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Off-road motorcycling innovator, and racing champion, John Penton died on September 7, just a few weeks after celebrating his 100th birthday on August 19.

Penton’s longevity came as no surprise to his legions of fans. The Ohioan’s grit and determination in competition, as well as in business, were his stock-in-trade. Penton’s achievements on a motorcycle were numerous, but a generation of riders remember him as the creator of the Penton Sport Cycle, founder of Penton U.S.A. and Hi-Point Racing Products. These Penton startups have survived into the 21st century as products widely recognized today, including KTM off-road motorcycles and Golden Spectro lubricants.

Penton was born August 19, 1925, in Amherst, Ohio. He was raised on the family farm — where he lived his entire life — one of Harold and Nina Penton’s seven children. The Penton brothers started their longtime love affair with motorcycling when John’s older siblings dusted off their father’s 1914 Harley Davidson and rode it. John, standing at 5-feet 5 inches tall and growing up with three older brothers, pushed himself in athletics, becoming the quarterback of his high-school football team and setting a pole-vaulting record.

Penton graduated from high school as World War II was raging in 1943. In 1944, he joined the Merchant Marines, serving aboard transatlantic convoy ships hunted relentlessly by German U-boats. He then joined the U.S. Navy in 1945.

After being discharged in 1946, he returned to Ohio and, in 1948, co-founded with his brothers a business: Penton Brothers Motorcycle Agency. The enterprise began selling BSAs out of a converted chicken coop next to the Penton Brothers Machine Shop on the family property. The business grew, and the Pentons eventually added Ariel, Matchless, NSU and Zundapp to their portfolio of brands. Eventually they added titans BMW, Husqvarna and Honda. 

In 1958, Penton began amassing national off-road titles aboard a modified NSU 175 street bike. In 1959, Penton attracted national attention when he set a cross-country riding record aboard a BMW R69, leaving New York on June 8 and arriving in California 52 hours and 11 hours later.  

For the 1962 season, Penton converted a BMW R27 single street bike into an enduro machine and netted three more titles. BMW liked what they saw, and sponsored Penton in the 1962 International Six Days Trials — the Olympics of off-roading — in West Germany. Penton won a silver medal that year, and his efforts landed him on the cover of Cycle World magazine – plastered in mud aboard his plucky BMW, wearing a red-white-and-blue helmet. 

The ISDT would become a passion for Penton and lead him to creating his own motorcycles suited to competing in the grueling races: the Penton Sport Cycles. By the late 1960s, lightweight, powerful two-stroke powered Husqvarnas had become the ride of choice for off-roaders, including the great Malcolm Smith and Hollywood legend Steve McQueen. But Penton believed Husqvarna needed to build a smaller machine for tight woods riding and deep mud runs. The Swedish firm rebuffed him — bigger, after all, in America is always better. 

But, while competing in the 1967 ISDT in Poland, Penton met an Austrian rider racing a motorcycle of his own design, built from parts of bikes manufactured by his employer, Kronreif, & Trunkenpoltz of Mattighofen — aka KTM. Penton soon visited KTM and asked them to build his motorcycle. He put up the $6,000 fee company President Erich Trunkenpoltz requested and the first Pentons were born in late 1967. Production followed in 1968. 

The first Penton “steel tankers” look like mini-bikes by modern standards, and their 100cc and 125cc Sachs engines made less than 20 horsepower. But they were giant killers, paving the way for a line of Pentons ranging from 100s to 400s winning national and international titles through the 1970s. Dozens of off-roading greats cut their teeth racing Pentons, including Penton’s own sons: Tom, Jeff and Jack, as well as his nephews, the late Dane and Ted Leimbach. 

KTM eventually took over the Penton U.S. distribution network and the last Pentons were sold as 1977 models. Estimates are that more than 25,000 Pentons were built. 

Capitalizing on the success of his motorcycles, Penton also launched the Hi-Point accessory brand. One of its most famous products were its Hi-Point boots made by the Italian ski boot manufacturing firm, Alpine Stars and worn by countless riders. Meanwhile, Hi-Point lubricants survive today as Golden Spectro.

Penton is one of the greatest names in motorsports known mostly by seasoned hardcore off-road motorcyclists. But like the bikes it created, and Penton himself, it had an outsized influence on the world. 

The brand’s legacy is kept alive today by the Penton Owners Group and in a biography of Penton’s life: “John Penton and the Off-Road Motorcycle Revolution” written by the late Ed Youngblood. A documentary based on the book was released in 2014.

Penton was the father of six children and grandfather of 13, According to the Penton family, a celebration of life will be held October 11, 12:30 p.m., at the Amherst Eagles Club in Amherst, following a funeral and an interment of ashes with military honors.  

The post John Penton, Off-Road Motorcycling Pioneer Dies at 100 appeared first on The Online Automotive Marketplace.

In late 2021, Ford got the industry’s attention when it introduced the Maverick, a compact pickup truck with four doors, two rows of seating, and a hybrid powertrain as standard equipment. The concept of a small, CUV-based pickup (the Maverick shares a lot with the Escape and Bronco Sport) was interesting, but the element of the new trucklet that likely got the most attention was its base price, which came in at an almost shocking $19,998 for the lowest level XL. That didn’t include destination fees and such, but it seemed legitimately possible to drive away in a new 2022 Maverick XL for around $22,000. 

Ford was obviously trying to spark sales of its new model, and it worked… almost too well: A backlog of orders formed quickly, and Ford had to cut off 2022 allocations, bumping them to 2023 model year. Not long after, 2023 model-year order books were closed by Ford, claiming it could only build so many Mavericks. Note too that this was still in the days of the industry-wide semi-conductor chip shortage, which wasn’t helping. 

What happened to that base price?

Given the Maverick’s instant popularity and resultant demand, no one should have been surprised when its base price started going up. However, it is a bit disappointing to see that, right now as the summer of 2025 is winding down, the Maverick XL’s entry fee has risen all the way to $28,145. Some speculation over the increases points to Ford’s concerns over import tariffs, as all Mavericks are currently built in Mexico. Yet, despite the price hikes and the effect they’ve had on Maverick’s value proposition, the model remains popular, which gives some indication that it was indeed the right idea and the right time. Also, it’s still cheaper than just about any other new model that a pickup buyer could cross shop. Ford’s Ranger, for example, begins at just under $35,000.

Does Maverick REally Get 42 MPG?

We’ve been fortunate enough to sample several examples of the Maverick over the past couple years since its introduction, including an XL hybrid. Until the 2025 model year, the hybrid powertrain was only available with 2WD, and we drove a ’22 XL that was devoid of extras, right down to its skinny steel wheels. 

Without really trying, after a week of motoring around town, the average fuel economy readout showed 41 MPG; another 2WD hybrid Maverick we drove later posted 37 MPG. Most recently, we sampled a 2025 XLT equipped with the hybrid powertrain and the newly available AWD; again, with no attempts made to stretch fuel, the Maverick showed us 37.4 MPG. Ford says the combined rating for the AWD hybrid is 37 MPG, while the 2WD is 38, so the penalty imposed by the extra drivetrain drag isn’t significant, which aligns with our observations. 

We used about a quarter tank of fuel in a week of driving the AWD hybrid according to the gauge, but it only took 2.5 gallons to top it back off (the hybrid model’s tank holds just 13.8 gallons). Bottom line: this is economy you can actually feel in your wallet, week to week, even compared to the average family hauler that might post 25 MPG in real-world driving. 

But is MAverick REally a Truck?

Ford gives the Maverick a payload of 1,400 lbs. and a towing capacity of 2,000 lbs, unless you order the 4K Tow Package, which doubles that to 4,000 lbs, and now that the hybrid can be ordered with AWD, it too can be outfitted with the 4K Tow option. For comparison, way back in 2002 when Chevy still sold the S10 pickup, a V-6 model with automatic transmission could tow up to 5,200 lbs, but was rated to haul only 1,110 lbs. We were surprised to see that the last of the “old” Ford Rangers, from 2012, were rated to tow around 5,500 lbs when equipped with the 4.0L V-6, four-wheel drive, and a tow package with 3.73:1 or 4.10:1 axle ratio.

But the S10 and Ranger were actual full-frame trucks that were primarily rear-wheel drive, using some driveline components shared with larger trucks. Today’s Maverick is more like the original Honda Ridgeline: a small pickup based on a unit-body SUV platform that is primarily front-wheel drive. Yet, the original Ridgeline was rated to tow up to 5,000 lbs—impressive for the time considering its mechanical origins. Then again, the Ridgeline didn’t get 40 MPG. 

The Maverick’s closest, and most similar, competitor is the Hyundai Santa Cruz, which is also a unit-body CUV-based four-door pickup, sharing a platform with the Hyundai Tucson. The Santa Cruz also debuted for 2022 and has similar features but has always been more expensive than the Maverick. However, that gap has narrowed recently. Perhaps one of the most significant differences between the Maverick and Santa Cruz is that the latter does not currently offer a hybrid powertrain option, which is somewhat surprising given that Hyundai has been heavily vested in hybrid and EV platforms for some time. But for now, that means the best economy offered by a Santa Cruz is 27 highway MPG from the optional turbocharged engine.  

Maverick as the Ultimate PArts Chaser

For car enthusiasts, talk of crossover utility vehicles and hybrid powertrains isn’t very sexy, but trucks are another matter entirely. So, if the Maverick can be taken seriously as a light-duty truck, one that can carry five humans and a 1,500-lb payload, while offering light towing options and the possibility of 40-plus MPG, it ought to be worthy of consideration for real-world gearheads—the ones who have to commute to work, get their kids around, work in the yard, and try to save a few bucks here and there for their car projects. 

As we mentioned, we’ve had several opportunities to live with various Mavericks since the model was first introduced, each time getting a week of daily driving in. We’ve sampled models from the base 2WD hybrid with skinny steel wheels to the turbocharged AWD Tremor, and each time we come away thinking the Maverick could make a lot of sense for everyday duty. 

Most recently, the Maverick Lobo was introduced, and though we have not yet had a chance to get behind the wheel, the new sport-truck-inspired model makes a great case for spending a bit more on a Maverick. Otherwise, we like the utility of that base XL, though for life in Vermont, the newly available AWD option could make it almost perfect. 

There’s a lot to like about the Maverick: It’s relatively comfortable, easy to drive, quite useful, and in hybrid form, it sips fuel well enough that you’ll take note, even if the vehicle you were driving previously wasn’t exactly a guzzler. And now that the Maverick has been out for a couple of years, it’s beginning to demonstrate that its longer-term reliability is respectable. Someone from inside Ford had mentioned that the Maverick’s Escape underpinnings, and the many tens of thousands of units and miles traveled with that model, helped greatly in allowing the Maverick to come forth with relatively few bugs to work out. 

Now if we could just get back to that $19,998 base price…

The post Is The 2025 Ford Maverick The Perfect Gearhead Daily Driver? appeared first on The Online Automotive Marketplace.

The Lime Rock Historic Festival celebrated its 43rd lap around the track by gathering some incredible vintage racing machinery at the northwestern Connecticut locale. Attention is finite, and there were plenty of things vying for yours during the 5-day event. 

It started on Thursday with the Race Car and Vintage Car Parade. The 17-mile route stretched through bucolic Litchfield County, with hundreds of fans both young and old gathered roadside to watch the train of cars trundle through. It ended in Falls Village for a car show and street festival. The sounds of Wanda Houston’s bellowing voice and her accompanying band echoed between the buildings to the aural pleasure of everyone within earshot. The parade was greeted by talented stilt dancers from Mortal Beasts and Deities. This pop-up gathering allowed folks to get a taste of the weekend to come while socializing with other drivers, participants, and individuals. Friday was the first day for on-track action, with rounds of practice for competitors to either get acclimated or reacquainted with the 1.5 mile layout. 

Pulling up to the Bailey bridge earning Saturday morning hits a switch in my psyche and I’m immediately overwhelmed with happiness. The scenery was the familiar inviting space, the sun coming up over the Outfield Chalet, burning off the fog hovering on those lush green hills. Some additions and changes have been made since HF42. With the return of NASCAR back in the end of June with the Luna 150, additional safety measures were added, including the installation of catch fences along the Uphill. Luxury garages were also built on the outside of West Bend, providing splendid views of on-track action.  

It was Saturday morning that the real racing began, with each of the nine race groups getting their first sessions in. The track went hot at 9:05 and the first out was a packed class of Mid Century GT/Sports Cars Under 2-Litres. Among the massive entry list were Lotus Super Sevens, Alfa Romeo Giuliettas, and assorted MGs. Afterwards, the Formula Juniors of the Jim Haynes Memorial stormed the tarmac, letting loose a cacophony of 4-cylinder music. 

