image:vintageadbrowser.com
I’m not trying to dominate this CCOTY series, but unless someone else steps up, I guess it falls on me. And I’ve been racking my brain for a better candidate. CCOTY is about hindsight, as well as the candidate’s intrinsic qualities. The Tempest was another surprising car to come out of GM right after the Corvair, the only real attempt to build an American car along European principles, with a high-output four and a rear transaxle and independent suspension. It didn’t get the kind of budget and development to take its rough edges off. The CC for the Tempest (some of you have seen it before) is up, which explains why the Tempest got American automotive journalists excited. M/T called it right; it really was the most deserving that year. But its historical impact was minimal, at best; it’s almost forgotten now. Not so the ’61 Continental; or the Jaguar XK-E:
The new 1961 Continental undoubtedly left a more lasting influence on the luxury car market, showing the way forward with clean, slab-sided styling, and predicting a future where luxury cars were not sold by their over-all length (or pound).
I can’t believe I temporarily forgot that the XK-E arived in 1961. I must get to this fine example ASAP. It certainly deserves consideration.
I’m torn on this one. I can see why the Pontiac Tempest was chosen for the award when new. With the benefit of hindsight, I’d say that the 1961 Lincoln Continental was more influential in the long run. Its clean, elegant styling set the tone for the 1960s and beyond, and its emphasis on long-term quality in a smaller, more rational size was revolutionary for an American luxury car.
Unfortunately, Lincoln itself later dropped the ball…and let the Europeans run with it in the American market.
My thoughts exactly. Although the ’61 Continental did definitely “predict a future where luxury cars were not sold by their overall length or pound”, that future was not fulfilled by its own brand, unfortunately.
I love the shape of the XK-E, of course, but since the last season of Mad Men, I can’t get the image out of my mind of Lane Pryce trying to kill himself in one, only to have it fail to start.
The Tempest and Continental were really the only truly interesting things to come on the market in 1961. Otherwise, the model year was a conservative step back from the excesses of the late 50’s. Putting the aforementioned two against the truly average car of the model yet (the 1961 Chevrolet Impala) is probably the best indication of where the year was going.
Yeah, you’ve got the Buick aluminum V-8, but that made its marque as a British Leyland engine, so I don’t see it worth mentioning here.
It’s the GTO’s roots, and lead to the mid size car boom, that contniues today.
Imagine if Ponitac stuck with Tempest name through the 80’s. Grand Tempest, Luxury Tempest, Tempest Sport, Tempest Can Am.
I could even see brand extensions into upscale foods and beverages. Howabout Tempest in a Teapot?
You stole my line!
Didn’t they revive the Tempest name briefly in Canada on a badge engineered Corsica?
I guess I have to be true to form: 1961 Chevy Impala Bubble top.
If that’s not good enough – I suppose it isn’t, but I will go out on a real long limb and nominate…are you ready?
Amphicar.
Nothing else like it. Even though it was merely a footnote, but there was a small dealership that sold them on the way to where dad worked, and one of the first big-box stores in the STL area opened just down the street. The name of the store was “Ontario”.
This was when big discount stores made their debut in my neck of the woods. Of course, I talked mom and dad into going up to the Amphical dealership to check one out. I thought they were really cool, even as a 10-year-old!
I love oddball stuff!
Well, the ’61 bubbletop would be my car of the year. When I was a young boy one of the neighborhood teenagers had a very nice one, black with red interior. I have no idea what was under the hood or any other details but he kept it washed and waxed so it always gleamed. I remember thinking it was the coolest car in town and vowed I would have one someday. Never happened, but I still like ’61s.
Realistically though, I’ll go with the ’61 T-Bird. If nothing else it had the most improved styling for ’61. All in all, a pretty ordinary year for cars.
I understand the Tempest nomination. It was certainly an attempt to go a different direction for an American car. Unfortunately, the package was a total dead end, both within GM and in the American Auto industry as well. Had Pontiac gone the extra mile and perfected (or even developed it a bit further) I could go there. As it is, GM and everyone else had a million opportunities to go down this path (as with the 1967 or 1970 F body?) but never did.
An interesting juxtaposition with this Tempest is the 61 Studebaker Hawk. Seriously. I had never really picked up on the significance of the final pre-GT version until our discussion of the 1960 CCCOTY, but had always lumped it into a single undistinguished 1958-61 run. From the very beginning of its model run, the 61 offered a 4 bbl 289 V8, a 4 speed stick on the floor (the same unit as in the Corvette), a limited slip Twin Traction diff, and genuine bucket seats in a less-than-full-sized (although long wheelbase) package. Is this not the template for almost every hot car for the rest of the decade? It is eerily similar to a modern Mustang or Camaro in this respect. True, much of the chassis was woefully outdated, but Studebaker should be given some props for being the first to go into a market that would eventually become so crowded. Only a lack of resources (and those fresh-from-1957 fins) kept the vision from being really fulfilled.
