1996 Buick Skylark Custom

Buick used the Skylark name on its midsize cars from 1964 through 1972. These were on the same GM A-body platform as the Chevrolet Chevelle and Oldsmobile Cutlass. After a brief hiatus, the nameplate returned on the smaller 1975 Skylark, which rode on the Chevy Nova/Pontiac Ventura X-body platform.

It made the jump to front-wheel drive in 1980 as the Buick flavor of the Chevy Citation and then spent the final years of the Eighties as an N-body compact, along with the Pontiac Grand Am and Olds Cutlass Calais.

For 1992, the fifth generation Skylark appeared, riding on a stretched and widened N-body. It had a weird sort of "beaked" chrome grille and came with either a SOHC version of the Olds Quad4 motor or the 3.3L GM corporate V6. The styling was weird and somewhat off-putting to Buick's normally stodgy buying demographic and so for 1996 it received a mid-cycle styling refresh with a more conventional snout, like the Bright White 1996-'98 Skylark Custom sedan in the picture above.

Available in two trim levels, Custom and Limited (the slow-selling Gran Sport got the ax), the refreshed Skylark had a more conventional dashboard, shared with its Olds Achieva stablemate, to match the more conventional nose. The base motor was now the 150bhp DOHC 2.3L balance shaft equipped GM corporate version of the Quad4, and either trim level could be had with a 160bhp GM 3100 pushrod V-6.

The Skylark name was retired after the 1998 model year, as was the entire idea of a compact sedan offering from Buick, unless you count the short-lived Verano model of the 2010s.

This one was photographed with a Fujifilm X-T2 and XF 16-80mm f/4 R WR OIS zoom lens in May of 2024.

1969 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ

Since its debut in the early Sixties, the Grand Prix nameplate had been used for Pontiacs large sporty coupes on the GM B-platform, analogous to the Buick Wildcat and Chevy Impala SS. For the '69 model year, however, Pontiac boss John Z. DeLorean commissioned an all-new Grand Prix.

This one rode on a stretched version of the midsize A-body platform, called the G-body, and was Pontiac's entry into the soon-to-blossom "personal luxury coupe" market. (The next model year, Chevy would launch the Monte Carlo on the same chassis.)

With front bucket seats, a console with a floor shifter, and a cockpit-like instrument panel that oriented the gauges and controls toward the driver, it fit in with the sporty image that DeLorean wanted Pontiac portraying.

Available in base or sportier "SJ" trim levels, powerplants ranged from a 2-barrel 265 horsepower 400cid V-8 to a snarling 390 horsepower 428 H.O. V-8 with a four barrel and dual exhausts.

The Castilian Bronze 1969 Grand Prix SJ in the photos has the 428 H.O. and was actually an original example with less than 14,000 miles on the clock being sold at the Mecum auction ony a mile or two down the road.

Car and Driver tested a 1969 Grand Prix with the regular, non-H.O. 428, which developed 370 SAE gross horsepower. Their test car had a 3-speed automatic and a 3.23:1 rear end and managed a 6.9 second zero-to-sixty time and a 15.3 second quarter mile at 91 miles per hour, topping out at a buck twenty. Price as tested was $5,674, which was pretty spendy for the era, more than you'd pay for a contemporary Hemi Charger.

This one was photographed in May of 2022 using a Nikon D7100 and a 16-80mm f/2.8-4E zoom lens.

2001 Aston Martin Vanquish

Launched in the early Nineties when FoMoCo owned both Jaguar and Aston Martin, the DB7 actually began life as a replacement for the Jag XJS.

Canceled, then revived as an Aston, the big 2+2 grand tourer actually rode on a chassis derived from the one that underpinned the the V-12 coupe from Coventry. The first ones to hit dealerships for the 1994 model year were powered by a supercharged version of Jaguar's AJ6 3.2L inline six, rated at 335 SAE net horsepower.

For 1999, the coupe got its styling zhuzhed up a bit, the Vantage tag appended to its name, and a honking big 5.9L DOHC 48-valve Aston Martin V-12 shoehorned into the engine bay. This motor belted out 420 horsepower and made the DB7 Vantage a seriously fast car, even if its two-ton curb weight kept it from being blindingly quick.

In 2001, Aston launched its new halo car, the Vanquish, which looked for all the world like a steroid-enhanced DB7 V12 Vantage, distinguished externally mostly by the bulging haunches needed to enclose the monstrous 285/40 ZR 19 rear tires, but under the skin had a completely unique aluminum chassis with a central carbon fiber backbone, developed with input from Lotus.

Intended to go head-to-head against the Ferrari 550 Maranello, the Vanquish was a limited production (300 cars/yr) vehicle with an astronomical price tag and performance to match.

The V12 in the Vanquish was bumped up to 460bhp and zero-to-sixty times were in the mid fours with an honest 180mph top speed.

New, that Bowland Black coupe in the photo would have set the buyer back an eye-watering $235,600, or more than four hundred long in today's coinage. It was photographed with an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens in October of 2024.

1973 Jaguar XK-E Roadster

For 1971 Jaguar introduced the Series 3 E-Types (known as the XK-E over here). Standard power steering, an optional slushbox in all models, and improved disc brakes at each corner were among the changes, but they weren't the ones that set tongues to wagging.

Externally the car sprouted newer, uglier bumpers with rubber overriders. To comply with US impact standards, cars sold in North America had grotesque, chunky rubber blocks affixed, to the front end in 1973 and both fore and aft for '74 and on.

While a few were still sold with the 4.2L DOHC inline six, the big news under the hood was Jaguar's new V-12. This was a 5.3L (326 cubic inch) DOHC motor that was initially intended to be fuel injected but debuted with four Zenith-Stromberg sidedraft carburetors instead. Stateside, this '73 Pale Primrose drophead two-seater would have had a 7.8:1 compression ratio and been rated at 241 SAE net horsepower.

Road & Track tested a 1973 convertible with a 4-speed manual, and the V-12 pushed the 3,450 pound ragtop to a top speed of 138 miles per hour. Acceleration was reasonable for the dawn of the Malaise Era, with a zero-to-sixty time of eight seconds and a 16.2 quarter at 89 miles per hour, and the big cat circled the skidpad at 0.73g, comparable to the contemporary Corvette or 911. (R&T lamented that the loss of compression ratio made the '73 noticeably slower than the '72.)

Base price back in '73 was $8,475 and the total for the magazine's test car, including $521 for air conditioning, was $9,665. That's $68,635 in constant dollars, but at the time it was a Corvette and a half, or half a Ferrari Dino.

This example was photographed with a Canon EOS M and EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM zoom lens in May of 2019.

1985 Chevrolet Corvette

The fourth generation of the Corvette appeared as a 1984 model (after a Corvetteless '83 MY at Chevy) and it was long overdue. The outgoing C3 'Vette, which had been around since 1968, was itself riding on a platform that was essentially a heavily refreshed C2 Sting Ray, which dated back to 1963.

The C4 was all-new for '84, except it carried over the L83 Cross-Fire Injection 350 small block V-8 from its 1982 predecessor, so named because it had twin diagonally-opposite throttle body fuel injectors mounted to the intake manifold. The chassis, brakes, and big 16" rims and Goodyear Gatorback tires promised big performance, but the 205hp L83 had a hard time delivering.

It fell to the 1985 model year, like this Black example, to bring back performance and put an end to the Malaise Era, and it did it with a bang. We can tell it's an '85 by the combination of turbine wheels with black painted centers and the "TUNED-PORT INJECTION" badging on the front fenders.

Under the hood of the '85 Corvette was the L98 350 small block, fitted with Chevy's new Tuned Port Injection setup, which featured equal-length runners sprouting from a central plenum and individual fuel squirters for each intake port.

The new intake setup raised the output of the 5.7L small block Chevy to 230 SAE net horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque, which pushed Corvette performance numbers to levels that hadn't been seen since the demise of the big blocks in 1973.

Car and Driver tested a brace of '85 Corvettes, a base coupe with the 4-speed automatic and a car with the Z51 suspension package and the 4+3 speed Doug Nash gearbox. (The funky four-speed manual with an overdrive unit bolted to its ass end was because Chevy didn't have a 5-speed transmission that would hold up to the L98's torque output.)

The manual car ran zero to sixty in six seconds flat and did the quarter in 14.4 at 95 mph, while the automatic car cracked off a 5.7 second 0-60 and flirted with the thirteens in the quarter, smoking it in 14.1 seconds at 97 miles per hour. Both 'Vettes ran to an honest 150, too. C/D hadn't recorded Corvette acceleration numbers like that since the last time they tested a 454 Stingray back in 1972.

On top of that, the optional 3.07 rear end let the motor get closer to the meat of the powerband in top gear, enabling that 150mph top speed while still giving EPA Highway numbers in the low 20s. The new Corvettes also cornered at 0.84g and stopped from 70 in 182 feet.

These new TPI Corvettes out-accelerated the Porsche 928 or Ferrari 308 at a fraction of the price. The Malaise Era was over.

The one in the photo was captured with an Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens in November of 2024.

2001 Jaguar S-Type 3.0

Reaction to the FoMoCo era at Jaguar sure seems to be mixed among enthusiasts. On the one hand, it's undeniable that the infusion of cash in tooling and engineering plus the pooling of engineering know-how with Ford resulted in some much-needed updating of powerplants and reliability at the old British marque.

On the other, the addition of some lower-tier cars to the Jag lineup, ones which shared mechanical underpinnings with lesser FoMoCo products at that, does cause serious Jaaaag fans to cock a serious snook.

Still, sales of cars like the Carnival Red S-Type in the photo above helped pad profits and finance the halo cars farther up the Coventry hierarchy.

The S-type rode on Ford's rear wheel drive DEW98 platform, which also formed the basis for the Lincoln LS and the reborn eleventh generation Ford Thunderbird.

For the S-type in the U.S. market, available powerplants were the Jaguar AJ 4.2L DOHC V-8, one of the last in-house Jag motor designs prior to the purchase by Ford. Most, however, seem to have the base motor, which is the 240 horsepower AJ30 3.0L V-6, Jaguar's name for the Ford Duratec six.

This one was photographed in August of 2024, using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and a Panasonic 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens.

1978 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

When I was younger, there was a sociocultural demarcating line between urban/suburban and exurban/rural America that I took to calling the "Camaro Line" after something that happened in my mid-twenties

In 1994 I was driving a 1979 Datsun 280ZX 2+2 and, though I'd grown up in the near-side 'burbs of Atlanta, Georgia, I'd gotten a job working at a pawn shop in the city of Cumming, in then-semi-rural Forsyth County. When a cool in-dash CD head unit came off pawn at the shop, I scarfed it up and called the local car stereo joint to get the bits I needed to put it in my car, which I told them was a "'79 Z-car."

I showed up and found a kit waiting for me..for a '79 Z28. Lesson learned: "Z-car" means different things in different places.

The regular production option code known as "RPO Z28", which defined performance Chevrolet Camaros in the early Seventies, had been discontinued for the 1975 model year in the wake of the first gas crisis.

After a two year hiatus, it returned as its own sub-model of the Camaro for 1977. The '77 Camaro Z28 was differentiated cosmetically from the base Camaro Sport Coupe by tape stripes and decals, but for 1978 the design got a thorough refresh, as seen on the Dark Camel Metallic example in the photo.

A sleek urethane nose cone of the type that its sister F-body, the Pontiac Firebird, had been using for years replaced the painted metal bumpers of the earlier car. The hood got a prominent NACA duct (fake) and the front fenders sprouted heat extraction gills (functional) and it all added up to a businesslike look.

Under the hood scoop was the trusty Chevrolet LM1 4-barrel 350 cubic inch small block V-8, which in various states of tune powered half everything in Chevy's '70s lineup. In the '78 Z28 is had a hotter cam and an 8.2:1 compression ratio and was rated at 185 SAE net horsepower.

In a period test of a 4-speed Z28 with a 3.73:1 Positraction rear end in the March '78 issue, Car and Driver extracted a respectable-for-the-Malaise-Era 7.3 second zero-to-sixty and a best quarter mile run of sixteen seconds flat at 91 mph. Top speed was measured at 123 miles per hour, and the power front discs and rear drums hauled the 3,560 pound Camaro to a halt from 70 in 181 feet.

Base price for a '78 Z28 was $5,604, and C/D's test car added optional 15" alloy wheels, the Posi rear, a heavy duty radiator, and some cosmetic and comfort stuff to bring the as-tested price to $6,819, which comes to about thirty-three grand in today's coin.

The one in the photo was snapped with a Nikon Coolpix S6500 in August of 2014.

1970 Buick Electra 225

We've already peeped a 1970 Buick Electra Deuce and a Quarter, but it was a Burnished Saddle Iridescent ragtop, while this Sherwood Green Metallic example is a hardtop coupe.

As noted, 1970 marked the final year for the third generation of the Electra and the first year for the 455 cubic inch version of Buick's V-8.

That big motor would move the car with relative alacrity. Motor Trend tested a '72 Electra coupe, whose 455 made only 315 gross horsepower (250 net) due to having the compression ratio reduced to 8.5:1 so as to run on regular gas, and it still managed a 9.5 second zero-to-sixty and a 16.6 quarter at 86 mph. This 1970 would have had  370 hp motor with a 10.0:1 squeeze demanding premium leaded gas and been correspondingly a few ticks quicker.

This one was photographed with a Nikon D800 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens in November of 2021. 

1966 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe

The 1966 model year was the second one for the fourth generation of Chevrolet's Impala nameplate, and some notable exterior styling differences set it apart from the previous year's model.

The lower opening of the grille was shrink and the pattern of the grille itself was changed. Around back, the six circular taillights, which had been a hallmark of full-size Chevys for most of a decade by that point, were replaced with six rectangular ones.

The '66 Impala also had chrome side molding to protect from door dings but at some point this hardtop coupe has had that removed and the mounting holes filled.

Mechanically, full synchromesh finally trickled down to even the base three-speed column-shifted gearbox. The base motor remained the Turbo-Fire 283 small block V-8 with a two-barrel carb, rated at 195 SAE gross horsepower, with the 155 horsepower 250 cubic inch Turbo-Thrift inline six as a credit delete option. 

Optional V-8s included the 220 horsepower 4-barrel version of the 283 as well as the 275-horse Turbo-Fire 327. For real fun, the buyer could opt for big block Turbo-Jet V-8s in the form of the 396, which was rated at 325 SAE gross horsepower, or one of two flavors of the new Chevy 427: the 390-hp L36, with hydraulic lifters and a 10.25:1 compression ratio, or the raucous solid-lifter L72, rated at 425 horses.

In a period test of a 1966 Caprice hardtop with the L36 427 and a 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic and a 2.73:1 rear end, essentially the same car with plusher trim and a different roofline, Motor Trend recorded a 7.9 second zero-to-sixty run and a best quarter mile performance of 16.3 seconds at 88 miles per hour.

The car in the photos was snapped in January of 2020 using a Sony Cyber-shot RX100 point-and-shoot camera.

1969 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

The big bulge in the center of the domed hood on an early third generation Corvette serves the same purpose as black and yellow stripes or rattly tail scales do in the animal kingdom; it's a warning that this is a car with which one should not trifle.

The one-word cursive "Stingray" script on the fenders and the all-black grille inserts tell us that this is a 1969 'Vette, and the "427" on the hood bulge and sewer-pipe-sized side pipes tell us that it is down to party.

For 1969 the absolute tamest 427 that could lurk in the engine bay of this Le Mans Blue coupe with a Bright Blue interior is the L36, with a single four-barrel Rochester Quadrajet, hydraulic lifters, and a 10.25:1 compression ratio, rated at 390 SAE gross horsepower. Opting for the L68 427 got you basically the same juice-lifter engine but with three two-barrel Holley carbs and 400 horsepower.

Next rung up the performance ladder was the solid-lifter, 11.0:1 compression Tri-Power L71, which made 435 ponies, and then there was the gnarly 4-barrel L88 which, despite having the same solid lifters as the L71 as well as a 12.0:1 compression ratio and fresh air induction to boot, mysteriously was only rated at a (completely fabricated) 430 horsepower. 

There was also the semi-mythical all-aluminum ZL1 427, of which only two were sold, and which was also rated at "430" hp. Like the L88, it required 103 octane Sunoco racing gas.

Of the big block '69 Corvettes, something like 10,500 were fitted with the L36, while there were only a couple thousand each of the L68 and L71. Only 116 L88 cars made it off showroom floors and into the wild.

In October of 1968, Car and Driver tested a 1969 Corvette coupe with the L71 Tri-Power motor, Muncie M-22 four-speed close ratio gearbox, side pipes (a $146.70 option!), and optional 3.70:1 Positraction rear end.

The car ripped off a 5.3 second zero-to-sixty run and a 13.8 second quarter mile at 107 mph. Price as tested was $6,573 (or $56,471 in today's dough), which price included almost two grand's worth of options. 

This one was photographed in September of 2021 using a Hasselblad Lunar and Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* 16-70mm f/4 OSS zoom lens. 

1952 Plymouth Cranbrook

Plymouth's initial postwar lineup consisted of the Deluxe, available in short or long wheelbases, topped by the long wheelbase Special Deluxe. For the 1951 model year, refreshed sheet metal and refreshed naming heralded what ad copy called "The New Plymouth".

The short wheelbase Deluxe was replaced with the entry-level Concord while its long wheelbase brother morphed into the Champion. The top of the Plymouth hierarchy was now occupied by the Cranbrook.

While other automakers were starting into their "longer, lower, wider" years, Mopar styling in the early Fifties was still resolutely upright, with tall greenhouses, largely due to the insistence of Chrysler's then chairman, K.T. Keller, that a gentleman should be able to operate a motor vehicle while wearing his hat.

K.T. Keller had a lot to do with the design of Chrysler's vehicles from the time he became president in 1935 until he retired from the presidency in 1950. Whenever mock-ups of new cars were displayed Keller would show up with a hat and two dairy containers in tow. As well, Keller was not a thin man, although not as hefty as George Mason at Nash. Keller would climb into the front seat of each car wearing his hat and jounce around. The stylists would be standing at the sides, watching Keller's hat. For if his hat hit the ceiling, the car's roof line would have to be raised. And he would do the same in the rear. Once that was done, he would open the trunk and put his dairy tanks in and close the lid. If the lid closed, the stylists breathed a sigh of relief. If not, work would begin to raise the trunk line. And now you know why Chrysler's trunks and rooflines were so high through 1954. The 1955 models were the first since the 1937 models not done under Keller.

The '51 and '52 Cranbrooks were powered by Chrysler's 218 cubic inch flathead straight-six, the basic architecture of which dated back to 1924. Installed in the 1952 Cranbrooks, like the Lido Green sedan in the photos, it was rated at 97 SAE gross horsepower, and backed with a column-shifted three-speed manual transmission.

This one was photographed with a Fujifilm X-T2 and an XF 16-80mm f/4 R WR OIS zoom lens in April of 2022.