(Updated 10/16/2026) Here we have a rare bird, the Ford LTD II. You almost certainly remember its corporate sibling, the downsized 1977 Thunderbird. The LTD II was a victim of the T-Bird’s success, so much so that it is a largely forgotten car today. Read the rest of this entry »
(Updated 10/16/2026) Back in July 1999, the two-door Toyota RAV4 soft top was one of those curious little SUVs that seemed to exist more for style than for any practical reason. Its four-door sibling was a sensible, versatile hit, but the stubby 2-door convertible traded some of that usefulness for open-air charm. Let’s revisit what made this quirky little Toyota appealing, and what made it so hard to recommend.
Everybody harps on about the whacky (read: pig-ugly) styling of ’70s Datsuns, and quite rightly too. At the time, some rather peculiar-looking machines were also made by the likes of Lancia (the Gamma berlina), Citroën (the Ami 6, the Visa), British Leyland (the horror… the horror), VW (the 411/412), not to mention some dubious COMECON products. But you know who repeatedly created some of the most esthetically-challenged vehicles ever mass-produced? The good old Régie Renault.
Is brand loyalty still a thing? If it’s not today, it certainly was in 1965, when a man walked into Poteet & Company, a Studebaker-Mercedes-Chrysler-Imperial dealer in Bristol, Tennessee, and drove out in this gorgeous Chrysler 300 four-door hardtop. He was without doubt a Chrysler man, and his choice, painted a deep, deep Sequoia Green Metallic, is now up for auction with no reserve on Hagerty Marketplace in Gastonia, North Carolina.
Dad only ever owned one car—or, more accurately, half a share in a “sit-up-and-beg” Ford Popular with his brother, my uncle. Yet among his belongings in his desk were two car leaflets: one for a Bond 875 three-wheeler, the other for “A New Kind of Viva,” a fold-out brochure introducing the third-generation Vauxhall Viva in 1971. This was Vauxhall’s bread-and-butter family car, a straightforward offering. The Viva would go on to serve British motorists until 1979, but Dad never bought one. He stuck to his pedal bike, despite having a driving licence and occasionally hiring a car for family holidays. So there’s a certain irony in finding a beautifully restored, basic 1974 Viva today—a reminder of the kind of everyday family transport that once filled Britain’s roads, and that now survives only thanks to the dedication of enthusiasts.
The early bucket-seat Falcon Futura wasn’t available in station wagon form, but in 1962 and 1963, you could order the Futura buckets and console as a standalone option on the Falcon Squire — the fanciest Falcon wagon, complete with woodgrain exterior trim. This Raven Black 1963 Squire is one of a rare handful of bucket-seat Squires with the new 260 cid Challenger V-8.
(Updated 10/15/2026) The world was once a very different place. Automotive scale has changed dramatically, more in terms of height than length. Sure, American cars were long in the sixties, but they weren’t three times as tall as an MG Midget. Stature is everything now; just ask the young guys yearning for some in their jacked-up F350s with giant exhaust stacks. Did men have more self confidence in themselves and their bodies fifty years ago? Can you even imagine a car company using the word “Midget” nowadays? Read the rest of this entry »
(updated 9/12/2026)
To many today, the French automaker Panhard (pronounced panAR) may be unknown or rapidly slipping into obscurity. But the story of this once renowned firm, one of the very earliest pioneers of the automobile is remarkable and more relevant than ever. It developed a distinguished series of ultra-efficient two-cylinder cars in the post war era that culminated in this tasty 24TC of 1967, the very last Panhard.
It reflected the French approach to automobile making perfectly: innovative, eccentric, stylish, and all too often, out of the mainstream and financial success. But Panhard’s efforts were always highly memorable, advanced, and foreshadowed the cars of today and the future. Before long, we may all be driving updated versions of small, ultra-light and super-efficient 850 cc two-cylinder cars like this. And if this delightful and sporty coupe is anything to go by, it may be something to actually look forward too. Read the rest of this entry »
In 1996, DAF Bus International acquired the esteemed Frisian coachbuilder Smit (generally referred to as Smit Joure). At that point, DAF Bus was already a division of Paccar the VDL Group, the internationally operating Van der Leegte family business.
Prior to the takeover, DAF had supplied their rolling hardware to the independent Smit company for decades, so they were certainly no strangers to each other.
Text by Patrick Bell.
Station wagons were the people haulers and utility vehicles of the 1950s, and we have a good gallery of the more basic models that were seen most everywhere, and doing most anything. I know I have many memories from the back of a wagon, perhaps you do as well. Let’s take a look.
Here it sits–looking a little forlorn and dejected, but still surviving and mostly intact–a rather unlikely sight: When was the last time you saw a 1940s Studebaker at a used car lot? Well, I found one. And you can buy it right now, if you’re so inclined…
The Ford faithful had high hopes in 1996 when it was announced that the Mustang GT’s good old pushrod 5.0 was being replaced by a 4.6-liter single-overhead-cam “Modular” V8, but those hopes were soon dashed when it was found that the new car was no faster (and even slower in some tests) than the old one. Then, the new dual-overhead-cam 305-horsepower Cobra was announced, and finally Ford fans had something with enough firepower to go head-to-head with the LT1-powered F-bodies that were introduced in 1993. Hyperpack posted some pictures of one of those special Mustangs, this down-on-its-luck 1996/7 Cobra, on the CC Cohort, and it reminded me of the Cobra I got a chance to test drive when these cars were new.
(first posted 10/14/2026) Some time ago, Perry shared his thoughts on the first generation of the Nissan Stanza, in a post titled “Queen Dork”. This is the third and final generation, and the kind of car you have to make a concerted effort to notice, given its exceptionally generic styling straight out of an insurance company ad of the times. A cloak of invisibility normally surrounds these cars, and they only become visible on the third Monday of the month. I forced myself to stop and shoot this one, because I truly wondered whether I would ever run into another one again in that rare state. So in case you’ve not seen one exposed in a long while (or ever), here’s your chance. Read the rest of this entry »
(Updated 10/14/2026) Back in July 1999, I drove a Mercury Grand Marquis and came away with an unexpected impression: this big, old-school American sedan was more capable than I’d anticipated. But rather than simply enjoy it for what it was, I couldn’t help wondering why Ford hadn’t turned it into something a little more exciting. Four years later, the Mercury Marauder arrived.
“Sport wagons” are a weird sort of combo, aren’t they? More roof equals more cargo space, not necessarily better aerodynamics. I suppose the shooting brake was the ultimate expression of this bizarre yet enticing concept, with the likes of Aston Martin, Volvo or Scimitar bringing the sporty element to the fore. But you know who had accidentally figured it out before everybody else? Simca, of all people.
