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Art & Inspiration Top-5 American Automotive Designs

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Ryan, Sep 14, 2022.

  1. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

    Ryan submitted a new blog post:

    Top-5 American Automotive Designs

    [​IMG]

    Continue reading the Original Blog Post
     
  2. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

    Alright... Did some searching and could only come up with a few old top-5 posts.

    This one is from 2009. And this one is from 2006. Ohh... also this one from 2003. I know there are more, but I gotta run to a doctor's appointment. '

    I'm sort of amazed that my list hasn't changed all that much. I added a 33/34 roadster this time around and at times I have included 1949 Ford coupes and '32 roadsters on the list as well... Still love those... and am starting to think my tastes are set in some hard ass stone.
     
  3. corncobcoupe
    Joined: May 26, 2001
    Posts: 7,257

    corncobcoupe
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    Man - Definitely in tune with this list.
    I own / have owned 2 of the 5 on the list.
    That tell you anything ?
    A4A6E49A-0F5C-4876-BB9A-07351818AF4A.jpeg 17C19E10-C127-421E-AA47-44B3726E7104.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2022
  4. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,778

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member


    here is mine from the 2003 post. this was before I owned my corvette or the 40....As I always say. "buy things you like, then if the bottom falls out of the market and you can't sell em, at least you are surrounded by stuff you like" 40.....jpg 55ccr.jpg 61slick.jpeg vette4.JPG
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2022

  5. williebill
    Joined: Mar 1, 2004
    Posts: 3,274

    williebill
    Member

    Great choices, but there's too many cool cars to ever just pick 5.
    We're all partial to what we like, what we were exposed to when we were young, and I've got to include the 39/40 Ford coupe on my list, plus one more.
    At the famous Gatlinburg rod run in, I believe, 1973 or 1974, I saw my first chopped Merc in the flesh. It sat outside the Gatlinburg Auditorium the whole weekend, had NC plates, and was blue.. That car kicked my ass bigtime. All weekend, I kept going back to it.
    When I got home, I immediately bought a 50 coupe that sat abandoned in my home town. I paid $50 for it. It was as bad as any $50 car is supposed to be.
    Thus began a now almost 50 year obsession with one style of car.
    But nope, can't do just 5.
     
  6. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    Just recently came across this interesting video, co-incidentally, extolling the virtues of Chryslers sleek new late '50s designs and GMs spying effort resulting in their attemps to keep pace.

     
  7. Choose only 5? That's tough. Here are 5, in no order.
    37-38 Chevy Coupe.
    56 Cadillac
    32-34 Ford (technically two different body styles)
    39-40 Ford
    29 Duesenberg

    I really could go on and on... I like cars!
     
  8. A Boner
    Joined: Dec 25, 2004
    Posts: 7,419

    A Boner
    Member

    No particular order, approximate 5 favorite:
    56 Lincoln Continental
    54 Corvette
    40 Ford coupe
    36 Ford 3W coupe
    34 Ford 3W coupe
    1963 Corvette coupe
    1932 Ford roadster
    1931 Ford coupe
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2022
    54delray likes this.
  9. In no particular order,
    Same question tomorrow may not have the same answer
    9A1018A7-B921-4138-AAED-A09B71E3BF20.jpeg 6658F398-3007-417D-B7B1-47105654D55C.jpeg 11A574F4-0498-4FBD-929A-3CA9B44A9E8C.jpeg DE71A04B-B07E-427B-AC8E-10B319753F02.jpeg 0D0ABF10-3628-413E-82D2-513954C697CC.jpeg
     
  10. bangngears
    Joined: Aug 30, 2007
    Posts: 1,145

    bangngears
    Member
    from ofallon mo

    34 ford 3w, 57 chev, 32 ford coupe, 62 corvette, 55 chevy
     
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  11. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,942

    squirrel
    Member

    55 chevy hardtop
    33 ford 3 window
    59 Buick
    53 corvette
    39 zephyr

    I was tempted to put 59 Rambler on the list, but it's just too hideous :)
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2022
  12. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

    I mean... I think I would have banned you.
     
  13. 1929rats
    Joined: Aug 18, 2006
    Posts: 661

    1929rats
    Member

    mine----a mixed bag of sorts...

