Classic Car Encyclopedia

Chevrolet Camaro

1967–1981

Chevrolet's answer to the Mustang that became an icon in its own right.

Chevrolet Corvette

1953–1982

America's only true sports car, built in fiberglass since day one.

Chevrolet Chevelle

1964–1977

The muscle car that peaked with the most powerful engine ever offered in a production American car.

Chevrolet Nova

1962–1979

Lightweight, simple, and capable of handling big-block power — the drag racer's favorite Chevy.

Chevrolet Impala

1958–1976

Chevrolet's flagship full-size — the best-selling car in America and a cultural icon.

Ford Mustang

1964–1973

The original pony car — sold 400,000 units in its first year and never looked back.

Ford Thunderbird

1955–1971

The original personal luxury car — and the most beautiful Ford ever built.

Ford Torino

1968–1976

Ford's mid-size muscle car — faster than its reputation and undervalued by the market.

Dodge Charger

1966–1978

The most recognizable American muscle car — made famous in Bullitt and The Dukes of Hazzard.

Dodge Challenger

1970–1974

Built wider than any competitor to fit the HEMI — and it shows.

Dodge Dart

1960–1976

The lightweight Mopar compact — what it lacks in glamour it makes up for in performance per dollar.

Plymouth Barracuda

1964–1974

Technically the first pony car — and with a HEMI, one of the most valuable.

Plymouth Road Runner

1968–1980

The no-frills muscle car — all engine, minimal luxury, licensed beep-beep horn included.

Pontiac GTO

1964–1974

The original muscle car — John DeLorean put a 389 in a mid-size and changed everything.

Pontiac Firebird

1967–1981

The Trans Am made it famous — Burt Reynolds made it a legend.

Buick Riviera

1963–1973

GM's most elegant design — Bill Mitchell's masterpiece.

Buick Skylark

1964–1972

The Gran Sport — Buick's muscle car sleeper with Nailhead power.

Oldsmobile 4-4-2

1964–1980

Named for its spec — four-barrel, four-speed, dual exhaust — and built to back it up.

Oldsmobile Cutlass

1961–1988

The best-selling car in America in the 1970s — stylish, affordable, and underappreciated.

Chevrolet Monte Carlo

1970–1977

Personal luxury with a muscle car heart — the SS454 is one of the most underrated big-blocks.

Chevrolet El Camino

1959–1987

Half car, half truck — with SS454 power, all muscle.

Chevrolet Bel Air

1955–1957

The Tri-Five — America's most recognized classic car and the debut of the small-block V8.

Ford Galaxie

1959–1974

Ford's full-size NASCAR warrior — the 427 Galaxie dominated the superspeedways.

Ford Fairlane

1962–1970

Ford's mid-size sleeper — the 427 Fairlane is one of the rarest muscle cars ever built.

Ford Falcon

1960–1970

The compact that launched the Mustang — and the Sprint V8 made it more than a grocery getter.

Ford Ranchero

1957–1979

America's first modern car-truck hybrid — and with a 428 Cobra Jet, one of the fastest.

Ford Bronco

1966–1977

Ford's original off-road icon — the first-gen Bronco is now one of the hottest collector vehicles in America.

Dodge Coronet

1965–1976

The B-body backbone — parent to the Super Bee and the HEMI R/T that beat everything at the strip.

Dodge Super Bee

1968–1971

Dodge's budget muscle bomb — same performance as the Charger at a lower sticker price.

Dodge Viper

1992–2017

American excess distilled into 8 liters and no excuses.

Dodge Polara

1960–1973

Full-size Dodge with race-car roots — the Max Wedge cars were the terror of the drag strip.

Plymouth GTX

1967–1971

The Road Runner's upscale twin — premium muscle with standard 440 Magnum power.

Plymouth Superbird

1970

The winged warrior — built to win Daytona, sold to meet homologation, impossible to ignore.

Plymouth Duster

1970–1976

The lightweight A-body fastback — one of the best drag cars ever sold at a base price.

Plymouth Satellite

1965–1974

The B-body's accessible face — GTX-level engines at Belvedere prices.

Pontiac Grand Prix

1962–1978

Pontiac's personal luxury flagship — the 1969 redesign was Motor Trend's Car of the Year.

Pontiac Bonneville

1957–1970

Pontiac's flagship — the 1957 fuel-injected convertible is one of the rarest cars of the decade.