Group 3 was filled with War Era racers, including 10 Del Monte Trophy Cars. The group represents 1947-1955 sports racing cars from Pebble Beach and Monterey in the early ‘50s and it’s the first time they traveled east. Some of the standouts included the 1953 Kurtis 500S Dodge, with its shiny red paint and bright chrome grille. Group 4, Wings & Slicks/Formula Fords, was a wicked fast group, showcasing the might of Lolas, Chevrons, and other winged machines. 

The All Triumph/Kastner Cup of Group 5 wowed the crowed with a full field of your favorite British racers: Spitfires, GT6s, TR3s through TR8s, and even two Ambro specials. An oil spill unfortunately black flagged the first session, but they made up for it in the afternoon by providing some exciting racing. 

The lunchtime break offered the Car Corrals the opportunity to hit the track for some parade laps. Afterwards, the Ragtime Racers wowed on-lookers with their early 20th century mechanical splendor. The National Anthem was sung by the Hartford Men in Harmony Barbershop Quartet. 

Group 6 was populated by Tin Tops, IMSA RS, and cars under 2.5 litres. Greg Amy in his 1974 Porsche 914, David Porter in his 1965 Lotus Cortina, and Joe Courtney in his 1972 Alfa Romeo GTV were trading spaces as they pressed hard each lap, entertaining the crowd on the hill as much as the photographers at the flagging stations. It was a great group, with Porsche 912s and BMW 2002s also duking it out each lap. Bradley Price’s 1981 Alfa Romeo GTV6 looked resplendent in its Autodromo livery. 

Ear plugs were definitely necessary for the ground-pounding thunder that was brought by Group 7, Big Bore & Air-Cooled Porsches. A beehive of buzzing 911s were all stingers out against the American muscle of Martin Hosek’s 1978 Corvette IMSA / Trans Am racer. It seemed it was a constant parade of cars, as the field spread out over the 1.5-mile track. There was no downtime to the action, and at one point I had a front row seat to Delbert Auray’s 1979 Porsche 911 SC pirouetting off the track in front of me while I was trying to video the competition. With just a few precious seconds lost, the light blue 911 was back on track and roaring down Paul Newman Straight. 

The Toyo Tire Historic World Challenge Cars of Group 8 was an eclectic mix of coupes, sedans and sports cars. Volkswagens bookended the age range, from Josh Brown’s 1984 GTI through Travis Washay’s 2017 GTI. Luiz Serva in his 2001 BMW M3 took first in race 1, while Peter Tonelli bumped him to second in race 2 with his 2003 Dodge Viper. The rear engined 911s made the Uphill fun to watch, as they lifted their front wheels before realizing the lack of contact is a bit unnerving and backed off the throttle in subsequent laps. 

The final group was another mixed bag of GT / Sports Cars Over 2 Litre / Sports Racing Cars. Spec Miatas shared the track with Ginetta G4s and Austin-Healeys, while a wide-body Devin yucked it up with an Elva-BMW Mark 7S. Being the last to go offered Group 9 that perfect end of day lighting before the track went cold at 6 p.m. 

Because there is no racing on Sunday, the Sunday in the Park Concours d’Elegance and Gathering of the Marques is a way for enthusiasts and owners to come together and celebrate stationary automotive culture. Over 200 cars were judged, of which 23 were awarded Best in Class honors and 18 were selected for specialty awards. Skip Barber, who was honored on Sunday for the eponymous Skip Barber Day, chose Neal Heffron’s 1995 BMW M3 Lightweight to receive his Skip’s Concours Special Award. The Turtle Invitational Award was presented to John Jones and his 1912 Velie 40 Model O Torpedo Roadster. 

Twenty-three classes showed something for everyone, including an AC Cobra display, a celebration of the BMW 3-Series, Body Doubles for very convincing replicas, and a fantastic display of Giorgetto Giugiaro designs, including the first-gen Volkswagen Scirocco. 

Grand Marshall Rob Dyson brought 16 cars from his collection, including the 1984 Porsche 962-101 and 1967 Gurney “Blue Eagle.” When the front straight cleared after the concours had ended, photographers and crew assembled the cars into the annual photo highlighting the cars. The Lime Rock fire truck provided the added height needed to capture the group. 

The Boch Collection also brought some standouts, such as the 1964 Gordon Keeble or 1971 Iso Lele. 

Monday mirrored Saturday’s action and finished the weekend strong. The Spirit of Lime Rock Award, selected by their fellow drivers, the Historic Festival Committee, and representatives from the Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA) and Vintage Racer Group (VRG), was rightfully bestowed upon Chris Towner. Chris has run his 1938 Morgan Trike for many years at LRP, happily deploying a parachute at the end of every race to help slow him down, I’m sure. The Piston Foundation also recognized its fourth Piston Technician Award recipient. Bob Gett is the general manager of KTR in Massachusetts. 

At the end of the weekend, pedometers topped 20 miles, shutter counts crept close to five figures, and the smiles were endless. The weather cooperated and it was one of the more beautiful weekends in recent Historic Festival history. But most importantly, there were thousands of people in attendance, many with smaller children, inspiring interest for years to come. Make sure to mark your calendar for Labor Day 2026 and be part of the next installment of a memory making machine. 

The post Ragtime Racers, the Kastner Cup Triumphs and the Del Monte Trophy Race Group Highlight Lime Rock Park’s Historic Festival 43 appeared first on The Online Automotive Marketplace.

Sixty years ago, the ’60s were really swinging. The minimum hourly wage in America was $1.25, which equates to about $12.75 in 2025, and you could buy a first-class stamp for $.05. If you earned the average yearly salary of $6,400—that’s about $65,300 in today’s money—you might elect to spend the median $20,000 on building a new home. Eggs were $.52 per dozen, and the average price of electricity was $.022 per kWh. If you were doing particularly well, you might have splurged on the latest cabinet model of TrueTone 21-inch color TV, which would set you back $630, the equivalent of $6,430!

1965 was a crucial year in American history, both on our soil and overseas in Southeast Asia. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” initiatives sought to help the most vulnerable Americans gain racial, social, and educational equity, to expand access to healthcare, increase environmental protections, and to improve life in cities. Brave citizens stood up for civil rights at home while more troops were sent to fight in Vietnam. We saw Craig Breedlove break the land speed records and Ralph Nader publish Unsafe at Any Speed. Construction of the Eero Saarinen-designed Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, was finished, and American astronauts furthered space exploration. Bob Dylan plugged in, and the Beatles goofed off on the big screen, while our radios played hits like “Wooly Bully,” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “My Girl,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” and “Mr. Tambourine Man.”

This was an important year in the car industry too, with a broad range of new and redesigned models being introduced and sold by domestic and foreign automakers. Increasingly powerful sports cars and thrilling new muscle cars brought excitement to the street and the strip. And the automotive aftermarket was continually releasing new restoration parts and go-fast goodies to enhance enthusiasts’ enjoyment of this hobby. The Hemmings Motor News staff has looked back at 1965 to highlight some of the most interesting and influential vehicles to make the scene. What are your favorite cars and trucks from that year, and if you experienced it, do you have any noteworthy motoring memories? Share your 1965 nostalgia with us at mmcnessor@hemmings.com.

Ford Mustang

Price New: $2,500 ($26,000 today)
Average Value Today: $35,000
Collectibility: ★★★

The Ford Mustang made its historic debut at the World’s Fair in New York on April 17, 1964. As news spread from New York, Dearborn arranged to have a new Mustang at every one of its 8,000-plus dealers so that customers could gallop in and see the pony car firsthand. Ford’s media department worked overtime, ensuring journalists were provided embargoed information about the car in advance and seat time in the cars. There were also Mustang TV commercials on all three networks, full-page ads in newspapers nationwide, and Mustangs on display at hotels and airports.

The result was a case study in successful marketing (and a reversal of the Edsel debacle): Ford dealers took more than 20,000 orders for new Mustangs the day it went on sale. Dearborn estimated that it would sell about 100,000 Mustangs annually, but by the end of 1964, Ford had surpassed that, and production soared to more than five times the original target.

You can’t go wrong with a ’65 Mustang as a collector car today: coupe, convertible or fastback. They’re abundant, affordable, enjoy a huge support base, and they hold their values.

This sporty blue ’65 fastback sold on Hemmings.com last year for $28,350. It was not a K-code car—not even a V8. Under its hood was a fuel-stingy 200-cu.in. inline-six paired with a Dagenham four-speed transmission that the seller installed. This wasn’t a concours winner, but a nice driver-quality Mustang that you could motor around without breaking the bank. — Mike McNessor

Plymouth Barracuda Formula S

Price New: $3,169 ($32,340 today)
Average Value Today: $21,700
Collectibility: ★★★

With the success of the Ford Mustang, Detroit was off to the pony-car races. Following the lead of a more performance-minded buying public, Plymouth introduced a more sporting version of its B-body Barracuda for 1965, called the Barracuda S. While 1960s performance is often equated with raw horsepower, the focus of the Barracuda S was better handling, courtesy of a Rallye Suspension Package that included heavy-duty front torsion bars and rear springs, a front anti-roll bar, and firmer-than-standard shocks. The S was powered by the high-compression, four-barrel, 235-hp Commando 273 V8. Plymouth recommended the four-speed manual or three-speed automatic transmission for the S, but the three-speed manual was available, too.

The suspension upgrades “have transformed the Barracuda,” Road Test magazine reported. “Now…the Barracuda can be flailed through corners as quickly as most out-and-out sports cars.” Sales of the Formula S contributed to a big year for the Barracuda, with production nearly tripling to 64,596 from 1964.

We found the Barracuda Formula S shown here in the Hemmings Marketplace, with an asking price of $21,000. The seller described it as a three-owner car that has a number of NOS or authentic reproduction parts, including bumpers, door handles, seat covers and foams, gauges, and many others. The drivetrain included a replacement 275 Commando V8 and a four-speed manual transmission. —David LaChance

Chevrolet Corvair

Price New: $2,022-$2,608 ($20,635-$26,615 today)
Average Value Today: $9,600
Collectibility: ★★★

Launched for 1960 as an economy car, the innovative Chevrolet Corvair completed its transition to budget GT with its total redesign for 1965. The striking new body owed a lot to the Corvair GT coupe and SS roadster design studies created in 1962 by two of General Motors’ most talented stylists, Larry Shinoda (of ’63 Corvette Sting Ray fame) and Tony Lapine (whose work included the Porsche 928). It was offered in three sporty styles, a two- or four-door hardtop and a convertible. Under the skin, a new rear suspension with double-jointed axles—designed in part by Zora Arkus Duntov—eliminated the handling challenges associated with the previous swing-axle arrangement. Power was up across the board, with engine choices ranging from the 95-hp base six to the 180-hp turbo.

Corvair sales, which had been sliding since the peak of 337,371 units in 1961, rebounded slightly to 247,092 for ’65, but it wasn’t enough to save the model now that the Ford Mustang and its available V8 engines had arrived. GM brass issued a memo halting development work on the Corvair before the year was out.

Corvairs remain fun and affordable and enjoy robust club and aftermarket support. We found the professionally restored Mist Blue Monza coupe pictured here advertised in the Hemmings Marketplace. Equipped with the 110-hp version of the flat-six and a two-speed Powerglide automatic, it was offered at an asking price of $19,900. —David LaChance

MG MGB/GT

Price New: $3,095 ($31,585 today)
Average Value Today: $11,250
Collectibility: ★★★

Looking at the neatly integrated design of the MGB/GT, it’s hard to imagine how MG’s engineers struggled to enclose the soft-top MGB Tourer. MG often made coupe variants of roadsters, creating the MGA Fixed Head Coupe that arrived one year after the open car. Designing the solid-roof MGB variant proved challenging, and after rejecting several internal proposals, MG approached Pininfarina. The Italians did something the Brits hadn’t tried, altering the windshield to give the MGB a taller roofline and ample side glass. These proportions complemented the curved lower body, and the rear was finished with a practical hatch. The resulting car looked so natural and elegant, it truly was the “poor man’s Aston Martin” MG’s managing director had looked to make.

Production of the MGB/GT began in September 1965, and the car debuted the next month at the Earls Court Motor Show. This closed model opened a new market for MG with its folding rear bench seat and flush load floor inside the hatch. The weathertight car was a true Gran Turismo with forgiving handling and an eager twin-carbureted 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine. It would be sold in North America through December 1974—around 47,200 examples were imported—but remained in production for the U.K. through 1980.

Despite its relative rarity, the GT has never been as desired as the open MGB, and its value has generally trailed the Tourer’s. In the past five years, all GT sales above $40,000 have been modified cars, save for one restored 1967 Special Edition that brought $47,600.—Mark J. McCourt

Chevelle Malibu SS 396

Price New: $4,586 ($47,251)
Average Value Today: $250,000
Collectibility: ★★★

Way back in the October 1982 issue of Hemmings’ Special Interest Autos, the editors took a 1965 Malibu SS 396 for a ride and came back a little awe-struck at the midsize Chevy’s power.