    '61 Pontiac bubbletop
    '37 Ford business coupe (not the club coupe)
    '59 El Camino
    '40 chevrolet business coupe
    '55 Nomad

    my number 6 is a '41 studebaker coupe and it could be in the top 5 tomorrow...or a couple hours even....
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2022
  14. Tow Truck Tom
    Joined: Jul 3, 2018
    Posts: 1,879

    Tow Truck Tom
    Member
    from Clayton DE

    Fords, 34 Roadster and 40 coupe, 56 DeSoto, 59 Buick, 62 Grand Prix.
     
  15. williebill
    Joined: Mar 1, 2004
    Posts: 3,274

    williebill
    Member

    Add Bulgemobile to my list.
     
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  16. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

    '55 Nomad is a good call... I don't know that it's in my top-5, but it's certainly top-10 for me.

    [​IMG]

     
  17. 1940 Fords - I've owned 7 of them.

    1932 Fords - I've owned 10 of them

    1963 1/2 Falcon Sprint - only one

    1950 Ford coupe - only one

    And me being such a Ford guy I have always wanted a '55 Chevy - Hot Rod. HRP
     
  18. Gotgas
    Joined: Jul 22, 2004
    Posts: 7,175

    Gotgas
    Member
    from DFW USA

    1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible
    1957 Desoto Adventurer coupe
    1959 Chevrolet El Camino
    1933 Ford 3-window coupe
    1929 Ford roadster
     
  19. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,523

    Roothawg
    Member

    1936 Ford 3 window
    1959 Chevrolet Impala
    1965 Buick Riviera
    1940 Ford Tudor Sedan
    1936 Ford pickup
     
  20. 1964 Galaxie- owned 9 of them

    1955 Chevy

    1938 Dodge Business Coupe- owned one

    1951 Hudson Hornet

    1934 Ford 3 window- owned 1
     
  21. '40 Ford Coupe....'32 Ford Highboy Roadster........'36 Ford 3 window......'63 Corvette Split Window Coupe.......and believe it or not, '36 Cord, simply because of the Gordon Buehrig advanced styling, certainly not for reliability. 03132019.jpg
     
  22. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

    '63 Split Window... Yes... Really high on my list as well. I owned one, but it was a modern drag car. I would LOVE to do a street/gp car out of one... Something like this:

    [​IMG]

    Frankly, I think C2s make shitty race cars... but Bill Mitchell's styling is so good, I don't care.
     
  23. hansboomer
    Joined: Nov 15, 2008
    Posts: 103

    hansboomer
    Member
    from new york

    In no particualr order:
    63 Riviera (I like the rear bumper and taillights, and the round headlights in the square grill)
    63 Avanti (I really like round headlights)
    63 Corvette (especially the GS race car with round headlights under clear covers)
    39 Ford Deluxe coupe (better than the 40)
    53 Studebaker

    Honorable mention:
    56 Continental
    70 Camaro (These 2 haven't aged well)
    32 Ford
    61 Chevy bubbletop
    49 Ford
    65 GTO (most improved by just a new grill and taillights)
    55 Nomad (maybe 56, not 57)
     
  24. Tom davison
    Joined: Mar 15, 2008
    Posts: 6,042

    Tom davison
    Member
    from Phoenix AZ

    1965 Pontiac Bonneville
    1957 Chrysler
    1956 Continental
    1956 Lincoln Premiere
    1953 Studebaker

    Slightly out of HAMB period (not shown)
    1966 Buick Riviera
    1967 Cadillac Eldorado
    bonneville-Edit-Edit-2-Edit-Edit.jpg DSC_4400-Edit.jpg DSC_8045-Edit-Edit-Edit-2-Edit-Edit-Edit-Edit.jpg Lincoln (1)-Edit-Edit-Edit.jpg Stude-Edit-2.jpg
     
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  25. Jeff Norwell
    Joined: Aug 20, 2003
    Posts: 14,809

    Jeff Norwell
    MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    57 Ford Custom or Custom 300
    39-40 Ford Coupes
    Any well done 28-31 A coupe
    Any well done 32 Ford
    Any well done 33-34 Coupe-5 or 3W

