Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Cars

For each year, from 1948 to 1971, list your picks, domestic and foreign.

Look at it as if you were time dumped to each of those years and had the ability to buy any car you desired, one American, one furrin.

Go gettem.

I had a 1970 1/2 Pontiac Trans-Am Firebird - white with blue stipe with a high compression 400 cu inch motor. Price was $5454 in those days.

I sold it to my brother in the 1980s. He owns it to this day in Penticton, BC where he has kept it in beautiful condition. It is a rather rare beast now as only about 2500 of them were built that year. Thankfully it spends most of its time in his garage beside his burgundy 1975 Camaro.

I took it for a drive a couple of summers ago. I was amazed how heavy & crude it is compared to the refined vehicles of today. It's still one of my favourites though...

TAM

Hard to pick that many cars, but if I can stagger, I'll go with a '62 Ferrari GTO and a '58 Corvette.

68 Shelby Mustang GT350, 70 Hemi 'Cuda, 64 Pontiac GTO

I'd have to go back to my 1969 Z28 other choice would be a 1950 Ford Prefect.

has anyone ever had one of London's old taxi cars?
THAT would be unusual!

1948 Tucker (US) Jaguar XK-120
1949 Cadillac Sedanette fastback (US) Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta
1950 Mercury ...

A jet black 57 Chev Bel Air.

1977 Chevy Chevette Sandpiper Edition. Loved it.

66 Buick Skylark GS
67 Chevelle SS
70 442 W30 Convert
77 Monte Carlo - 6 foot nose, and swivel bucket seats!
(For nostalgia - this was the car I learned to drive in)
85 Cutlass 442

1969 mustang fastback w/ 390

1971 Ferrari Dino

1946 Chevy Suburban

1964 Rambler 770 Classic

1951 Hudson Hornet
1952 Lincoln Capri
1953 Packard Caribbean
1954 Nash Ambassador
1955 Chrysler C300
1956 Continental
1957 Thunderbird
1958 Studebaker Golden Hawk
1959 Cadillac
1960 Chrysler 300F
1961 Continental
1962 Thunderbird
1963 Corvette
1964 Pontiac GTO
1965 ...

1965 Rambler Marlin 327
1966 Oldsmobile 442
1967 ...

I like the Rambler 770 pick. Was it a 770H with a 327?

Hold on for the hijack...

Not sure. It didn't have a motor when I got it. But it did have dual exhaust, so it was a v8 of some size. I've got a twin turbo, stroked 401 in process (very slow; Katrina derailed time and funding, now I've got a kid in college). Haven't settled on a trans yet. I have a TH400 (AMC bell housing) ready for rebuild, but I want overdrive and because of the horsepower of the motor am looking at TCI's X6 trans. Gear vendors is an option, but I think I'd prefer shifting one unit rather than two.

Back on topic...

If we can extend the years of this poll, I would include the 2012 Dodge Challenger - what a great retro-done-right car.

Now I understand your user name! 1970 AMX is on my list. I think a built 401 would fit nicely in place of the 390.

Good luck on your project! Please keep us posted.

I knew that I had some pics of me sitting my old 1970 Pontiac TA with a big grin on my face. You don't see many of these around anymore.

The second pic is of it & my present second car - 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP Supercharged. It is a nice car that still runs well & looks good.

I was disappointed by GM not continuing with the Pontiac line. Given that they are taking most of their bailout money from the taxpayers from Canada & the USA & investing those funds into plants in China while closing facilities here, I think that I've bought my last GM vehicle.

My primary car now is a 2011 Toyota Venza AWD...

TAM

Nice, this thread needs more pics!

I love the 1970 Trans Am/Camaro body style, tri-5 Chevies, monuments to America's greatness (especially the 57 fuel injected 283 4 speed), the Skylark GS 400, and later the 455, the gentleman's muscle car.

The 1964 Buick Riviera, personal luxury, Harley Earl style, 401 4V power.

The Chevette, practicality, frugality, functionality. Those are virtues. No more Chevettes. No more Ramblers. No more Studebaker Larks.

Mustang GT350 fastbacks, beautiful. 1958 Corvette had chrome faux luggage straps on the trunk. I liked them. 62 Ferrari 250GT, someone has good taste.

Pontiac, thanks to John Delorean, GM's performance brand. He transformed Pontiac from grandma's car with an amber Indian head hood ornament to the hot ones. Pontiacs with 389s and later 421s did well in NASCAR (when stock car racing meant stock cars) and the drag strips.

Pontiac found a work-around GM policies and offered the 389 as an option in the midsized Pontiac Tempest in 1964, the Tempest GTO, and the 60s were never the same again.

The big Grand Prix had style, luxury and power, and in its golden days, could be had with a 4 speed manual.

The split grill performance brand could have been our BMW, but GM management managed to suck the quality and distinctiveness out of its cars in search of a few more beans.

1970 Trans Am, a beauty.

Interestingly, the Pontiac GTO of that period was a heavier car with the same motor. GM policy at that time was to limit their cars to 10 LBS/HP so the GTO had more listed HP.

Years ago my brother took my/his TA into his mechanic for service who found that the 4-barrel carb had a mechanical stop that wouldn't allow the throttle plate to open fully, thus limiting HP to 'the policy'. He removed the stop & voila - more HP.

And here I drove it for years without a fully capable motor, damn!

TAM