This was a great year for the U.S. auto industry, but a terrible one for the performance segment of the industry. Plenty of cars were sold, but fewer of them were of the performance type. Ford more or less threw in the towel on high performance, with a 224hp 460 being their highest output engine. All horsepower and torque ratings were now SAE net, which further lowered the numbers on top of the actual horsepower reductions due to much lower compression ratios, milder cams and tuning more suited for emissions reductions than for power output.
Total Sales: 9,433,000; change: +19.5%.
1972 Noteworthy Events
- Chevrolet – Highest output engine: 454, 270hp net.
- Buick – Highest output engine: 455, 270hp net.
- Oldsmobile – Hurst/Olds is back. Highest output engine: 455, 300 hp net.
- Pontiac – Highest output engine: 455, 300hp net.
- Dodge – Highest output engine: 440, 280hp net.
- Plymouth – Highest output engine: 400, 255hp net.
This was a record year for the U.S. auto industry, with almost nine and a half million cars sold. The performance segment of the industry didn’t share in the joy, though. The muscle car market bubble had burst and was in decline.
The final nail in the coffin, the Arab oil embargo, would strike next year to complete the destruction of the performance market.
Did Domestic Automakers Miss the Mark?
In one word, ‘yes’. There’s a lot to it, though.
Detroit (the term for the collective of US automakers) saw the storm gathering on the horizon mostly through the lens of the Volkswagen Beetle. This was the primary off-shore competitor. VW did influence Detroit, generally as a factor leading to the smaller car series in the early ‘60’s, and specifically in the design of the wonderful little Chevy Corvair. Detroit seemed to think the storm was going to be a spring shower, when in fact it was a category 5 hurricane that they had to deal with.
U.S. automakers were already building cars in Europe, for that market. A few were imported to the US, with limited success. Pinto had a European engine (or two). I don’t think they perceived the extent of the Japanese onslaught that they would face. Japanese motorcycle makers had already decimated their European competition, especially the British companies. They offered more technology, more quality and more value. Why wasn’t it more obvious as the Japanese companies began to import cars to the US that the same pattern would be followed?
Sizes Increase
Detroit was increasing the size of their cars, and at the same time offering the smaller Vegas, Pintos, and others. They must have thought “We have the small car base covered, but so many Americans want large cars”. But is that really what US buyers wanted? This was an era of strong brand loyalty, at least in the auto market. Many Ford people would never seriously consider a Chevrolet, and vice versa. In some sense, the US automakers had a sort of ‘captive audience’ of buyers who would look solely at their company for a new vehicle. If you also consider the strong anti-Japanese or anti-import sentiment in much of the country, especially the rural areas, it’s amazing that the Japanese automakers were as successful as they were. My dad would have been embarrassed to be seen in an import car that he owned.
So, the domestic automakers kept making huge land-barges with below-average quality, while the imports were selling cars that were less expensive to buy and operate, better built and easier to drive and park. People started to overcome their reluctance and began to peruse the import car lots as well as the domestic. Harry might have never thought he’d buy a Toyota, but ol’ Fred got one and was crazy about it. Pretty soon Harry was driving one, too. And so it continued, rolling over the country and the domestic automakers like a tempest, with little to slow it down.
Domestic Competitors Falter
It didn’t help that the two key small cars from the two largest US automakers, Ford and Chevy, each had multiple substantial issues. Vega with quality, rust-through, an engine that was ill-conceived, and other issues. Pinto had its issues, the largest of which was the ‘mobile BBQ’ image and their immoral and ineffective attempts to shield themselves from the resulting fallout. The Japanese automakers must have been dancing in the aisles at these incredible debacles; gifts from heaven!
When the fog lifted, the landscape was revealed and it wasn’t pretty. It was one of defunct domestic auto dealerships, US automakers with much smaller market percentages, and tons of new Hondas and Toyotas on the roads. US automakers were left in the wakes of the smaller, speedier competition, competitors who, though not from here, seemed to know more about what US buyers wanted than the US automakers did! The US market would never be the same.
Chevrolet
Chevrolet for 1972 can be summed up with a few words: sales up, cars bigger, most performance gone. There was minor restyling here and there, but nothing really interesting, much less inspiring.
The biggest news is what might have been. A UAW strike at the Camaro plant in Lordstown, Ohio, got messy and resulted in a huge number of bodies being left on the assembly lines. Apparently, new federal safety standards came into place before the cars could be completed, resulting in hundreds of vehicles being scrapped. GM was actively considering pulling the plug on Camaro, and its sister Firebird. Thankfully, GM brass were seemingly able, in this instance, to think with their heads, not their asses, and both programs went on to thrive for years to come.
Approximate sales: 2,420,000; change: +32%; industry rank:2nd.
Camaro
Camaro continued to be a great looking car, for sure. It’s hard to believe that Camaro (and Firebird) were almost killed off.
Chevelle
Chevelle was a carryover from 1971, which was perfectly understandable, given the total redesign that would take place in 1973. Work was underway on the ’73’s and it would make no sense to put any more resources into the ’72.
Chevelle didn’t see many changes for 1972. If you liked the look of the ’71’s…
Impala offers you so much comfort and convenience, it’s almost like it drives itself.
Both of the ads above feature the “Building a better way to see the U.S.A.” marketing theme. This was a reintroduction of a theme that originally appeared in the mid 1950’s.
Well, crap. I guess there were three “Building a better way…” ads, not two. This, of course, is one of them.
The Z28 Camaro. Still looking good, it seems. This ad points out some of the nice bits that come with Z28.
Monte Carlo
The Monte Carlo continued with its initial styling, just mildly updated. The parking lights/turn signals were now rectangular and placed between the headlights and grille, with the grille itself having a coarser look than last year.
So, three of the 350cid V8’s make more horsepower than the new 400? The low-po 350 2bbl makes just 5hp short of the 400. O-k-a-y…
Well, I guess this is a unique advertisement. Must hit home with the two people who really cared about their car’s roof.
I wish the ad was in color, so we could better appreciate the guy’s dress style. I believe he’s wearing the now-famous ‘double knit’ slacks.
Chevelle advertising its spaciousness. No mention of much else, beyond handling and ride quality. Performance? Acceleration? Look elsewhere!
Corvette
There were no changes to Corvette this year, other than to the engine options. Sales increased nicely over last year. The 454cid LS5 was the highest output engine, at 270 hp (net).
Approximate sales: 27,000; change: +23.8%.
I would totally have a ’72 Corvette, given the chance. The power plant would have to be worked over a bit, but I love the styling and options.
This would be the last year for the ‘ice-cube tray’ louvers, first seen in 1970. I’ve always liked the look.
This is hard to read, but it’s a great ad that shows all the cool bits that go into your ’72 Corvette. I like this advertisement.
I don’t know how many potential buyers were swayed by all of this safety stuff that many cars already had. Longer life for spark plugs? Why, that will save me a bundle!
Buick
Buick sales surged over 20%, but their high-performance offerings suffered like everyone else’s. To their credit, the highest output 455 still made 270 hp net.
The Riviera was mildly restyled, and the problematic rear deck louvers were removed.
Approximate sales: 680,000; change: +23.4%; industry rank: 6th.
Skylark Gran Sport
Skylark and GS were largely unchanged from the ’71 design. Like Chevelle, this would be the final year for this body and there wasn’t much sense in making changes. Gosh, this is gorgeous!
Here’s Gran Sport looking good, with a GSX-type wing. GS 350 and GS 455 both came standard with bench seat, with bucket seats optional.
Riviera
Riviera was mostly unchanged but did receive a slightly updated front end. The grille now featured an egg-crate design.
Riviera still featured the amazingly attractive boat-tail rear end.
A free sport vinyl top! What more could you ask for?
I was never a huge fan of the vinyl top thing, but this was the ‘70’s, after all.
Vinyl tops are rather strange, if you think about it. Let’s take this weather-resistant, painted metal and coat it with a plastic that the heat and sun will turn into something with the consistency of paper mache!
Buick MaxTrac Traction Control System
This system was developed by GM’s AC division and was available on the 1971 Riviera. It functioned somewhat like a modern traction control system, but more crudely and with some key differences. It was absolutely forward-thinking at its finest.
The rear wheel speed was monitored via the speedometer cable, at a rate that was directly proportional to indicated vehicle speed. The front wheels were monitored with the aid of a sensor at a rate that was also speed proportional but at a lower frequency than the rear wheels. If the controller detected that the rear wheels were rotating at a faster rate than the front, there was wheel slippage. The controller then reduced engine power by cutting spark to some of the cylinders. This option was around through ’73 and then discontinued. It’s been said that the system was held in low esteem by the EPA because of the function of limiting engine speed by cutting spark, thus dumping some amount of raw fuel into the exhaust tract. Regardless, it would be some time before the traction control systems of today made their appearance.
Buick AccuDrive System
AccuDrive was introduced by Buick in the 1969 model year. This was a less significant advancement than MaxTrac, but it didn’t share the short life of MaxTrac. It was a redesigned front steering geometry and front suspension that added to stability, particularly by greatly reducing bump-steer.
Oldsmobile
1972 was a good year for Oldsmobile, all in all. There continued to be 270hp and 300hp versions of the 455 (both net ratings).
The mighty 4-4-2 was relegated to option status this year, something that was rather predictable. It now had become mostly a handling and appearance package.
Approximate sales: 762,000; change: +34.2%; industry rank: 3rd.
Hurst/Olds
The Hurst Olds was back for ’72, a bit of brightness in an otherwise bleak landscape. The H/O’s were based on the Cutlass S platform and just over 600 found buyers. This was one of the handful of performance cars left. Even the few badass cars left tended to have rather mild gearing. A car like this with user-installed 3.90:1 gears would be in the thick of things relative to its higher compression peers of previous years.
Cutlass
As with its siblings Skylark and Chevelle, Olds Cutlass was in its final year for this body and made no significant changes.
To many people, this body style was the ‘classic Cutlass’ and will forever be.
4-4-2
Don’t see much change between the ’71 and ’72 4-4-2? That’s because there wasn’t any!
The ’71 4-4-2 front end. Pretty attractive, I’d say.
The ’71 rear styling, here, was just a slight tweaking of the ’70. The ’72 would be a further adjustment of the same styling. Each of the four tail lights here will be segmented into three on the ’72.
I first thought that some people might have some issues with this advertisement, but I reconsidered.
I must say that I’m confused by the text and the prom picture. Anna Mae left him but later went back to him? I realize the theme is that ‘he’s made it’, but I’m struggling to understand the part at the top. You?
About two decades after this advert appeared, I was in a small town in the Midwest. It was about 99% people of European descent (‘white’). Someone I happened to know mentioned to me (regarding their Cadillac) “people in this town judge you on what you drive”. I didn’t believe it, partly because the person making the comment was a fruitcake, and partly because I have more faith in people. I guess my point is that the perception of being judged by your material possessions is not limited to any ethnicity.
Sorry, you Olds buffs. Here’s the great 4-4-2 ‘dumbed down’ and offered on a variety of models. The engine is hardly more than an afterthought mention. In their defense, Olds was doing what everyone else was, just trying to exist in a post-muscle car market.
Pontiac
Pontiac followed the same path that its GM siblings did in moving away from high performance. In an interesting change, power disc brakes and the Turbo Hydramatic transmission were both made standard equipment. GTO was no longer a series, being relegated to the status of option.
Approximate sales: 707,000; change: +20.4%; industry rank: 5th.
Tempest GTO
With about 18,000 V8 Firebirds sold versus some 5,800 Tempest GTO’s, the top-model performance baton had been passed from GTO to Firebird. GTO’s star was setting while Firebird’s was rising, and would shine for decades.
As mentioned with Chevy, Buick and Olds, the GM A-bodies saw very little change in this last year of this body. That extended to Tempest as well, of course.
Note the vent behind the front wheel that’s new this year. These, dear friends, are ‘front fender air extractors’. Though already relegated to an option package, some purists consider this the ‘last true GTO’, denying that status to the ’73 or the ’74 models. This particular car has the wonderful Rallye II wheels.
Firebird Trans Am
Firebird Trans Am got a new honeycomb grille this year, but the exterior changes were very minimal. That’s okay; the styling was perfect!
Trans Am was the real performance standard-bearer for Pontiac. The 455 HO was the engine to have with this car, no doubt.
455 cubic inches of pure badassery!
Pontiac expanded the application of the Endura front bumper to more cars than before. It made for a great look, in an era where sporty looks were still important.
Again, we’re selling ride quality here. It makes sense, especially with a car like Firebird, to push handling and ride quality as the performance element was so quickly fading away.
Uh, safe to say that I never thought I’d see this marketing angle for a 455-powered muscle car (term used somewhat loosely). Reliability? Really? More than, say, a 350 powered car? Maybe give Pontiac credit for trying?
Here’s Grand Prix, looking all cool.
Dodge
This is really getting depressing. The venerable 383 was gone this year, as was the 426 Hemi, perhaps the greatest muscle car engine of them all. The 383 would sure be a good candidate for the title of ‘The Engine that Brought the Most Performance for the Buck’.
Dodge soldiered on like the rest of them, trying to figure out how to position their existing ‘performance inspired’ designs, like Charger, in the new reality of 1950’s compression ratios, hostile insurance companies, and more and more stringent clean air standards.
Challenger continued its sales decline this year, selling a few thousand less copies than last year. All midsized Dodges this year were Chargers.
Approximate sales: 578,000; change: +4.9%; industry rank: 7th.
Charger
Dodge, more than anyone else, had success in repositioning their performance cars and making them more affordable by utilizing smaller engines and the deletion of performance options. A guy who maybe couldn’t have swung a 383 or 440 Charger in 1970 could maybe afford the 318 powered Charger this year.
There were only three Charger models to chose from this year, down from six in ’71. Dodge did the same thing with the Coronet line. The entire Dodge intermediate lineup consisted of Chargers.
Other than a bit of grille restyling, the front design of the ’72 Charger was pretty much that of the ’71.
The rear styling of the ’71 Charger was very similar to the ’72 look.
Challenger
The front grille of Challenger was redesigned for ’72. It was an interesting look and not one that would be easily mistaken for any other.
The Challenger lineup was pared down with the deletion of the convertible. Base engine was the 225 Slant 6, with the 318 being the Rallye base engine. Rear styling bore a strong resemblance to last year.
Front styling of the 1971 Challenger.
While the front grille styling of Challenger seemed to change substantially, the rear look remained quite similar.
This was the mid-year of the sales plateau Challenger experienced before the bottom dropping out in 1974.
A ‘sports compact’. Not a muscle car.
Every automaker was refocusing and trying to position existing platforms in the post muscle car market. Sporty looks and handling were still popular, especially if you could mix in a performance engine here and there. Not the boulevard brawlers of a couple of years ago, but sporty, good-handling, responsive cars.
Hmm… Marketing Charger as a fun ‘family car’. And why not? They even mention ‘economy’. Maybe it’s a case of the market changing faster than the domestic automakers could adjust to it, requiring them to make due with, and reposition, their existing lineup.
More of the same theme as above. Note the highlighted text. This is one of many, many examples of printed materials, both vintage and contemporary, mentioning the 440 Six Pack as a 1972 option. According to allpar.com, this engine never made it to market for ’72. I certainly believe this to be the case. Perhaps this is something like the literature that mentions the 427 as an option for the Mustang. Again, would have been nice, but it didn’t happen.
(It just dawned on me that she’s a redhead!)
Plymouth
1972 saw Plymouth in the same boat as everyone else. Sales were okay overall, but performance was seriously de-emphasized. The mighty 440 in its most potent form made 280hp net. As with Dodge, the 383 and the 426 Hemi engines were now history.
The smaller Valiant continued to be a strong seller.
Approximate sales: 756,000; change +7.7%; industry rank: 4th.
Satellite
While never a muscle car per se, the Satellite (and derivatives) was an attractive car with a sporting image. Available engines might not allow you to challenge a true performance car, it was nevertheless fun to drive.
Sebring was the step up from the base Satellite. The Sebring group included these two plus Satellite Custom, Satellite Sebring Plus, and Road Runner. Note the top and lower body treatment on this car.
just like 1971, the ’72’s exhibited smooth blended body panels and attractive lines.
Road Runner
Road Runner was the top-shelf of the Satellite group and included some attractive additions, such as a chin spoiler, rear wing, bulge hood and special graphics.
The body color bumpers were really attractive.
Duster
Duster 340 was the top of the Valiant group. Other series members consisted of Valiant, Duster, and Scamp. Few changes were seen this year.
The 340 Duster made a nice junior performance package, with aggressive looks. The rear was restyled, with a modification of the four vertical slits.
