The Five Most Beautiful cars of the early 1960s

1961 Plymouth Fury. Identical in every respect to my 1st car circa 1968 except mine had 2 more doors.

 

Hard to add anything to the list/lists already posted, but let's not dis the after 65s too much.

67 Eldorado: Ground breaking dream car, akin to the iconic Rivieras

66 Toronado: Sort of the same reasons, but more restrained and trick "effects" throughout for it's day.

Most early Imperials simply oozed class. The ones that ended the Exner designs made way for something cleaner and just as elegant. They killed it later on making it too plain.

While I can't cite specific examples, there were some exercises that were true knockouts from the "Big 4". Maybe some of you have favorites to post?

Lastly, how about the "big window" 61-2 Ford Unibody pickup? Yeah, just a truck, but pretty damn stylish.

 

I normally don't feel comfortable feeling like I have to add my two cents Ryan's excellent selections but my mind keeps spitting out images, so here we go:

The 1961 Ford Starliner: Sleek, rocket-inspired styling that was gone in the following year's Galaxies.

The 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe: Again . . . beautiful sleek styling, with no body-color'ed side trim like the previous year and the simple 4 cone shaped tail lights in the body-colored rear cove. Hands down, my personal favorite!

The 1963 Corvette Split Window Coupe: Just absolute sex on four wheels. What even comes close? With car manufacturer's return to retro styling, I simply can't believe that iconic split rear window hasn't returned yet!

The 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix: Extremely simple slab-sided sheetmetal that did the talking instead of relying on gaudy side trim. A bodyman's nightmare maybe to get mirror straight but once it is . . . . . it's really somethin' else!

The 1965 Buick Riviera: I honestly tried to stay pre-'65, but I just had to make an exception with this one example. I've read that they were to have the clamshell-opening headlights in the debut year of 1963 but ran out of time in development trying to get them right, so they gave up and just put them in the grill. By 1965, they had nailed it down, along with cleaning up those rear quarter faux vents and the tail light area. Like many have said before . . . . this is a true factory-built custom!

 

If it was top ten instead of top five, that would have made my list, along with the '63 1/2 Galaxie.

 

This is definitely my era.After fighting myself over the choices(the selected cars are all favorites of mine)the Riv won.

 

1962 Ford Sunliner Conv., 1962 Olds Starfire, 1961 Cadillac Eldorado Conv., 1964 Buick Riviera, 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix.

 

Yep, the green one is a fire engine with a Chevy 409 and we went to work at night giving it a warmup. Dual quads, different distributor, another set of heads and we funded it all with employee contributions. Five speed with a two speed rear end and it hauled the mail. We were so far out in the country even the farm boys sat up and noticed. We shifted it at 6,200 RPM and then the '62 Pontiac had one of the few SD 421's in it with dual quads the aftermarket dealer shop installed intake kit and a Posi-trac. All fun from the '60's. I wish I could show the '63 Galaxie I had that had a 406 in it. It too made many envious. That FE block amazed all of us.
Normbc9

 

.
I'd have to think any of Virgil Exner's early 60's designs rank up there. Oh and also the Buick Riviera Gran Sport...






































.

 

Lets try it again. The photo's didn't come through the first time.
Normbc9

 

Those MOPAR"s are absolutely beautiful. Our cops loved the 300 in the early '60's. The entire car line was well engineered to me. Thanks for sharing with us!
Normbc9

 

The early 60's was such an amazing time that just about any five cars of the era could be chosen without much of an argument. The five chosen for the list are fine with me though.

 

Glad I'm not the only one who wants to shoehorn a '61 Chrysler onto the list.

 

Man, tough choice. I gotta go with the Avanti.

 

61 Starliner
Following in no particular order:
63 1/2 Galaxie
63 Marauder
62 Monterey
64 GTO

 

The first time I saw a Riv(walking home from school) I thought it was customized! I guess that's the one that does it for me(although I think the Contys are pretty cool too). Cat

 

Good to see the 1960 Starliner getting some love. My dad bought a HiPo new and it was our daily family car til the 1980's. He still owns it.

For those saying that 1960 Galaxies are ugly..... A galaxie is not a Starliner. .

 

You forgot this one ! 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury. Ron

 

My 3 favorites from the 60's..

 

Well boys, those were my times and days. God Bless the older guys who had some of the early 60's factory hot rods when they were new, and let a kid (me) hang around. What great people, times and CARS!!!!

 

I agree with all of Jay's choices. I'd add the '63 1/2 Galaxie fastback, '63 Corvette split, and I'm gonna bend the rules with the '65 GTO, '65 Impala hardtop, and '65 Cadillac hardtop. So arrest me.

 

Well I really can't say theres any better looking early 60s Autos than the 1960 Chryslers,1961 Chryslers & 1960 DeSotos!!! Those 300s are Sharp as Sharp can be. Just great looking cars!

 

Sylvian, wow wow wow. That's a whole lotta art right there.

 

I agree with everything posted, but I would add the 64 Mercury Marauder. I know its O/T ,but the 67 and 68 Impala fastback is a sexy beast.

 

the 60 polara

 

Ferrari Lusso. 5 of them. End of thread

 

Exner had a vivid imagination and vision, probably fueld by the "jet age" that dominated the late 50s/early 60s. Chrysler had big balls to build some of those designs into real cars. Some were so pretty they'd give ya goose bumps, some so ugly they were just kool on that fact alone, that they were simply ugly. Example, 61 Dart, headlight arrangement looks like a cartoon character!

The trouble the OEMs would go to in order to produce something nice, huh? I'm amazed at how much brazing is done in the body of the 61 Chevy HT. Looking at the shapes, I couldn't imagine a press that could create it.

 

Im going to jump in here with Dr. Hemi. I would love to have a 61 fury. Great lines on this car. Don't see them very often. Been looking for one for about 6 years now. Buick Rivi gets my vote as well.

 

That car belongs to Richard Carpenter of the Carpenters. His beautiful collection is in Newbury Park.












.

 

1960 Ford Starliner, 1962 Ford Galaxie, 62 Pontiac, 64 Savoy, and anything else made in 1960