1980 Datsun 280ZX 2+2

Nissan's Z-car had featured a 2+2 version since the 260Z version of 1974, but when it was completely redesigned for the S130 series as the 280ZX, it was clear that the four-seater version was taken into consideration from the start, with the car morphing from a harder-edged sports coupe into a plusher grand tourer. Magazines at the time noted the more boulevardier nature of the car, even though the S130 2+2 was no heavier than its S30 forebear. 

By the '80 model year the Z-car was already badged in the North American market as a "Datsun by Nissan", and under the hood was Nissan's iron block L28E SOHC 12V inline six. With electronic fuel injection and an 8.3:1 compression ratio, the 2.8L six made 135 SAE net horsepower and could be backed by a five speed manual or, if the buyer had no soul, a three-speed auto.

Motor Trend tested a 1980 2+2 with the five speed and recorded an 11.3 second zero-to-sixty run and managed a quarter in eighteen seconds flat at 77mph. The four wheel power discs hauled the 2,910 pound car down from sixty in 160 feet.

Price of the test car, with the Grand Luxury Package, was $13,203, which comes to $52,360 in 2026 dollars.

The Golden Mist car in the photos was snapped with a Nikon Coolpix P7000 in White Rock, New Mexico back in October of 2015.

1958 Edsel Ranger

Edsel was slotted into the Ford corporate hierarchy between Mercury and Lincoln. In fact, you'll see the MEL abbreviation used for FoMoCo big blocks into the latter half of the Sixties, years after the E was gone.

It turned out that there wasn't enough space between a high-end Merc and the cheapest Lincoln to support a whole-ass automobile brand.

The original lineup for 1958 had four models: The high-end Citation and Corsair riding on 124" wheelbases, and the cheaper 118"-wheelbase Pacer and Ranger.

The Ranger was the most basic model in the Edsel catalog. Even things like a windshield washer or seatbelts were extra cost options, although a cigarette lighter was standard. it was the 1950s, after all.

The Snow White '58 Ranger four-door sedan would have had only one powerplant available, the E-400 pushrod V-8, a 361 cubic inch version of Ford's FE-series big block. With a four-barrel carburetor and a 10.5:1 compression ratio, it made 303 gross horsepower at 4600rpm. Ranger buyers got a three-speed manual for nothing, or could pay for a three speed slushbox with a standard column shifter. For a bit more money, they could opt for the Teletouch pushbutton gear selector in the steering wheel hub.

When Motor Trend tested a 1958 Ranger four-door hardtop with the automatic transmission, they recorded a zero-to-sixty time of 10.1 seconds. Base price for the bare-bones Ranger pillared sedan was $2,592 in 1958 dollars, which comes to something like $29,300 in current dollars. Seatbelts cost $22.50 ($254) extra and were only for the front seats.

This one was photographed in Pryor, Oklahoma in April of 2026 using an Olympus PEN E-P5 and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-45mm f/4 PRO zoom lens.

1957 Buick Special Riviera

Back in 1957 there were still really only two Buicks, the longer 127" wheelbase Roadmaster and Super built on the General Motors C-body chassis, and the shorter 122" wheelbase Century and Special, on the B-body platform.

They all had the traditional Buick "Sweepspear" styling line on the side, and the top two models had four chrome "Ventiports" on the fenders while the two more plebeian models made do with three. Not that any Buick was really downmarket; the brand was positioned only slightly below Cadillac in the GM brand hierarchy. It was the car of the upper middle class, and buying even a Buick Series 40 Special announced that you were on the way up in the world.

Enough people wanted to make that announcement in 1957 to move Buick into third place in sales in the US, passing Mopar's budget Plymouth for the slot.

