Search
Privacy
Curbside Classics Archives
1960s Archive
-
Vintage Motor Trend Road Test: 1962 Chevy II With 340 HP 327 Corvette V8 – Factory Built; Dealer Option Coming Soon!
Posted on February 21, 2023 | 20 CommentsThis is the magazine article I’ve been waiting 61 years for! I’ve been well aware of guys (and dealers) swapping in hot 327s into the new Chevy II all those […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1961 Rambler American With Aluminum OHV Six – Why Don’t Cars Of “Great Merit” Sell As Well As They Should?
Posted on February 20, 2023 | 49 CommentsFor the second time, I’m being forced to rethink my long-held disdain low-opinion of the lowly Rambler American. The first time was Road and Track’s test of a 1959; they […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1961 Chrysler Newport – Big, Strong, Fast And With Auto-Pilot
Posted on February 19, 2023 | 35 CommentsThe Newport was the entry-level Chrysler, and it was a lot of car for the money: 122″ wheelbase, 215″ long, 4225 lbs weight, a husky big V8, and in the […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk – Does It Live Up To Its Name?
Posted on February 16, 2023 | 29 Commentsgran turismo: a high-performance luxury sports car with a hard fixed roof, designed for covering long distances The Gran Turismo Hawk could only have come from Studebaker. Obviously, doh! Who […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1962 Ford Falcon – 144 & 170 Six, Manual & Automatic – Who’s The Slowest Falcon Of Them All?
Posted on February 12, 2023 | 46 CommentsThe Falcon instantly became America’s favorite compact after it arrived for 1960. By 1961, its somewhat anemic 85 hp 144 cubic inch six had been supplanted by an optional 101 […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1962 Dodge Dart 413 – The Max Wedge Legend Started Here
Posted on February 11, 2023 | 36 CommentsThe Mopar Max Wedge 413 (and 426) engines are of course legendary; almost mythical. Their day in the sun was short-lived, due to the arrival of the 426 Hemi in […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix 421 Super Duty – “The Fastest Accelerating Stock Production-Line Car We’ve Ever Tested”
Posted on February 10, 2023 | 41 CommentsThe Pontiac 421 SD is one of those very few cars upon which the great American performance car of the ’60s mythology is based on. Pontiac already was the terror […] -
Vintage Car Life Comparison: 1962 Ford Fairlane V8 vs. 1962 Chevy II Six – The Old Ford V8 vs. Chevy Six Battle Updated, With Surprising Results
Posted on February 7, 2023 | 42 CommentsThis comparison hits very close to home, as in the Niedermeyer home on Park Avenue in Iowa City in 1962, that is. My father bought a ’62 Fairlane (a base […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1961 Studebaker Lark Cruiser – Nothing “Average” About It, Including Its Buyers
Posted on February 5, 2023 | 68 CommentsThe 1959 Lark was created by chopping off the front end rear ends of the Studebaker Commander, resulting in a very short (175″) car on a 108″ wb to compete […] -
Vintage Car Life Comparison: 1968 Impala, Galaxie, Fury & Ambassador – “Family Car” V8 Coupes Duke It Out
Posted on February 3, 2023 | 54 CommentsCar Life apparently had been getting razzed by its readers for focusing on high performance cars, so they decided to test four big “family cars” with their base V8s to […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1962 Plymouth Savoy V8 – “Plymouth Made The Right Changes, The Right Compromises, For 1962′
Posted on February 2, 2023 | 45 CommentsThis is a vintage review I’ve been hoping to find for some time, as I’m a bit obsessed with this and its Dodge counterpart. The more time has gone by […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1961 Imperial Crown – “The Imperial Is Running Third In A Three Car Race…”
Posted on February 1, 2023 | 45 CommentsThe quote I used for the title is somewhat out of context, as Car Life was specifically referring to the Imperial’s road manners, which were deficient due to its excessively […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1961 Cadillac Coupe DeVille – Still “The Standard Of The World”?
Posted on January 30, 2023 | 36 CommentsIn 1961, Cadillac was still riding high; eight miles high. Yes, some early adopters were snapping up Mercedes, but in absolute numbers, it was still peanuts. In 1961, Cadillac outsold […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1961 Chevrolet Impala 348 V8 With Turboglide – “A Triumph Of Contemporary American Car Design”
Posted on January 27, 2023 | 52 CommentsThe CC – Car Life time machine is a bit stuck in 1961, so let’s take a look at what they had to say about America’s favorite car for quite […] -
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1961 Lincoln Continental Sedan – “The Best-Looking American Car Built Today”
Posted on January 26, 2023 | 61 CommentsThe ’61 Lincoln was a game-changer, a term I don’t like to use lightly. It instantly made all of the late-’50s excess-mobiles look utterly dated and silly. Its impact on […]