Giving my car a touch of the 70s

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FlyingFalcon

FlyingFalcon

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Hey there FABO. Work on the interior of my car should be starting soon. I'm going for a mix of modern and classic. I want to give my car some of the touches that cars in the 1970s had, when people customized their cars in some pretty wild and awesome ways. The 70s were way before my time, so I wanted to get some ideas from the people who were living, and probably customizing their own cars in that time. So what can I do to my interior to give it the 1970s vibe?

Thanks FABO, Cameron
 
Orange shag carpet comes to mind... 8 track tape player, but no fuzzy dice.
C
 
Far out man! Shag carpet, tach on top of the dash, black velvet Hurst T handle, 8-track player under the dash, spider paint, lace paint or image transfers on some interior metal parts and probably make the interior courtesy lighting blue or red.
 
If you go thru some of the old magazines from the 70s
you will likely be surprised how tasteless what was considered cool or custom can be. There were some extremely wild trends. The shag carpet mentioned
above and long fake fur had to be some of the worst
I can recall.
Had a local custom interior shop that was famous for
what was known then as the tops in show interiors.
He did many velvet diamond button tufting jobs that to see them
today could induce vomit.
Today when you see a retro interior they are played
down considerably. They use some of the tricks that were
popular back then but in moderation to give the vibe but without the disgust that could so easily accompany
an era accurate custom interior.
Here is a picture of a barracuda interior that is a good example of a job that could be eaiser to accept today but
still have the 60s-70s flavor. By not useing gold, green or orange velvet it becomes much more tolerated.
Of course all of this is a matter of personal taste or lack of.
If you are digging it go for it. You can defiantly take a car back in time in the upholstery and paint department.
I believe it would be fun to see the reactions at shows. Some will love it some will
never get it.
 

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ssba said:
If you go thru some of the old magazines from the 70s
you will likely be surprised how tasteless what was considered cool or custom can be. There were some extremely wild trends. The shag carpet mentioned
above and long fake fur had to be some of the worst
I can recall.
Had a local custom interior shop that was famous for
what was known then as the tops in show interiors.
He did many velvet diamond button tufting jobs that to see them
today could induce vomit.
Today when you see a retro interior they are played
down considerably. They use some of the tricks that were
popular back then but in moderation to give the vibe but without the disgust that could so easily accompany
an era accurate custom interior.
Here is a picture of a barracuda interior that is a good example of a job that could be eaiser to accept today but
still have the 60s-70s flavor. By not useing gold, green or orange velvet it becomes much more tolerated.
Of course all of this is a matter of personal taste or lack of.
If you are digging it go for it. You can defiantly take a car back in time in the upholstery and paint department.
I believe it would be fun to see the reactions at shows. Some will love it some will
never get it.
Click to expand...

AWESOME :prayer:
 
FlyingFalcon said:
Hey there FABO. Work on the interior of my car should be starting soon. I'm going for a mix of modern and classic. I want to give my car some of the touches that cars in the 1970s had, when people customized their cars in some pretty wild and awesome ways. The 70s were way before my time, so I wanted to get some ideas from the people who were living, and probably customizing their own cars in that time. So what can I do to my interior to give it the 1970s vibe?

Thanks FABO, Cameron
Click to expand...

If you are serious, then look through this entire thread, lots of awesome vintage pics for what you are looking for. Like ssba said, could look nasty to some but I find that vintage stuff to be the best.....I would crawl over 10 stock restored Hemi cars to see a vintage hot rod classic like the ones in that thread....be different and original and go "old skool" :glasses7:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=245221&highlight=street+machines
 
I'm right their with ya Bruce. It is how I remember
the best cars as a kid growing up. Cars weren't generally left stock. Made them much more interesting to look at.
In the mid 80s when the muscle cars started to show a collectors status much of how the cars were used and styled was erased.
Being in the auto upholstery business I seldom get the opportunity to recreate a era correct custom interior in a muscle car. It seems to be more for the older cars. Most customers are not so adventurous or lack the vision to see the completed job. They generally play it safe and order up a repo interior kit.
I encourage anyone who has the notion of going custom to not be swayed if that's what they like. It can be done with lots
of appeal and without all the horror of fake fur and such.
 
Lots of velour was used. A lot of it was orange or rust colored. That's all I can remember. Hey, it was the '70s!
 
Here you go.
 

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Not sure I want to go THAT 70s haha. Way cool to see all those cars though. Crazy how times have changed. Just looking for some little things I can add. Enjoyed looking through that thread of street machines though
 
This is part of what I'm doing.
 

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