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.

1977 Datsun 280Z

From its debut as the 2.4L 240Z in the 1970 model year, the displacement of Datsun's sports car increased through the 260Z of 1974 and finally to the 280Z for '76... (well, nerds will insist it was a '75½.)

The reason behind the displacement bumps was that tightening emissions standards meant lower compression ratios and that meant that in order to keep output in the same ballpark you needed more cubic under the hood.

New for 1977 was an optional 5-speed manual transmission. Four-speeds were still standard, and that still-exotic fifth gear would set the buyer back $165, which is the equivalent of over nine hundred bucks in today's coin.

The first four gears had the same ratios, and the final drive remained unchanged, so while there wasn't a benefit in acceleration times, the overdrive 0.86:1 top gear permitted more relaxed freeway cruising and offered a boost to gas mileage. Road & Track recorded 21.5 MPG over their mileage test loop which, while it didn't feature much freeway cruising, was still a two mile per gallon improvement over the four-speed car.

The 2.8L SOHC inline six had L-Jetronic fuel injection and was rated at 170 SAE Net horsepower and could propel the Z-car to sixty in 9.4 seconds and through the quarter in 17.3 seconds at 81 mph. 

The Light Blue Metallic car in the photo was snapped with a Fujifilm X-E1 and a Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8 lens in September of 2019.

1971 Chevrolet El Camino

The third generation of Chevrolet's El Camino ute debuted for 1968 and would be replaced by the fourth gen for 1973, so that makes this '71 example the second to last year for them.

From the A-pillar forward it was basically a Chevelle and, like the 1971 Chevelle, single large headlights on each side had replaced the previous year's smaller dual lamps.

The El Camino came in base and SS trims and the base motors were the 250 cubic inch Turbo-Thrift inline six or the 307 cube Turbo-Fire V-8. Optional choices included two different 350s making either 240 or 270 horsepower, a 300hp 400cid big block, and the 454 cubic inch big block in either 365 or 425 horsepower flavors, although the 454 could only be had with the SS package.

The Tuxedo Black example in the photo has the four-barrel, dual-exhaust 270hp 5.7L V-8 and was photographed with a Nikon Coolpix P7000 in New Hampshire back in April of 2015.

2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible Indy 500 Official Car

For 2016 the actual pace car for the Indianapolis 500 was a white Camaro SS coupe, and Chevrolet sold a few thousand replicas of those. Even more desirable would be one of the 54 Indy 500 Festival Official Cars, used in the pre race parades and other official activities.

These were Chevrolet Camaro SS convertibles, specifically with the 2SS option package, with white stripes on a Hyper Blue Metallic paint job.

Powered by a 455 horsepower 6.2L LT1 pushrod V-8 driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed 8L90 automatic transmission, the 2016 Camaro 2SS was the quickest convertible pony car that Car and Driver had tested to date. Their sample ripped to sixty from a standstill in 4.1 seconds and nailed the quarter in 12.6 seconds at a buck thirteen through the traps. It circled the skidpad at 0.96g and topped out at a (governed) 155mph.

The one in the photo was snapped in April of 2016 using a Nikon Coolpix P7000.

1966 Jaguar XK-E Coupe

Instantly identifiable by its clear aerodynamic headlight covers, what we have here is a Series I original gangsta Jaguar XK-E (called the E-Type in the land of its birth), out braving the salty Indianapolis streets in midwinter.

This gorgeous Fixed-Head Coupe in Opalescent Silver Blue had the "4.2" badge on the decklid, which would make it more potent than an early 3.8L car.

The DOHC inline-six breathed through triple SU carbs and put out a claimed 266 horsepower, the same as the smaller motor, but its peak torque of 283 lb/ft was up by 23 over its predecessor, and more accessible to boot.

While not as quick as the droptop E-Type, the Fixed-Head Coupe would still sprint to sixty in about seven seconds and could crack the fifteen second barrier in the quarter.

This one was photographed with an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens in January of 2025.

As of the time of posting, it's for sale just down the street.

1972 Buick Skylark Custom

1972 would be the final model year for the third generation of Buick's midsize Skylark. In fact, it would be the last model year before the Skylark nameplate itself took a couple year hiatus, with its midsize job taken by the Buick Regal. When the Skylark moniker returned to the Buick catalog for the '75 model year it would be hung on a Chevy Nova-derived compact.

The Muscle Car Era was singing its swan song and the Malaise Era was in the on-deck circle, if I may mix my metaphors. Horsepower was now advertised in net rather than gross terms, and compression ratios were slashed across the board to prepare for unleaded gas. You could still get a 455 in a Gran Sport, but for regular Skylarks the biggest mill on offer was a 350.

The Skylark for '72 came in three trim levels: The base Skylark, the Skylark 350, and the Skylark Custom.

The Skylark Custom could be had as a convertible, a pillared sedan, a hardtop sedan, or a hardtop Sport Coupe, like the Fire Red example in the photos.

The base motor would have been Buick's 350 small-block with a two-barrel carburetor rated at 145 SAE net horsepower, with an optional four-barrel 350 making 180 ponies.

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

1978 Chevrolet Corvette Indy 500 Pace Car

Sunday afternoon, not long after the dramatic photo finish down at the Brickyard, this 1978 Indy 500 Pace Car edition Corvette came tooling up College Avenue, probably on its way home from the track.

1978 was the Silver Anniversary year for the Corvette, and saw some styling changes for the C3 body style, most notably with the tunneled rear window being replaced with a compound-curved glass fastback (which was fixed in place and not a hatchback.) In addition to a Silver Anniversary edition, every '78 got 25th Anniversary badging. 

That wasn't the big special edition for 1978, though, because Chevrolet got the 'Vette in for its first appearance as the Official Pace Car for the Indy 500 and commemorated it with a Pace Car Limited Edition replica.

The Pace Car Limited Edition came with the L82 350cid V-8. With a dual-snorkel air cleaner feeding its four-barrel carb, 8.9:1 compression ratio, and dual exhausts, the L82 made 220 SAE net horsepower at 5,200rpm. A period test by Road & Track returned a 0-60 time of 6.6 seconds and a 15.3 second quarter at 95mph on the way to a 127mph top speed.

MSRP was $13,653 ($68,400 in today's money), but Chevy's decision to produce enough for every dealership to have one makes this one of the least-limited Limited Editions ever. Chevy hyped its special edition status in advertising, yet when all was said and done, with 6,502 examples produced, better than one in ten '78 Corvettes sold was a Pace Car. 

A quick googling shows there are a ton of nice, really low-mileage ones floating around out there, since a large number were bought and parked as "sure-fire future investments" that haven't even halfway kept up with inflation.

As you can see from this photo of a different one, with added side pipes, photographed back in August of 2022, they're not terribly uncommon. I've spotted at least four distinct ones in the neighborhood over the years.

The one above either never had the door decals applied or lost them in a repaint. I'm going to go with the latter, since it has neither the rear quarter IMS logo decal nor the Limited Edition decals on the fenders, both of which were installed at the factory, unlike the door decals that were dealer-installed. Also, the fender badges seem oddly placed and the rear spoiler's not there. It's possible that it could be an attempt to create a Pace Car clone, but why clone such a common car?

The one below was snapped in the summer of '22, like the sidepiped car.

The top car was photographed with a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens in May of 2026, the second one with a Fujifilm X-T2 and 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR lens in August of 2022, the third with an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and a Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4 lens in June of 2024, and the last one with a Nikon D7100 and a 16-80mm f/2.8-4 zoom in September of 2024.

1960 Austin-Healey Sprite

While we've had an early "bugeye" Austin-Healey Sprite on these pages before, that one was all dolled up with a roll bar, racing stripe, and alloy wheels.

This Colorado Red example still retains the factory wire wheels and the front bumper, plus it sports a natty-looking pair of driving lights.

Photographed with a Canon EOS R and a 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens in May of 2026.

1965 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Convertible

1965 marked the first model year of the Corvair's second generation. While it retained the basic air-cooled, rear-engined flat six layout of the first generation, the styling was completely refreshed and way ahead of its time, with clean, attractive looks.

The lineup began with the fairly spartan Corvair 500, moved up through the Corvair Monza, and was crowned by the Corvair Corsa.

The middle-of-the-lineup Monza could be had as a hardtop coupe or sedan or as a convertible, like the Regal Red example in the photos.

Base engine in the Monza was the 95-horsepower version of the 2.7L Turbo-Air 164, with 110- and 140-horsepower versions available as options. The 140-horse version had four single-throat carbs and dual exhausts, and the car in the photos has a lone tailpipe, so it's got either the 95 or 110 pony motor. The fact that it has optional wire wheels with knock-off hubs and a four-on-the-floor would have me betting it's got the optional engine.

This one was photographed in May of 2026 using a Canon EOS R and an RF 70-200mm f/4L IS zoom lens. It had just sold at the Mecum auction.

1962 Cadillac Sixty-Two Sedan

We've had a 1962 Cadillac Sixty-Two sedan on these pages before, but it was the shorter four-window Town Sedan, whereas this is the full-length six-window Sedan.

Like the shorter car, the six-window is powered by the 390 cubic inch iteration of Cadillac's 331 Series overhead valve V-8, rated at 325 gross horsepower.

This example, painted in the color Cadillac called "Sandalwood", was photographed in May of 2026 using a Canon EOS 5Ds and an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens.