Maybe we should revisit an idea of George Mason’s.

Not the Founding Father George Mason who was largely responsible for the Bill of Rights. No, the other George Mason who was the chairman of Nash-Kelvinator.

After World War II, Mason the latter became interested in “minimum transportation.” Just how much machine does a person or a family need to go about their business? People were moving to the suburbs, and women, who had contributed greatly to the war effort, were continuing to work. He saw the rise of women as a viable marketing opportunity for a new type of car.

While the Riviera name in the Buick scheme dates as far back as the late 1940s, it wasn't until 1963 that the Riviera became a stand-alone model. It was at that time that the Riv became a symbol of American luxury, power, and design that solidified the car's classic status.

Gasoline prices were marching steadily upwards, lines began forming at the pump, and the U.S. economy was suffering. Domestic dealerships were full of hulking, thirsty vehicles at a time when consumers were beginning to take note of fuel economy. And, as was famously noted, America was gripped by malaise. For Plymouth, the stopgap answer was the 1976 Feather Duster.

By the late 1950s, Aston Martin had reached its full stride as a manufacturer of attractive, distinguished, and competitive sports racing cars. On the racetracks of Europe, the DB3 and DB3S proved to be important development racers for the later DBR1 cars, in which drivers like Stirling Moss, Roy Salvadori, Carroll Shelby, and others would take the fight to the Continental marques. Ultimate triumph came in 1959, when Aston finished first and second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and won the World Sports Car Championship.

Developments in the sports racers had a direct effect on the production cars coming out of Feltham, and nowhere was this more apparent than in the DB4.

Over the past several years, Hagerty's Cars That Matter has observed unrestored cars sell for prices that would have astonished in the recent past. Preservation Classes are being added to concours nationwide to showcase well preserved and mostly unrestored, un-refinished, and unaltered cars.
 
The old car hobby is headed in the direction of the fine art, decorative arts, and antique furniture markets, where a premium is placed on originality and where refinishing or altering a well preserved example can have a negative affect on value.
 

Renault.

The very mention makes many Americans cringe, as peripheral thoughts of the Alliance, Encore, and Le Car rattle smokily through the collective unconscious.

The cars came about from an awkward 1982 partnership between Renault and American Motors Corporation, which ended in 1987 when Chrysler absorbed AMC. The oddest among them, the Le Car, was aimed at the growing front-wheel-drive hatchback segment already populated by the VW Rabbit and Honda Civic, but the little Franco-Americans never stood a chance. Dealer support evaporated, taking with it any real hope of decent service or replacement parts. The cars are a rare sight today; in fact, a 1980s Renault is positively kitsch.

Europeans have much more to smile about.

It’s such a manly-man feeling, we tell ourselves, driving along in a black TR3. With the wind buffeting around the wind wings, and with arms hanging over the low cut doors, one can feel kind of tough. Not Harley-Davidson tough, but, well, a little tough. But if you’re a guy, don’t forget that your black Triumph was almost painted a lovely pastel, and that you should thank a pretty tough lady for the car being sold in America: Dorothy Deen.

There are those who prefer to think that all Porsches look alike. They are right, of course, but it isn't quite that simple now, is it?

In 1986, as the 911 rolled persisted as one of the world's favorite sport cars, Porsche unveiled another variation on the theme, the 959. Development had begun as early as 1981, and the idea was to build a showcase of all Porsche could achieve. No other Porsche has bested it in those terms, Carrera GT included. The 959 became the car that would carry Porsche into the next evolutions not only of its flagship, but of every car the company would build for the next 20 years.

A trio of American compact automobiles pioneered the domestic answer to the small, efficient European imports that gained popularity in the 1950s.

Arriving in India for the first time can be a daunting experience. Suffocatingly hot temperatures, a maze of immigration and customs procedures, and a chaotic arrival hall await the intrepid traveler. Salesmen surround new arrivals in hopes of leading them into private taxis or family-owned guest houses.

The apocryphal version of the tale stages the steel hull of the Queen Mary as a transatlantic cocktail shaker that swizzled together Donald Healey and George Mason. The result, so the story goes, was a drunken toast that spawned the Nash-Healey. In reality the events were probably far less boozy, but no less noteworthy.

In the living rooms and dens of 1950s America, kids sat bathed in the dim glow of the first color television sets. When the dust from the Lone Ranger’s latest adventure settled, this is what they heard:

Just out and just wonderful: The 1957 Chevrolet! The most beautiful car ever offered in the low price field! Daring new front end styling…the bold new grille…big, beautiful sloping hood…and the biggest news of all, Chevrolet’s fuel injection, the greatest engine advancement since overhead valves! See the car that goes ‘em one better, number one in the USA: The 1957 Chev-ro-let.

