1974 Mercedes-Benz 450SL

I'm totally spitballing on the year here. The R107 version of the Mercedes-Benz SL class was produced with only minimal cosmetic changes for almost two decades, from 1971 to 1989. The fact that this one's a 450SL, plus the color and the bumpers, narrows it down to the '74-'79 model year range.

Something like two thirds of all SL-class production went to the US market, and the 450SL version itself was a response to changing demands due to US regs. The 3.5L M116 Benz V-8, with its 9.5:1 compression ratio, wouldn't make it past American emissions standards and so, to make up for the lower 8.0:1 compression ratios necessitated by the unleaded gas used on this side of the pond, it was punched out to 4.5L.

For the 1974 model year the SOHC M117 V-8 put out 190 SAE net horsepower, although that number would slump as the Malaise Era deepened, reaching a nadir of 165.

Road & Track put a '74 450SL through its testing procedures and recorded a zero-to-sixty time of 10.2 seconds, a quarter mile elapsed time of 17.7 seconds at 81.5 through the traps, and a top speed of 124mph. Price as tested was $16,748 gradually-inflating early Seventies dollars, which equals $111k in current money.

This one was photographed in September of 2021 using a Hasselblad Lunar and a Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 OSS zoom lens.

1974 Jaguar XJ6L

When the Jaguar XK-E sports car debuted in 1961, its sleek envelope-style monocoque body was ultra modern looking, indeed almost futuristic. It was sold, however, alongside Jaguar saloons whose pontoon styling with their distinct fenders was beginning to look a little dated.

Jag rectified this for 1968 with an entirely new sedan, the Jaguar XJ. Initially riding on a 108.75" wheelbase, it was powered by either a 2.8L or 4.2L DOHC inline six, although only the larger motor was sold here in the USA.

For the '73 model year the XJ got a slight restyling, with the bumpers raised to meet federal impact standards. The grille shrank and a larger opening under the bumper was added to make up for it. The regular wheelbase had been joined by a long wheelbase version in 1972, which added four inches between the axles, all of which went to rear seat legroom.

This one, in classic British Racing Green, looks to be a 1974 model, going by the rubber protector on the front and bumpers and the location of the front turn signals.

For the North American market the dual SU carburetors were replaced by Zenith-Strombergs, and the 4.2L six was rated at 186 SAE net horsepower.

When Road & Track tested a '73 model, it managed a 10.7 second zero-to-sixty time and strolled through the quarter mile in 17.1 seconds with a trap speed of 77mph. Price as tested on that 1973 Jag came to $8,965, which translates to about $65,750 in 2025 dollars.

This one was photographed in May of 2025 using a Sony a700 and a 16-50mm f/2.8 zoom lens.

1974 Toyota Land Cruiser

The FJ40 version of the heavy duty Toyota Land Cruiser was produced, almost unchanged, from 1960 through 1984, which is incredible longevity for a single generation of vehicle. If you got driven home from the hospital as an infant in one during the Kennedy administration, you could have bought one that looked just like it when you graduated college while Reagan was president.

Oh, sure, the new one would have had front disc brakes, a factory roll bar, the vent windows would have been deleted, and the grille/headlight bezel would have been squarer, but it would have been essentially identical.

This one's been resto-modded heavily enough that it's hard to be certain of the exact model year, but the rear lift gate, rather than a pair of full-height barn doors, combined with the presence of MVSS '68 compliant side marker lights, makes me guess it's somewhere between '69 and '74. (That instrument panel, for instance, is completely aftermarket.)

For 1974, the FJ40 would have had Toyota's 3.9L F engine under the hood, a torquey undersquare lump of a pushrod inline six with a 7.8:1 compression ratio that allowed it to run on garbage gasoline from whatever shady seller you stumbled across while roaming around the outback. It made 138 SAE net horsepower and grunted out 215 lb/ft of torque at only 2200 RPM.

This Freeborn Red example was photographed in April of 2025 using an Olympus PEN E-P5 and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-45mm f/4 PRO zoom lens.

1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Convertible

The General Motors full size B-bodies were stretched even larger for the 1971 model year, although they still rode on a 124" wheelbase. Trunks were enormous, big enough to hold several dead mobsters if packed carefully.

This, the seventh generation of Oldsmobile's 88 nameplate, saw the onset of the Malaise Era. In 1971, the only engine offered in the Delta 88 convertible was the 455 Rocket V-8, in two states of tune: There was the basic 280hp version and the more potent 320hp with dual exhausts. Ominous foreshadowing was that alongside those SAE gross horsepower measurements, the brochure also listed the new SAE net horsepower ratings, which more accurately reflected the output as installed in the car. Using the new measuring system the outputs were 185hp and 250hp.

For 1972, only the net horsepower ratings were given. Further, a more thrifty 350 Rocket V-8 was now the base motor for the convertible. Also, compression ratios were reduced to prepare the cars for an unleaded, low-octane future. The 350 Rocket came in 160 and 180 horsepower flavors, while the 455 Rocket came in single-exhaust 225hp or dual-exhaust 250hp tunes.