The Special was powered by the new-for-'57 Buick Fireball V-8, an OHV pushrod motor that displaced 364 cubic inches (6.0L). While the Roadmaster, Super, and Century got a version of the Fireball with a four-barrel carburetor and 10.0:1 compression, rated at 300 gross horsepower, the Special made do with a 250hp version of the same engine, using a two-barrel carb and 9.5:1 compression. There was an even weaker optional 8.0:1 version for people who didn't want to pay for premium fuel. It could only be had with a manual transmission and is rather scarce, since most Buick customers wanted that smooth Dynaflow ride.

A lot of things were optional on the Special, like power brakes, which would be a thing you'd want because those four drums had their work cut out for them hauling two-plus tons of Buick down from speed.

In the center of the dash on this lovely Dresden Blue and Dover White example is a Sonomatic radio, which was the cheaper alternative to the famous "Wonder Bar" unit, which had automatic channel seeking; pretty space age stuff for the Fifties.

The Special could be had as a hardtop coupe like this one, called the "Riviera", or as a pillared two- or four-door sedan.

This one was photographed using a Nikon Coolpix S6500 in Concord, Tennessee back in August of 2014.

1967 Pontiac Grand Prix

The Grand Prix was introduced in 1962 as a sporty personal luxury coupe based on the two-door Catalina. Bucket seats and a console (with a console-mounted shift lever and tachometer) were standard equipment.

For 1965, the second generation of the Grand Prix featured more curvaceous sheet metal, and a mid-cycle refresh in 1967 saw the vertically-stacked quad headlamps switched to horizontally-paired ones and retreat behind retractable covers in the grille. (Notably, '67 was also the only year that the GP was offered as a drop-top.)

The standard motor in the '67 Grand Prix was Pontiac's small journal 400 cubic inch V-8 with a four-barrel Carter carburetor and a 10.5:1 compression ratio rated at 350 gross horsepower. Optionally, the buyer could spring for a large journal 428 V-8 rated at 360 horsepower or the "Quadra-Power" 428 H.O. making 375 ponies. Note that the "Quadra-Power" term was mostly marketing hype. Previous years of Pontiac could be had with "Tri-Power" engines sporting triple two-throat carb arrays, but the powers-that-be at GM banned multiple carburetor setups on everything but Corvettes for the 1967 model year.

If you wanted to burn cheaper regular gas, a lower compression two-barrel 400 was available as a credit delete option, but it only put out 265 horsepower.

A three-speed manual gearbox was standard, with a Turbo Hydra-Matic or a four-speed manual as options. The buyer could select from a variety of rear axle ratios.

Car Life tested a fairly well-optioned '67 Grand Prix hardtop coupe, similar to the Tyrol Blue one in the photos, with the base 350-horse 400, a Turbo Hydra-Matic slushbox, and a tall 2.73:1 final drive. With a curb weight of 4,160 pounds, the 6.6L motor had its work cut out for it.

Zero-to sixty sprints took 9.4 seconds and the quarter mile was crossed in 17.1 at 83.5mph. Top speed was measured at 110. Optioned as tested, the car stickered at $4,848, which comes to $47,433 in today's money.

The one in the photos was snapped in April of 2026 using an Olympus PEN E-P5 and an M. Zuiko Digital 14-45mm f/4 PRO zoom lens.

1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Convertible

The Cutlass Supreme line was introduced for 1966 as a more upscale version of the midsize Olds, above the budget-priced F-85 and the regular Cutlass. For 1967, the last year for the second generation of Cutlasses, a light styling refresh on the snout brought its aesthetics into line with the larger Delta 88.

Available as a hardtop Holiday Sedan or a pillared Town Sedan, a pillared Sport Coupe or a hardtop Holiday Coupe, or a convertible like this Provincial White example with Strato Bucket seats upholstered in Blue "Morrocceen" vinyl.

Unlike cheaper Cutlasses, the base motor in the Supreme was the 330 cubic inch Jetfire Rocket V-8 with a Quadrajet carburetor and a 10.25:1 compression ratio. Olds touted the "Ultra High Compression Ratio" as being a key part of the claimed 310 horsepower output. Base price on this beauty in 1967 would have been  $3,026 before you started going crazy with the option book. That's about $29,600 in current dollars.

