In high school my best buddy talked his mother into buying a 1961 Impala… stripped. However, the goodies under the hood included the now legendary 409 mated to a 3 on-the-tree shift with a drag rated rear axle. Bench seats, solid black, dog bowl hubcaps on steel wheels and dual exhaust. Many a night we went to the bridges spaced 1/4 mile apart in Trinity River bottomlands. Never beaten. His mom never found out. He wound up with his own ride later… ‘55 Chevy with self-installed 4 speed floor shift and a highly machined 283… very sweet ride. Yeah, I still can remember being a teen… amazing now, just life then.
When I was 4 years old, My father bought a 1961 Cadillac "bubbletop" Coupe de Ville.. Traded for another new Coupe de Ville in 1964, another Cadillac Coupe de Ville in 1967 and another Coupe de Ville in 1970.. Those were great reliable cars with powerful engines. Gasoline was cheap. During the 1960s American families drove the great American vacation to national parks like Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and others.. A great time to grow up !
Thank you for posting, many of us antique car enthusiasts appreciate your thorough research and perfectly-paced delivery. The Mercuries, Pontiacs, and Oldsmobiles were exceptionally attractive for 1960. Thanks again!
As a Ford man through and through I have to say that the 61 "bubbletop" Chevrolet has got to be one of the prettiest cars to come out Detroit in the 60's if not ever and the steering wheel, a one year only item is a work of art in itself.
I had no idea the Maserati Quatroporte began so early. What a stunner! The '61 GM lineup was beautiful, but the Lincoln eclipsed the Cadillac visually. The smaller Dodge and Plymouth are definitely an acquired taste. Great video!
Cadillac looked much more exciting than Lincoln for 1961 with Jet Age looks.. That 1961 design really popped !.. Lincoln looked dowdy and boring by comparison.. Just my opinion.. Big Chryslers looked solid and aspirational, but Dodge and Plymouth, not so much. Very awkward looking, those.
I noticed your channel yesterday. I began watching some of the uploads. Wow. Being a car enthusiast (especially American Muscle cars) this is right up my alley. I can remember all the cars my parents owned and drove over the years. Keep up the great work.
Showed up on my feed, awesome presentation! Originally from Flint, everyone in the family worked for GM in some capacity. My Uncle was lead at age 25, Engineering at AC Delco. He went on to play a pivotal role and had his hand or stamp on virtually everything that came out of AC Delco from 63 on through OBD1. He transferred to overseeing European operations based out of Southport England for a few years to be brought back for the new "at the time" Pontiac instrument cluster glass which required what he said was "a crap tonne of math" to get the correct shape. (87 or 88? Not sure) and then the New Presidential Limos. Had always asked and or mentioned that he should have wrote it all down but to him it was just a job and he could have cared less. He passed away last Sept
Those big 60s cars didn’t need backup cameras. When pulling out of that cramped parking space you just kept backing until you heard the crunch and pulled forward.
This video was comprehensive. You put some effort into this video and some work. You covered the world and so many brands. I am impressed and I was sitting here watching the video thinking where did he find the time to do this video? Just wow and Bravo. Did like you covered so many cars globally. I will say one thing for all these cars they all had character and distinction. It was indeed variety. We do not see this anymore today.
My parents had a '65 Chevy wagon. What a beast! My dad said he could fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood *inside* it, seats down, of course. Try that today with your average wagon-wannabe SUV!
