2003 Saturn Vue

The Saturn division of General Motors had originally been launched as an entirely clean-sheet-of-paper project intended to revamp the way GM looked at building cars. While the corporation had long shared a great deal of componentry among divisions, the Saturn SL sedans and SC coupes were on their own chassis and used their own engines and shared next to nothing with any other division.

The first crack in the foundation was when Saturn added a midsize sedan to the previously compact-only lineup for the 2000 model year. The LS-series sedans used GM corporate four- and six-cylinder motors and shared the GM2900 platform with the Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3 & 9-5.

For 2002 Saturn jumped into the booming compact SUV market with the Vue, on the all-new unibody Theta platform. It had the platform to itself initially, but it was soon enough sharing it with the Chevy Equinox, Pontiac Torrent, and Suzuki XL7.

For the first few years the Vue could be had with the base 143hp 2.2L Ecotec four cylinder or an Opel-designed iron block 3.0L V-6 rated at 181 ponies. 

Car and Driver tested an AWD 2002 V-6 Vue with the 5-speed automatic and clocked an 8.4 second zero-to-sixty time and a 16.6 quarter at 83mph.

The Electric Blue example in the photo was snapped with a Canon EOS RP and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens in July 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.

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.

1986 Chevrolet Suburban C20 Silverado

The seventh generation of Chevy's Suburban nameplate stretched from 1973 all the way to 1991 with only minor changes every few years. Going by the cosmetics, this one could be an '85-'87 and it's the Light Blue Metallic and Frost White two-tone paint job that has me leaning towards a 1986 model.

Not a diesel, so it's got one of two carbureted V-8 options: the 5.7L motor making 165hp or the 7.4L 240-horsepower big-block. 

This one was photographed in May of 2026 using a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS zoom lens.

1970 Ford Ranchero

Ford's Ranchero began life as a 1957 full-size Ford two-door wagon with an open bed where the wagon's cargo compartment would have been; sort of a Sedan Delivery on the half shell.

For 1960 the nameplate was moved to the compact Falcon line before settling on the midsize Fairlane in '66. The 1970 model year marked the fifth generation of the Ranchero, which was now a Torino-based ute.

There was now a new Ranchero Squire, which had a personal luxury coupe style interior and faux woodgrain paneling on the sides and tailgate. Continuing over from the previous model year were the performance-oriented Ranchero GT, the midline Ranchero 500, and the bottom-of-the-lineup base Ranchero, like the Candyapple Red one in the pictures.

The basic Torino was very basic, with clean-it-out-with-a-garden-hose vinyl interior and rubber floor mats. The base powerplant was Ford's undersquare 250 cubic inch inline six, rated at 150 gross horsepower, and it came stock with a three-on-the-tree manual.

This one was photographed in July of 2015 using a Nikon D1X and 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens.

1972 Ford F-250 Custom

1972 was the last model year for this fifth generation of Ford's F-series trucks. They'd been released as 1967 models and got a mild styling refresh for '70, but the new sixth generation trucks were already waiting in the wings.

This one has a blacked-out '71 grille and aftermarket striping over its Grabber Blue paint.

The lone drinking straw exhaust outlet makes me suspect it has the base motor, a 4.9L (300 cid) inline six rated which had been rated at 165 SAE gross horsepower, but was now advertised as 119 net ponies.

It was photographed in February of 2026 using a Nikon 1 V1 and a 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 VR zoom lens.

1978 International Harvester Scout II

Spotted at 56th & Illinois while grocery shopping and grabbing a quick Frappuccino from the Starbucks on a September afternoon in 2021 was this 1977-'79 International Harvester Scout II. Fortunately I had a Nikon D7000 wearing a 16-80mm f/2.8-4E VR zoom lens along with me.

The Scout II's can generally be identified by model year according to the grille...up until the '77-'79 models, where the front end trim was the same for three years running. In 1980, they went to rectangular headlamps. In 1981, they were discontinued.

Friend of the blog T. Stahl has commented with amusement on the peculiarly American obsession with specific model years. 

German cars tend to go by generations. For example from the Eighties to the early Aughties, 3-series BMW's went from the E30 to the E36 to the E46. A generation will run for six to ten years, typically, receiving a styling update somewhere in the middle of its lifespan to keep it fresh-looking.

