Magnolia Car Show: 1966 Pontiac GTO

Little GTO

You're really lookin' fine
Three deuces and a four-speed
And a three-eighty-nine
Listen to her tachin' up now
Listen to her whine
C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out, GTO

   

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1968 Pontiac Firebird 'Tiger Super Tuned' 428 Ram Air

This car is so rare that enthusiasts debate whether it actually exists. There is no such thing as a factory-built Firebird with 428 engine. But this was the 1960s, a time when it was normal to have your local dealer or mechanic sell or build you a race car which you could then drive on the track, on the street, or both. If you don't believe me, watch the movie Two-Lane Blacktop.
The Firebird 428 was a 'conversion' offered by a dealership called Royal Pontiac. The car got enough attention that it was featured in Motor Trend, and at least one other dealer copied the idea. That black thing on the hood is Pontiac's hood tachometer, because when driving a car like this you need to have your eyes on the road, not the dashboard.

Update 6/30/18: I met the owner of this car today, and this is NOT a true 428 Firebird; it has the engine and 428 badges from a '69 Bonneville.

    

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Magnolia Car Show: 1970 Doge Charger R/T

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Magnolia Car Show: 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Fuel-Injection

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Magnolia Car Show: 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona

This car would sell for between $200,000 and $300,000.

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1970 and 1976 Checker Marathon Aerobus

The Markin company manufactured and sold Checker brand taxis for most of the 20th century. The iconic Marathon was virtually unchanged from its introduction as the Checker A9 in 1959 until the last car was built in 1982. These two Aerobus models designed for airport use show one of the few changes made over the years: the earlier car has chrome bumpers but the later car has enormous steel shelf bumpers designed to meet increasing federal safety standards.

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1965 Mercedes 190

Also known as the Finback, the W110/190 was the first car to be designed with crumple zones and extensively crash tested. I see a lot of these around, suggesting they must be hard to kill. The owner of this particular car wanted to keep it around badly enough that he replaced the front fenders and hood with sheet metal from two other cars.

 

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