Affordable Classics

The 1959 Chevrolet was designer Harley Earl’s final, dramatic statement before his retirement. While “all new all over again” was GM’s apt description of its entire 1959 model series, it was the full-size Chevrolet that sparked the most controversy both within the industry and from observers.With its signature cat’s-eye taillights, it was called “the wild…

A “poor-man’s XKE” is what some call the Triumph GT6. They share a six-cylinder engine and fastback styling, both rarities in English cars of their era. And they both boast independent rear suspensions and relatively luxurious interiors. The fact that the GT6 can be bought for less than one-fifth the price of an E-type coupe…

If one bought cars by the pound, Jensen Interceptors would be the best value in the marketplace. Produced in Great Britain during the death throes of the Jensen company and following the time-honored traditions of British companies installing big American engines into Italian-designed bodies, these cars are large, heavy and dirt-cheap. With space for a…

The Avanti was an automotive Hail Mary, a last-ditch effort to bring excitement and warm bodies to Studebaker showrooms. In 1961 Studebaker president Sherwood Egbert made the decision to build a sports car-and to do it as fast as possible. He called upon one of the best-known industrial designers in the world, Raymond Loewy, who…

Veterans of the ’60s remember the Dart for plenty of reasons, most of them related to its economy-car status. The 225-c.i. “slant six” motor, named for its pronounced lean to the port side of the car, was known as the motor that thrived on abuse-it never seemed to need any attention to keep it running.…

The least expensive car listed in SCM’s Price Guide is the Fiat X1/9. The scrap value of its aluminum bumpers alone might be almost equal to the price of the whole car.Introduced in 1974, its Bertone styling was revolutionary at the time. Nowadays, however, people often mistake its straight lines, which taper to a point…

Call it the poor man’s Cobra; you wouldn’t be challenged in many quarters. It had an English body and chassis, and was originally produced to have a relatively anemic four-cylinder engine. The hybrid was powered first by a 260-c.i. Ford V8 and then for a short time by the Ford 289. And the original prototype…

Pontiac’s Tempest went through a major transition in 1964. No longer a shirttail relative of the Chevrolet Corvair, it was fattened up and marketed as a family car. The “sporty” LeMans model featured standard bucket seats and unique trim moldings, but had the same engine combinations as all other Tempests.To enhance their image, the product…

In 1973 Ferrari replaced the Dino 246 GT V6 with the Dino 308 GT4 V8. Unusually, they did not choose Pininfarina to style the car, instead opting for Bertone, where a young Marcello Gandini did the actual design. In typical Ferrari practice, construction was done at the Scaglietti works. Oddly, Ferrari asked Bertone to make…