The ’71 front was reused in 1972 with minimal changes.
The ’71 Duster 340 had such a cool rear styling. I love the four horizontal tail lights in the body color panel. It was such a clean, cool look.
These two guys are just way too happy to be standing by this Road Runner.
The guy on the left has something dark on his back. I think it’s part of the hand of the other guy. Weird.
This is an example of great advertising. Plymouth’s ‘Rapid Transit System’ advertising served them well during this period. I like the symmetry of the ad, with the performance cars on the left and the lesser performance cars on the right. I have to think this was an effective advertisement!
This advertisement follows the same theme as the previous one. Again, well done, Plymouth.
Yet another example of Plymouth positioning their performance-oriented cars in a different market.
“Sure, it looks like a performance car, but it’s also a great family car”.
Note the basketball hoop and the bike handlebars behind the car. This is a family home, for gosh sakes!
Ford
This year Ford did significant restyling to both Torino and Thunderbird. Thunderbird was basically a modified Lincoln Continental Mark IV, using the same 120.4” wheelbase chassis and body! The sweet little 2,900 lb. 102” wheelbase car we first saw in ’55 was now a 4,400 lb. behemoth! Thunderbird sales climbed, so what do I know?
Torino’s new styling was rather bold, with an impressive rounded-rectangle grille and minimal front bumper. The rear fenders now featured a high hip with a marked crease. Torino sales increased, so this look must have found at least moderate public appeal.
Mustang was only slightly altered for ’72, with no big-block engines being made available. The 351 Cleveland HO did make a respectable 266 net hp, though.
The big 460, the other member of the Ford 385 series of engines, in addition to the 429, was made available in Ford cars this year. It was previously exclusive to Lincolns, from its introduction in 1968 through 1971.
Approximate sales: 2,246,000; change: +9.3%; industry rank: 2nd.
Torino
Torino in ’72 would be nothing like it was in 1971. Never my favorite look, the buying public loved it, buying just about two for every one that was sold in ’71.
It was not possible to mistake a Torino for another vehicle, at least from the front. Overall styling was pretty clean. One might question whether this car really had any continuity with the Torino’s of the past model years. Few, if any, styling cues were carried over. Ford might have retired the Torino and given this series a new name, but I’m sure they didn’t want to waste the goodwill they had built up with the Torino name. Many years later they would make that mistake, when they discontinued the Taurus name, having christened their new platform ‘500’.
Oh, how Torino changed for 1972! The previous body style was known for its wind-cutting design that featured fuselage styling and an extremely swept rear window. It would change, very, very much this year.
The rear of Torino Cobra was uncluttered and clean, yet well suited for the rest of the design.
Mustang
Mach I Mustangs had the color-coded front bumper as standard equipment, while it was optional on other models. The Boss 351 was history but perhaps not terribly significant, with less than 2,000 having been sold in ’71.
As before, the fastback design was utilized to such an extent as to make the rear window almost horizontal. Wanna try backing up in this car?
LTD
The large Fords in 1972 consisted of the series Custom, Galaxie 500 and LTD. Styling was largely unchanged from ’71 and included the attractive side creases.
LTD was an attractive, well-styled car and competed well in the large-car market. There were only minimal styling changes for the large cars this year.
Thunderbird
The new 1972 Thunderbird styling was reasonably attractive, though less distinctive. The chassis wheelbase went from 115″ to 120.4″. I mean, more is better, right? You might recall that Thunderbird started with a 102″ wheelbase in 1955.
This was the front of Thunderbird in 1971. Far from the most attractive Thunderbird throughout the years, it was at least distinctive.
This was apparently inspired by the 1972 Munich Olympics, and USA patriotism. The color scheme is red, white and blue, after all. These vehicles were available in limited numbers. It’s an interesting marketing experiment.
Cars sold in Canada (country to the north of us, unless you’re in parts of Detroit…) had a maple leaf in place of the USA logo.
It seems that Ford was now focusing on the ride and driving experience of Mustang, and acceleration was totally disregarded. There’s not even mention of engines in this advertisement.
