1986 Toyota MR2

The Toyota MR2, released in the US market by Toyota for the 1985 model year, was everything its only competitors were not. The Fiat X1/9 was still sold in the North American market as the Bertone X1/9, imported by Malcolm Bricklin, but it had the durability and reliability issues typical of low-production Italian sporty cars of the era. Pontiac's Fiero had been on the market for a year, but was heavy for its size and had an uninspiring suspension.

The MR2 boasted Toyota levels of build quality, weighed about the same as the X1/9 and boasted almost 66% more power, while being a hundred pounds lighter and much more nimble and better handling than the Fiero.

Powered by the zingy 1.6L DOHC 16V 4A-GE inline four also found in the Corolla FX, which made 112hp and which could be paired with a slick-shifting five-speed manual or, if your soul was dead, a four-speed auto, the MR2 was the kind of sports car that made automotive writers pull out thesauruses looking for extra synonyms for "fun".

When Car and Driver tested an '85 model (with the stick shift, natch), they saw a zero-to-sixty time of 8.3 seconds and a 16.3 second quarter at 82mph. Top speed was 116 and all-up curb weight was 2,380 pounds. For comparison, those are about the same numbers put up by a 140hp V-6 Fiero GT, which was almost 400 pounds heavier.

The Light Beige example in the picture was photographed with an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and a Panasonic Leica Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.8-4 ASPH zoom lens in June of 2025.

1991 Porsche 911 Carrera 2

Debuting in 1989, the 964 series was the first total overhaul of Porsche's classic 911 since its launch a quarter century earlier. At the time, Porsche claimed only about 15% of the old car carried over, despite the external similarities.

It was initially only available in all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 form, with the RWD Carrera 2 coming a year later. The 964 debuted standard power steering and anti-lock brakes for the 911 series, as well as driver's-side and passenger-side front airbags. The big cosmetic difference on the outside was the faired-in bumpers, while under the skin the torsion bar rear suspension was replaced with coil sprung semi-trailing arms.

The motor was new, but still an air-cooled SOHC flat six, now displacing 3.6L and with an 11.3:1 compression ratio to put out 247 horsepower at 6,100 RPM. It could be paired with either a five speed manual or Porsche's Tiptronic four-speed automatic.

Car and Driver tested a five-speed car, which recorded a 4.8 second zero-to-sixty run and a 13.3 second quarter mile at 106mph, which are numbers that would have been 911 Turbo territory not many years prior. Top speed was noted at 161 miles per hour. Base price for all this sturm und drang was $58,500 in 1990 dollars, which is $144,600 in today's money.

The Guards Red coupe in the photo was snapped in July of 2015 using a Nikon D1X and a 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6D zoom lens.

2003 Honda S2000

All through the Sixties, Honda produced a series of lightweight little two-seat roadsters as sporty image-leader flagships, First the S500, then the S600, and finally the S800, with the model number denoting the engine displacement in cubic centimeters. With the discontinuation of this line, Honda was pretty much out of the hardcore roadster biz for the next thirty years until the launch of the S2000.

Unlike the rest of Honda's then-current lineup, but like those older roadsters, the S2000 used a longitudinally oriented engine in the front driving the rear wheels. Also like those older roadsters the S2000's engine was a high-RPM screamer utilizing Honda's motorcycle and Formula One engineering experience.

Under that long hood was a 2.0L (well, 1,997cc) DOHC 16V inline four with Honda's VTEC variable valve timing system. Below six or seven thousand RPM it was just your typical zingy four-banger, but when it got into the VTEC all the way to the 9,000RPM rev limiter, the F20C was a snarling beast more like a race motor than a street car powerplant. For a normally-aspirated two liter four cylinder street motor to make 234 SAE net horsepower was unheard of at the time, but the Honda did it and sounded great while doing so.

Befitting its sporting nature, the car was only available with a six-speed manual transmission. I was strongly considering buying one of these instead of the secondhand BMW Z3 2.8 that I wound up purchasing, but decided to go with the six-cylinder Bimmer because the Honda was only really fun if you drove it like you stole it and the temptation would have been too much for me.

When Car and Driver put a 2003 S2000 (in Spa Yellow, just like this one) in a five-way shootout against two seater convertible sports cars from Audi, BMW, Nissan, and Porsche, it walked away with first place honors while sprinting to sixty in 5.4 seconds and through the quarter mile in 14.1 at 99mph. Price as tested was $33,060, or $58k in current money.