1973 added the newly-mandatory bumper up front that was capable of withstanding a 5mph impact, and the 1974 model, like the Colonial Cream convertible in the photo, added the 5mph rear bumper as well.

For 1974 only two powertrains were available in the Delta 88 Royale convertible: The base motor was the 350 Rocket V-8 making 180 SAE net horsepower, or the buyer could opt for the 455 Rocket V-8, which was now rated at a mere 210 horsepower, about the same as the fuel-injected small blocks that would power Mustangs and Camaros in the middle of the next decade.

To add insult to injury, these neutered 455 V-8 models hit dealer lots about the same time as OPEC turned off the nation's imported fuel supply, and they sold terribly. 1975 was the final year for the Delta 88 convertible and 1976 saw the last 455 Rocket V-8s, by which time output had been strangled to a mere 190 SAE net horses. The 1977 model year would see an all new downsized Delta 88 riding on a wheelbase a full eight inches shorter.

The car in the photo was snapped with a Nikon D5000 and an 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II zoom lens.

1974 Lincoln Continental

The year was 1974, the dawn of the Malaise Era. The Hemi was gone, the Mustang was a Pinto, and all cars got a clunky 5-mph mandatory bumper hung off their ass end to match the one that had been disfiguring their proboscii since the previous model year. Next year would come catalytic converters and unleaded gas. Fuel injection was still uncommon and computers were things that took up whole rooms in college basements, so compliance with emissions and mileage rules was done via methods that look crude today and mostly involved miles of vacuum lines under the hood.

Into this world was born the '74 Continental above, appropriately painted a color called "Medium Beige", a soulless color for a soulless time. (Although when slathered over that much sheet metal it should be "Venti Beige".)

This was the fourth model year of the fifth generation of Lincoln's Continental, and it was enormous: 80" wide, roughly nineteen and a half feet long, riding on a 127.7" wheelbase, and weighing every bit of 5,362 pounds. Under the hood was exactly one powertrain configuration, Ford's 460 cubic inch big block V-8 with a four-barrel Motorcraft carb and rated at 215 SAE net horsepower, backed by a Ford C6 3-speed automatic.

This one was photographed in August of 2023 using an iPhone 13 Pro Max.

1974 BMW 2002tii

The final iteration of the compact BMW 02 Series was the sportiest, and its timing couldn't have been better.

Preceded in the US market by the 1602, the 2002 was at least partly in response to importer Max Hoffman's pleas for a bigger-engined version of the 02 series that would sell well in America. In the late Sixties and early Seventies it was mostly the province of the sort of motoring nerds who also fancied British roadsters and had read the earnest paeans to the 2002 written by Car and Driver editor David E. Davis:

Down at the club, Piggy Tremalion and Bucko Penoyer and all their twit friends buy shrieking little 2-seaters with rag tops and skinny wire wheels, unaware that somewhere, someday, some guy in a BMW 2002 is going to blow them off so bad that they'll henceforth leave every stoplight in second gear and never drive on a winding road again as long as they live.

In the suburbs, Biff Everykid and Kevin Acne and Marvin Sweatsock will press their fathers to buy HO Firebirds with tachometers mounted out near the horizon somewhere and enough power to light the city of Seattle, totally indifferent to the fact that they could fit more friends into a BMW in greater comfort and stop better and go around corners better and get about 29 times better gas mileage.

Mr. and Mrs. America will paste a "Support Your Local Police" sticker on the back bumper of their new T-Bird and run Old Glory up the radio antenna and never know that for about 2500 bucks less they could have gotten a car with more leg room, more head room, more luggage space, good brakes, decent tires, independent rear suspension, a glove box finished like the inside of an expensive overcoat and an ashtray that slides out like it was on the end of a butler's arm—not to mention a lot of other good stuff they didn't even know they could get on an automobile, like doors that fit and seats that don't make you tired when you sit in them.

But the 2002 really came into its own when the dual-carb ti was replaced with the fuel injected tii. This bumped output from 118 to 128 SAE net horsepower. This might not sound like a lot, but consider a few things related to the car in the picture above: The bumpers indicate that it's a 1974 model. That means it was in the country just in time for the Oil Embargo of 1973. Meanwhile, domestic cars were having compression ratios lowered, emissions controls added, and advertising was changing from SAE gross to SAE net numbers.

All that means that for the '74 model year the base 302 2-barrel V-8 in a Mercury Montego MX was rated at 140 horsepower, and the Chevelle Laguna S-3 came with a 145hp 2-barrel 350 small block. Suddenly 128 horsies in a gnarly little sports coupe doesn't sound too shabby.

The '72 2002tii tested by Car and Driver managed a 9.0 second zero-to-sixty performance and put the quarter away in 16.8 seconds at 81 mph with a top speed of 115mph. Not only would it outhandle most anything from Detroit, but it would keep up with the more vanilla variants of even the sportiest cars. Remember that for every Super Duty 455 Trans Am and 460-4V Gran Torino, there were a bunch of lesser 350-engined Firebirds and 302-motored Torinos, all set to be surprised by this zingy little Bavarian.

