1960s Cars

1960s Cars

1960s Cars

Early in the decade Detroit saw the demand for more choice in their 1960s cars. Smaller was one anthem so subcompacts, compacts and mid size cars rolled off of the line. The public also wanted more power so the big cars saw big horsepower increases. As this power craze settled in for the rest of the sixties smaller cars also got the big engines. Muscle cars which were basically mid sized cars were born. Pony cars, a step down in size but not power were also offered up to the ravenous buying public.


1964 Mustang


1960s car

1960 Red Chevy

1960s auto

Muscle cars technically got their start in 1964 when Pontiac used a shoe horn to cram it’s 389 cube big V-8 into a Tempest and calling it GTO. That same year Ford managed to steal all the thunder with a car that they introduced at the Worlds Fair called the Mustang. It was a whole new breed of car. Actually a compact, it was so sporty and ahead of it’s time that Ford sold a million of them the first model year. It was nicknamed a ponycar because of the equestrian motif and all sport / compacts that came after it would also be known by that pseudonym. Stock car racing and drag racing became very popular spectator sports so Detroit gave us cars that allowed us to look and feel like a race car driver. Hoods were scooped, tires widened and of course the engines grew very out of proportion to the cars. The age of the “muscle car” lasted until the early seventies. Although they never were a huge chunk of revenue for the auto makers they did bring a lot of prestige and created very loyal “brand” repeat buyers.

On the following pages you will find our favorite 1960s cars. They weren’t your Father’s car nor were they timid. They were fast, loud and sporty however by today’s standards they were not environmentally friendly or economical. But in the sixties nobody had those concerns all we cared about was getting there fast and looking tough doing it! So if you remember hitting the throttle just to hear her growl or laying a little rubber down then you will have fun reminiscing here. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!!