It was only the third year in for the nameplate, but already the 1963 Pontiac Tempest LeManswas growing in size. The Tempest lineup debuted for model year 1961 along with the Buick Special and Oldsmobile F-85, and as soon as they did they were dubbed senior compactsas they were bigger than the Ford Falcon, Chevy Corvair, and Chrysler Corporation’s Valiant, which were all true compacts. The t
This 1977 Volkswagenwas still officially called the Beetleconvertiblehere in the States. The French version referred to it as the Cabriolet,which is of course French for convertible. When the 1980 Rabbit drop-top debuted, French-Canadian advertising material called it La Rabbit décapotable(Rabbit convertible, which is how it was marketed in English-speaking North America). Model year 1985 w
It’s not often, in my experiences, that you see a Swedish vehicle at a car show, so this 1997 Saab 900 SEreally stood out. This was from the second-generation of the 900 series of cars (1994-98; the first gen was from 1978-93). General Motors had acquired a 50 percent interest in Saab in 1989, and purchased the other half in 2000. Ergo, the 2nd-gen 900s were based on the GM platform which al
The 1966 Pontiac Catalinawas a somewhat minor restyle of the 1965 cars (when the entire Pontiac Motor Division had been named “Car of the Year” by Motor Trendmagazine). The Catalina was Pontiac’s entry-level full size nameplate, and its lineup consisted of: two- and four-door sedans and hardtops, this convertible, and six- and nine-passenger station wagons. Other nameplates were
It wasn’t seen during the same trip as yesterday’s RealRide, but this 1969 Mercury Marquiswas spotted recently across the border at a weekly Downtown Cruisers’ Night in Port Colborne, Ontario. Just like the Monarch we featured yesterday, we’re going to declare this big, full-size Merc as a rarity — and this time we don’t just mean rare today, but rare period, as
The first thing I thought when I saw this all-new for 1967 Plymouth Barracudawas, “I don’t remember In-Violetbeing a 1967 color" (it wasn’t). Then I began reminiscing about my own 1967 Barracuda, which I bought in the late summer of 1971. It was a Medium Blue hardtop (not the fastback) with a blue interior. Bench seat, column TorqueFlite automatic, 273 V8, AM radio, whitewalls &a
If you’re one of those who can’t decide if you want a vintage car or a modern one, this 2004 Ford Thunderbirdmight be just what you’re looking for. It’s a 2004 retro-Bird with the exterior contours of the ’57 two-seater, from the hood, front fenders, and bumper & grille to the rear quarters, fender skirts, and taillights. Nicely done. A Googlesearch for a ’5
Just finished getting mybike out of thecar and was heading across the street for the weekly Slow Roll Buffalo bike ride when this 1972 Pontiac Grand Villepulled into the parking lot. The Grand Ville replaced the Bonneville at the top of the Pontiac full-size heap just the year before this car was built, but it wouldn’t stay there long, being dropped after model year 1975. We especially enjoy
Doing a bit of research on today’s RealRide, a 1993 Pontiac Sunbirdconvertible, I came away with the feeling that Pontiac wasn’t too keen on publicizing this particular body style. They showed two Sunbird photos in their full-line catalog — a coupe and a four-door sedan. The convertible? Got a half-line mention in the description of the Sunbird’s three available rooflines:
We came across this 1988 Volkswagen Cabrioleta few weeks ago at the Sanborn-Lewiston Farm Festival/Volkswagen of WNY Car Showin Sanborn. Which prompted a refresher course on the model name. For years VW has referred to and badged their convertible model as a Cabriolet, which is interesting because according to reliable sources, the German word for convertible is cabrio; but in French it’s ca