[Closed] What would be your favourite year for American cars?

John : 195O's years for me.

1957 Cadillac , 1956 Chevrolet ,1957 Buick ,1959 Chrysler & Desoto , 1958 Plymouth ,1960 Dodge , 1958 Pontiac ,1957 Ford ,
1955 & 1956 & 1960 Lincoln ,1955 & 1959 Mercury,
I have no opinion about Packard , Studebaker , Hudson .

1965 is to me the high water mark.

All the brilliant brand new full size cars, the rise of the muscle cars, the birth of the pony cars.

1955 is a close second.

I would say 1956 followed by 1957.

For me it's 1957.

1955 was truly a "great leap forward", and may be more significant for that reason, but I love the styling of so many 1957 cars.

Nope, every year or decade there where made horrable cars and beautys, although the 56 Nomad stays a favorite. For EU cars I'll pick 1961 when the E-Type whas launched, and the AC Ace/Cobra but in the base also European.

Happy moving

1930-33 will do it for me.

1955-1959 is my fave period John

I would probably say 1941 I think almoast every car made that year is very beautiful.

1961. A thought-provoking question. Excellent cases could be made for '41, '55, '56'57, even '65 but if I could only have one year's worth of models on my shelf, I would pick 1961. To me, many of the products the makers were bringing out that year had the last vestiges of '50's styling cues (fins and booster rocket taillights) and brand new attempts to find the "next look", (Chevrolet and Pontiac "bubbletops", Dodge reverse fins and clean-lined, blade-fendered T-Birds and Lincolns). Studebaker was still around and Rambler was searching for the next note (those shovel nose Ambassadors weren't it). Valiant, Falcon, Corvair, Olds F-85 and Buick Special were a relatively new segment unto themselves, heralding the introduction of even more lines under the compact and intermediate segments.

1961 is a blend of the '50's and 60's, IMHO the best of both worlds.

I usually think in decades, so this "year only" makes me wonder a little. 1955 comes to mind quickly as the year of styling changes in the USA, dominated by GM and Chrysler but pushed by Ford. Even fledgling AMC went along. Packard made its last great effort, and Studebaker even shut down its assembly lines to modify their early 1955s with a "wrap around" windshield. Some year!

But 1948-49 is also there with the same fairly radical styling changes, even though the leadership came from the independents; remember the all new K-F cars, the "which way" Studebaker, the "step down" Hudson, and the bathtubs from Nash and Packard? Come to think of it, that movement spread from 1947 well into 1949, and that's 3 years. So I guess it's back to 1955 for me! (My favorite then and now was the 1955 Packard Caribbean.)

1955, the year I was born!

1963, hands-down.

The early 60s had those glorious Kennedy-era Lincolns, lightweight zany-looking wedge head Mopars, Rear-transaxle and GP Pontiacs, Starfire and turbocharged Jetfire Oldsmobiles, and elegant T-birds,...

But the 1963 intros include the Buick Riviera and Wildcat, split-window Stingray, Chrysler Turbine, and Studebaker Avanti, and fastback Ford Galaxie and this clinches it for me.

1963 sounds good to me

Agree with all your thoughts on this, Mark; I think 1963 was a truly great year. I will have to give second place to 1965 (hope you reading this, Ed Glorius!).

Too bad The Buckeye Inn burned to the ground -- we could have had quite a discussion this year at Macungie! Oh well, maybe next year!

1957 the best, followed by 1959 and 1956. 1965 and 1963 were my favs after that.