The Rambler Ambassador at 2:46 and then later Rambler models were the biggest selling cars sourced from US parts in Australia. Similar story for a while with locally assembled Studebakers selling well. Selected Rambler models were assembled at the Australian Motor Industries (AMI) factory at Port Melbourne from 1961 to 1974 in right hand drive. Fitted with as much Australian content as possible like upholstery, paint and springs . AMI also assembled Triumph, Standard, Mercedes and the Toyota. The Toyotas assembled here starting in 1963 or so were the first Toyotas assembled outside Japan. Toyota were very interested in the Mercedes Benz 220S and 220SE (a smaller engine simpler version of the 300SE at 17:54) being assembled by AMI. Useful to compare the Mercedes OHC 2.2 litre six with the later Crown 2.3 litre ohc six. Toyota liked AMI so much that they bought the company and had them concentrate on Toyotas only Most of the other US cars only made it to Australia in tiny numbers as high taxed imports needing expensive local conversion to right hand drive. Lots of the british models made it here unless they duplicated or cannibilised local Holden, Ford or Chrysler parent companies lically made models. The non luxury cars were usually locally assembled to keep prices down
Having learned to drive in a new 1960 Mercury I can testify that the end of the era of the 60’s “land barge’ is not a loss for driving enthusiasts. Floaty and boaty with no feel of the road in the steering and totally inadequate brakes. Tire squealing through corners was common at low speeds. When you backed up you could tell when to stop by the sound of the crunch into a nearby object.
I remember the cars in the 60s, but it was the early to mid 70s when cars got really big. There was a 74' Imperial in my neighbourhood that dwarfed my Mom's 69' Plymouth wagon.....and that's saying something because we couldn't close the garage door with her car parked in it. No Cadillac or Lincoln was outlawed on 8 state's roads, but the Imperial was.
Mid-70s crash protection regulations could add as much as 8 inches to already huge cars, and optional bumper guards could add another 4 inches. Not exactly the same long and low look of the 60s.
@@thehopelesscarguy four across in the front and back seats is what I remember. My middle brother was 6'-1 1/2" tall and he could lay across the trunk floor in our buddy's 71' NewYorker. My school principal used to tow a 10,000lb airstream with his high compression 69' NewYorker. Only mod was mosquito netting behind the grill, ahead of the radiator. Said it did it effortlessly with the torque of that 440.
I eventually swapped it for a 1960 Caddy that had belonged to Johnny Cash, wish I still had it:( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qK27BjUtJsM.html&ab_channel=gareth5000
If I may.. you misspoke the engine size on the '61Merc at 4:09: not 252 but 352! also, as a point of clarification the Monterey Marauder of 1961 refers to its engine.. the Marauder as a body style with semifastback styling came out in 1963.
Several of these are some of the most ravishing and dramatically styled automobiles ever seen anywhere-- it could be argued that the late 50's domestic automobiles were even more historically styled, but in my opinion they were over-reaching, and this period represents a welcome moderation and return to tastefullness-with-drama. To me, these cars are in fact real examples of sculpture, at a time in which the sculpting of metal was a labor of love, instead of a by-product of nonhuman technology.
@thehopelesscarguy Yeah, I think this is why your channel here is such a draw, and so enjoyable. One after another, these pristine examples of this period of great design in automobiles. I always look at them and wonder just why they're such impressive things. I think it's many things, but mostly it's because they're somehow more *real* than modern automobiles.
The 1961 Chevys had a great front metal grill with horizontal & Vertical lines, If you used flat black paint on the metal parts of the Vertical grill it looked like you had a custom tubular grill installed.
My Dad bought 1961 Nomad wagon woth a 283 V8, it had a rear facing 3rd seat, beautiful wagon. Traded for a 65 Impala wagon which was tradedfor a 70 Buick Eatate wagon.
1962 Chrysler, had many a New Yorker with the 413, 300 coupe 383, and a Newport 361 fun rides they were but at the time all over 20 years old ... fun rides many memories
This was drool-worthy nostalgia. And as for oddity, let's not forget the Pontiac, which went to hella crazy tailights, such that the rear of the car was wider than the front, getting some stuck. The next year Pontiac threw in the towel and just put two little dots on each side.! Great collection of UK and other cars ot other countries Thanks for your hard work! I'm going to go build a time machine now.
Love your videos; They cover the automotive gambit of marques world wide pretty well. It's quite interesting to see all these automotive designs from around world. Thank You again for a excellent, & very well done video.
