What is your favorite year for American automobiles?

[DPNM]

I was reminiscing about some of the vehicles I've owned over the years. I got to thinking which year would be my favorite if I could only pick cars from one certain year.

My vote would be 1967.

Some Highlights:

Corvette coupe or convertible (I had a coupe)
Mercury Cougar (my first car)
Dodge Charger (had one of these too)
Cadillac Eldorado (an Aunt had one, white w/black interior and black vinyl top. Beautiful car IMO)
Chevy Camaro
Pontiac Firebird (my brother had a '68)
Plymouth Barracuda
Olds 4-4-2
Pontiac G.T.O.
Ford Mustang (coupe, hardtop and convertible)

Yes, there are more, like the AMC Merlin, Olds Toronado,  Ford Galaxie, et al. I could go on and on.

Link to some '67 models. Seems the Ford's were left out except for the Shelby. Check the last pic of the Pontiac Thunderbird! Awesome.
https://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/car_spotters_guide_usa_1967

I'd like to keep this to American cars. My Import car year would be different.

What is your favorite year?
 

Edited May 17, 2019 by DPNM

[Classicgas]

Hard for me to narrow it down to a year. It's even hard to pin me down to a decade.

[Foxer]

wow ... don't think I have one after I learned to drive, 55 years ago. They were all pretty scary once you turned the steering wheel.

I guess I've done more with '40 Fords than anything else modeling.

[ChrisBcritter]

For me, 1957 - wouldn't mind having any American car from that year, except maybe Packard (that would have to be '56) or fullsize Nash.

[bbowser]

I have to agree with the OP, 1967 does it for me.  I was 13 and just graduating from bikes and GI Joes to cars and girls .   GTO, Chevelle, Corvair, Corvette, Toronado, Mustang, Triumph, Harley, the list goes on and on.  Can you tell we were a GM family?

[Mr. Muppet]

Probably 1970.  I love the 1970 Charger, '70 Coronet Super Bee, '70 Hemi Cuda, '70 Challenger, '70 300, '70 Mustang, and the '70 Cougar.

 

[DumpyDan]

46 minutes ago, ChrisBcritter said:

For me, 1957 - wouldn't mind having any American car from that year, except maybe Packard (that would have to be '56) or fullsize Nash.

Man Chris, we think so much alike.  I didn't  think anyone would say full size Nash, and a 57 is my all time favorite.

[Rob Hall]

From my lifetime, probably 1986, as that was when I got my driver's license and those were the cars I was around and driving in my formative years..also 1987..I still like a lot of mid 80s cars.  From the past before my time, I'd say most any year between 1965 and 1971...great styling those years, and it was the muscle car era.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Rob Hall

[Junkman]

1959, with the exception of Imperials, in which case it's 1961.

[1972coronet]

1968 and 1970 ; to wit :

 

1968 : 

- Road Runner / Super Bee

- Charger 

- Hurst / Hemi Dart 

- 340 Dart / Barracuda 

- G.M.'s A-bodies ( not a bad one in the bunch ! )

- Javelin 

- Mustang 428 Cobra Jet *Coupe* 

- Cougar 

1970 : 

- Duster (340)

- Swinger (340) 

- Barracuda / Challenger 

- Torino & Ranchero 

- LS-6 Chevelle

- GSX Stage I

- Yenko Nova Lt-1 

- Camaro / Firebird 

- AMX 

- Gremlin 

- Mustang (any model) 

[High octane]

A really tough question for me to answer as I've been drivin' for a long time and there are many cars that I like from over the years. The cars of the fifties had chrome, fins, and two and triple tone paint jobs. The cars of the 60's had plenty of muscle, and the cars of the 70's were hangin' on to the stylin' and muscle in the beginning. Then the automobile began to fade in my book and today we have vehicles with 40 -50 buttons, knobs, and levers on the dash and steering wheel, just to get you to the grocery store. Sighhh.

[Jon Cole]

1959.

Iconic style that defined a generation.

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2019 by Jon Cole

[Richard Bartrop]

For style, it would have to be 1931.   From the cheapest Ford to the most expensive Duesenberg, never before or since did you have so many consistently good looking designs.

 

[Flat32]

I agree with 1931 for me too.  More purely form following function with a smattering of mechanical styling.

I favor exposed radiators surrounded by plated or polished metal shells.

[espo]

Hard to say just one year or even decade had the best or most interesting cars. Much of it would depend on where you were in life's journey you were at the time. I always like some of the cars from the '40's because that was all I could afford and the styling was to my liking. The '50's really started showing a lot of different designs and color combinations that were off the charts. They also started to offer some big horse power engines as the end of the decade going into the '60's. In the '60's Detroit really got serious about the horsepower race and just about any form of racing for that matter. By the end of the '60's the insurance industry and the fed's had just about made ownership of anything beyond the base base driveline unaffordable. With the smog regulations and safety equipment requirements the '70's turned into a very disappointing time. 

[gtx6970]

13 hours ago, Jon Cole said:

1959.

Iconic style that defined a generation.

 

 

 

We think A LOT alike.

Not a bad one in the lot

 

A close second for me would be 1969

[89AKurt]

It's whatever I own at the moment.    I had a '48 Chevy 5 window pickup, a '57 Chevy 4 door station wagon, a '69 Chevy pickup, currently a '68 Chevy pickup, so for today 1968.  Also had an '88 Oldsmobile but that doesn't count.

[Bucky]

You guys keep posing these near-impossible-to-answer questions!! HAHAHA

I'm pondering this question. I guess for me, it will end up being in the mid-to-late sixties.

In '66, I was 11 years old, and was starting to be very interested in cars and trucks.

So, I'll figure it out soon, I hope! LOL

 

[Ramfins59]

For me, I'm partial to cars from the 1950's.  Lots of chrome and style changes pretty much every year.

[Snake45]

It would have to be some year between '66 and '69. I'd have to sit down and list all my favorites from each of those four years to tell you which year came out on top. 

[cobraman]

1969.   Got out of high school and there were plenty of cool cars in 69.

[Matt Bacon]

1965... Mustangs and Cobras

Best,

M.

Edited May 18, 2019 by Matt Bacon

[BubbaBrown]

1965 , 1969, 1970

[Bucky]

9 hours ago, Snake45 said:

It would have to be some year between '66 and '69. I'd have to sit down and list all my favorites from each of those four years to tell you which year came out on top. 

That sounds like a good way to attack this question. however, i may hafta add the years '70 thru '74 to my process of elimination, even tho horsepressure was on the decline. There were still some very cool cars in those years.

[MrObsessive]

It's hard to pick a favorite............1957, '61, '67. If I had to pick a year that was the most interesting, I'd have to say 1965. If you were a full size car shopper that year you literally had all the major carmakers (Big Three) totally redesign all their models. It was definitely new car overload that year as that's the first year I can think of when all of them redesigned their models at once. They would do it again in 1968 with their intermediates so that's an interesting year too.