This one was photographed using a Sony a77 and a 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* zoom lens in September of 2025. 

2018 Audi S4

The B9 was the sixth iteration of Audi's S4 sports sedan. What had started as a small, taut competitor for the M3 had aged into plump middle aged, and found itself competing in the marketplace with compact sporty crossover SUVs as sedan sales dwindled.

Under the hood was Audi's 3.0L DOHC turbocharged V-6 making 345 SAE net horsepower, and the only transmission choice was the eight-speed ZF Tiptronic slushbox, driving all four wheels in classic Quattro style.

Curb weight might have ballooned to 3,928 pounds, but the brawny six still had the Wheaties to push nearly two tons of sedan to sixty miles per hour in only 4.2 seconds and through the quarter in 12.8 seconds, clearing the traps at 108 miles per hour when tested by Car and Driver.

This Glacier White one was photographed using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and an EF 28-70mm f/2.8L zoom lens in January of 2022.

1991 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24

The Cavalier was intended by Chevrolet to be a front-wheel-drive compact that would slide into the lineup between the elderly RWD subcompact Chevette and the midsize FWD Citation that replaced the Nova. It hit dealerships as an '82 model and that first generation of angular Cavaliers lasted until replaced by the more aero-looking second generation for 1988.

Mechanically, the second generation of Cavalier was similar to the first: a transverse engine driving the front wheels, MacPherson struts, lower control arms, and coil springs up front (shared with the other FWD Chevys of the era) while the rear was switched from a beam axle to the torsion-beam setup from the more upmarket J-bodies.

While the base Cavalier motor for 1991 was a 2.2L pushrod inline four with throttle body fuel injection, the sporty Z24 got GM's little 60° OHV V-6 with multiport fuel injection. Now enlarged to 3.1L and dubbed the LH0, it could be paired with either a Getrag 5-speed manual or a three-speed slushbox and was rated at 140 SAE net horsepower.

In the 2,738 pound Cavalier Z24, the 3.1L and manual transmission was good for an 8.4 second zero-to-sixty time when Car and Driver tested a 1990 model. The quarter mile took 16.4 seconds at 83mph, and the as-tested price was $12,830 in 1990 dollars, which is roughly $31,700 in today's coin.

This one was photographed in December of 2024 using an iPhone 13 Pro Max. 

2018 Audi S5 Cabriolet

Audi added the A5 model in the late '00s as a designator for coupes, cabriolets, and five-door fastbacks ("Sportbacks" in Audi-speak) that shared a platform with the A4 sedans and wagons. Naturally there was also a high-performance S5 model to accompany them.

The A5 and S5 got their second generation for the 2018 model year, like the Monsoon Grey example in the photo. Where the regular A5 had a 2.0L 16V turbocharged inline four, the second gen S5 got a brawny 3.0L 24V turbo V-6 making 354 SAE net horsepower and driving all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic.

When Car and Driver tested a 2018 S5 ragtop, they recorded a zero-to-sixty sprint of 4.8 seconds and quarter mile run of 13.5 at 103mph through the traps. Top speed was governor limited to 155 and it managed 0.94g on the skidpad.

This one was photographed in September of 2025 using a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens.

1963 Lincoln Continental Convertible

After taking a multimillion dollar bath on its late-Fifties design extravagances, the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Corporation condensed its lineup for 1961 down to a single model, the Continental, which was available as a coupe or a convertible.

The fourth generation of Continental was of unibody construction, like its predecessor, but smaller, having a 123" wheelbase. (The design proposal was originally floated as a Thunderbird, and the unibody was related to that used by the '61 T-bird, but stretched.)

Under the hood was a 430 cubic inch MEL ("Mercury Edsel Lincoln") big block V-8 with a four-barrel carburetor with a 10.1:1 compression ratio, rated at 320 gross horsepower. All cars had a three-speed Turbo-Drive automatic transmission driving a 2.89:1 rear axle ratio.

The cars were given a lengthy dyno run-in and a 12-mile road test on completion, and were delivered with a two year, 24,000 mile warranty, which was the longest of any domestic car at the time.

The slab-sided "suicide door" Fourth Generation Continentals, like this Spanish Red 1963 convertible are, to my eye, a refreshing break from the chrome-laden rolling Wurlitzers of the late Fifties. They won several design and engineering awards, sold like gangbusters and Chrysler hired their designer, Elwood Engel, away from Ford to serve as Virgil Exner's replacement as head of the styling department at Mopar, where he remained until his retirement in '73.

