1959 Triumph TR3A

The TR3 succeeded the TR2 in late 1955 as Triumph's flagship sports roadster. In late '57 several new features were added and the resulting car is called the TR3A (although the badges still just say TR3).

The features included such luxuries as exterior door handles, a locking latch on the trunk, as well as a wider grille which makes it distinguishable from earlier models at a distance.

Under the hood of this Litchfield Green example would be an undersquare 121.5 cubic inch pushrod inline four breathing through a brace of SU carbs. With a compression ratio of 8.5:1, the output was a claimed 100 horsepower, which was quite adequate for a 2200-pound car.

You can see how tiny this thing is relative to the parking space. It's about the same length and height as an original Miata, but almost an entire foot narrower.

It's a dictionary-definition real roadster, too. My BMW Z3 may claim to be a roadster... it actually says as much on the scuff plates in the door sills ...but it has a built-in folding top, which makes it a convertible by definition and the scuff plates stolen valor.

The TR3, on the other hand, is a true roadster: an open car with only rudimentary weather protection. Namely, it has a sort of pup-tent apparatus of bows and sheeting that can be erected and snapped down in order to, notionally at least, divide the world into the part where it's raining and the part where it's raining a little less...provided you don't drive too fast and have the whole thing blow off the car.

The driver of this one made it out of Fresh Market and motored off just in time to not wind up wishing he hadn't left the top at home. Well, it might be stowed in the boot, I suppose.

Ah, the towel in the passenger seat! A standard roadster accessory, usually slightly redolent of mildew. It serves a variety of uses, from drying off the driver's seat after an unexpected sprinkling, to emergency backup windshield defogger, to privacy screen for stuff you leave in the passenger footwell while running into the store.

When Motor Trend tested a TR3 in 1957, it returned a 9.2 second zero-to-sixty time and managed a 16.9 quarter at 82mph, while returning a test average 23.1 miles per gallon. Price as tested was $2,625, or a bit over $31,100 in inflation-adjusted dollars.

The top and bottom photos were taken with a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens in May of 2026 while the middle two were snapped with a Nikon D800 and a 24-105mm f/4 VR zoom lens in July of 2022.

1976 Plymouth Duster

The Duster was the fastback coupe version of Plymouth's Valiant compact car, the platform mate of the Dodge Dart Sport, and had been soldiering on since 1969, when it had been introduced as a 1970 model.

By the middle of the decade its days were numbered and after the 1976 model year it would be replaced in the lineup by the Plymouth Volaré coupe. (The two cars shared space on dealer lots for '76.)

The base motor was the trusty 225 cubic inch Slant Six with a single-throat carburetor, with optional 2bbl 318 or 4bbl 360 small-block V-8s available. The Slant Six and 318 both had catalytic converters now and were rated at 90 and 150 SAE net horsepower while the 360 remained converterless and put out 225 ponies. 

In the dark days of the early Malaise Era, a 360-powered Duster with a 3.21:1 Sure Grip rear end would crack off sub-15 second quarters, and took surprisingly little fettling to put out acceleration numbers hearkening back to the Muscle Car days of a half decade earlier.

Road Test magazine, on the other hand, tested a Duster with the Slant Six and three-speed manual and the result was as Malaise-y as you'd expect. Zero-to-sixty took an agonizing 14.8 seconds and the car dawdled through the quarter in 19.5 at 70mph. Top speed was reported at 94 and the car took 172 feet to stop from sixty. At least it got 16.3 miles per gallon?

The single exhaust and the bumper overriders on this one have me leaning towards it packing a 318 under the hood. My ex had a '75 with a 318 in it that he'd put mag wheels on, as well as a little ducktail of a spoiler on the decklid. He'd added a true dual exhaust that sounded a lot healthier than the 2-bbl smog motor actually was, and between that, the unsilenced air cleaner, and the Direct Connection front license plate, its bark was entirely worse than its bite. Those were my peak redneck girlfriend days.

This Rallye Red specimen on steel wheels was photographed in White Rock, New Mexico using a Sony a7 II and an FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS zoom lens in October of 2018.

1994 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4

After its launch as a 1991 model, the Mitsubishi 3000GT received a serious makeover for '94. Gone were the popup headlights and separate caps over the strut towers that distinguished the previous version, giving a smoother, more up-to-date appearance to the coupe's snout. Likewise gone were the quadruple strakes that sliced up the scoops on the original's flanks.

In the US market the car could be had in the base 3000GT form, the plusher 3000GT SL, and the twin-turbo AWD 3000GT VR-4, like the Caracas Red one in the photo.

While the lesser two models had a normally-aspirated 222hp 3.0L DOHC V-6 driving the front wheels, the VR4's motor sent 320hp to all four wheels through your choice of four-speed slushbox or a Getrag six-speed manual.

Car and Driver's test of a '94 model with a manual recorded a zero-to-sixty time of 5.1 seconds and a quarter mile E.T. of 13.9 at an even hundo through the traps. Top speed was measured at 153 miles per hour and cornering at 0.92g. Price as tested was $43,190 in 1994 dollars, or a bit over $97k in today's money.

This one was photographed using a Fujifilm X-E1 and a Zeiss 32mm f/1.8 Touit lens in September of 2018.

2016 Cadillac ATS-V Coupe

The Cimarron faceplanted and the Catera stumbled so this car could fly.

With the ATS, especially in its ATS-V coupe configuration, General Motors' most bougie division finally produced a genuinely desirable sporty car in a size comparable with the more compact offerings from the high-end Euro manufacturers.

Built on a shortened version of the GM Alpha platform, the ATS  had a wheelbase something like five inches shorter than its CTS sibling and even an inch shorter than the sixth generation Camaro.

Powered by a twin-turbo direct-injected 3.6L DOHC alloy V-6 cranking out 464 ponies, the ATS-V coupe came standard with a Tremec six-speed manual, although if your soul was dead inside you could get a six-speed automatic.

When Car and Driver tested a manual transmission car it managed a 4.2 second zero-to-sixty dash and put away the quarter in 12.6 at 115. It circled the skidpad at a hold-on-to-your-Big-Gulp 0.97g. Price as tested was $74,450 or about $103,600 in today's smaller dollars.

The Radiant Silver Metallic example in the picture was photographed with a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens in August of 2025.

2015 BMW M4

The M4 designation was new in the US for the 2015 model year at BMW. No longer would there be two- and four-door 3-series cars. Now the 4-series would be the name for the two-doors and their four-door siblings would retain the 3-series moniker... unless they had fastback hatches in which case they were "Gran Coupes" and badged as a 4-series. BMW's naming was getting a little incoherent if you ask me, but I don't have a degree in marketing so probably you shouldn't.

The F82 was the designation for the M coupe derived from the regular F32 4-series. Motorvated by BMW's S55 twin-turbo 3.0L DOHC inline six rated at 425 SAE net horsepower, the car could be had with the buyer's choice of a ZF six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

When Car and Driver put a 2015 car with the dual-clutch gearbox through its testing procedure, the 3,615 pound coupe laid down a 3.7 second sprint to sixty and scorched the quarter in twelve flat at a buck nineteen. The governor shut off the fun at 163mph.

The base price for the M4 was $65,150 but options like the $8,150 carbon-ceramic brakes and $2,900 DCT box pushed the MSRP of the test car up to $86,225, which is about $121,500 in current coins.

The Yas Marina Blue example in the photos was snapped a couple times back in July of 2021 using a Sony RX100.

1972 Triumph TR6

Another Triumph TR6, predating the gnarly bumper overriders. That and the Saffron color would seem to indicate a 1971 or 1972 model.

This one was photographed with a Canon EOS R5 and a 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 IS zoom lens in June of 2026. 

1965 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport

The 1965 model year debuted a whole new generation of full-size Chevrolets. Gone was the X-shaped frame, replaced with a conventional perimeter frame. Dubbed the "Girder Guard" frame by Chevy, this allowed a lower central transmission tunnel and floor.

The new Impala retained the iconic six round taillights of the outgoing fourth-generation cars, and gained almost three inches in length, although wheelbase remained largely unchanged (the new cars was actually a hairsbreadth shorter.)

Midway through the '65 model year the old W-series Turbo Thrust big block went away, replaced with the new 396 cubic inch Turbo-Jet V-8, which would provide the basic Chevy big block architecture through 1990.

While regular Impalas could be had in a variety of shapes, pillared and hardtop, coupe or sedan or convertible, the Impala Super Sport only came as a convertible or a hardtop Sport Coupe like the Mist Blue example in the photos. While boring people could order a Super Sport with any Impala powerplant, including the 140hp Turbo-Thrift 230cid inline six... we've seen '65 Impalas with 283 and 327 small blocks on these pages before ...the "396 Turbo-Jet" fender badges tell us this Impala is ready to party.

Most 396 Impalas had the hydraulic lifter 325hp version of the motor, but for maximum performance a solid-lifter 425 pony variant was available. Motor Trend tested a 325hp 396 backed by a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic in a Caprice hardtop sedan. With a 3.08 rear end the big Chevy managed an 8.9 second time to sixty and a trip through the quarter in 16.7 at 85mph on the way to a top speed of 103.

The one in the pictures was photographed with a Canon EOS R5 and an RF 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 IS zoom lens in June of 2026.

1965 Buick Electra 225 Convertible

Buick was the second-tier brand in the General Motors "Ladder of Success" hierarchy, just behind Cadillac, and the Electra 225 was at the top of the Buick heap.

The Electra had been introduced in 1959 and was named after Texas socialite Electra Waggoner Biggs, sister-in-law of GM President Harlowe Curtice, replacing the Roadmaster nameplate as the flagship offering from Buick.