    Im pretty bias. hahahah

    Screen Shot 2022-09-14 at 12.05.56 PM.png Screen Shot 2022-09-14 at 12.06.03 PM.png Screen Shot 2022-09-14 at 12.06.32 PM.png Screen Shot 2022-09-14 at 12.06.38 PM.png 0aacf4b07c0399ed3bbc7809b4d9fdd4.jpg Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance - Thursday August 18th 2022 - Ian Cusey Roadster (by autoblog).jpeg 246f45b7e577c130fa7ee146620036ab.jpg e4501866f4c277a60d9223d0be491426.jpg fa2f20307162b1d59a59d821974ed8c9.jpg Icon32CVR-672x333.jpg
     

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  26. flatout51
    Joined: Jul 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,209

    flatout51
    Member

    49-51 Ford coupe
    39 Mercury convertible
    60 Ford Starliner
    36 Ford 3 window
    57 Thunderbird
     
  27. I have a friend that is in the insurance business and he always talked about wanting a corvette. one after noon he called me and ask me what I know about Corvette and I said very little, he proceeded to tell me one of his clients had a car that had belonged to her husband, it was not running and had been sitting in the garage for almost 30 years, he ask me if I would go look at it with him.

    20 minutes later we were on the road and within 30 minutes we pulled into a well manicured gated community, we had the gate code and went to the address, the lady was in the yard when we arrived and went inside to open the garage door.

    I was shocked to see a red 1963 split window Corvette, it had a 327 and a 4 speed transmission, the license plate was from 1979, So the car had been sitting for more than 44 years.

    Mark ask me what I thought and I ask the lady if she knew why her husband had parked the car and she said he had a brake problem and never got it fixed and she didn't remember the last time it ran.

    To make things better for Mark, the lady was going to sell the house and move into a condo and didn't want or need the car.

    I ask the lady what she wanted for the car and she handed me a note book full of paper work and said I want what George paid for it, Mark bought the car for $4,437.00, exactly what her husband paid the Chevrolet dealer.

    This is about 12 years ago, Make has since went through the brakes, added muchly needed air conditioning, air circulation in that was basically non existent, new tires and buffed the paint.

    I give Mark hell about the car sometimes and tell him if he stepped in $H!T it would turn to gold!

    When he drives it to work he constantly gets offers to buy the car. HRP
     
  28. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,390

    Squablow
    Member

    Every designer for 40+ years after the coffin nose Cord came out seemed to be obsessed with it. Even Virgil Exner, with all his futuristic tail finned designs loved the Cord, the grille in the '61 Imperial was supposed to mimic the Cord grille (really gotta squint to see that one, but that's what the man said). The Cords are super neat cars, but they're also kind of a footnote in and of themselves, surprising what an impact they made on designers for years to come.

    I know I did at least one of these "top 5" lists years ago, I'm sure they were all stuff with tail fins on them, mixed in with a couple models of whatever I was working on at the time.
     
  29. pwschuh
    Joined: Oct 27, 2008
    Posts: 2,827

    pwschuh
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I can't generally narrow down to specific years or models, and these are my current coolest (but not necessarily most beautiful):

    Gotta follow the Boss for first two:

    1. 1965 Rivi (What Ryan said)
    2. 1934-36 Ford Roadster (What Ryan said)
    3. 1947-48 Chrysler Business Coupe ( I just love these clown cars as customs)
    4. 1961-62 GM Bubble Tops (Timeless elegance)
    5. 1958 Lincoln Hardtop or Convertible ( But there's also something about a baroque design...)
     
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  30. Cincinnati Slim
    Joined: Jun 26, 2007
    Posts: 368

    Cincinnati Slim
    Member
    from Cincy, OH

    I always have trouble with this and have to put the stipulation of "what if Hot Rods and customs were banned and I could only have an original car". What cars do I think were perfect from the factory? While I like '56 Chevys and Shoebox Fords, they just look awkward stock.
    So my current Top 5....
    '40 Ford (any body style, except maybe the convertible, that top hurts it)
    '57 T-bird
    '63-'65 Riviera.
    '63 Grand Prix
    '56 Olds 88
     

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