Cheap Thrills

Pity the 1961–66 Ford F-series pickup. Despite vintage pickups being one of the hottest segments of the collectible-vehicle market, this era of pickups seems to be generally forgotten today — and that really is a pity, since they combine vintage-pickup charm with modern utility. A cleaner Ford The new fourth-generation trucks, introduced for 1961, had…

Gooding & Company Lot 62: 1927 Ford Model T Custom Dry-Lakes Roadster VIN T14884116. Sold at $11,200 This one took a lot of folks by surprise. The auction house guesstimate was $20k to $25k. It was a good-quality build, even if it was in off-the-shelf project-leftovers territory. With a fuel-injected Chevy 305 small block, 700R4, and modern…

We still don’t have the new Ford Bronco that FoMoCo promised us at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show. But if you want a Bronco that’s more modern than the drafty rattletrap 1966–77 first-gen, maybe it’s time to consider the true successor to the original: the 1984–1990 Bronco II. A chip off the old Ranger Just…

When the Fox-body Ford Mustang arrived for 1979, Ford had to deal with a market that favored economy more than performance. The OPEC oil crisis had unfolded just as the Mustang II was introduced for 1974. While that car sold well, it was lambasted for lackluster performance. The lukewarm 302-ci V8 just wasn’t endearing to…

Pontiac tried to re-establish itself as GM’s performance brand in the 1980s. To help it steer that course, they built the 1984–88 Fiero. Yet there was one model that had all the buzz before and during the era of the Fiero and today is all but forgotten — the 6000 STE. For American automakers, it…

The Dakota was Chrysler’s reaction to the Ford Ranger and Chevy S-10. It was introduced for the 1987 model year and lasted until 2011, produced through three generations. Generally a well-selling worker bee, the Dakota did make a splash with a convertible Sport version in 1989–91. In addition, since Carroll Shelby was working at Chrysler…

Lincoln cars traditionally had unique engines, dating all the way back to inception by Henry Leland. But the purchase of the company by Henry Ford, refinement by Edsel Ford, and restructuring in the post-World War II era by Henry Ford II all led to an all-time great engine, sourced from the Blue Oval. The revitalized…

With talk today of a soon-to-be-released pickup version of the Jeep JL-series Wrangler, it seems quite distant to think that Jeep had the first domestically built “compact” pickup. Initially, it was the CJ-8 Scrambler from 1981 to ’85, but the idea also continued from 1986 until 1992 with the Comanche. AMC billed that one as…

When it comes to 1963–67 Corvettes, the 1964 model is just like a record screeching when the tone arm is pulled across it. It’s the mid-year that gets no respect. It’s easy to say off the cuff that they are not a 1963 Split-Window coupe. But that doesn’t explain why 1964 convertibles sell for less…

The big-block 440-ci RB (for Raised Block) V8 was Chrysler Corporation’s last bastion for hefty but inexpensive horsepower. Sure, the Hemi was the bad boy on the dragstrip, but anyone who espouses the credo of “Mopar or no car” will tell you that the 440 was the one to beat on the street. One could…