This one was photographed in August of 2022 using a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens.

2004 Mercury Sable LS

The Mercury Sable debuted in the '86 model year as Mercury's more upscale sister car to Ford's Taurus, replacing the Marquis as the midsize sedan in the Mercury lineup. It was the biggest FWD sedan sold by Mercury to that point and was a reasonable success, being the second best-selling Merc after the full-size body-on-frame Grand Marquis.

After the radically styled third generation of the late Nineties, the fourth generation Sable that hit as a 2000 model was more conventional in appearance, with a regular grille replacing the previous model's weird little trout mouth.

The fascia got a mild refresh for 2004, but the Sable was still available in two trim levels: the standard GS or the swankier LS, like the Arizona Beige Metallic example in the photo.

The six-spoke 16" alloy rims that were an extra cost option on the GS came standard on the LS. Where the GS used the 3.0L Vulcan pushrod V-6, the LS had the 3.0L Duratec DOHC 24V motor that made 200 SAE net horsepower.

This one was photographed with a Pentax K7 and 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 WR zoom lens in September of 2025.

1970 Cadillac Coupe De Ville

1970 marked the final year for the third generation of Cadillac's De Ville, which had begun with the 1965 models. They'd received a pretty serious makeover for the 1969 model year, going from vertically-stacked to horizontal quad headlamps, and gaining more sharply-creased flanks ending in notional fins.

Under the hood was Cadillac's 472 cubic inch V-8 with a four-barrel carburetor, making 375 gross horsepower and a monstrous 525 lb/ft of torque and backed by a THM400 three-speed automatic. This would be the last year for the full 10.0:1 compression ratio. The next year would see compression drop to 8.5:1 to allow the use of regular gasoline, which would give the output a thirty horsepower haircut.

This Cotillion White coupe rides on a 129.5" wheelbase and stretches a full 225" from stem to stern. It would have had a base sticker of $5,884, which is about $49k in current money.

This one was photographed in September of 2025 using an Olympus E-3 and a Zuiko Digital 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens.

1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

Chevrolet's downsized G-body Monte Carlos were the marque's standard-bearer in NASCAR starting in the early Eighties.

For 1983 the Monte Carlo SS option showed up with a slightly drooped aerodynamic snoot to help it keep up with the new, aerodynamic Ninth Generation Ford Thunderbird on the high-banked ovals.

In addition to the aero bits and the SS decals and stripes, the package came with the L69 305 cubic inch H.O. small block, featuring a four-barreled carburetor. Also found in the Camaro Z28 and Firebird Trans Am, it had a Rochester Quadrajet carburetor, a 9.5:1 compression ratio, low-restriction exhausts, and the camshaft from the L81 Corvette 350. Rated at 175 horsepower in the 1983 Monte SS, it was bumped to 180 for 1984, like this Medium Dark Royal Blue Metallic example. (The last year for this highly desirable color.)

Car and Driver tested a Monte Carlo SS in 1983 and recorded an 8.2 second zero-to-sixty time and a 16.1 quarter at 85mph. Base sticker on an '84 SS would have been $11,073, which comes to $34,500 in today's money.

This one was photographed with a Nikon D700 and 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6D zoom lens in February of 2020.

2009 Pontiac G8

Auto exec Bob Lutz is a certified Car Guy. When he was head of product development at Chrysler, he helped bring the Viper to the showroom floor largely unchanged from the wild, bare-bones show car. When he went to GM, he tried to get the Holden Monaro, a front-engine RWD V8 performance coupe built by GM Australia, imported to the US as a revived Pontiac GTO.

Unfortunately, by the time the project came to fruition, the Aussie dollar was a lot stronger and the GTO, which had originally been priced to go head-to-head against the Mustang GT, was now ten grand more than the Original Pony Car when it hit showroom floors as a 2004 model. Dealer hype premium markups for early models pushed the street price dangerously close to Corvette territory.

Overpriced and undersold, the Monaro-based GTO sank without a ripple after the 2006 model year.

But that wasn't the end of GM Australia cars in the U.S. market.

Pontiac imported the Holden Commodore sedan, also rear wheel drive, starting in 2008, as a replacement for the discontinued Bonneville and Grand Prix. Alas, it only lasted through the 2009 model year...as did Pontiac itself.

Dubbed the G8, it could be had in base, GT, or GXP flavors. The latter two could be had with snarly V-8 motors and manual transmissions, while the base model...couldn't.

The red taillight lenses on the one in the picture say it's a base model Pontiac G8, which has the GM corporate DOHC 3.6L V-6 rated at 256hp driving the rear wheels through a five speed automatic transmission. The paint color, Sport Red Metallic, marks it as a 2009 model.

Despite outmuscling my '98 Z3 2.8 and '94 Mustang 5.0 GT under the hood, it's not as quick as either. Car & Driver could only get a seven second 0-60 run out of the base G8, and a mid-15 second quarter. Those would have been big sports sedan numbers...in 1992. In 2004, though, the air dam and those hood scoops on the base G8 are writing checks the drivetrain can't cash, largely because the curb weight is only about a good trunkful of groceries shy of four thousand pounds.

This one was photographed with an Olympus E-3 and Zuiko Digital 14-35mm f/2 zoom lens in October of 2023.

1981 Volkswagen Rabbit L Convertible

1981 saw the Volkswagen Rabbit get a facelift, receiving rectangular headlamps, except for the Rabbit Convertible, which was assembled in Germany by Karmann. Other than the Convertible, '81 VW Rabbits for sale in the US were made at the company's Westmoreland plant in Pennsylvania.

For the '81 model year the Rabbit got a bump in displacement to 1.7L. The SOHC 8V inline four had an 8.2:1 compression ratio and was rated at 74 SAE net horsepower. Buyers could opt for a four-speed manual with an overdrive 4th gear or a three-speed automatic.

When Car and Driver put a non-convertible '81 Rabbit with the 1.7L and four-speed manual combo through its paces, they got a zero-to-sixty time of 11.6 seconds and an 18.3 second quarter mile at 71mph. The hardtop ran out of steam at 91 miles per hour and presumably the heavier and less aerodynamic convertible, like this super-clean Mars Red example, would be slightly slower than those numbers across the board.

Base price for a 1981 Rabbit Convertible was $10,100, which is about $36k in current dollars.

This one was photographed in September of 2025 using an Olympus E-3 and a Zuiko Digital 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens.

1990 Cadillac Brougham

After Cadillac dubbed a new full-size transverse-engined front-wheel-drive model the "Fleetwood" for 1985, they tried to keep calling the old RWD car the "Fleetwood Brougham", but two completely different cars with the same name was too confusing, so the old body-on-frame car... so important to the coach trade ...lost the prefix and became just the Brougham in 1987.

The year on this Cotillion White example is sussed by noting the grille, the Premier Vinyl Roof, and the bumper treatment. The '87-'88 had crosshatched grilles, with the vertical slats appearing for '89. The Premier Vinyl Roof, which included surrounds around the rear opera windows, showed up as an option in '88 and became standard in '90. The body-colored aero bumper treatment showed up as part of a light 1990 restyle, a response to the redesigned Lincoln Town Car.

Other cues are the one-piece composite headlamps and the front seat seatbelt anchors mounted on the door frames.

For 1990 buyers could opt for a L05 Chevrolet 5.7L throttle-body injected V-8 making 175 horsepower, but the decklid badge indicates this one has the base 5.0L Chevy with a Rochester Quadrajet carburetor, rated at 140 SAE net ponies.

This one was snapped in September of 2025 using a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens.

1998 Honda Prelude

The fifth generation of Honda's sporty Prelude coupe launched for the 1997 model year. Wheelbase was up by two inches over the previous model, accompanied by a gain of a hundred-ish pounds of curb weight.

However, both the base model and the sportier SH package (for "Super Handling") came with the same 2.2L H22A4 motor driving the front wheels. Featuring a DOHC 16V head and Honda's VTEC variable valve timing, it made 195 SAE net horsepower at 7,000 wailing RPM. It could be paired with either a five-speed manual or, if your soul were dead, a four speed automatic.

The SH version added a funky setup called the Active Torque Transfer System that monitored the steering angle of the front wheels and shunted more torque to the outboard wheel in order to aid with turn-in and tame understeer. This was doubly necessary on the Prelude which carried its engine forward of the axle and thus sported a nose-heavy 63%/37% F-R weight distribution.

When Car and Driver tested a 1997 Prelude SH with the manual transmission, it returned a 7.2 second zero-to-sixty time and managed the quarter mile in 15.6 seconds at 91mph. It topped out at 139 when the motor just couldn't push the air out of the way anymore and circled the skidpad at 0.83g. Price as tested was $26,095 (which comes to $52,522 in today's money).

This 1998 Prelude in White Diamond was photographed in June of 2020 using a Nikon D700 and a 24-85mm f/2.8-4D zoom lens.

1968 Pontiac GTO Convertible

We've had a '68 Goat ragtop on these pages before, in Solar Red. That one apparently had its vacuum-operated headlight doors stuck in the open position which this one does not.

This one also has the optional hood-mounted tachometer. On the other hand, the other one was still wearing its slightly worn original paint job whereas this one's been repainted. It looks like they were aiming for the darker Aegean Blue rather than the lighter Aleutian Blue, but they didn't quite stick the landing.

So it's not concours-quality... who cares? The guy behind the wheel seems pretty happy, and who wouldn't be, tooling around in a droptop GTO?

When Hot Rod Magazine tested a '68 GTO hardtop with the 400 H.O., four-speed,  and a 3.90:1 rear end, they managed a 7.1 second zero-to-sixty time and a 14.3 quarter at 99mph. The zero-to-sixty and quarter mile times are illustrative of a spicy motor and steep rear end in the era of bias-ply rubber. You really needed to drive these things out of the hole with some care.

This one was photographed with a Canon EOS R and a 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens in September of 2025.

1960 Ford Thunderbird Convertible

"Longer! Lower! Wider!" were the hype words in Detroit in the late Fifties and the all-new second generation of Ford Thunderbird that debuted for 1958 lived up to the hype. The new four-seater T-bird stretched a full two feet longer nose-to-tail than the outgoing '57 two-seater.

It was also four inches wider than the previous car, and only an inch taller, despite having a much roomier interior. This was made possible by being the first Thunderbird to utilize unibody construction, with the driveline tucked up into the chassis by means of a large tunnel running between the seats.

The wheelbase grew commensurately, by almost a foot. Where the two-seater 'Birds had a 102" wheelbase (identical to the Corvette's), the new one measured 113" between the axles. Suspension was coil springs and unequal length A-arms up front and a live axle mounted to coil-sprung trailing arms in the rear.

Also keeping pace with the current trends in Detroit, the new Thunderbird sported a snout with quad headlamps.

The car could be had as a hardtop coupe or a convertible, like the Raven Black 1960 example in the photo. The base engine was the 352 cubic inch Thunderbird Special FE big block V-8. With a four-barrel carburetor, dual exhausts, and a 10.2:1 compression ratio, this motor was rated at 300 SAE gross horsepower, and could be backed with a column-shifted three-speed manual (with an optional automatic overdrive 4th gear) or a three-speed Cruise-O-Matic.

Optionally for 1960 was Ford's 430 cubic inch MEL (Mercury Edsel Lincoln) big block, making 350 horsepower. It was only offered with the Cruise-O-Matic.

The rear suspension was simplified to a conventional leaf spring setup for the '60 model year as well.

Motor Life's test 1960 Thunderbird convertible, with the 352 and slushbox, ran to sixty in 9.1 seconds and returned between 10 and 14 miles per gallon.

This one was photographed using a Sony a700 and 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom lens in May of 2025.

1970 Dodge Dart Swinger 340

The 1970 model year was the fourth one for the fourth generation of Dodge's compact Dart. For that year it got a light styling refresh, mostly to bring the front and rear styling closer to the then-current brand look.

The two basic trim levels were the budget Swinger, named to appeal to younger, hepper buyers, and the Custom which came with more standard equipment, like dual horns and deep-pile carpets. The Custom could also be ordered as a GT to get a floor shifter and bucket seats.

The budget performance option, though, was the Swinger 340.

While more pedestrian Darts could be had with 198- or 225-cube Slant Sixes or the redoubtable 318 cubic inch LA small block V-8, the Swinger 340, as the name implied, came only with Mopar's giant-killer 340 c.i.d. small block, ridiculously underrated at 275 SAE gross horsepower. Standard transmission was a three-speed manual with a floor shifter, or an optional four-speed manual or the rugged TorqueFlite automatic. Also stock on the Swinger 340 were an unsilenced high-flow air cleaner, a Rallye suspension with heavy-duty torsion bars and springs and a factory sway bar, as well as power front disc brakes.

 The SubLime paint, blacked-out hood, and hood pins were all extra cost options on this car. When Car and Driver tested a '69 Dart GTS with the 340, a four-speed, and the 3.91:1 rear end, it dashed to sixty in six seconds flat and polished off the quarter in 14.4 at 99 miles per hour.

This one was photographed with a Nikon D200 and an 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 VR zoom lens in June of 2014.

2013 Ferrari F12berlinetta

The 2012 Geneva Motor Show saw the debut of the replacement for Ferrari's 599 grand tourer, the new F12berlinetta.

Under the hood was an evolution of the 6.0L F140 C V-12 from the 599. The new F140 FC motor received a displacement increase to 6.3L and power swelled commensurately, from 612 ponies to a whopping 730 SAE net horses. This made it, as its predecessor had been when it was launched, the most powerful street-going auto Ferrari had offered to that date.

The V-12 was backed with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and allowed the 3,895 pound coupe to lay down some mind-blowing performance numbers. Road & Track's test car launched to sixty in a 3.1-second eyeblink, and smashed the quarter in 11.1 seconds at 128mph through the traps.

All this godlike power could be yours for the low, low price of $323,338 (or $447k in today's money).

This one was photographed using a Fujifilm X-T2 and a Fujinon XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR zoom lens

1982 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce

While the second generation of Alfa's Spider for North America got SPICA mechanical fuel injection, it got a rep for unreliability and, as emissions controls tightened, power levels plummeted to the point that it barely topped a hundred ponies even when you could get it running.

The third generation of the Spider debuted for the 1982 model, now with Bosch electronic fuel injection. This bumped the motor's output up to 111 SAE net horsepower and dropped zero-to-sixty times back into the mid-high eight second range again.

The model year of the one in the picture is fixed by the presence of the "Spider Veloce" badges on the front fenders and the absence of the black rubber chin and decklid spoilers, as well as the slimmer front bumper without the large center escutcheon that appeared for the 1983 model year.

This now was photographed in August of 2025 using a Sony a700 and a 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom lens.

1965 Ford F100

The fourth generation of Ford's F-series pickup trucks were produced from the 1960 through the 1966 model years. The 1965 models, like the faded Light Turquoise F100 in the photo above, saw an entirely new frame slid under the existing body design, featuring a "Twin I-Beam" swing-axle front suspension in place of the previous solid axle. This basic chassis would remain in use through the '79 model year.

For '65, the F100 could be had with two flavors of inline six: a 150hp (SAE Gross) 240 cubic inch inline six, or a longer stroke 300cid version of the same motor rated at 170 horsepower. The V-8 badge on the hood indicates this one has the 208hp 352-cube "FE"-series big block V-8, which was the most powerful engine that had been offered in an F-series truck up to that time.

This one was photographed using a Canon EOS-1D Mark III and an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens in April of 2024.

1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner

The "hardtop" body style debuted in 1949, when Buick added a graceful, B-pillarless roof to their convertible body. It was welded in place and didn't fold, but it gave the car sleek lines and the style was rapidly copied by other makers, including Ford.

For the 1957 model year, Ford went the rest of the industry one better by introducing the Skyliner convertible. On the new Skyliner, the metal one-piece roof would retract into the trunk under its own power for that open air motoring experience. 

If foul weather threatened, just pull over, push a button, and the trunk lid would hinge upward and the roof would reverse its ballet. Once it was in place and the power-operated screws at each corner had snugged it down, a red light on the dash would go out, indicating that you were ready to motor on, snug and dry.

Base engine was the 292 cubic inch Thunderbird V-8, rated at 212 gross horsepower. Optionally, a buyer could order the Thunderbird Special 312 cubic inch V-8, which made 245 horsepower, or go for the top-of-the-line 300hp Thunderbird Supercharged 312 V-8. All three engines could be had with a three-speed manual, with or without a manually operated overdrive, or the Fordomatic three-speed slushbox.

Motor Life tested a 1957 Fairlane 500 sedan with the 245hp Thunderbird Special 312 V-8 and recorded a 10.1 second zero-to-sixty time.

The Flame Red and Inca Gold one in the photos is local to the neighborhood. The top two photos were snapped in September of 2022 using a Nikon D800 and a 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens, while the lower one was taken with a Canon EOS 7D and an EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS zoom lens in November of 2022.