1965 marked the debut of the third generation of the Electra, available as a pillared sedan, two- or four-door hardtop, or a convertible, like the Bamboo Cream one in the photos here.

Several versions of the "Nailhead" Buick V-8 could be had, with the 401 cubic inch 325 horsepower motor as standard equipment. For more money, the buyer could opt for the 340 horsepower 425 cubic inch V-8 with a single four-barrel or a dual-quad 425 rated at 360 horses.

Buick advertised these engines by their torque output, calling them the Wildcat 445, Wildcat 465, and the Super Wildcat. All three were backed by the Super Turbine 400 three-speed automatic (Buick's house name for the TH400 Turbo Hydramatic.)

This example was photographed with a Sony a77 and a Sony Zeiss 16-8mm f/3.4-4.5 zoom lens in May of 2026.

2001 Isuzu Rodeo LS

The 2001 model year debuted the facelift for the second generation Isuzu Rodeo on the US market, with a better blended grille and bumpers. The two door version, formerly sold as the Amigo, was now the Rodeo Sport. Cars for sale on our shores were built at the Subaru plant just up the road from me in Lafayette, Indiana.

Like the first generation Isuzus, these were body-on-frame vehicles, rather than of unibody construction.

While the base Rodeo S came with a standard Holden-sourced 2.2L DOHC inline four making 130 horsepower, the more upscale Rodeo LS had a 3.2L DOHC 24-valve V-6 rated at a respectable-for-the-era 205 ponies. Both could be had in RWD or 4WD form.

Base price for this Garden Green 2001 Rodeo LS would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of $24,000, or about $45,400 in current dollars in RWD format. This one was photographed in November of 2025 using a Sony a77 and a 16-50mm f/2.8 zoom lens.

1991 Lincoln Mark VII LSC

The Mark VII was the first really downsized of the Lincoln Mark series, since while the previous Mark VI was definitely smaller than its supertanker-sized predecessor, it still shared its Panther platform with the full-size Ford LTD Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis sedans.

The Mark VII, on the other hand, rode on the Fox platform of the Thunderbird and Mustang.

For the first couple model years you could get a BMW-sourced 2.4L turbodiesel inline six under the hood, but 'Murrica was not ready for diesel luxury cars at the time... thanks, Oldsmobile! ...so pretty much any Mark VII you run into will be motivated by Ford's trusty 5.0L Windsor pushrod V-8. All of them were fitted with four-speed automatic transmissions.

The Arctic White one in the picture is, going by the combination of third brake light and the style of the wheels, is a late one. By this time it only came in two flavors, the Bill Blass designer edition and the LSC, for "Luxury Sport Coupe". The only powerplant available was the 5.0L H.O. V-8 with Sequential Electronic Fuel Injection, which was shared with the Mustang GT and put out 225 SAE Net horsepower.

Car and Driver tested a 1988 model with the 225-pony H.O. mill and recorded a zero-to-sixty time of 8.0 seconds and a 16.1 quarter mile at 88mph through the traps. Top speed was measured at 120 and the LSC circled the skidpad at 0.74g, which was fairly sporty by plush-bottomed luxobarge standards of the day.

This one was photographed in December of 2018 using a Fujifilm XF1. 

1975 MG MGB

From 1968 through 1974 a whole swath of new federal requirements were applied to new automobiles sold in the United States intended to increase vehicles' safety and lessen their harmful tailpipe emissions. In addition, the fuel crisis of 1973 made consumers extremely sensitive to fuel economy and soaring insurance rates punished performance-oriented automobiles.

The MG MGB that came out the other side of this period was quite different to the model that had gone into it in 1967.

The most obvious difference was the large bumpers fitted to both ends of the car. Prominent, heavy, and clad with black rubber no matter wha color the car to which they were bolted was painted, these earned the late MGB the epithet "Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper Cars".

Side marker lights had been added back in '68, as well as a padded dash and other safety features, but new federal requirements dictating headlight and bumper height caused MG to raise the Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper Car on its suspension, making handling wobblier. 

The onset of emissions reductions had done no favors to the car's performance either.

Under the hood, where once a pair of SU carburetors had been bolted to the intake, there now lived only a single Zenith-Stromberg. With an output of 62.9 SAE net horsepower at 5,000 rpm, that resulted in a 19% haircut from the previous peak power. 

Car and Driver's 1975 test car took all of 13.7 seconds to reach sixty and dawdled through the standing quarter mile in nineteen flat at 70.7 through the traps on the way to an observed ninety mile per hour top speed. Stopping from seventy took a whopping 207 feet. Fuel economy on both C/D’s urban and highway circuits was about 22mpg.

Price as tested, with only an AM/FM radio and chrome beauty rings on the wheels for options, was $4,620 in 1975 dollars, or $28,778 in current money.

The car in the photos was snapped in August of 2025 using a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens.