(Updated 7/19/2026)Â Â Though known for their performance, the classic Jaguar shape suggests a lushness incongruous with grand touring and dynamic prowess in the current idiom. Â When this US-oriented high roller was conceived, however, it was still a while before sober-looking German models would redefine the elegant, high-end sedan and with its resplendent contours, the Jaguar Mark X represents a very different aesthetic sensibility.
(Updated 7/16/2026)Â Â Â Â By the late 1990s, the Jeep Grand Cherokee had become more than just another SUV. For many middle-class families, it was a rolling symbol of success, the kind of vehicle that announced you’d finally “made it.” Fortunately for buyers, it also happened to be one of the most capable and well-rounded sport utilities on the market.
Today’s 1956 Continental, uploaded to the CC Cohort by robadr, is going to make for something of a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty short post. Longtime readers may remember this very car from its first appearance at CC back in 2016. Time spent outdoors has clearly taken a toll on the vehicle, with its condition now looking rougher. On the bright side, it’s now parked outside a repair shop, suggesting it’s about to receive some long-overdue attention. Whether that’s the start of a quick mechanical intervention or the first step in a protracted restoration, that’s anyone’s guess.
Most of us never see our old cars again after watching them disappear down the road with their new owners. Every once in a while, though, fate offers a second chance. Four years after selling my 1988 BMW 735i, I stumbled across it for sale while helping my father look for a truck. I couldn’t resist bringing it home, unaware that the car would once again become part of one of the most important chapters of my life.
Bucket seats aren’t usually associated with vintage Cadillacs, but they were a factory option through most of the 1960s — for a while, they were even available on the four-door De Ville. This 1963 four-window Sedan de Ville has leather buckets and the new-for-1963 center console.
(Updated 7/18/2026)     Oldsmobile had a long and storied history before its I suppose timely demise due to lack of interesting and unique product as well as a general loss of distinct purpose. But many of us coming of driving age in the 1980’s will remember a very long stretch of time that the midsize Cutlass Ciera was ubiquitous on our streets, with the herds really thinning out within the last decade or so. So seeing this first-year 1984 wagon, the Cutlass Cruiser, was a bit of a surprise. Read the rest of this entry »
There was a time when the local shopping mall wasn’t just a place to buy things—it was a destination. These vintage postcards capture that moment when sprawling shopping centers were shiny new destinations, complete with acres of parking, eye-catching architecture, and the promise that you could find just about everything in one place. Whether they’ve since been demolished, remodeled beyond recognition, or continue serving shoppers today, each image captures a moment in time that’s unlikely to be seen again.
Last week, I left off standing in a Tesla delivery center, having completed the easiest car purchase of my life. What had started as a carefully planned order for a Radiant Red Chevrolet Bolt EUV Premier had suddenly turned into a Pearl White 2023 Tesla Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive, thanks to expiring Oregon rebate money, a disappearing supply of Bolts, and a very understanding wife.
So there I was, key cards in hand, sitting in my brand-new Tesla for the first time.
And now I had to figure out how to drive the thing.
(2013. Updated with a new ending 2018. Updated 2026)
At eight-thirty on the morning of February 12, 1971, two weeks after turning eighteen, I sat on a wooded hillside looking down on the large back storage lot at Towson Ford. Instead of going to Towson High that morning, I had walked here to retrieve my Boy Scout backpack, which I had packed and then stashed under a bush the night before. I was about to leave everything behind today: family, friends, school, job…something out there was calling me and I was going to heed the call.  I had planned to hitchhike after picking up my paycheck when the dealership opened at nine–and then, as I sat there looking at all those new 1971 Fords, an idea popped into my head, one that undoubtedly changed the trajectory of my life.
Why not just take one of them and drive…all the way to California?
It was December 2024, and I was making one of my regular visits to good ol’ USA. As often happens before these trips, my mind drifted into CC daydreaming from the moment the flight was booked: “So, what old classic will I find by the curb this time?” Being a visit to the U.S., I was hoping for something quintessentially American that I hadn’t seen in years. After all, fifties and sixties muscle cars—and even the occasional plush Cadillac—aren’t exactly rare in Central American car shows. Heck, every now and then they even turn up parked by the curb.
Since most of my visit was spent in California, stumbling across classics was a given, and I’ve already featured a few. But of all the cars I encountered, the one that best captured the distinctly traditional flavor I’d been missing was this remarkably well-preserved 1990 Buick Estate Wagon. A rear-wheel-drive, faux-wood family hauler from the twilight years of the classic American station wagon, riding on GM’s attractive boxy B-body introduced for 1977. Not truly the final chapter in GM’s rear-drive wagon story, but one that embodied the kind of full-size family cruiser that had been a familiar enough sight during my teen years.
(Updated 7/17/2026)Â Â Â Well, not really. Â “Dystopian” maybe not be the most apt descriptor of a car which sold well, formed the foundation of the Mustang’s 1980s revival and remains well-loved by most of us here at Curbside Classic. Â But with a name like “Futura,” dour styling and a debut right before “Gas Crisis II,” it might have seemed like an unfulfilling new normal for a portion of customers trading in larger, more traditional cars.
(Updated 7/17/2026)     Dodge was considered an also-ran in the full-size truck market in the 1980s, but due to its partnership with Mitsubishi was able to field a competitive small truck to compete with the big Japanese brands just as its cross-town competition did with their own Japanese sourced stock until they developed their eventual in-house offerings. As opposed to Ford and GM, Dodge never did develop a small truck of their own for sale here – the eventual Dakota was mid-sized and even after that was released the smaller Mitsubishi sourced Ram 50 continued in the lineup for several more years. Read the rest of this entry »
I came across this small gem on Youtube recently, and knowing we have many Aussie and Kiwi CC readers, thought this may be something they might enjoy. It’s an 11 minute color featurette on traveling from Sydney to Brisbane circa 1951, and the chosen mode of transport is the iconic Ansair Flxible Clipper. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s kind of bold to go for an obscure late ‘90s Simpsons reference for a post title, but when am I going to write up my next Singer? If present find levels continue, another decade might go by with nothing to Sing about. And my vocal cords need a good work out at least once a decade.
Chrysler Corporation became known for their wild colors, bold stripes, fun decals, and a general sense of whimsy during the muscle car era of 1964-74, but they could always back it up with more than enough small- and big-block muscle. All the colorful stuff was, however, a couple years off when this mint 1966 Dodge Coronet came off the line in Los Angeles, California, back in January of 1966, but it still has a 383 and a four-speed to keep a lot of cars seeing taillights, and it’s up for auction on Bring a Trailer in McMinnville, Oregon.
