Skylark GS Stage 1 with the high output 450 HP Stage One Buick 455 and Ram Air.
That one ended up on blocks for about ten years needing the turbo 400 rebuilt. Finally it was sold. The buyer got T-boned towing it through the nearest intersection on the state hiway.
My kids knew that I always lusted for a 71 Riviera. When my son was a Senior in High School,(about 2000) he found an old baby blue junker 71 sitting on the back of a used car lot for $400. Between him, his little sister, and his Momma they scraped together the money and towed it home.
It needed the engine rebuilt, the tranny rebuilt, the vinyl top replaced, and the entire interior redone, as well as the trunk floor and rear fenders were rusted through.
I had it about ten years before the price of recycle metal got high enough to recover the kids $400 selling the old car by the ton.
One of my favorite cars was my Mom's 71 Impala Custom two door. I used to drive it to work in '77. It had the convex rear window and ventilated trunk lid a la Chevy Corvair. Just a 400 CID SBC with a Turbo 400 and new radials. But the old girl sure drove nicely.
Then the economics of transportation hit me in the face. I bought my first car, a 71 Toyota Celica, I have been driving 100 HP 4 cylinder cars ever since unless I needed to use my HD pickup.
