1969 Chevrolet Impala Convertible

The fourth generation of Chevrolet's Impala launched for the 1965 model year and received a heavy styling refresh for 1969.

More sharply creased, the '69 Impala saw the disappearance of vent windows and a front bumper that was a flush chrome loop surrounding the egg crate grille and its horizontally-arranged quad headlamps.

The base version of the 1969 Impala convertible started at $3,261 ($27, 830 in today's dollars) and came with the Turbo-Fire 327 cubic inch small block V-8 with a two-barrel carburetor. With a 9.00:1 compression ratio to allow running on regular gas, it was rated at 235 SAE gross horsepower. 

The badge over the front side marker light on this Glacier Blue example says it came with one of two optional 350 cube Turbo-Fire small blocks: The 9.00:1 compression two-barrel LM1 rated at 255 horsepower, or the racier L48. The latter, originally developed for the Camaro SS, had a premium-fuel-only 10.25:1 compression ratio, dual exhausts, and a Rochester 4-barrel carburetor and made 300 ponies.

This example was snapped in September of 2020 using a Nikon D5000 and 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II zoom lens.

1993 Pontiac Grand Am GT

Pontiac originally used the Grand Am name in the 1970s on a line of midsize A-body coupes and sedans. It was a combination of "Grand" from the upscale Grand Prix personal luxury coupe and "Am" from the racy Trans Am pony car. Sporty imports with more upmarket features from the Celica to the BMW New Class sedans and coupes were making inroads into the US market and Pontiac wanted a sporty-yet-plush car that wasn't a Catalina-size land yacht to compete with them.

The nameplate went dormant in the early Eighties before being revived as Pontiac's version of the front wheel drive N-body coupes and sedans, shared with the Buick Somerset/Skylark and the Olds Cutlass Calais. That generation of the Grand Am was sold from the 1985 through 1991 model years before being replaced with the fourth generation Grand Am for 1992.

This new Grand Am rode on a revamped version of the N-body platform that had been widened so as to share more of its underpinnings with the Beretta/Corsica twins from Chevrolet.

For 1993, the Grand Am could be had as a two- or four-door and came in either the base SE trim, or the sportier GT, like the Bright Blue Metallic coupe in the photo. Its GT-ness is attested not only by the badge on the B-pillar, but also the GT-only 16" alloy wheels. By 1993, ABS was standard on all trim levels of the Grand Am.

The base driveline in the Grand Am GT was the High Output version of the Oldsmobile-sourced DOHC 2.3L Quad 4 rated at 175 SAE net horsepower, backed with a 5-speed manual transaxle. Ordering the three-speed automatic downgraded the Quad 4 to the standard 155hp version. The fender badges on this car show that the original buyer spend the coin for the GM 3300 corporate 3.3L OHV multiport fuel injected V-6, which put out less power than the H.O. Quad 4, being rated at 160hp, but outmuscled it in the torque department, at 185 lb-ft versus the four cylinder's 155.

This one was photographed with an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens in October of 2024.

2022 Volvo C40 Recharge

This all-electric Volvo C40 was based on their XC40 Recharge Pure Electric BEV crossover SUV, (itself the all-electric variant of the regular XC40, which was originally available as a regular internal combustion vehicle, but now even the base version in the US is a mild hybrid.)

It shares a platform with not only the XC40 but also the Polestar 2 electric car. The difference between the C40  and its XC40 progenitor is that the latter is a typical boxy five-door compact SUV while the C40 sports a zoomy fastback roofline for its rear hatch.

The C40 is only available in an all-electric dual-motor format, with separate motors for the front and rear wheels. Tallying up the output of both motors, it has 402hp, and sprints to 60 in 4.2 seconds on its way to a 12.9 second quarter at 108 miles per hour. Top speed is governed to 115, and for a lardy little truckette that weighs in at 4,763 pounds, batteries included, it even manages to circle a skidpad at 0.82g, which was IROC-Z territory when I was a kid. Range is supposed to be 228 miles.

The only car I've ever owned that would come close to those acceleration numbers had a fire extinguisher strapped to the transmission tunnel, five-point harnesses, required ether to be squirted down the carb throats in order to crank on any morning cold enough to need a jacket, and idled like a paint mixer. (Probably had about the same range, too.) This thing, on the other hand, is invisible in the Fresh Market parking lot; just another grocery getter.