Pontiac LeMans

1964–1977

The GTO's less famous sibling — identical body, fraction of the price.

Buick Wildcat

1962–1970

Buick's full-size performance car — the Nailhead V8 in a convertible is an overlooked gem.

Buick Electra 225

1959–1970

"Deuce and a Quarter" — full-size Buick luxury with Nailhead muscle underneath.

Oldsmobile Toronado

1966–1978

America's first front-wheel-drive car since 1937 — and one of its most dramatic designs.

Oldsmobile 88

1949–1967

The original muscle car — a Rocket V8 in the lightest Oldsmobile body changed American performance forever.

AMC AMX

1968–1974

America's only two-seat sports car besides the Corvette — and it ran 0–60 in under 7 seconds.

AMC Javelin

1968–1974

The underdog pony car — Mark Donohue drove it to Trans-Am championships against factory Mustangs and Camaros.

AMC Rebel Machine

1970

One year only, 2,326 built, 340 hp — AMC's most aggressive muscle statement.

Mercury Cougar

1967–1973

The Mustang's upscale twin — longer, heavier, and with the GT-E, powered by the 427.

Mercury Cyclone

1964–1971

The Torino's Mercury twin — the Cyclone Spoiler is one of NASCAR's rarest homologation cars.

Mercury Marauder

1963–1970

Full-size Mercury muscle — the 427 fastback dominated NASCAR before the aero wars began.

Chrysler 300 Letter Series

1955–1965

The first American muscle car — 300 horsepower in 1955 before anyone else was even trying.

Chrysler 300

1962–1971

The non-letter 300 — full-size Chrysler performance without the six-figure price tag.

Lincoln Continental

1961–1969

The suicide-door Continental — one of the most important American automotive designs of the 20th century.

Lincoln Mark III

1969–1971

Personal luxury at its most confident — and a technological pioneer.

Studebaker Avanti

1963–1964

Raymond Loewy's farewell — the most advanced American car of 1963 and a bonafide record-setter.

Studebaker Hawk

1953–1964

America's original personal luxury GT — European inspiration, South Bend execution.

AMC SC/Rambler

1969

The Scrambler — AMC's budget muscle car that shocked the competition.

AMC Matador Machine

1971

AMC's last true muscle car — more power than it gets credit for.

AMC Hornet SC 360

1971

Small, light, and surprisingly fast — AMC's compact muscle sleeper.

Buick GSX

1970–1972

Buick's boldest muscle car — Saturn Yellow, Apollo White, and tire-shredding Stage 1 power.

Chevrolet Biscayne

1958–1972

The no-frills Chevy that drag racers loved — light weight, big engines, zero luxury.

Chevrolet Caprice

1965–1976

Chevrolet's top-of-the-line full-size — the Impala's more luxurious sibling.

Chevrolet Chevy II

1966–1967

A compact body, a 327 V8, and nothing else — factory sleeper before anyone called it that.

Chrysler Hurst 300

1970

One year, 485 cars — Hurst turned Chrysler's luxury flagship into a muscle car.

Ford Thunderbolt

1964

Ford's factory drag car — a Fairlane with a 427 crammed in by hand.

Ford Maverick Grabber

1970–1977

Ford's budget pony car — a 302 V8 in a compact package at Pinto money.

Mercury Monterey

1959–1974

Mercury's full-size workhorse — available with the same big-blocks as the Galaxie.

Mercury Comet

1960–1977

Mercury's compact that surprised everyone on the drag strip.

Mercury Cougar Eliminator

1969–1970

The Cougar with racing intentions — Boss 302 and 428 Cobra Jet under a Mercury badge.

Mercury Cyclone Spoiler

1969–1970

NASCAR's aerodynamic weapon — 519 built to homologate a race car.

Mercury Montego

1968–1976

Mercury's mid-size muscle — the Torino's better-looking twin.

Oldsmobile Jetstar I

1964–1965

Oldsmobile's personal luxury rocket — the 330 V8 in a full-size two-seater.

Oldsmobile Starfire

1961–1966

Oldsmobile's luxury sports coupe — bucket seats and a Rocket V8 in a full-size body.

Oldsmobile Cutlass Ram-Rod 350

1968

One year only — Oldsmobile's high-winding small-block sleeper.

Oldsmobile Cutlass W-31

1969–1970

The 4-4-2's overlooked sibling — a high-revving 350 that outran its displacement.