“All you need to do is tickle the accelerator pedal and you are shoved smartly back in your seat: an excellent vantage point from which to observe the tachometer needle rocket toward redline. Even when the transmission is placed in fourth, the 396-cu.in. powerplant still hammers the car down the road at the slightest coaxing.”

That 396 was a 375-hp, Mk. IV big block, with 11:1 compression, known as RPO L37. It was one of the big stories at Chevrolet for ’65 and part of the Malibu SS 396 package. Just 201 of these midsize muscle cars were built under the now-famous option code Z16, so they’re scarce in the wild today. The SS 396’s foundation was the convertible frame with two additional body mounts and reinforced control arm attachments. Power brakes and power steering were mandatory as was a four-speed gearbox and a 12-bolt axle. Inside, there were front and rear seatbelts (with retractors up front), a padded dash, a 160-mph speedometer, a tach, AM/FM stereo, and a clock mounted on top of the dash. Outside you got a choice of red, black or yellow paint, Malibu SS emblems and 396 callouts, mag-wheel-style wheel covers, plus a special rear trim and taillight treatment.

Sales of these are few and far between, but this yellow Z16 Malibu SS 396 sold at Mecum’s Indy sale in 2023 for $247,500. This ’65 was a milestone car and the start of something big. — Mike McNessor

Plymouth Sport Fury

Price New: $2,920/$3,164 (hardtop/convertible; $29,800/$32,300 today)
Average Value Today: $18,500/$25,300
Collectibility: ★★★

Plymouth had been at a marketing disadvantage since its largest model was downsized in 1962, but the arrival of the new, properly full-size Fury line for 1965 put the wind back in Mopar sales. The flagship variant was the attractive Sport Fury, only offered as a luxury-trimmed, bucket-seat two-door hardtop or convertible, and with V8 engine options leading up to the stout 383- and 426-cu.in. Commandos—the latter making 365 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque.

It would be another year before Chrysler offered the 426 Street Hemi to consumers, but buyers of V8-equipped Sport Furys weren’t lacking scat: Motor Trend tested a 4,200-plus-pound hardtop with the 426 Commando to 60 in 8.2 seconds, down the quarter mile in 16.1, and onwards past 120 mph. This fresh “image” car even had the honor of pacing the 49th Indianapolis 500 race: Plymouth would build 35 identical looking white-over-blue convertibles for the occasion with front anti-sway bars, front bumper mounted push bars, and rear flag stanchions, with the actual Official Pace Car sporting the 365-hp V8 and the others, 330-hp 383s.

It’s reported 38,348 Sport Fury hardtops and 6,272 convertibles were produced in 1965, so these big Mopars have never been commonplace, especially not 60 years on. Current pricing trends prove they still represent great value in typical Plymouth fashion, and enthusiasts covet the original Pace Car replicas, so much that numerous Pace Car tribute convertibles have been built through the years. —Mark J. McCourt

Porsche 911

Price New: $6,370 ($65,000 today)
Average Value Today: $173,500
Collectibility: ★★★★

Porsche pulled the sheets off the replacement for its long-serving 356 family during the Frankfurt International Motor Show in September 1963, and production of the then-dubbed 901 model began one year later. Protests from Peugeot, which owned the “X0X” naming convention, sparked Porsche to change its name from 901 to 911. The first 911s entering the American market in numbers were 1965 models, and a new legend was established on both road and track. These grand touring sports cars followed Porsche tradition as everyday-usable autos for keen enthusiast drivers.

While the Stuttgart firm maintained its tradition of mounting an air-cooled, horizontally opposed engine behind the rear axle of this 2+2 coupe, the Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche-styled 911 offered six cylinders instead of four. That new SOHC engine displaced 2.0-liters, made 148 SAE-rated horsepower, and sent its output to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual. This power was easily handled by the car’s MacPherson strut and semi-trailing arm suspension, plus its four-wheel disc brakes, and the 911 could sprint to 60 in 7 seconds and reach an impressive 130 mph.

