Chris,
It's 1971 and my girlfriend (now my wife) needed a new car that was cheap but as reliable as possible with nice features. We looked at the Vega. Rubber floor mats, taxi-cab plaid interior and a 2-spd auto. Then we looked at a Pinto. Carpets, nice vinyl buckets and a 3-spd auto, and more horsepower, all for less money. I couldn't have been a more dedicated Chevy guy at the time, but I had to pick the Pinto for her. It held up for over 100Kmi and the only real maintenance was to replace the cam and followers (a known wear issue with those cars).
I think the winner will be an AMC product. There are a few good candidates.......
Verne