Oldsmobile Rallye 350

1970

Bright yellow, bold graphics, and a 350 V8 — affordable muscle, Olds style.

Plymouth Belvedere

1965–1970

Plymouth's B-body muscle foundation — where the 426 HEMI lived before the Road Runner.

Pontiac GT-37

1970–1971

Budget Pontiac muscle — the GTO's little brother at a fraction of the price.

Pontiac Grand Am

1973–1975

Pontiac's performance-luxury hybrid — the last gasp of muscle car DNA in a personal luxury coupe.

BMW 2002

1968–1976

The compact sport sedan that convinced America BMW could build a driver's car.

BMW M3 (E30)

1986–1991

The homologation special that turned BMW into a touring car racing powerhouse.

BMW 3.0 CS/CSi/CSL

1968–1975

The elegant Karmann-built coupe that became a racing icon as the aero-winged "Batmobile."

Mazda RX-7

1979–1995

The rotary-powered sports car that proved Mazda could build a genuine giant killer.

Mazda Miata / MX-5

1989–2005

The car that revived the affordable roadster and proved simple, light, and fun beats horsepower.

Jaguar E-Type

1961–1974

The sports car Enzo Ferrari reportedly called the most beautiful car ever made.

Jaguar XK120/140/150

1948–1961

The car that put postwar Jaguar on the map as a genuine sports car maker.

Jaguar Mark 2

1959–1967

The elegant sports sedan that became the definitive British getaway car — for gentlemen and bank robbers alike.

Land Rover Series I/II/III

1948–1985

The utilitarian original that proved a go-anywhere vehicle didn't need to be complicated.

Land Rover Defender

1983–2016

The direct descendant of the original Land Rover, refined but never softened.

Land Rover Range Rover (Classic)

1970–1996

The original luxury SUV, engineered to be as capable off-road as it was comfortable on it.

Nissan 240Z/260Z/280Z

1969–1978

The affordable sports car that proved Japan could build a genuine GT to rival Europe's best.

Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32/R33/R34)

1989–2002

Godzilla — the twin-turbo all-wheel-drive giant killer that dominated Japanese touring car racing.

Volkswagen Beetle

1938–1979

The people's car that became the best-selling single car model in automotive history.

Volkswagen Bus/Type 2

1950–1979

The counterculture icon that became the definitive symbol of freedom on the road.

Volkswagen GTI (Mk1/Mk2)

1976–1992

The car that invented the hot hatch and made front-wheel-drive performance respectable.

International Scout

1961–1980

The rugged, no-nonsense 4x4 that predates the SUV boom by two decades.

International Travelall

1953–1975

The original three-row SUV wagon, built two decades before anyone called it that.

Mercedes 300SL Gullwing

1954–1963

The engineering tour de force that remains one of the most desirable cars ever built.

Mercedes 190SL

1955–1963

The elegant, more attainable companion to the legendary 300SL.

Mercedes W123

1976–1985

The car that defined "built like a tank" — over-engineered, over-built, and nearly indestructible.

Mercedes R107 SL

1971–1989

The SL that outlasted its era, remaining in production for eighteen years of understated luxury.

Cadillac Series 62

1940–1964

Cadillac's standard-bearer full-size line, and the car where the modern tailfin was born.

Cadillac Eldorado

1953–2002

Cadillac's halo car for half a century — from a hand-built 1953 convertible to the towering-finned 1959 Biarritz.

Porsche 911 (Classic, Air-Cooled)

1964–1989

The rear-engined icon that defined Porsche — and the sports car benchmark every rival gets measured against.

Porsche 356

1948–1965

The Volkswagen-based first Porsche that proved a small, light, well-balanced car could out-handle far more powerful rivals.

MG MGB

1962–1980

The best-selling British sports car ever built — simple, affordable, and easy to live with, then and now.

MG MGA

1955–1962

The curvaceous roadster that modernized MG's image and introduced the marque to a generation of American buyers.

Triumph TR6

1969–1976

The last of the traditional body-on-frame Triumph roadsters — brawnier and more muscular than the sports cars that came before it.

Triumph Spitfire

1962–1980

A genuinely affordable, Michelotti-styled small roadster that undercut the MG Midget's price while matching its charm.

Austin Healey 100

1953–1956

The original "Big Healey" — a handsome, low-slung roadster that put a small British firm on the map overnight.

Austin Healey 3000

1959–1967

The definitive "Big Healey" — a six-cylinder roadster with genuine rally pedigree and the most collected Healey today.

Lotus Elan

1962–1975

Colin Chapman's lightweight masterpiece — the backbone-chassis roadster that proved less weight beats more power.

Lotus Esprit

1976–1987

The dramatic Giugiaro-styled wedge that gave Lotus a genuine mid-engine supercar rival — and a starring role opposite James Bond.

DeSoto Adventurer

1956–1959

DeSoto's halo performance car — America's first production car offered exclusively with a high-performance engine as standard equipment.

DeSoto Fireflite

1955–1960

DeSoto's senior series through the tailfin era — a well-equipped, Hemi-powered alternative to Chrysler's more expensive full-size cars.

Hudson Hornet

1951–1954

The low-slung "step-down" sedan that dominated early NASCAR racing and inspired Pixar's Doc Hudson.

Hudson Commodore

1948–1952

Hudson's senior step-down series — the platform the Hornet itself was built from, offered with both six- and eight-cylinder power.

Kaiser Manhattan

1954–1955

Kaiser's final flagship — a supercharged independent that punched above its weight against Big Three V8s.

Kaiser Darrin

1954

A fiberglass-bodied sports car with sliding doors and Dutch Darrin styling — one of the rarest and most distinctive American cars of the 1950s.

Nash Ambassador

1949–1957

Nash's unibody flagship — home to the "Airflyte" streamlined styling and reclining "twin bed" seats that were years ahead of the industry.

Nash Nash-Healey

1951–1954

An unlikely transatlantic sports car — American Nash power, Donald Healey engineering, and Pininfarina styling.

Packard Caribbean

1953–1956

Packard's halo convertible — a hand-finished flagship built to prove the marque could still compete with Cadillac at the very top of the market.

Packard Patrician

1951–1956

Packard's senior sedan flagship — traditional American luxury engineering from a marque that had spent half a century defining the category.

Tucker 48

1948

Preston Tucker's legendary "Tucker Torpedo" — one production year, 51 cars built, and one of the most innovative and controversial stories in American automotive history.

Willys Jeep CJ-2A

1945–1949

The first civilian Jeep — a direct descendant of the WWII military original that created the entire 4x4 utility vehicle category.

Willys Aero

1952–1955

Willys' compact postwar passenger car — a lightweight, efficient sedan built alongside the Jeep in a bid to diversify beyond utility vehicles.

Datsun 510

1968–1973

The "poor man's BMW" — a genuinely capable, race-proven sport sedan that punched far above its modest price tag.

Datsun 2000 Roadster

1967–1970

The muscular final evolution of Datsun's Fairlady roadster line — and the direct predecessor to the 240Z's sports car ambitions.

Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT/GTV

1963–1977

Giorgetto Giugiaro's crisp, perfectly proportioned coupe — one of the most influential and imitated sports car designs of the 1960s.

Alfa Romeo Spider (Duetto)

1966–1993

Pininfarina's "boat tail" roadster — an elegant, long-lived open-top Alfa immortalized by Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate.

Rover P5

1958–1973

The distinguished sedan of choice for British government ministers and royalty — understated, beautifully built, and unmistakably establishment.

Rover P6

1963–1977

The innovative, genuinely advanced sedan that beat every rival to become the first-ever European Car of the Year.

GMC Suburban

1967–1972

GM's "Action Line" era Suburban — a genuinely capable full-size hauler, badge-engineered from Chevrolet but marketed toward a more upscale buyer.

GMC Syclone

1991

A one-year-only turbocharged, all-wheel-drive compact pickup that could out-accelerate a Ferrari 348 to 60 mph.

Jeep CJ-5

1954–1983

The longest-running, most iconic civilian Jeep — nearly three decades of continuous production under Kaiser, AMC, and eventually Chrysler ownership.

Jeep Grand Wagoneer

1984–1991

The genuine original luxury SUV — real four-wheel-drive capability wrapped in wood-paneled, leather-lined comfort, still the market's reference point today.

Toyota Land Cruiser (FJ40)

1960–1984

The rugged, simple, nearly indestructible 4x4 that built Toyota's reputation for durability worldwide before the company was known for anything else.

Toyota Supra

1993–2002

The final, most revered Supra generation — a twin-turbo inline-six icon whose reputation has only grown since production ended.