"Model Year" in the US has regulatory implications, but it also used to have a lot more significance as a styling thing.

"The concept of yearly styling updates (a practice adopted from the fashion industry) was introduced to General Motors' range of cars by Alfred P. Sloan in the 1920s. This was an early form of planned obsolescence in the car industry, where yearly styling changes meant consumers could easily discern a car's newness, or lack of it. Other major changes to the model range usually coincided with the launch of the new model year., for example the 1928 model year of the Ford Model A began production in October 1927 and the 1955 model year of the Ford Thunderbird began production in September 1954.

Model year followed with calendar year until the mid 1930s until then president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order to release vehicle model years in the fall of preceding year in order to standardize employment in the automotive industry. The practice of beginning production of next year's model before the end of the year has become a long standing tradition in America."

At its height in postwar America, the new model year launches were a big deal. Dealerships would paper over their windows, the 'longer, lower, wider' new cars would be delivered under tarps and rolled into the showroom by dark of night.

Pretty reliably from the late '40s through to about the early 1980s, enthusiasts of a particular model of American automobile can pinpoint its exact year of manufacture by some sort of cosmetic differences.

This is, of course, a wildly inefficient way to make cars. Post-fuel-crises Detroit, getting clobbered by Japanese imports, generally hewed more closely to the global norm of mid-cycle refreshes on platforms that remained largely unchanged for many years, maybe changing a minor styling detail every couple-three years to keep things fresh.

ETA: If this is correct, the Flame Red color would make it a 1978 model.

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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.

1976 Ford Courier

For the 1972 model year, Ford revived the Courier nameplate, last used on late 1950s sedan delivery vehicles, and slapped it on a rebadged Mazda B1600 pickup truck.

Since the Ranchero had moved from the compact Falcon platform to the midsize Torino, Ford had been without a small and economical open bed cargo vehicle. Since light truck imports were subjected to the 25% "Chicken Tax" tariff, the Courier was imported without a bed in the chassis cab configuration and final assembly was performed domestically.

Under the hood was Mazda's 1800cc SOHC four-cylinder, making 75 horsepower, backed with either a four-speed manual or a three-speed automatic. With the increasing emphasis on fuel economy, they proved popular in the Seventies.

1976 model year Couriers, like this Clair Orange example, were the last year of the first generation trucks and can be distinguished at a glance by the cab aft of the windows, which had received a three inch stretch over the original vehicles.

This one was photographed with a Canon EOS 5DS and an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens in Martinsville, Indiana back in September of 2020.

1952 Chevrolet 3100 1/2-Ton Truck

The 1952 model year was the sixth of Chevrolet's all-new postwar "Advance Design" trucks. The 3100-series, on a 116" wheelbase, was the light-duty variant, rated for a half-ton payload. It could be had as a pickup truck, a sedan delivery, a bare chassis cab, or as the now-famous Carryall Suburban proto-SUV.

The interior was spartan and the floor of the load bed still consisted of wooden boards. The standard transmission was a column-shifted "three-on-the-tree" Synchro-Mesh gearbox, with an optional four-on-the-floor.

Under the hood could be found a Thriftmaster OHV inline six, the latest version of Chevy's prewar "Stovebolt" motor. Displacing 216 cubic inches, it had a single-barrel carburetor, a 6.6:1 compression ratio, and was rated at 92 SAE gross horsepower.

Although crude, if not downright agricultural, by modern standards, these were considered pretty plush and advanced for a truck in their time. This Forester Green example could have been ordered with luxuries like a radio, forced air ventilation, a cigarette lighter, and even a windshield washer operated by a foot pump.

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

1949 Ford F-1

The Ford F-series pickups were launched in 1948, with that first generation being known as the "Bonus-Built" line. They replaced the previous pickups that had been basically carried over from the prewar line of Fords.

Much was made of the new cab, which was roomier, had better visibility, was easier to enter and exit, and generally a better place to spend a work day. So much had been spent developing the new driver's accommodations that it was referred to in ad copy as a "Million-Dollar Cab". Other innovations included telescoping shocks at all four corners (earlier trucks had used cruder lever shocks) and V-8 engines available at every level of truck from the heaviest-duty F-8 all the way down to the ½-ton F-1, like the Fox Red 1949 model in the photo.

Available powerplants for the '49 F-1 dated back to the prewar era, though, being either a 226 cubic inch (3.7L) flathead six making 95 SAE gross horsepower or the classic Ford flathead V-8, which displaced 239 cubes (3.9L) and was rated at 100 horses. Both three- and four-speed manual transmissions were on the menu.

This one was photographed with a Nikon CoolPix P7000 in April of 2015.

1988 Isuzu Trooper II

The Isuzu Trooper II had been on the U.S. market since the early Eighties, and got a light styling refresh for the 1987 model year, most notably getting rectangular headlamp assemblies to replace the old round sealed beams.

It was a rugged SUV with all the off-roading credentials you'd expect to find: a full array of skid plates protecting the vitals, nearly ten inches of ground clearance, five-speed manual backed by a dual-ratio transfer case, self-locking hubs allowed shifting into 4WD on the fly... the works.

Although it's bullying that orange Honda Element in the background just by being parked next to it, though, it's worth remembering that the stock powerplant in the Trooper II was a little weedy.

That's right, this butch-looking Isuzu off-roader had to haul around 3,600 pounds of sheet metal using only a 2.3L SOHC 4ZD1 Isuzu inline-4 putting out 96 SAE net horsepower at a thrashy 4,600 RPM. If you want to go slower, there was an optional 80hp 2.2L turbodiesel four.

Base price in 1987 was $12,999, or roughly $36,600 in today's coinage.

This one was photographed in April of 2025 using an Olympus OM-D E-M5 and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens.

2012 Cadillac Escalade EXT

Launched for the 2002 model year, the EXT version of Cadillac's Escalade luxury SUV was intended to compete with the first iteration of the Lincoln Blackwood. While the Blackwood fizzled after a single model year, having sold fewer than 3,500 units, the Escalade EXT did well enough to get continued.

In fact, the Cadillac of pickup trucks did well enough to get a second generation for the 2007 model year.

The new styling featured an even more massive chrome grille, with a rodeo belt buckle sized Caddy badge front and center. Only mild styling changes to trim bits followed over the next several years.

For 2012 the powerplant was the L94 version of GM's Vortec 6200 6.2L V-8, interesting for being the first mass produced pushrod motor with variable valve timing. It belted out 403 SAE net horsepower, which was ample enough to let even a nearly three ton SUV get out of its own way. The L94 differed from the earlier L92 only in having Active Fuel Management, which could shut off cylinders when cruising under light throttle load. Given Cadillac's previous experience with a more primitive version of the same concept, you can see why they'd pick a vague circumlocution to call its reboot.

When Motor Trend tested a 2007 Escalade EXT with the L92, the enormous land barge nevertheless managed a 6.5 second lunge to sixty and a 15.1 quarter at 92.5 through the traps. Respectable numbers for a vehicle that could have its own ZIP code.

This Radiant Silver Metallic 2012 model is from the second-to-last year of the EXT, which was discontinued after only 1,972 of the luxotrucks crossed the curb at Caddy stores.

It was photographed with an Olympus E-510 and a Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens in November of 2021.

1974 Toyota Land Cruiser

The FJ40 version of the heavy duty Toyota Land Cruiser was produced, almost unchanged, from 1960 through 1984, which is incredible longevity for a single generation of vehicle. If you got driven home from the hospital as an infant in one during the Kennedy administration, you could have bought one that looked just like it when you graduated college while Reagan was president.

Oh, sure, the new one would have had front disc brakes, a factory roll bar, the vent windows would have been deleted, and the grille/headlight bezel would have been squarer, but it would have been essentially identical.

This one's been resto-modded heavily enough that it's hard to be certain of the exact model year, but the rear lift gate, rather than a pair of full-height barn doors, combined with the presence of MVSS '68 compliant side marker lights, makes me guess it's somewhere between '69 and '74. (That instrument panel, for instance, is completely aftermarket.)

For 1974, the FJ40 would have had Toyota's 3.9L F engine under the hood, a torquey undersquare lump of a pushrod inline six with a 7.8:1 compression ratio that allowed it to run on garbage gasoline from whatever shady seller you stumbled across while roaming around the outback. It made 138 SAE net horsepower and grunted out 215 lb/ft of torque at only 2200 RPM.

This Freeborn Red example was photographed in April of 2025 using an Olympus PEN E-P5 and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-45mm f/4 PRO zoom lens.

2007 Lincoln Mark LT

For pretty much all my life, I've heard heavily-optioned pickup trucks referred to as "Cowboy Cadillacs". When I worked at a Chevy dealership back in the late Eighties, when the GMT400 trucks were still shiny and new, the most expensive vehicles on the lot weren't Corvettes but rather Silverados where someone had gone a little crazy with the options list.

Shortly after American manufacturers stuck a toe in the luxury SUV market at the close of the previous millennium with the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, the temptation to actually take a stab at a luxury pickup truck became overwhelming. The profit margin could be enormous, since the basic platform was amortized by the sale of a bajillion plain white wrapper work trucks to the contractors, tradesmen, and farmhands of the land.

Sure enough, 2002 saw Cadillac bring the Escalade EXT, basically a gold-plated Chevy Avalanche, to market and Lincoln launched the Blackwood, a gussied-up F-150 Supercrew. The Blackwood only sold 3,300ish copies and was discontinued after only the one model year, but Lincoln decided to take another run at the concept in 2006 with the Mark LT. (Presumably this stood for Luxury Truck, Lincoln not yet having succumbed to the fascination with alphanumeric model designators from which they suffered through the 2010s.)

Available in either 4WD, like the basic Black one in the photo, or 2WD configurations, the only powertrain offered was the 5.4L Triton V-8 backed by a four-speed automatic. The 5.4L Triton was the SOHC 3-valve-per-cylinder variant, making 300 horsepower and 365 lb-ft of torque. That motor was a little overwhelmed by nearly three tons of truck, requiring 8.8 seconds to haul 5,900 pounds of Mark LT to sixty, according to Car and Driver's test of a 2007 model. The quarter mile took 16.7 seconds at 83 mph, and the governor shut off the fun at 101.

Price as tested was $48,995, which comes to about $75,400 in today's dough.

While sales started off encouraging, they went off a cliff after the 2007 model year with the onset of the Great Recession and Lincoln axed its second attempt at a truck after selling less than 200 of the 2009 models. They haven't tried again since.

The one in the photo was snapped in August of 2021 using a Nikon D200 and a 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5D zoom lens.

1971 Chevrolet C10 Cheyenne

The second generation of Chevrolet's C/K pickup trucks, launched for 1967, received a mid-cycle refresh for the 1971 model year. The most immediately noticeable change was the full-width eggcrate grille and the double horizontal side marker lights.

Hardware-wise, front disc brakes became standard on the light duty pickups. The 396 cubic inch Turbo-Jet big block was replaced as the top motor by the 402 cube (sold as a 400). The Cheyenne, new for '71, was the top model, positioned above the Custom and Custom Deluxe, and could be had with such niceties as bucket seats and a center console.

The base motors were the 250 High Torque inline six or the 307 two-barrel V-8, rated at 110 and 135 SAE Net horsepower, respectively. Optional motors included a 292 cubic inch inline six making 130 horsepower, the aforementioned big block, which was rated at 240 horses, or the four-barrel 350 small block putting out 190 ponies. According to the fender badges, the 350 is what's under the hood of this Dark Blue (they saved the cool name for the color, "Fathom Blue", for passenger cars) '71 model.

The '71 and '72 were nearly identical but you can tell this is the earlier of the two by the fact that the rearview mirror is attached to the cab roof rather than glued to the windshield.

This one was photographed in October of 2023 using a Nikon D800 and a 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens.

1986 Toyota Land Cruiser

The FJ60 generation of the Toyota Land Cruiser introduced for the '80s had a more civilized interior than its FJ50-series predecessors. Niceties such as a tilt steering wheel and intermittent wipers were standard and you could even get air conditioning.

It still had the rugged ladder frame with enclosed box-section frame rails and 4-wheel drive with a standard four-speed manual transmission and two-speed transfer case.

Power was provided by the carbureted 4.2L 2F overhead valve inline six. Output was a mere 125 SAE net horsepower at 3600 rpm, mostly because the compression ratio was only 7.8:1, the better to be able to run on whatever garbage gasoline was available when you were safariing way out past where Jesus left His sandals.

MotorWeek got an '89 model to sixty in 14.2 seconds and managed the quarter in just under twenty, but nobody buys these things to drag race.

This Blue one was photographed with a Canon EOS 7D and EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS zoom lens in April of 2023.

1982 Jeep Scrambler CJ-8

Long before the Gladiator, Jeep offered a pickup version of their keystone off-roader in the form of the Scrambler.

Essentially a CJ-7 with the wheelbase given a ten inch stretch to 103.5" and a removable fiberglass half-cab fitted, the CJ-8 debuted in 1981 as an '82 model.

Billed as "America's import pickup fighter" by the manufacturer, the 1982 Scrambler could be had in regular, SR Sport, and SL Sport versions. 

The base motor was the 151 cubic inch OHV "Iron Duke" inline four cylinder, sourced from GM, and rated at 84 SAE net horsepower. Buyers could opt for the AMC 258 cube inline six, which bumped power output to 98 horsepower. The standard transmission was a 4-speed manual, with a 5-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic with locking torque converter optional.

The Sun Yellow one in the photos is obviously well-loved and cared for.

The top photo was taken with a Nikon D2X and 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 VR zoom lens in August of 2021, while the lower photo was snapped in October of the same year, using a Nikon D800 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens.

1970 Ford F100 Custom

Ford's F-series trucks got a mid-cycle refresh for the 1970 model year. The bottom end of the lineup was the Custom, like this Raven Black example. Above that was the Sport Custom, the Ranger, and the Ranger XLT.

The F-100 could be had with a 6½ or 8 foot bed and in two- or four-wheel-drive configurations. The standard powerplant was the 240 cubic inch OHV inline six, making 150 horsepower, and the bigger 300 cube six, rated at 165 horsepower was also available.

The V-8 choices for 1970 consisted of the 302 V-8, with 205 horses, the 360 cube FE big block, rated at 215 SAE gross horsepower, and the 390 FE motor pumping out 255 ponies. All were capable of running on regular gasoline. The base gearbox was a 3-speed manual, with a four-on-the-floor and the 3-speed Ford Cruise-O-Matic as extra cost options.

Pretty cool seeing a half-century old pickup truck still out putting in a day's work.

The '70 F100 Custom in the picture was photographed with a Fujifilm X-T2 and XF 16-80mm f/4 R WR OIS zoom lens in June of 2021.

1979 Ford Ranchero 500

Although the El Camino is the better known of the two, it was actually introduced in the 1959 model year as a response to the Ford Ranchero, which had been on the market since 1957. The Ranchero started out as basically a full-size "sedan delivery"-style two-door Ford wagon with an open truck bed where the wagon's enclosed cargo bay would normally be.

From 1960 to 1965 the Ranchero name was moved to an open-bed version of the Ford Falcon, before returning to the midsize Fairlane for 1966. It stayed married to the midsize Ford as that moved from Fairlane to Torino in '68 and finally to the LTD II for the seventh generation of the Ranchero in 1977.

Thanks to its LTD II genetics, it had a formal snout with an upright grille and stacked rectangular quad headlamps.

The two-tone Light Medium Blue over Midnight Blue Metallic paint marks this as a Ranchero 500, which was the base version for 1979. You could also get the Ranchero Squire, with faux wood paneling like a station wagon, and the Ranchero GT with flashy decal stripes. The original buyer also sprung for the dual sport mirrors in their aero housings, rather than the standard single side mirror.

Under the hood would be a two-barrel 302 or 351M V-8, producing 133 and 151 SAE net horsepower, respectively. The only transmission available was Ford's FMX 3-speed automatic.

While its arch rival, the El Camino, would continue on into the 1980s, the end of the road for the Ranchero came at the end of the '79 model year.

This one was photographed in April of 2015 using a Nikon Coolpix P7000. It had 30,000 one-owner miles and was for sale for $4,500. The original base price in 1979 was $5,866, or the equivalent of $25,345 in constant dollars.