Just A Regular Day In 1964, Nowadays We Would Consider This A Car Show

Wish vehicles were still built like this and strong.

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

You would have wanted the design of cars to have stagnated in that era?

They might look impressive, if you like the styling; but the larger ones were over-sized, over-heavy, not very safe - their stiffness reduced protection to the occupants in a crash -, and very inefficient for their intended purpose of taking up to five people and modest amount of luggage from A to B. They did not become nick-named "gas-guzzlers" for nothing.

Is that car nearest to us meant to be parked or something? There is someone standing by the driver's door but it is empty, and looks just abandoned in the middle of the road.

.....

A strange fashion has developed in Britain for buying very large vans and bloated builders' pick-ups without apparent real need; and although these are built to modern standards I would be surprised if the lumpier ones return more than 30mpg, especially on petrol. The Diesel-powered panel-vans by e.g. Mercedes, VW, Citroen might obtain around 40mpg, I suppose. (The UK Gallon is larger than the US one.)

It took some searching but what I think must be Ford's own figures, using US Dollars so presumably US Gallons, says the Ford Ranger returns typically only about 20mpg, so about 24mpg by UK gallons!

Most of the publicity I found did not quote fuel consumption. The Ranger is really a building-site and farm work vehicle but a good many of the Britons who buy its costly double-cab version seem to use it only as a family car, which must be absurdly extravagant at over £6/Gallon for Diesel fuel. Those figures are comparable to early Landrovers and RangeRovers from the 1950s - 70s. It can tow large weights so some are probably bought for towing heavy boat-trailers, large caravans or the like.