My first decent car was an all metallic aqua '60 Montclair 2-door hardtop with a 430 cu in V8 I bought in '65. It only had 28k miles & was spotless. I paid $800 for it. Great highway cruiser & I triple dated often due to the huge interior. At a time when buddies were driving '55-'57 Chevies, fifties Fords & odd hand me downs, the Merc stood out. Buried the needle around 3 A.M. on I-96 just outside of Detroit to see what that 430 could do. The Merc was rock solid & held to the road very well. Of course, I got caught by the state police with one dandy of a ticket, 120 in a 70. The trooper said I was going faster but 50 over was considered reckless driving. Got drafted & went into the Army two days later, saved me from a suspended license. Great times, great memories.
@@thehopelesscarguy The great thing about growing up on the southwest side of Detroit in the 50s through the 70s was all the cars & trucks that friends, neighbors & relatives owned. Most folks worked in the auto industry & drove some sweet rides. It was a gearhead's paradise. Cruising was in it's prime & gas was cheap. Woodward, Gratiot &Telegraph avenues was for cruising, College & Stecker roads was the place to be for late night street racing. Saw some crazy stuff. One night Gratiot auto supply had a AA fuel dragster that one of the guys tried to run on Gratiot. The cops were waiting for him at the end of the store driveway. Thank you for refreshing my memory of a bygone era. Keep the reviews coming.
My parents had a 1960 Edsel Ranger. I don’t know if it was true or a joke, but I remember being told Illinois vehicle code required rooftop clearance lights (like on truck cabs) on them.
Impala Ford galaxie are big cars. But the ones you finish up with from Europe and Japan, I never thought about them being large cars. But I guess large is from different perspectives.
I didn't see the 1960 Buick LeSabre in this video. It was 217 inches long, and 80 inches wide, with a wheelbase of 123 inches. The 364 cid V8 gave it 254 h.p. It was definitely one of the largest cars ever made.
I want to add more praise for your photographs of those beautiful British & continental European cars! One suggestion though, please name the source builder countries, in some cases they are simply not at all familiar to us Americans. Thank you again.
From 15:28 the Peugeot 404, The Simca Vedette and the Citroen simpler ID 19 were all assembled in Australia. The Simca Vedette being built in the parent Chrysler plant until local Valiant production kept up with demand. A Chrysler with the weakest Ford V8.
Today, these cars do not fit in todays garages, the garages are to short. T know, cannot find garages to put my vehicle in for the night. So sad. 👍👍👍. 7-15-2023
I don't know. I like the 64 Galaxie, but I prefer the 63 Impala, and it just wasn't a great period for the Mopars unless quirky is your thing. Yeah, I'm all over the place.
It's no coincedence that the Opel Kapitan P2 shown at 12.35 carries the name of the biggest classic car dealer of the Netherlands; Gallery Aaldering, on its numberplate. Because they, and its smaller sister the Opel Rekord P2, were very popular in the Netherlands. First with the upper and middle class shopkeepers and farmers, giving it its nickname 'Boerenopel'/Farmersopel, and later on with the black leather jacket greasy haired rocker crowd, as their winter vehicle of choice, because they rode motorbikes in summer. Didn't do the reputation of the brand any good.😏
Quite a long list, but how come you missed the 800 lb gorilla from Mercedes, the LEGENDARY 600 and 600 Pullmann?? it was the favorite of heads of state and dictators, and was made from 1963 to 1981.
Other than the Chevrolet Impala---I don't like the styling of any of those cars of the early 1960s---domestic or foreign! The front grilles and lights are especially grotesque and disturbing. Whoever designed these cars---were they on drugs? Chevrolet, in my opinion, was the only auto manufacture who did proper styling
@@thehopelesscarguy Yeah get to the 64 compact fairlanes and the galaxies and of course the Mustang...even the big falcons but the Cara around 1960 looked odd. Many manufacturers did as they seemed to use strange shapes and styles including crazy complex lights and so on. Fortunately it was short lived.
Your big cars of the 60s really pissed me off: It was longer and didnt get the point with descriptions of all other cars. Two, and most important was the very aggrevating usage of litre sizes! The sizes were in c.i! These are American cars not British and during the years they were referred to in c.i. sizes! Nimrod! This is not Europe!! You are trying to force Americans to use metrics and making them for places that don't use US measurements. This is the only and last video I will watch of yours.
