Sometimes you lead, and sometimes circumstances dictate that you follow. In the case of the mid-eighties Lincoln Continental, the first downsized car to wear that name, Lincoln was definitely a follower. In 1975, Cadillac’s “internationally…
Posts tagged American Cars
The Popular Winner: 1975 Hurst/Olds
The first GM car to use Hurst parts in an official capacity was a Pontiac (the 1961 Super Duty Catalina), but the most famous GM-Hurst collaboration would be the Hurst/Olds, offered in five distinct iterations…
1956 Packard Caribbean: Last of the Line
1956 would end up being the last year of the “real” Packards – many regarded the Studebaker-based models of 1957-58 as a kind of strange hybrid (sometimes derisively referred to as “Packardbakers”). But even though…
Lincoln Continental Mark III: The Magic Number
It was one of Lee Iacocca’s greatest successes. It was exactly what its target audience wanted, it was extremely profitable, and it created the template for an era of unprecedented sales success for Lincoln. Introduced…
Good Old Days: 1973 Oldsmobile 98
It could be described as the postwar American car mantra – “longer, lower, wider,” even if the trend arguably began in the 1920s. The proportions of “standard” American cars grew progressively larger and lower-slung after…
Famous: The 1963 Split-window Stingray
The split-window 1963 Corvette “Stingray” is probably the most famous of all of Chevrolet’s sports cars, and it was born from group of people who became famous or already were – Pete Brock, Ed Cole,…
See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet!
Maybe, looking at this car, you can hear Dinah Shore’s voice – “See the U.S.A., in your Chevrolet, America is asking you to call…” But the wonderful Dinah wasn’t the first person to sing that…
Florentine Influence: 1967 Cadillac Coupe Deville
1967 might have been a year of lots of social change, but not at the Cadillac store – where the big yachts were big and the vibe old-school. Cadillac customers didn’t go to “Be-ins.” The…
Rough and Rare: 1979 Ford Ranchero Squire
Ford’s Ranchero was the first modern North American “coupe utility,” but it never sold as well as anticipated – rarely more than 23K units a year through its early variations until it was tied to…
The Unlikely Muscle Machine: AMC AMX
AMC’s gravitation to Ramblers and economy paid big dividends in the late 50s and early 60s, but became a distinct liability in the era of pony cars. “The only race Rambler is interested in is…