Because nobody else will agree with me on the Stude (how do I know this?) I must go with the Continental. This car set the style and proportions for virtually every other car well into the 1980s
> This car set the style and proportions for virtually every other car well into the 1980s
+1
Elwood Engel doesn’t get enough recognition when historical auto designers are being discussed.
I had to add this picture again because I cannot stop thinking about this car 🙁
1961 marked the debut of the Super Sport option on a Chevrolet: The Impala SS with a new-for ’61 big-block 409.
Yep. Bench seat, Hurst floor shifter. I owned the emblems and had them put on my 1964 Impala SS convertible when in the service in CA. Those emplems could be seen from the air!
When I was car mad 14 year of our neighbor, up the street, came home with a
1961 Impala SS BT, white with the red & white interior. 4 speed 348-340HP
I was memorized by the valve train clatter created by the “hot” solid lifter cam.
As a result, my automotive “Mecca” is a 1961 Impala SS 409 White with the red & white interior restored as new::
http://www.348-409.com/409_article1.html
for ’61 It’s gotta be the Lincoln Continental, the car the kept Lincoln from following Edsel to the chopping block.
…at least then, anyway. Given its minimal impact on today’s auto market, the end of that marque may have just been postponed a few decades.
I’m sorry but I’ve got to go with the 1961 Rambler Ambassador. American V8 power in a trim, almost European size, aerodynamically advanced styling that would put Loewy to shame, and perhaps the best build quality of any American car of that time.
I mean, really — how can you not be charmed by the 1961 Ambassador’s face? This was truly Ed Anderson’s finest hour.
Interesting choice, but did the Rambler Ambassador really have better build quality than the 1961 Lincoln Continental? Was it that good?
I’m being a little silly with my nomination. But at that point AMC’s build quality was among the best in the industry. That’s part of what drove Rambler’s success. The Big Three really hurt itself during the late 50s with sloppy manufacturing.
It’s too bad that AMC threw that out the window with their 1967 Ambassadors and Rebels. Great looking cars, but the sloppier construction and cheaper materials are immediately obvious.
if you don’t have ’62 written yet, I can email you a paragraph.
Bring it on: curbsideclassic(at)gmail.com
I’ll go with the Lincoln for American COTY. Over a half century on, the style remains sublime. Oh, and Import COTY? Jaguar E-type, “the greatest crumpet catcher known to man”.
It has to be a pretty rare occurrence for two cars to debut in the same year that have both become undisputed icons of their respective kinds of style. I too forgot about the E-Type. Both it and the Continental were stunning cars when new and remain so all these years later.
The ’61 Lincoln is an obvious choice, and against the Pontiac Tempest I would have to go with the Continental.
Because I could not decide myself between the Lincoln Continental and the Chrysler 300G, I started collecting information with the hopes of writing-up a comparison of the two to submit as an official nomination article to kick-off 1961, but I never got that far. Here is what I’ve got:
1961 Lincoln Continental
4-door hardtop, 4-door convertible
430cid (7.0L) MEL V8, Carter ABD 2-bbl.
300hp @ 4100 RPM, 465 ft.lb @ 2000
3-speed Turbo-Drive (Cruise-o-Matic MX) automatic
– engine and transmission carried over from 1960 models
No performance specs found
wheelbase 123.0 in
length 212.4 in
width 78.6 in
height 53.6 in
ship weight 4771/5215 lb
curb weight 4927-5700 lb – heavier than contemporary Cadillac or Imperials
base price $6067 (hardtop)
sales: 1961=25k, 1962=31k, peaked in 1966=54,755
Production figures not readily comparable – Lincoln only had one model (Continental) for the entire brand in 1961, while Chrysler 300G was a niche performance model.
1961 Chrysler 300G
2-door hardtop, 2-door convertible
413cid (6.8L) RB V8 – 2x4bbl Carter AFB carbs, ram induction intake
375hp @ 5000RPM, 495 ft.lb@2800RPM
0-60: 8.4 sec, 0-100 21.2 sec, 1/4 mile: 16.2 @ 87 MPH (Car Life Magazine)
top speed 130MPH
3-speed Torqueflite automatic
wheelbase 126 in
length 220 in
width 79.5 in
ship weight 4260/4315 lb (hardtop/conv)
curb weight 4430/
Last “Forward Look” finned Chryslers
E type Jaguar pretty sure that was a 61 release or the Tempest, Hate to tell you guys nowhere in the rest of the world does Lincoln even matter its a real non event brand
I just thought of another nomination, and can’t believe Eric VanBuren has let this one go – The 1961 International Scout! Could it be considered the first SUV? Quite civilized (compared to the Jeep) with steel doors and roll-up windows. Seats for 5 and go-anywhere capability.
