Introducing Your 1960(ish) American Car Quiz

Answer: Corvair

While Motor Trend magazine proclaimed the Corvair "Car of the Year" for its quick handling, European flavor, independent suspension and its revolutionary rear transaxle, the Corvair never was a great seller. It was particularly hurt by the publication of Ralph Nader's book "Unsafe at Any Speed" which focused on dangerous handling qualities and the lack of safety features in cars of that time. In fact, Chapter 1 of the book was titled "The Sporty Corvair--the One-Car Accident". Still, the car was in production for 9 years and included four-door models, a station wagon, a convertible and the Monza sport version. The advent of the Mustang finally spelled the end for the Corvair.

My mother and my sister both owned Corvairs at one time. The thing I most remember is the gear shift which was a tab sticking out of the face of the instrument panel. You clicked the tab up and down to shift between Park, Reverse and Drive.

Answer: Falcon

The first Falcon was three feet shorter than the full-sized Fords but still managed to be roomy enough inside to seat six adults. The two-door had a factory price in 1960 of $1912. The four-door was $62 more. For buyers on a budget who still needed room to haul things there was a station wagon model and a Falcon Ranchero pickup. By 1970 Ford found they were unable to design new Federally-mandated safety requirements into the Falcon and so dropped the line. Falcon's successor was the Maverick which used the same chassis.

Answer: Riviera

Among GM's line of cars, Buicks were considered entry-level luxury models. Cadillacs were luxury models, Pontiacs were sport models, with Oldsmobiles positioned between Buicks and Pontiacs. The Riviera was a sports model which was available only as a coupe.

In fact, throughout its production life the Riviera was never offered as a 4-door. The 1963 included as standard features: 2-speed windshield wipers with washer, back-up lights, parking brake signal light, safety buzzers, electric clock, padded instrument panel, smoking set, trip odometer, bucket seats in the front and back, defroster, deep-pile carpet and wheel covers.

In contrast to most GM cars, the Riviera did not share its body shell with any other models. The Riviera's main competitor was the Ford Thunderbird.

Answer: Marlin

The Marlin was essentially a Rambler Classic with a fastback roof and different taillights. With it Rambler hoped to achieve a niche--sporty like the Mustang and Plymouth Barracuda with the roominess of a 6-passenger car. Mustangs and Barracudas were essentially 4-passenger vehicles. The Marlin could be ordered with a 232-cid inline 6, 287-cid V8 or 327-cid V8 engine. The motoring press was fairly unimpressed with its sports performance but did praise the roominess, styling and dual brake system. In 1966 the Rambler Marlin became the AMC Marlin. The car was discontinued after 1967 due to low sales.

Baseball fans may remember the car the Florida Marlins used in parades celebrating their 1997 World Series victory. That car was a 1966 Marlin (Florida Marlins, AMC Marlin, get it?) with the top cut off.

Answer: Charger

The Charger used the Coronet chassis. It had bucket seats in the front and back. The back seats could fold down for storage. Factory price was $3122--only $48 less than the four-door, luxury Dodge Monaco. In 1968 the fastback was gone. It was no longer in fashion. Charger production ended in 1978. Dodge did bring the name back in 1983 and stuck it on a subcompact car with a hatchback, then again in 2006 for their new sports sedan.

Answer: Toronado

The Toronado was the first full-sized, domestic front-wheel drive car since the 1938 Cord. Among its features were a Turbo-Hydra-Matic transmission, special chrome molding, electric clock, power steering and brakes, back-up lights, deluxe armrests and a parking brake light. The first models were available with either a 425-cid Rocket V8 or a 455-cid Rocket V8 engine. The front profile of the Toronado was unlike anything else. It was dominated by a horizontal slat grille extending the width of the front with concealed, eyebrow headlights above. The back profile was equally unique--a flattened oval with taillights extending the width of the rear end. Motor Trend named it "Car of the Year" for 1966.

By the way, the word "Toronado" does not mean anything. It was just a word the Chevrolet people came up with that sounded exciting.

Answer: Firebird

The 1967 Firebird was offered as a coupe and as a convertible. Each style was also available in five "model options" making ten car choices in all. The base model had a 230-cid engine with single barrel carburetor. The Sprint option included a 230-cid engine with four barrel carburetor, overhead cam, and three-speed manual transmission.

The Firebird 326 had a 326-cid V8. The Firebird 326-HO had a 326-cid V8, side stripe, dual exhaust and F70-14 wide tires. The Firebird 400 had a 400-cid V8, dual scoop hood and chrome engine parts. The Pontiac Trans Am was a Firebird with larger engine, a spoiler, different hood and different wheels and debuted in 1969. KITT, the car in the "Knight Rider" TV series, was a 1982 Trans Am.

Answer: Cougar

The 1967 Cougar had a 289-cid V8 engine, vinyl bucket seats, deep loop carpeting and a three-spoke "Sport" steering wheel. It was Motor Trend's "Car of the Year" for 1967. It became almost the iconic Mercury car--so much so that advertisements encouraged car shoppers to go to the "sign of the cat" for their next car.

What I most remember about the Cougar were the sequential turn signals in the back. I believe there were three lamps on each side. The innermost one would light, followed by the middle one and then the outermost one. The sequence would repeat. To me it looked like a cat flicking its tail.

Answer: Javelin

The Javelin was available with either a 232-cid V6 or a 343-cid V8 engine. Innovative safety features included a dashboard molded in one piece and fiberglass interior windshield posts. Motor Trend magazine named it "top sports-personal" car of the year.

AMC also introduced a two-seat version named the AMX (American Motors Experimental). Craig Breedlove, the racer, set 100 land speed records in the AMX before it was even offered to the public.

Answer: Roadrunner

The Roadrunner was based on the Belvedere. In order to keep it inexpensive there were few amenities--early models did not even include carpeting. It did, however, have a horn that went "beep-beep" just like the cartoon bird. The 1968 factory price of $2870 for the coupe and $3034 for the hardtop coupe put the Roadrunner between the Satellite and the Sport Satellite in the Plymouth stable. For an additional $714 a buyer could have had a 428-cid Hemi engine.