This one was photographed in April of 2022 using a Fujifilm X-E1 and XF 23mm f/2 R WR lens.

1974 Mercury Montego MX Brougham

Launched in 1968, the Mercury Montego was the upscale version of the midsize Mercury Comet line, serving the same function (and sharing the basic mechanicals of) the Ford Torino, which was the upscale version of the midsize Ford Fairlane.

The Montego/Torino twins got a serious revamp for their second generation in 1972, but had the unfortunately clunky mandatory 5mph bumpers added to the front in '73 and the rear in '74. This Dark Green 1974 Montego MX has the opera window and partial vinyl roof of the Brougham, so there's no six-cylinder under the hood.

The smallest motor available was Ford's 302 two-barrel Windsor small block, rated at 140 horsepower. Buyers who wanted more oomph could get the 351 Cleveland 2-barrel 163 horsepower or 170-horse 400M 2-barrel. To get the full throttle early Malaise Era experience, the top-line option was the 460 cubic inch FoMoCo big block with a Carter 4-barrel and 220 SAE Net horsepower...about the same as the 5.0L EFI motor in a late Fox Body Mustang.

This one was photographed using a Nikon D1X and 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6D zoom lens in October of 2015.

1974 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

In 1973, OPEC announced an oil embargo directed at the nations that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The effects on the U.S. economy were harsh.

"The average US retail price of a gallon of regular gasoline rose 43% from 38.5¢ in May 1973 to 55.1¢ in June 1974. State governments asked citizens not to put up Christmas lights. Oregon banned Christmas and commercial lighting altogether. Politicians called for a national gasoline rationing program. Nixon asked gasoline retailers to voluntarily not sell gasoline on Saturday nights or Sundays; 90% of gas station owners complied, which produced long lines of motorists wanting to fill up their cars while they still could."

The effects on Detroit would trigger the first big round of downsizing and boost sales of compacts, as people suddenly had a reason to avoid "gas guzzlers".

Sales of one model weren't much affected, though.

Despite the embargo and the subsequent gas crisis, Chevrolet sold over 300,000 1974 Monte Carlos, up from the previous record sales year of '73 that saw almost 250,000 cross the curb.

The base engine was a 145bhp 2-bbl Turbo-Fire small block 350, and you could get a Turbo-Fire small block 400 in either 150bhp 2-bbl or 180bhp 4-bbl flavors, or splurge for a 235bhp big block Turbo-Jet 4-bbl 454 V-8.

The Monte Carlo's booming success outsold Ford's Thunderbird by something close to six-to-one and triggered other manufacturers to jump into the "personal luxury coupe" market.

The one in the photos, which has been repainted, was snapped in June of 2022 using a Nikon D7100 and a 16-80mm f/2.8-4E VR zoom lens.

1974 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna Type S-3

This was how the Muscle Car Era ended, not with a bang, but a faded purple whimper. In 1974 "Laguna Type S-3" was the badging that replaced the storied "Super Sport" on racy Chevelles. The '74 Pontiac GTO had been reduced to a decal 'n' hood scoop package on the Ventura, Pontiac's version of the Nova, and the Ford Mustang II was essentially a tarted-up version of the Pinto platform.

Gas prices, insurance rates, and government safety and emissions regulations did to fun cars what the Visigoths did to Rome, and it would be a decade and more before the enlightenment of computerized engine controls led us to surpass the performance of yore. If you're younger than about fifty, you fortunately missed out on a dark interregnum when the fast cars were all in the past.

For 1973, the newly restyled Chevelles came out, incorporating the now-mandatory 5mph front bumper. They were available in three trim levels: Deluxe, Malibu, and Laguna. (For reasons that made sense to marketing types, the Deluxe was the lowest level.) If you wanted a Chevelle SS, that was an option package on the Malibus.

For 1974, the rear end also sprouted a 5mph crime against aesthetics. The model's trim levels were juggled yet again, and now started with the Malibu, ascending through Malibu Classic, to the Laguna. As mentioned above, the "SS" trim level was replaced with the "Type S-3", which was only available on the Laguna Colonnade Coupe.

The base engine for a Laguna Type S-3 was the 2-barrel L65 Turbo-Fire 350 V-8 rated at 145 SAE net horsepower. Buyers who wanted more power could opt instead for the 4-barrel LM1 350, which was essentially a lower-compression L48 intended to run on regular fuel and rated at 160bhp. There were also two flavors of the 400 small block: 150hp 2-barrel or 180hp 4-barrel.

Also available, for its second-to-last model year in a midsize Chevy car, was the 454 V-8, in LS-5 form with 8.5:1 compression and rated at 235 SAE net horsepower. All motors could be had with either manual or automatic transmissions except for the 400 small blocks, which only came with slushboxes.

Of course, this being a '74 model year car, it would have been hitting showrooms just as OPEC shut off the taps in October of 1973, which didn't do anything good for sales of big block V-8 muscle cars.

No telling what's under the hood of this one (likely once Medium Red Poly before getting sun-bleached to an unfortunate hue), which was snapped out the window of my car back in February of 2015 using a Nikon Coolpix S6500.