Voila!
Though I lean towards the Lincoln and E-type…. jpcavanaugh’s choice is worth consideration in the discussion.
Wow. I forgot about those, in spite of the fact there are a couple of nicely-restored ones running around town here.
I agree.
Excellent call. Very worthy indeed.
I didn’t let it go I was busy with my long post while you were doing this short one. Unfortunately they didn’t come out of the box with roll up windows, they had sliders but the roll ups were added to the option list pretty early on before being made standard. With the bench seat up front and the two fenderwell mounted seats out back it could be considered a 7 passenger, though a conventional rear seat was quickly added with the walk through bulkhead.
OK, one last one: the 1961 Ford Econoline. The birth of the Ford Van that much of the commerce in America continues to depend upon.
The Lincoln certainly set the styling trend that had a long lasting impact.
However I’m going to nominate something a little different the Scout 80. Now a lot of you are likely going to say it isn’t a car, not that I’ve seen anything that says we can’t nominate trucks, but it really isn’t a truck. It is simultaneously the first true Sport Utility and could also be considered the first Crossover too.
Yes GM likes to claim the Suburban was the first SUV, but it wasn’t then and never has been it is a station wagon built on a truck chassis which does not make a S/U by it’s original definition.
Chrylser also claims the original Jeep was the first SUV but it was all U and minimal S with it’s crude design that had zero creature comforts like real doors.
The Scout was on a dedicated chassis with unique sheetmetal like a true S/U and it had conventional doors that allowed easy entry. It was suitable for everyday driving w/o punishing the driver like the CJ as well as having true off road capability.
It was sold as an economy car with its up to 30MPG advertising, and easy parking. Like many others of the day IH considered it a brand unto itself and sold dealerships to it separately from their pickup and large truck. In many cases it was the Chrysler dealer that picked up the Scout line.
Because it was originally marketed as a compact car that just so happened to have 4wd as an option it certainly could be considered the first Crossover too. In fact IH expected that only about 25% would be sold with the 4×4 option. They were quite surprised when the orders started rolling in and only about 25% weren’t ordered with the 4×4 option.
It did set the entire S/U wave in motion as the first real MPV, You could configure it as a roadster (though the no top option was dropped due to a low take rate), hard or soft top pickup, hard or soft top wagon, or panel truck. Pretty much however you wanted to use it there was a configuration for you. If you wanted it to do double duty you could even order it with multiple tops and a number were shipped with the soft or pickup top in the back of the Traveltop.
It wasn’t long before Ford copied it extensively, making the original Bronco and Jeep brought back the Commando as a competitor. GM always the laggard eventually responded too but they punted by shortening their station wagon, which due to their market presence made people think that S/U were trucks, not purpose built machines. Further solidified by Chrysler and eventually Ford taking the easy way out and basing their entry into the market on full size truck parts. Eventually Scout stood alone as the only true S/U with it’s purpose built body and platform that allowed it to go where the big guys couldn’t and the availability of refinements that just couldn’t be had on the CJ.
Plus the Scout did share something with the Tempest, a slant 4 made by cutting off half of it’s V8
Those are all interesting points, I had forgotten about the “half a V-8” in the scout, and the fact that they weren’t all 4×4. By the time I came of age old Scouts were popular with guys who were really serious about fishing and hunting, not the mud bog crowd that seemed to go for the Bronco or Blazer.
They were cheap to buy and run, reliable and agile enough to take narrow or overgrown trails that would trip up a 4×4 pickup. Jeeps and early Broncos could go anywhere a Scout could, but people wanted way too much money for them.
I still see the odd one around, usually at a good fishing lake.
One advantage that the Scouts had – at least my father’s – was that it would plow through foot-deep puddles without missing a beat, while Jeeps would tend to miss from getting water onto the engine. Why this was, I don’t know, but it’s a definite advantage in the often waterlogged woods trails in western WA.
E-type Jag was the big news of 1961. I know it had a huge impact on how Americans saw high performance. Sex on wheels even fifty years later.
1) Long, long hood, short behind. It had to be in the minds of Mustang’s designers, who knew it was in the minds of Mustang customers.
2) E-type’s rounded front end, with long tapered clear headlight covers, looks far more like today’s cars than anything else on the 1961 road.
3) Independent rear suspension and power disc brakes at all four wheels.
Tempest and Lincoln were great cars but sadly had no lasting impact.
How can you say the Lincoln had no lasting impact. It wasn’t too long until almost all cars were following in its stylistic foot prints with slab-ish sides and sharp angles. In many cars that lasted until the early 80’s or beyond.