This Onyx Black example was photographed in July of 2022 using a Nikon D7100 and the excellent 16-80mm f/2.8-4E DX zoom lens.

1964 Chevrolet El Camino

Revamped along with the Chevelle from which it was derived, the '64 El Camino was essentially a 2-door Chevelle 300 2-door wagon with a pickup bed where the load area would be. It even came with the same 115" wheelbase and carried "Chevelle" badges on the front fenders to complement the "El Camino" ones on the rear quarters. It came with either the Hi-Thrift 194 cubic inch inline six as the base motor or the optional Turbo-Thrift 230cid inline six, producing 120 and 155 SAE gross horsepower, respectively.

Also available as options were two flavors of the 283 cube Turbo-Fire V-8, in either two-barrel 195 horsepower form, or with a four-barrel carb and dual exhausts for an output of 220 horsepower. The "V" badge on the fender and the left-side exhaust outlet visible at the rear would indicate that this one's got the hotter of the two small blocks.

Grumbles in the press of the time complained that the midsize Chevelle and its hybrid El Camino cousin lacked really powerful engine options so halfway through the model year Chevy added two flavors of the new 327 cubic inch small block: A 250hp two-barrel motor and a high-compression four-barrel with dual exhausts and a rating of 300 SAE gross horsepower.

This super-straight Ember Red example has the "V"-badges on the fender denoting a V-8 and dual exhausts, so it has one of the spicier powertrains. It was photographed with a Nikon D700 and a Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D "street sweeper" zoom lens in June of 2019.

1965 Volvo 122S Wagon

The five-door station wagon version of Volvo's 122S (sold elsewhere as the Amazon) debuted on our shores as a 1963 model.

It was powered by Volvo's 1.8L overhead valve inline four, with a pair of sidedraft SU carbs and an 8.5:1 compression ratio, producing 90 SAE gross horsepower. Transmission choices were initially either a 3-speed or 4-speed manual gearbox, although starting in 1967 the Borg-Warner BW35 three-speed auto, previously only available in the sedans, was offered in the wagon, too.

The front-engine, rear-wheel-drive Volvo 122S was no bolt of lightning. Road & Track tested a 1966 122S sedan with the Borg-Warner slushbox and recorded a zero-to-sixty time of 15.8 seconds and a 20.6 second elapsed time in the quarter mile with a trap speed of 67 miles per hour, with the car eventually wheezing all the way to 90mph. But they were way ahead of their time in occupant safety, build quality, and features like standard front disc brakes at a time when those were still bordering on racing exotica.

The tailgate was a clever two-piece arrangement. The glass hatch folded upward while the tailgate itself folded down. If you were carrying an oversized load, the license plate holder was hinged along the top edge so that it could be folded down to where it was visible with the tailgate lowered.

Base price on a Volvo 122S wagon for '65 was $2,860, which is just shy of $28,000 in current dollars.

This one was photographed in July of 2024 using a Nikon D700 and 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G zoom lens.

1968 Pontiac GTO Convertible

For 1968 the GTO, along with the rest of its General Motors midsize A-body stablemates, got a serious redesign. While still utilizing body-on-frame construction, the body was much sleeker, with a waisted, coke-bottle look and contemporary fastback styling for the roofline.

The vertically-stacked quad headlamps went away, replaced by horizontally paired ones. A popular option on the '68 Goat was a hidden headlamp setup, with vacuum-operated doors that blended with the grille covering the headlamps when they were off. The headlamp doors on this Solar Red 1968 GTO convertible seem to be stuck in the open configuration.

One distinguishing feature of the GTO, heavily hyped in the advertising of the time, was the body-colored synthetic Endura nosecone, which would shrug off low-speed impacts without permanent deformation.

The single hood scoop on the previous GTO was replaced with a pair of nostrils atop the hood, which were purely cosmetic affectations unless you ordered the Ram Air package, in which case they were plumbed to the air cleaner housing for a functional cold air intake.

The base motor for '68 was the 350hp small-journal 400 cubic inch Pontiac V-8. Since the base motor had a 10.75:1 compression ratio and therefore required premium fuel, a no-cost option was an 8.6:1 compression 400 with a 2-barrel carb and single exhaust, rated at 265 SAE gross horsepower, but it could only be had with the 3-speed Turbo Hydra-Matic.

The spicier options were the 400 H.O., which came with an unsilenced air cleaner and freer-flowing dual exhaust for an output of 360 horses, and the aforementioned Ram Air 400, which offered numerous small upgrades like the aforementioned functional cold air intake and a lumpy race cam. The Ram Air package mysteriously shaved time off the quarter mile but didn't budge the brochure horsepower from the 360 advertised for the H.O. version. Insurance agents must have been amazed.

Motor Trend tested a coupe with the base motor, 3-speed slushbox, and 3.23:1 rear end and recorded a quarter mile elapsed time of 15.93 at 88mph through the traps.

The car in the photos was snapped with a Nikon D700 and 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G zoom lens in July of 2024.

1967 Pontiac Tempest Convertible

The final year of the second-generation Pontiac Tempest continued with the stacked quad headlamps and coke-bottle lines of its 1965 and 1966 predecessors.

For '67, the base engine in the Tempest was Pontiac's 230 cubic inch overhead cam inline six. The OHC six cylinder was available in either standard 165 horsepower configuration with a 1-bbl carb, or in an H.O. form with a four-barrel carb and 10.5:1 compression ratio to give 215 SAE gross horsepower.

The fender badges on this one indicate that the buyer sprang for the 326 V-8, which also came in two flavors: A standard 2-barrel making 250 horsepower, or the 4-barrel H.O. that had a 10.5:1 compression ratio necessitating premium fuel and an output of 285 SAE gross horsepower. Transmission choices were a column-shifted three-speed manual, a four on the floor, or the 3-speed Turbo Hydra-Matic slushbox.

The Regimental Red '67 Tempest ragtop in the photo was snapped in August of 2018 using a Fujifilm X-E1 and a Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8 lens.

1967 Buick Electra 225

1967 was the third model year of the third generation Buick Electra, and it saw the car receive only a light styling update. The Electra's snout now sported a grille with a central dividing bar, echoing a theme more usually associated with Pontiac and Oldsmobile.

The big news for '67 was under the hood, where the previous year's increasingly archaic 425 cubic inch "Nailhead" V-8 (a nickname acquired due to the motor's valves having long stems relative to the size of the valve itself) replaced by an entirely new motor.

The new "Big Block" V-8 from Buick came in two sizes: a 400 cid version for the division's midsize Special and Skylark to comply with the corporate-imposed displacement limit on midsize cars, and a larger 430 cube version, with the same 3.9" stroke but a 0.15" larger bore, for the full-size Le Sabre, Wildcat, and Electra.

The 430 in the Arctic White '67 Electra 225 in the photo would have been rated at 360 SAE gross horsepower, with a 4-barrel Rochester carburetor, dual exhausts, and a 10.25:1 compression ratio demanding premium fuel. This was as much horsepower from the standard 430 as was produced by the exotic dual-quad variants of the old 425 Nailhead. The standard, and only, transmission was a column-shifted 3-speed Super Turbine automatic, which was Buick's house name for the GM corporate TH-400.

The one in the photos was captured in July of 2023 using an Olympus E-5 and a Panasonic Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-150mm F3.5-5.6 Asph Mega OIS superzoom lens.

1950 Oldsmobile 88

In 1949, Oldsmobile inserted a new model into the lineup. Between the 76, with its flathead inline six, and the deluxe long-wheelbase 98, came the new Oldsmobile 88. It replaced the model 78, which had a flathead straight eight.

Both the 88 and the top-of-the-line 98 sported an entirely new engine, an overhead valve V-8 dubbed the "Rocket" by Oldsmobile. Where the 257 cubic inch flathead had been rated at 115 horsepower, the new Rocket V-8 displaced 303 cubic inches and put out 135 SAE gross horsepower at 3600 RPM.

The Rocket V-8 in the shorter wheelbase 88 was an instant hit, being capable of running to sixty in a few ticks under twelve seconds and topping out at close to a hundred. They won six of nine NASCAR races in which they were entered in 1949.

In 1950 there were only minimal changes, including the chrome taillight housings becoming tiny fins, with the number "88" emblazoned on them, echoing the fins that GM stablemate Cadillac was then popularizing. If you enlarge the lower photo of the Ivy Green 1950 sedan, you can just make that detail out. 

For 1950 the Olds 88 won 10 of 19 NASCAR races as well winning the inaugural Carrera Panamericana ahead of rival GM Cadillac 62's, and taking four of the top ten places total, besting notable competitors like the Alfa Romeo 6C and Lincoln Cosmopolitan. By 1951 the song "Rocket 88" was a radio hit and the car's place as a legend was assured.

(Oldsmobile fans will often insist on referring to it as the first Muscle Car, but as a nerdy purist I have to stand firm on insisting that a muscle car is technically a midsize coupe with a full-size engine, marketed as youthful performance ride, and the Detroit midsize coupe was still over a decade in the future at this point.)

The one in the photos was snapped in July of 2024 using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and a Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens. 

1996 Suzuki X-90

Suzuki's inexpensive Samurai, sold elsewhere around the world as the Jimny, was a big hit here in the '80s, basically establishing a beachhead for Suzuki in the US as something other than a motorcycle maker. It was joined in 1989 by the Sidekick, which was called the Vitara in other markets. A similarly jeep-like vehicle, it was slightly newer and more sophisticated and available in enclosed cab forms.

In the mid-Nineties the fun and funky Samurai was discontinued and replaced in Suzuki dealers lineups by the X-90.

The X-90 was an odd little enclosed two-seater that had cartoon-like styling, vaguely reminiscent of Honda's Del Sol. Based on Vitara/Sidekick mechanicals, it had a teeny 86.6" wheelbase. Since it was based on the Sidekick, it had a longitudinal four-cylinder up front with part-time four-wheel drive through a center transfer case. Rear wheel drive only versions were also available.

It had t-tops, a snug passenger compartment with minimal storage behind the seats, and a teeny trunk.

While the lines might have suggested "sporty car", they were writing checks the truckette powertrain couldn't cash. The alloy 1.6L SOHC 12V inline four only put out 95 SAE net horsepower.  

Car and Driver magazine tested a 1996 model with the five speed manual transmission and noted that, while the 4.63:1 final drive let it squirt to sixty in 10.8 seconds, it ran out of juice quickly. The quarter mile took 18.1 seconds at 74 miles per hour, and the car hit an aerodynamic wall at only 94mph. Of course, between the short wheelbase, 2500 pound curb weight, mediocre cornering grip, and fairly low ride height it always felt like it was going faster than it was.

Price for the test car, with options, came to $16,288, which is something like $32,750 in current money.

The X-90 was just too weird to live and was discontinued after the 1998 model year, with something like 7600 units sold over three years in the USA.

The Midnight Black example in the photo, which has been heavily modified for better off-road capability, was photographed in January of 2025 using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens.

1950 Cadillac Series Sixty-One Club Coupe

The Series Sixty-One was Cadillac's entry-level model for 1950, riding on a wheelbase four inches shorter than the full-size Caddy 62's. This meant it was on the GM B-platform, a stablemate to the full-size Oldsmobiles and Buicks.

1950 marked the second year of Cadillac's 90° overhead valve V-8, which replaced the old 346 cubic inch flathead "Monobloc" V-8.

The new OHV "331 Series" motor displaced, as the name implies, 331 cubic inches and was rated at 160 SAE gross horsepower. Power was delivered to the rear wheels via a 3-speed manual or a 4-speed Hydra-Matic transmission. 

Quite sophisticated for its time, the Hydra-Matic changed gears automatically, and had been proven rugged and durable in World War Two, where it had been used in U.S. light tanks (coincidentally along with Monobloc Cadillac V-8 engines.) The big difference between it and newer automatics was that it had a straight fluid coupling that didn't offer torque multiplication like a torque convertor does.

The distinctive tail fins and faux scoops on the fenders, from famed automotive designer Harley Earl, were supposedly inspired by the twin-tailed Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane of Second World War fame. The tail fins would grow over time and triggered a tail fin arms race in Detroit's styling departments.

The car in the photo was snapped with a Samsung Galaxy SII in June of 2013.