It's a Ragtop Day Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sunbeam

The Sunbeam Alpine was built by the Rootes Group, which owned several British automobile companies. The Alpine produced from 1953 to 1955 had a very rounded look to it, typical of European cars from the 1930s onward. The angular model shown here was introduced in 1959, looking like it had been designed in Detroit.

It had a 1492 cc 4-cylinder engine, increased to 1725 cc by 1965. Then along came American race car driver Carroll Shelby, who told Sunbeam that a 4300 cc V-8 engine would fit in the engine compartment, and thus was born the Sunbeam Tiger.

Answer: Porsche

The Porsche 356 was produced from 1948 to 1965 as a hardtop coupe and a roadster which the German company called an "open configuration". The 356 Speedster particularly acquired the nickname because it reminded some people of an upside-down bathtub. Over the years the name has been applied to all of the 356s.

It had a rear-wheel drive, rear engine design which required a certain skill to go through a corner "at speed", as the euphemism goes, without spinning the car off the road.

Answer: Fleetwood

American automotive excess at its zenith! Bill Mitchell is credited with designing this car. To him and the design team it was a Series 62 (6200); to the rest of the world it's a Cadillac, baby! With its 130 inch (330 cm) wheelbase, not to mention the front and rear body overhang, it is one of the longest American cars ever produced.

The bullet tail light lenses are one of the defining features of the '59 models.

Answer: Jaguar

Also known as the XKE, this Jaguar was produced from 1961 to 1975. Like some other British cars of the time, the design was a significant break from earlier models; in Jaguar's case, the XK120 and XK150 models. There was an E-Type hardtop model which had a rather ungainly look, but the roadster's sleek looks, speed and competitive pricing made it an instant classic.

In 2008, London's "The Daily Telegraph" newspaper named it one of "the 100 most beautiful cars" of all time.

Answer: MG

Beginning production in 1936, MG built the T-series through 1955. MG stood for Morris Garages, founded by William Morris in 1924. Totally different from American cars of the time, British sports cars were noticed by American servicemen stationed in England during World War II, who wanted to buy one on their return home.

The TD version shown here was produced from 1950 to 1953. The cars still had the clamshell fenders popular on British cars at the time but it was small, light, fun to drive and had good fuel economy (a term which wasn't in the American vocabulary of the time).

Answer: Chevrolet

Chevrolet gets the honors for this one. Though in retrospect it looks a little slab-sided, it fit the mood of the times and was considered a great Summer car. Besides the somewhat-underpowered "Blue Flame" 6-cylinder engine it came with Chevy's new 265 cu. in. (4.3 L) V-8, which became the basis for all General Motors V-8s in the future.

Answer: Fiat

The Fiat 124 Sport Spider was another of those cars that came along at just the right time. Built as a coupe as well as a roadster, it was designed by Tom Tjaarda, who had done previous design work on the Chevrolet Corvette "Rondine" and Ferrari 275 GTS. Fiat built relatively inexpensive cars and the 124 (built from 1966 to 1985) adopted several modern innovations including 4-wheel disc brakes, intermittent windshield wipers and dual overhead camshafts.

Answer: 3

Triumph built its TR series of cars from 1953 to 1981. They were another British design which found a receptive market in Europe and North America. The TR-3 was similar in style to its -1 and -2 predecessors with some styling changes and bigger engine displacement. In 1961, Triumph debuted the TR-4 with a more angular body design; the TR-3 was retired after the 1962 model year.

Answer: Buick

The movie "Rain Man" (1988) starred Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman as brothers who didn't find out they were brothers until their father died. They travelled from Ohio to California in a '49 Roadmaster, learning about each other on the way. Buicks have always been considered an upscale American car.

Answer: Ford

Calling it a personal car, rather than a sports car, Ford introduced the Thunderbird in 1954, for the 1955 model year. It was a two-seater and available with either a cloth top or a removable fiberglass hardtop. One engine option in 1957 had a supercharger and produced 300 horsepower (220 kW). Though selling very well as a two-seater, it was decided from 1958 onward to add a rear seat. Production ended in 1997.

After the success of the retro-Mustang introduction, Ford tried a 2-seater T-Bird in 2002, but it didn't catch on and was retired in 2005.