Sex on wheels for sure. I think the first time I saw one head on I blushed.
I love this silly video..
+1
Agreed. The Jaguar E-Type was such an iconic automotive design for all time. It will never become dated. Even up to this day, it’s parent creator has been chasing the E-Type’s ghost by trying to recreate it……or add a styling cue to cars that could never add up to the real thing. It was forever memorialized in song by Jan and Dean, out on Dead Man’s Curve. It was the chief competition of the later to come Corvette Stingray. It is the ultimate British Sports Car. It represented the best that Britain had to offer and what a gift to the world this icon was! I worship at the altar of Zora Duntov and Bill Mitchell, but the total sum of the Jaguar XK-E can only be explained by divine intervention and a touch of genius!
It also serves as a reminder of what we have lost in automotive design living in the world of today…..
I’ll play the contrarian again and nominate a car that was never officially sold in the US; the VW 1500 Karmann Ghia Type 34:
El yukko mundo!
LOL
The E type has to be the winner here, one of very few cars that can truly be called iconic, both in terms of automotive design and in cultural history. Fifty years after its introduction, it still has a unique presence in the public imagination.
I’ve been thinking about 1961 for several days now, and I could come up with only the Jaguar E-type and the Lincoln Continental. The Tempest never entered my mind (which is telling).
So E-Type and Continental for the joint win!
About that ’61 Chevy Impala bubble-top: Well, she’s real fine with that 409! We had a ’61 Bel Air 2-door sedan as the family car — absolutely loved that character line that ran around the whole car — sloping down the sides from the hood’s leading edge toward the rear, sweeping up to the top edge of the trunk lid, with the dramatic “V” in the middle. And it was one of the few cars that looked good with its parking lights/turn signals above the headlights. But not CCOTY.
I got my bubble-top fix with my aunt’s ’61 Olds Dynamic 88 — what a beaut! The rest of the family couldn’t imagine she spent $3,000 on a new car!
Wow, what a tough choice. Style (E-type) or engineering (Tempest). I guess since Alfred Sloan and Edsel Ford had long ago figured out that style sells more cars than engineering, it would have to be the E-type.
But, man, there’s no denying the Tempest’s achievements in forward-thinking engineering.
The Jag was style over engineering? The E-type’s powertrain was carryover, but it was the first production car with Jaguar’s fully independent rear suspension, which was a considerably more sophisticated system than almost any production car in the world at that time: trailing arms, double-jointed halfshafts, lower lateral links, and dual coils/dampers on each side, plus inboard rear disc brakes, all on a subframe to isolate NVH from the monocoque shell. That layout was then used on the sedans beginning with the Mk X and survived in modified form into the mid-1990s.
So many good choices…which one would I want?..
E-type, hands down.
While I wouldn’t put it over the E-type or the other choices, it’s worth noting also that 1961 was the introduction of the Triumph TR4 — it arrived in September.
As much as I love the E-Type (XK-E in the States), I have to go with the Connie. Beautiful, timeless, luxurious and well-built. And unlike the Jag it won’t require the full-time attention of a mechanic named Nigel. The E-Type was an amazingly complex vehicle.
How can you argue with classic elegance like this? I’d love one in aqua with aqua leather. And as sharp as the convertible is, I’d rather have the sedan.
I’m not sure that either the E-type or the Lincoln would be viable as curbside classics, the E-type body and front chassis are fiendishly complex and rust-prone, the Continental is hardly simple either.
A few more prosaic debutants from 1961 include BMW 1500, Fiat 1500 and the VW Type 3. On the sports car front the Mini Cooper, Austin Healey Sprite Mk2 with proper trunk lid, and Ginetta G4 (which was resurrected in more recent years as the Ginetta G27.
On the Australian market there was the debut of the EK model Holden, which was shown to be vastly out of date by the other new model – the Chrysler Valiant.
Despite what I said above I still find it hard to go past the Jaguar.
IIRC 1961 was the first year for the 40hp vw engine that transformed the meek beetle into a pavement tearing monster. Or maybe the scout.
The ’61 Continental is a truly beautiful design and in aqua with aqua (as mentioned by Tom) would be divine. However I would argue against it being CCOTY as it’s largely meaningless outside of the USA, because it wasn’t exported. Those who remember JFK may be able to conjure up an image of a Continental, whereas I believe almost everyone worldwide knows an E-Type. Not just because it was available internationally, but because the Continental was another big American sedan (albeit with unique features like suicide doors and a 4-door convertible), whereas the E-Type was (and is) sex on wheels – and with the mechanicals etc to back it up. The E-Type’s body wrote cheques that it’s engineering could absolutely cash!