1974 Dodge Royal Sportsman

The vans released by Dodge in 1971 came in Tradesman(cargo) and Sportsman (passenger) flavors. The passenger version could be had as the standard Sportsman, the more upscale Custom Sportsman, and the plush Royal Sportsman, which came with all the amenities one would expect from a luxury passenger car.

Standard powerplant on this Turquoise and White 1974 Dodge Royal Sportsman passenger van would have been either a 225 cubic inch Slant Six or a 318 V-8.

It was photographed with an iPhone 13 Pro Max in January of 2023.

1963 Pontiac Grand Prix

While the other full-size Pontiacs at the time... the Catalina, Star Chief, and Bonneville ...came in a variety of four-door, two-door, wagon, and convertible configurations, the Grand Prix nameplate was launched for 1962 as a sporty grand touring hardtop coupe.

Bucket seats and a front console were standard equipment, and for 1963 the base motor in the Pontiac Grand Prix was the 389 cubic inch Trophy V-8 with a four-barrel carburetor and 10.25:1 compression making 303 gross horsepower. Optional engines included a Tri-Power 389 making 313 horsepower, the 421 H.O. Trophy V-8 with a four-barrel, rated at 353 horses, or the Tri-Power 421 H.O. Trophy, which thumped out 370 ponies. Both of the H.O. mills boasted 10.75:1 compression ratios.

If you look at the wheels on the Marimba Red example in the photos, those are optional eight-bolt finned aluminum wheels. In fact, the finned part in the center is actually the brake drum, which also serves as the wheel hub; the wheel is just the rim.

Motor Trend tested a fully-loaded '63 Grand Prix, with the Tri-Power 421 H.O. mill, optional four-speed manual, and 3.42:1 Saf-T-Track limited slip rear end and a bunch of other options. The brutish 421HO was enough to launch the 4120-pound sled to sixty in 6.6 seconds and down the quarter mile in 15.1 seconds at 94mph. The finned drums hauled the two-ton Poncho to a halt from sixty in 147 feet.

All the options pushed the $3,489 base price up to $4,675, which comes to about $51,500 in today's money.

The one in the pictures was snapped with a Canon EOS R and an RF 28-70mm f/2.8 IS zoom lens in September of 2026.

1976 Chevrolet Caprice Classic

We've had a '76 Caprice Classic, the last of the big Chevy land yachts before downsizing, on these pages before. That one was on chrome dubs and had aftermarket headlights, where this Silver Metallic one even has the correct hubcaps.

It was photographed using a Nikon Zfc and a Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 zoom lens in October of 2026.

2003 Pontiac Montana

Pontiac's minivan began life in 1990 as the Dustbuster-shaped TransSport, and acquired more conventional looks in its second iteration for 1997, although it retained the same name. The "Montana" badge began life as a TransSport trim package but became the name for the model for 1999.

This Light Taupe Metallic one is from after the 2001 facelift. It would be powered by the LA1 3.4L pushrod V-6 with sequential fuel injection, rated at 185 horsepower and backed by a four-speed auto. All-Wheel Drive was an available option.

This one was photographed in October of 2026 using a Nikon Df and a 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G zoom lens.

2007 Saturn Aura XE

Saturn's first attempt at a midsize sedan was the L-series, which debuted for 2000. Unlike the unique-to-Saturn compact S-series, the L-series shared the GM2900 platform with the Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3 & 9-5. Sales were less than stellar and the model was discontinued after the 2005 model year.

They took another swing at the segment with the Aura for 2007. Based on the same Epsilon platform that underpinned a host of other vehicles from the Chevy Malibu and Pontiac G6,  to the Fiat Croma, Opel Vectra, and Saab 9-3, the Aura was a fairly conventional FWD midsize sedan. The interior got good reviews for its appearance and layout but was dinged for everything being a bit plasticky.

The base XE came with the pushrod LZ4 3.5L V-6, rated at 224 SAE net horsepower, while the higher-end XR featured the DOHC LY7 3.6L 24V V-6 that put out 252 ponies. The XE got a four-speed automatic, while the XR had a six-speed slushbox with paddle shifters. Car and Driver clocked the XR at 6.2 seconds in the sprint to sixty, which is plenty quick for a family bus.

Base price on the XE was a very reasonable $20,595, which is about $33,500 in inflation-adjusted dollars. It was produced through the 2009 model year before vanishing along with the rest of the Saturn marque.

The Black Onyx Aura XE in the photo was snapped in October of 2026 using a Nikon Df and 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G zoom lens.

1994 Ford Thunderbird LX

The tenth generation of Ford's Thunderbird personal luxury coupe debuted as a 1989 model on the all-new MN12 platform, replacing the Fox platform that had underpinned the T-bird since 1980, through two whole previous generations of the car. Unlike the Fox platform, the MN12 had an independent rear suspension, making the new Thunderbird and Cougar the only rear-wheel-drive American cars on the market at the time to have an IRS other than the Corvette. (They'd soon be joined by the Viper.)

The 1994 model saw the Thunderbird get a mid-cycle styling refresh, just in time for the model's 40th anniversary the following year. The exterior became sleeker and the interior was completely revamped, featuring a modern wraparound cockpit for the driver. You could get it in LX or Super Coupe flavors, and the LX had a 3.8L OHV Essex V-6 with sequential electronic fuel injection making 140 SAE net horsepower as the base motor. An extra-cost option was the 4.6L SOHC Modular V-8 that was rated at 205 ponies. Both motors were backed by a four-speed automatic transmission.

The V-6 cars would knock out the dash to sixty in the low ten second range and the V-8 would shave a couple seconds off that time.

The Opal Frost Clearcoat Metallic LX coupe was photographed using a Nikon D3 and 85mm f/1.8D lens in September of 2023.

1982 Saab 900

Evolved from the Saab 99, the new Saab 900 appeared for 1979 and featured a stretched nose, roomier engine bay, and improved crash protection.

They enjoyed regional popularity in the US. New England loved them, they were popular among the slide rule jockeys of Los Alamos, and for some reason the Atlanta sales region made north Georgia a Saab sales stronghold. (My dad drove a secondhand 99 Turbo for a while.)

This Saab 900 3-door hatchback would have been powered by a 2.0L SOHC inline four sending 110 horsepower to the front wheels through either a five speed manual or three-speed automatic transmission. Performance was Malaise Era leisurely, with zero-to-sixty times in the low thirteen second range and quarters in the low nineteens.

This one has the optional wraparound spoiler, and someone's added a third brake light.

This Admiral Blue example was photographed in January of 2022 using a Nikon D3 and a 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G VR zoom lens.

2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

Alfa Romeo's Giulia was the first Alfa sedan sold in the USA since the marque had bailed on the market in the mid-'90s. Available in rear- or all-wheel-drive configurations, the Giulia was a compact executive sedan intended to take on 3-series Bimmers and C-class Benzes.

The flagship of the Giulia lineup was the Quadrifoglio, which drove all four wheels with a twin-turbo all-aluminum V-6. The direct-injected motor had a lot of Ferrari DNA and put out 505 net horsepower at 6500 RPM and could be had with one of two ZF transmissions, a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic. 

As one would expect from a 500hp motor in a 3,800-pound car, performance was spicy. In a comparison test against the BMW M3, the Cadillac ATS-V, and the Mercedes-AMG C63 S, Car and Driver clocked a 3.6 second zero-to-sixty. The quarter mile was annihilated in 11.9 seconds at 121 mph through the traps. It circled the skidpad at an even 1.00g and stopped from seventy in only 143 feet. While the brawny Benz pulled ahead over 100mph, the Quadrifoglio was the hands-down performance winner of the comparo.

The 2017 test car stickered at $79,195, which is about $109k in today's coinage. The one in the photos was snapped with a Nikon 1 V2 and a 1 Nikkor 18.5mm f/1.8 lens in September of 2021.

1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

1972 was the final model year for the third generation of Oldsmobile's midsize Cutlass. Styling changes from '71 were minimal and mostly limited to the grille and taillights.

There were the base Cutlass and F-85, the slightly more upmarket and sporty Cutlass S, and finally the Cutlass Supreme, which had a more pronounced notchback roofline, touted as "formal", to distinguish it from the lesser model cars which still sported an aggressively fastback roofline. (Technically, for '72 the 442 was again a Cutlass trim level rather than a separate model.) 

The base engine was the 350 cubic inch L34 Olds Rocket V-8 with a four-barrel Rochester carburetor. With its compression reduced to 8.5:1 so as to run on regular unleaded it was only rated at 180 horsepower  in the newly-mandated SAE Net system. Cutlass Supreme buyers could opt for the two-barrel L32 350 as a credit option, for which they got better economy at the cost of a haircut to 160 horses. Alternately they could spring for a 250 horsepower L75 455 cube Rocket V-8. Three- and four-speed manuals were available, as well as the three-speed Turbo-Hydra-matic slushbox, as were a variety of rear axle ratios.

Since the Cutlass Supreme was aimed at the growing personal luxury coupe market, Motor Trend tested a '72 hardtop coupe with the base L34 Rocket V-8 against a Chevrolet Monte Carlo Custom, a Dodge Charger SE, and a Mercury Montego Brougham. The 350-powered Cutlass was at something of a disadvantage versus the other three, which all packed 400-cube motors, although the horsepower disparity wasn't all that great (the Mercury had a claimed 240, but FoMoCo was still advertising in gross numbers.)

Equipped with a three-speed automatic and a 2.73:1 rear end, the Cutlass Supreme test car turned in an 11.3 second zero-to-sixty time and strolled through the quarter in a leisurely 18.4 seconds at 78mph.

The Antique Pewter one in the photo was snapped in October of 2025 using a Nikon Df and a 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G zoom lens.

2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Dormant since the late Sixties, Chevrolet revived the "ZL1" moniker for the top performance spec of the Fifth Generation Camaro from 2012 to 2015. After a one year hiatus, a ZL1 option was released for the new Sixth Generation Camaro as a 2017 model.

Like the previous iteration, the 2017 ZL1 was powered by a supercharged version of Chevy's LS-series V-8. This time, it was the 6.2L LT4, rated at 650 SAE net horsepower. A six-speed manual was available, as well as an all-new ten-speed 10L90 automatic transmission. Racy aero, MagnaRide suspension, 20" alloys, and honkin' big Brembo brakes completed the package.

Car and Driver tested the 2017 Camaro ZL1 coupe with the ten-speed auto and recorded a blistering 3.4 second sprint to sixty. The quarter mile was put away in 11.5 seconds, blowing through the traps at 125mph. The electromagnetic suspension and meaty Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 tires let the car circle the skidpad at 1.04g.

Price as tested was $67,000 in 2017 money, which is $92,000 in today's coin.

This Garnet Red Tintcoat example was photographed in January of 2023 using a Nikon D2X and an 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II zoom lens.

2000 Acura Integra LS

The third generation of the Acura Integra, which had debuted for 1994, received a light refresh toward the end of its life cycle. Most notably, the snout was made more aggro by removing the horizontal bar that had previously broken up the yawning intake. The embossed "INTEGRA" name was also moved downward and outboard, now located below the driver's side headlamps.

Power for this 2000 Acura Integra LS sedan in Vogue Silver Metallic came from an all-alloy 1.8L DOHC 16V inline four making 140 horsepower and backed by either a 5-speed manual or, if you were dead inside, a four-speed slushbox. This was good enough to propel the LS sedan to sixty in the high eight second range.

This one was photographed using a Nikon D3 and 85mm f/1.8 lens in September of 2023.