This one was photographed using a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens in March of 2026.

2006 Ford Mustang Convertible

The fifth generation of the Mustang, known as the S197, debuted for 2005 on a new platform. On the upside, the new D2C platform shed the last vestiges of the old late-Seventies Fox body architecture that had lingered through the preceding SN95 generation. 

It shared much of its front end with the new DEW98 rear wheel drive platform that underpinned the Lincoln LS, new Ford Thunderbird, and Jaguar S-type. On the downside, for reasons of cost and weight, it had a live rear axle, unlike the independent rear suspension of those DEW98 cars.

Base cars had the latest 4.0L SOHC version of Ford's Cologne V-6, the basic lump of which dated back to the early Sixties. The GT came with a 3-valve-per-cylinder variant of the 4.6L Modular V-8.

While the GT versions made 300 horses, even the base V6 cars, like this V6 Deluxe Convertible in Vista Blue Metallic, put out 210 SAE net horsepower, which is almost as much as the 5.0L GT of the Eighties and Nineties.

Motor Trend tested a 2006 V6 convertible with the automatic transmission and recorded a 7.3 second zero-to-sixty run and a quarter mile time of 15.5 seconds at 90mph through the traps.

This car has the Sport Appearance Package, with the spoiler and rocker panel stripes, and someone's retrofitted a GT grille with the fog lamps. 

This one was photographed with a Nikon Df and a 24-85mm f/2.8-4D zoom lens in March of 2026.

1960 Austin-Healey 3000

In the beginning there was the Austin-Healey 100. A two-seat sports car thus named by its designer, Donald Healey, for the fact that its 2,660cc inline four could push it to the then-magical velocity of one hundred miles per hour. When Austin quit making the big, undersquare 2.5L four (sourced, like most of the rest of the 100's mechanicals, from the A90 Atlantic), Healey had to find a replacement powerplant.

He settled on BMC's C-series inline six, a 2,639cc lump that required stretching the wheelbase two inches, with the resulting car being dubbed the Austin-Healey 100-6.

For the 1960 model year, the car received disc brakes up front and a new 3.0L engine (actually 2,912cc, but who's counting?) that resulted in the Austin-Healey 3000, like the one in the photos.

Breathing through a brace of SU carbs and sporting a then-racy 9.1:1 compression ratio, the big Healey's three liter OHV inline six put out a claimed 124 horsepower and could power the car through the quarter mile in a couple ticks over 17 seconds on its way to a maximum speed of 115mph.

This one was photographed in March of 2025 using an Olympus OM-D E-M5 and a Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens.  

1988 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

The downsized Mercury Grand Marquis of 1979 shared its Panther platform with Ford's LTD Crown Victoria and Lincoln's Town Car. It only received minor updates until it was replaced with newer, more aerodynamic version for 1991.

The mid-Eighties Grand Marquis was in a weird place for traditional RWD body-on-frame sedans. FoMoCo and General Motors retained the LTD Crown Victoria and Caprice Classic for the low end fleet vehicle market, as well as the Lincoln Town Car and Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham for the livery and professional car industries. But while GM had downsized all its mid/upscale full-size sedans like the Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight and Buick Electra Park Avenue onto smaller FWD platforms, the Grand Marquis soldiered on using the Panther RWD architecture.

The combination of a third brake light, the slightly aero-blended grille and snout corners, and the taillight lenses mark this Silver Metallic one with a Light Charcoal vinyl top as a 1988 or 1989 model.

The original buyer did not stint with the options menu, as this car's got the optional cornering lamps and the cast aluminum "turbine spoke" wheels. Judging by that sag at the back, it looks like they sprang for the self-leveling air suspension and it's gotten tired after almost forty years.

Under the hood would have been the trusty Ford 5.0L multiport fuel injected small block, making 150 SAE net horsepower, or 160 if the buyer ordered the towing package, which included a dual exhaust setup. It was backed with a four-speed automatic with lockup torque convertor.

This one was photographed using a Canon EOS R and 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens in March of 2026. 

1990 Toyota Starlet GT Turbo

Here's an interesting sight. It's a Toyota Starlet GT Turbo. The only model of Starlet sold here was the rear-wheel drive second generation car from '81-'84, when gas was expensive* and its 39 City/54 Highway MPG rating made it popular.

The one in the pics, as you may surmise from the location of the steering wheel, is a Japanese market Starlet. It's a fourth generation car, by which time the Starlet platform had become front-wheel drive. As a '90-'91 GT Turbo model, it has a 1.3L intercooled turbo inline 4-cylinder making 135hp, which must feel pretty spicy in a car weighing only 1,962 pounds.

This one was photographed in May of 2025 using a Sony a700 and a 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM zoom lens.

*In 1981 the average gas price in the US was $1.35/gal, which works out to $4.78/gal in current dollars.

2021 BMW 440i xDrive

Oh, hey, look! It's a G22-series BMW M440i! Hey, that's a pretty slick-looking ride from the side.

Let's walk around to the front of the car and see what's shakin' up there...

YIKES! It looks, to steal a line from my friend TC, like a Mustang had sex with a naked mole rat. That, or some sort of angry cyborg attack beaver. That snout is going to take some getting used to, not gonna lie. I realize that, thanks to Audi and Lexus, great gaping maws of grille up front are the style of the time (the latest iteration of the Genesis sedans look like they might accidentally inhale a Smart or Scion iQ) but BMW's traditional split grille does the look no favors aesthetically.

I get that all the new BMW's got to be rolled over to some variation of the giant beaver-toothed snout. It's the marque's new design language and will be with us for the next 5-8 model years in some variation or another. But Mercedes finally gave up on even the faintest hint of a faux radiator shell decades ago and Lincoln Continentals lost the vestigial fake spare tire hump about the time they lost rear wheel drive, yet BMW is going to find a way to keep the now meaningless kidney blobs on the front end from now 'til doomsday.

I'd say I was never going to get used to it, but I also have to acknowledge that I used to say that about the Bangle era and now, with the right wheels, the E60 5-series is among my favorite Bimmers.

At least the numbers on this thing are solid. The 382hp turbocharged and intercooled 3.0L inline six gets a little nudge from the 48v mild hybrid motor to push the car to sixty in 3.8 seconds according to Car and Driver, and blitzes the quarter in 12.3 at 112mph. Still, between the AWD and the hybrid gear it weighs about a load of groceries short of two tons, which feels like a lot for the successor of the 2002ti.

This one was photographed using a Fujifilm X-T2 and XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR zoom lens in April of 2021.

1966 Ford Mustang

There have been two '66 Mustangs on these pages before, a Dynasty Green convertible and a Nightmist Blue GT convertible, but this Signal Flare Red car is the first 1966 Mustang coupe to grace the blog.

1966 was the last year for the original, svelte lines of the first generation 'Stangs. For '67 the car would be widened over two inches so as to accommodate big block V-8s under the hood.

You can see the tiny "289" atop the red, white, and blue tri-bar fender badges, as well as the little 289 V-badge up by the nose. That could be the regular two-barrel 289 Challenger V-8 with a 9.3:1 compression ratio making 200 gross horsepower or the four-barrel 289 Challenger Special V-8, which had a 10.0:1 squeeze and put out 225 ponies.

Other than that, it's a pretty standard Mustang, with basic hubcaps and no glamorous "K-code" Hi-Po solid lifter Cobra V-8. It's a super nice car, and almost certainly restored to this condition.

It was photographed in October of 2025 using an Olympus OM-D E-M5 and the Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens.