Favorite car of the 1960s?
Ducati Minor
The Swingin' Sixties gave rise to youth empowerment, psychadelic culture, the hippie, and a man on the moon. The decade also saw the birth of iconic names in motoring: the Ford Mustang, Chevy Corvette Sting Ray, and Porsche 911 to name a few. Which of many classic gems from the '60s is your favorite and why?
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Anonymous
For a pure styling standpoint I am torn between the 1964 though 1966 Ford Thunderbird & 1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport, for pure performance the 1965 Shelby Cobra 427
Laurent
what about the Mazda 110S (1967) and its rotary engine !
Pete Stadler
From a pure styling viewpoint, the 1966 Buick Riviera was, and is, my favorite 60's car - it has elegance and performance, wrapped in a radical, extremely tasteful, and exotically beautiful package. Were I to have the means, I would have a collection of nearly every Riviera model produced - with the exception of a couple of hideous mistakes like the (shudder) 1975 tour de nausea....
Anonymous
65 dodge charger 440 r/t
bigmontana23
My favorite car of the sixties were every Ferarri ever made. It is the golden age of the automobile, but they are dinosaurs of the past. We must move forward in to a global understanding of efficiency of the automobile if we are going to have vehicles in the future. We are this close to going back to the horse and buggy, and if you don't believe me, how much do you pay for gas?
GREGK
If we onsider eternal beauty and Class of each own, then NO car on the world could compare with the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III Convertible, even though there weer only built a couple of hundreds, from the last Coachbuilders in UK.Every other Car, is just a nice design and powerfull engine in its best...
hank S.
Without a doubt, it is a 1969 BMW 2002 in Orange!
Denny
'67 Austin-Healey 3000. Best lines ever on a car. Took me 30 years to get one, but I never get tired of looking at her.
Edinaman
Vair, I agree on the Corvair. I have a '65 convert, and it still is a classic style. My all time favorites would be the '63 Buick Riviera in silver blue, or the split window Corvette in virtually any color.
SPWilliams
Ferrari Daytona. Absolutely stunning, the V-12, aerodynamics, everything. Accelerated over 100mph as hard as most cars do 0-60. Go back and watch "Gumball Rally" some time for a taste. Goofy movie but the car is undeniable.
Anonymous
Name another car that won the world manufactures championship three years in a row, can still be driven on the street, and has a current market value somewhere between 10-30 MILLION dollars. Hands down, it's the 1962-1964 GTO. (if you'r thinking Pontiac, you're an automotive idiot!)
Randy
The XKE. Just on sheer beauty. A remarkable car. So what if the gearbox was awful and they kept it alive too long, it was a joy to behold. I kick myself for all the times I could have picked on up cheaply and chickened out.
avalanchecowpoke
My favorite car from the sixties is the 1966 Corvette Sting Ray with the 427 motor and the "side pipes"... ...a friend of mine had one and the acceleration this baby had excelled any other car I've ever ridden in. The list be longish: 460 Ford Fairlane, 440 Dodge Coronet, 426 Hemi Dodge Coronet, 428 Pontiac Bonneville and others...
yannis
The 911 PORSCHE was probably the best car of the last century,especially the 73 RS.You could drive it to the movies and then go for a few laps on the track.Reliable,light,fast,elegant.
Pugman
I would have to say the 1966 Jaguar XKE 2+2 was the coolest looking car around hands down and still is to me.
Dean
I have to say I would agree with almost al the cars presented so far. The 60's was a great time for automotive design. However I am partial for what is in my garage...an Elan+2. Low, light weight, technologically superior at the time and great fun to drive on the twisty bits.
JBT353
'65/6 Buuck Riviera GS. Styling. power, affordability, even by todays standards the Riv is hard to equal. One if the best cars I have owned!!
Anonymous
Tough question; But my 65 Corvette 396-425 H.P. Big Block, Convertible, Nassau Blue, with hardtop attached, side exhaust,(late availablility) was by far (one of the the fastest things going thru the 60s. Just plain fantastic to look at and fun to drive, and the resale of these Super Cars were outstanding.
daniel
my favorate car of the 60's would be triumph spitfire. cheap fun and easy to fix electrical problems could be frustrating. also tough to tune carbs.but when you got it right what fun it could be to drive .great gas milage could commute to work for 2 weeks on tank of gas. beat that with todays sport cars!
Ed Davis
My all time favorite car of the 60's is the Jaguar E-type (AKA XKE). Unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show in 1961, the E-type's sweeping lines made for an aggressive stance and a guaranteed 150-plus mph top speed with 0-60 mph launches in the 6 second range. The only motorcar ever to adorn the Museum of Modern Art in New York as the most beautiful production car ever made. Car and Driver magazine named the E-type the best of the World's 10 Most Beautiful Cars.
The Series 1 E-type was built from 1961-67 as coupes and roadsters, yet it is the roadster that enthusiasts clamor for and find the most collectible, today.
Oh, by the way, I still own mine!
Ed Davis
Miata
Being a true Car Guy who graduated from H.S. in 1961, I have to add my favorites for this string:
Without question the 63 Chrysler Gas Turbine Concept car -
(too bad it was never marketed)
Production cars below:
XKE Jag
Buick Riveria
Olds Starfire
T-Bird
MG
Triumph
Corvair
Mustang/Cougar
What do you think?
Jack
Miata
I forgot to add these also:
Lotus Elite
Studebaker Avanti
Jack
donYan
Hola Miata:
I agree with you on these ones:
XKE Jag (open top)
Buick
RiveriaRIVIERAT-Bird
MG (A, twin-cam)
Triumph (TR-3)
Corvair YES! -Some Ignoramus Moronious said "unstable at any speed"...never knew what rear tyre pressure to use, on ANY rear engined vehicle with swing axles...I owned one in the late 60's, drove it at high speed on twisty roads from Mexico city to Acapulco (my home then) & never had any problem! Excellent 6 cil aircooled flat (boxer) engine
GrandPrix08V8
My first car was was a 63 Pontiac Grand Prix. Very clean square wide track styling with reverse curve rear window. Std engine was 303 hp 389 V8.Non existent handling made it very easy to bring the rear end around with the throttle. They're fairly rare now.
65 ISO, 327 Chevy in a lovely Italian body., Sunbeam Tiger.
Excaliber.
Was there an AMX in 69? If so, that would be my favorite.
They were affordable, reliable and great looking.
rzobel@hotmail.com
XKE: Type I XKE Coupe
. Beautiful lines, strong engine. It's a shame they don't run better, but still my favorite 1960's car.donYan
Hola from Mexico:
(I was going to say "Jaguar XKE series 3 V-12"...but it came out in 1971!...mmm...the sound of those four exhaust stacks)
So I go for the Jaguar XKE six cilinder, instead: "Steering would be rack-and-pinion, of course.
Such familiarity only highlighted what would be a big attraction of the forthcoming XKE: Jaguar's latest independent rear suspension. This employed the usual U-jointed halfshafts to take power from a chassis-mounted differential out to the wheels, but also used them as upper control links.
This efficient, two-jobs-in-one idea was not new, having already been used by Lotus on some of its racing cars as well as on its roadgoing Elite. In America, Zora Arkus-Duntov had been using such a design experimentally since the late 1950s and would adapt it for the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray.
The Jaguar XKE's classic 3.8-liter twincam inline
six cylinder made 265 horsepower at 5500 rpm.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the new production sports car emerged looking much like the E2A. But where the latter had seemed a bit stubby, perhaps even dowdy to eyes long used to feasting on the D-Type, the roadgoing Jaguar XKE was so lovely as to make the heart ache." Courtessy of HOW STUFF WORKS
I was the collector's mechanic for restauring/maintaining vintage XKE's, in Mexico city during the 80's. My mobile shop on wheels allowed me to work at the owner's home garage. A true racing car, it's like working in the pits!
The best was the test drive...on Polanco quarters, where actresses abound...they turned their heads so much when I would pass by, that they needed a quiropractic afterwards!
The acceleration on such a small automobile is unique!..top down, of course...
JWBrothers
Oh Man! This is another car I just need to have. I already don't need about 40 others B^)
Many Thanks
Jim
donYan
Hola Ducati Minor:
I am reporting that your image http://www.nextautos.com/files/images/Ferrari_250_GTO_64.gif
reports a 404 failure when adressing it. Not shown on top up here either!
I hope you can satisfy our curiosity: what color is it? Thanks,
Allen Dunn
For us WWII-born babies who grew up to be car nuts, the late 50s and early 60s were dream times. During this era, Detroit was in its heyday, producing such stunningly-beautiful icons as the '63 through '67 Corvette, '61 through '68 Lincoln Continental, '63 through '67 Buick Rivera, and the '66 through '69 Oldsmobile Toronado. And even though I was always a "Ford man," I think General Motors' 1965 full-size cars represent the most beautiful across-the-board restyle in post-WWII automotive history.
But, the most beautiful automobile EVER has to be the '61 through '66 Jaguar E-type.
However, my persoanl FAVORITE is the 64-1/2 through '66 Mustang. A potentially-affordable car with styling that was--all at once--simple, elegant, bold, and exciting.
Anonymous
AMC Pacer. Reminded me of a 928.
donYan
Hola:
well, my favorite car of the sixties is the Lotus 7.
Lotus 7 s2 roadster I am a mechanic, so I like to construct things. This has been my dream since I saw "the Prisoner" on TV...another choice might be the Meyers Manx "Dunne Buggy" (in yellow...)
GREY RACER
Y'all really missed this one, 1966 Shelby GT 350. That would be a race car with a license plate. Pure performance, rude and crude, corners like it is on rails and sounds so sweet at 7,000 RPM. It had a unique look, you could spot it as a Shelby from a mile away. I have been driving and racing Mustangs since 1965 and the early Shelby was my all time favorite until I got an 07 Shelby GT (NOT a GT 500) two years ago. 35,000 miles and it is 1966 all over agai, with aminities.....
Tony Rothwell
An esoteric choice perhaps but the Morgan V8 Roadster should be right up there. A thoroughbred Roadster that was to stay in hand-built, ash-framed production (albeit with different engines) for over 40 years that will be giving pleasure to its many owners around the world for years to come as it growls down the road with its very distinctive exhaust note.
Top difficult to put up? Who cares - get a bit wet. No room for luggage? Put a tooth brush in your pocket. Girlfriend's hair gets messed up? Get here a hat. This is traditional British sports car motoring at its best.
Dwayne
For my money, the Lincoln Continental convertibles built from 1961 through 1967 can't be beat. Powerful, comfortable, stylish, and elegant. My personal favorite of the bunch would be the '65... no particular reason, just like the looks.
kingofstarfires
My favorite car then and now is the 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire convertible I have owned them since 1966.
kingofstarfires
1962 Oldsmobile Starfire convertible: garnet red
1962 Oldsmobile Starfire convertible: loaded