We might sometimes slip and refer to them as XKEs, but America loves its E-types in all of its incarnations and body styles.

Rumors are flying that two of Germany’s legendary automobile manufacturers are engaged in talks of a buyout. The mass-market goliath and the small specialist have a history together, but corporate identities and jobs are at stake, and the direction these companies take will ripple through the industry. At the heart of it all lies the Porsche 914.

A 1962 Corvair Monza 900 convertible rolls to a stop in front of a Shell gas pump in 2006. It’s my car but Oregon law mandates that a station attendant must pump the fuel for me. He’s looking for the gas cap, but he can’t find it. They can’t ever find it, because it’s in the front of the car.

Quick — think of a world class European GT with a rear engine. Now think again.

Not all Alpines are blue, of course, but the familiar image of France’s best rally car is of that metallic blue berlinette plastered with sponsor stickers and mud, with two driving lights set inboard of the headlamps, being flung around dirt corners.

Jaguar, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin and Bentley are the names associated with British luxury automobiles, however none can any longer claim British ownership.

Before Dinah Shore hit them with her Chevrolet pitch, the Buick division of General Motors urged many returning World War II GIs to “See America First” in a Buick.

In 1968 the archetypical muscle machine, Pontiac’s GTO, got a newly designed frame underneath completely fresh styling featuring the “Endura” front end - a steel-reinforced bumper with an ABS plastic covering.

In 1966 Hertz began renting Shelby GT350Hs for $17 per day and 17 cents a mile. The “H” stood for Hertz, and 936 of them were built for use at rental locations throughout the country.

The 1995 Rolls-Royce Flying Spur was a limited-production, turbocharged version of the Silver Spur II, and the first turbo Rolls-Royce ever produced.

In the late 1970s, flamboyant former GM executive John Z.

The post-World War II history of Bavarian Motor Works is intertwined with as many odd twists and turns as a good spy novel.

Of the 36 “R”-series Shelbys built, two were prototypes and the rest were production models.

There has long been a difference between sports cars and cars of a sporting nature.

The original Oldsmobile Starfire, named after the Lockheed F94B Starfire fighter jet, was first introduced as a show car in the 1953 GM Motorama, along with the Buick Skylark and Cadillac Eldorado.

The Mercedes-Benz 190SL belongs in the same league as other under-powered but stylish sports cars, like the cast-iron Alfa 2000 or the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.

Almost any casual car fan can remember the remarkable V12 Lamborghinis of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, as the first time you saw a Miura or a Countach is likely permanently etched in your mind.

When you think of collectible sports and GT cars from the 1960s, a number of British, German, Italian, and even French marques may come to mind. But a Swedish Volvo?

The Avanti was an automotive Hail Mary, a last-ditch effort to bring excitement and warm bodies to Studebaker showrooms.

The base motor for the AC Ace was a six-cylinder designed in 1919 by John Weller. The lightweight, 1991-cc unit was made largely of aluminum, but with a cast iron head.

Today, the words “tuner car” conjures up images of an AMG or Renntech-equipped Mercedes. Or perhaps a Stillen-equipped SUV or a McLaren Mustang.

Frank Kurtis was a well-known builder of Indianapolis and Championship style race cars as well as “Specials,” which were built on a limited basis.

Long before the end of World War II, Preston Tucker set about acquiring a lease on one of the largest buildings under a single roof, the 93-acre Dodge Cicero Avenue plant on the South Side of Chicago.

Ford introduced the Galaxie in late 1958 as a 1959 model, with the intention of moving some of its bread-and-butter Fairlane production up-market.

The Lamborghini Espada was in production for ten years, from 1968 to 1978.

Production of the Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta “Lusso” started at roughly the end of the 250 GT Berlinetta SWB (short-wheelbase) run and ended at the start of the 275 GTB’s run.

Gearheads from the 1960s remember the Dodge Dart for plenty of reasons, most of them related to its economy-car status. The 225-c.i.

For all its shortcomings, the MG TC is an important car, an iconic British roadster worth adding to any serious collection.

The 1965 Pontiac GTO is the prodigy of the American muscle car family, and one of the most significant postwar Pontiacs built. And it is all thanks to a fairly straightforward recipe.

The 1953 Chevrolet Corvette matters now because it was the genesis of America’s iconic sports car. Ironically, though, it took some convincing to matter upon its debut.

Elva automobiles were built in the United Kingdom by not one or two, but three companies at different times in their ten-year history from 1958 to 1968.

One of the rarest cars priced in Cars That Matter is a one-year-only “special” built by Sterling Edwards of California.

A number of readers have asked about the supposed 1964 1/2 Mustang. Is there really such a Pony? The short answer is no - and yes.
Ford introduced the Mustang on April 17, 1964, amidst much fanfare.