The ‘71 – ’73 hood scoops are often incorrectly referred to as ‘NASA’ type, for National Air and Space Administration. They are in fact ‘NACA’ type, which stands for National Advisory Committee for Aviation, the predecessor of NASA. Is the difference significant? Maybe. How would you feel if someone lumped the Boss 429 in with the rest of the Ford 429 engines, not making the difference clear?
It’s kinda hard to believe that here in 1972 Ford is boasting that Torino is ‘…heavier and a little wider…’. Seems that the market was saying ‘Smaller!’ and Ford just wasn’t listening. They weren’t the only ones, to be sure.
I wonder if they thought that offering Pinto and Maverick had the small-car base covered, so that increasing the size of the mid-sized and large cars was what the buying public wanted?
Disrespecting the Legacy?
Every automotive series has a legacy, whether insignificant or of immense importance. Plymouth Colt might be an example of the former with (to pick on Plymouth again…) their Road Runner an example of the latter. To disrespect the legacy of a significant series like GTO, 4-4-2, Charger, Mustang, etc. seems, well, disrespectful! All of the U.S. automakers are guilty of this, with their decal-engineered ‘GT’ cars and Japanese ‘hemi’ cars, to mention but a couple. To go from what was the Thunderbird to the rebadged Lincoln Mark IV seems to disrespect the legacy of the Thunderbird. Like it or not, there was continuity from the first ’55 bird to the ’71. Changes were mostly incremental, but there was continuity. Some of us might not like the direction Ford took with the Thunderbird after the mid ‘60’s but, opinion aside, they did follow a path. The ’72 seems like they just gave up. Some years later, Ford would come back to build a T’bird that had more in common with the original than the ’72 did, as well as the early 2000’s ‘retro bird’.
You might wonder why Ford had so many engines with multiple members varying in horsepower by only a handful of horsepower. But this was the same company who a couple of years ago had six-cylinder engines of 170, 200, 240, and 250cid. So, really, who the heck knows! I’m really torn between the 266hp and the 275hp versions of the 351.
Thanks, Ford!
Ford just had to have two different engines that shared bore and stroke, and little else, didn’t they! Confused the crap out of people back then and still confuses them today! The big-valve, big-port, canted valve Cleveland engine was around (as the 351C) for only two years as a high-compression engine. After 1971 compression ratios plummeted and other emissions-related changes made large ports and valves more of a liability than an advantage.
The 351C and 351W are members of two different Ford engine families, the 335 and 90-Degree, respectively. Especially with the lower-output Cleveland Engines, it’s not always apparent if it’s a Cleveland or a Windsor. For 1972, our best information indicates there was one 351W and seven 351C engines. Both the ‘W’ and the lowest output ‘C’ seemed to have the same torque, horsepower and compression ratio values. Talk about confusing! See Muscle Car Era Engines for more information.
Mercury
There wasn’t much performance excitement at Mercury this year, but why should there be? Performance was pretty much de-emphasized, as much or more than any other company. The hottest engine was the 266 net hp 351 in the Cougar, which was now as large as a GM midsized car. The lowest series and the top series, respectively Comet and Marquis Brougham, were the top sellers.
The 460 was optional in the Monterey and Marquis. For the previous four years this engine had been only available in Lincolns.
Mostly Mercury performance consisted of promoting cars like Montego with ‘GT ride and handling’.
Approximate sales: 442,000; change: +22.1%; industry rank: 8th.
Comet
I doubt anyone would confuse the little Comet with a true muscle car, but I think they did a good job for a car this size and cost. The painted wheels with hub caps, not full wheel covers, is a cool look.
Cougar
Cougar came into 1972 with almost no changes. It continued to be an attractive car with distinctive styling.
No longer the pony-car-relative that it started out as being, that’s for sure. This body, which started out last year, is really quite an attractive design, isn’t it? The front is unique, and the rear window treatment is cool. With this particular car the vinyl top looks nice. There’s something about red cars with black tops!
Gayla Kites
The boy is holding a kite made by Gayla Industries, Inc, of Houston Texas. The company was founded in 1961 and sells mainly kites and balloons. Their kites must have been popular in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, as I do remember some of the designs of Gayla kites that I looked up on the web. Some Gayla kites from this era are still to be had from eBay and other sites, though they’re not cheap. Makes me want to get a stick and paper box kite, like back in the day!
1972 V8 Engine Specs
1972 Newspaper Ads