While they are outgunned by newer models, early 911s are highly prized 60 years on, and they’re priced to match. The U.S.-spec, Dolphin Grey over Green leatherette 1965 911 shown here was a 32,073-mile, numbers-matching original car that was part of the Pinnacle Porsche Collection; it sold for $224,000 through RM Sotheby’s special The White Collection auction in December 2023. —Mark J. McCourt

Triumph TR4a

Price New: $2,840 ($28,980 today)
Average Value Today: $25,800
Collectibility: ★★★

We can probably thank the 1961 Jaguar E-type for raising buyers’ expectations about British sports cars. Timelessly beautiful and powered by a twin-cam straight-six that had won at Le Mans, the Jag set the bar high for its rivals.

Triumph wasn’t about to begin dropping twin-cam sixes into its moderately priced sports cars, but it could match one of the E-type’s advantages, the use of an independent rear suspension. Triumph had already been using swing-axle rear suspensions on its Herald sedans and Spitfire sports cars, but when the time came to upgrade the popular TR4, it chose the more sophisticated semi-trailing-arm system developed for the 2000 sedan. The modification was expensive, requiring drastic alterations to the TR4 chassis. (American Triumph dealers were so worried about the TR4A’s higher price that they persuaded the factory to produce a live-axle version for the U.S.) Only detail changes were made to the TR4’s bodywork, and the engine received a slight boost in power. Jerry Titus, writing for Sports Car Graphic, praised the “big improvements in both handling and ride” brought about by the IRS.

The Triumph TR4A shown here was advertised in the Hemmings Marketplace, with an asking price of $35,000. It was being offered from long-term ownership and was said to run and drive excellently.—David LaChance

Rambler Marlin

Price New: $2,931 ($29,900 today)
Average Value Today: $16,000
Collectibility: ★★★

Sporty fastbacks were all the rage in the mid-Sixties, and normally conservative Rambler wasn’t going to let that youthful styling trend pass it by. In early 1964, the company showed off an American-based design study for a two-door hardtop called the Tarpon that featured curved rear quarter glass and a tapered backlite that enhanced the sloping roofline’s boattail shape. This well-received design would be modified before starting production on the intermediate-size, 112-inch-wheelbase Classic floorpan as the “1965 1/2” Rambler Marlin.

“The swinging new man-size sports-fastback,” is how this new model’s brochure described it, and being based on that larger Classic meant it was genuinely family sized, able to carry six. This big pillarless hardtop offered six or eight cylinders with output ranging from 155 to 270 hp, and power front disc/ rear drum brakes and a coil spring suspension were standard. Seven solid paint colors, 27 two-tone options, and black or silver side-window paint accents could make Marlins stand apart from everything on the road.

American Motors sold 10,327 units for 1965, and this model would only last through 1967, at which time it was redesigned on the larger Ambassador platform. Surviving first-year examples are typically owned by enthusiasts like those in the Marlin Auto Club (marlinautoclub.com), and they trade hands for fair prices. A search of the Hemmings Marketplace turned up four classified ads for 1965 Marlins over the last four years, with an average asking price of $22,971. — Mark J. McCourt

Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

Price New: $19,700 ($201,045 today)
Average Value Today: $25,400
Collectibility: ★★★

It’s no exaggeration to say that no model was more crucial to the survival of Rolls-Royce than the Silver Shadow. Despite a hidebound public image, the company realized that its increasingly wealthy clientele was doing without chauffeurs, and that coachbuilders had become an endangered species. The Silver Shadow was a radical but necessary leap into the modern world, a unit-body sedan that was trim on the outside, spacious on the inside, and as quiet and comfortable as any Rolls-Royce that had come before it. Four-wheel disc brakes, a hydraulically operated, self-levelling independent rear suspension and an electrically operated gearshift selector were all technological firsts for the company.

Though traditionalists dropped their monocles when the model was unveiled in the fall of 1965, the Silver Shadow was an overnight success, becoming a must-have for the wealthy and the famous. It was intended to stay on the market for at least 10 years, so that Rolls-Royce could recoup the costs of switching to unitary construction, but instead remained in demand until its replacement in 1980 by the Silver Spirit. About 37,000 Silver Shadows and Corniche convertibles were built, making it the most successful design in the company’s history to that point.

We found this 1966 Silver Shadow for sale on the Hemmings Marketplace at an asking price of $45,000. According to the seller, it had been delivered new to Beverly Hills and had remained there until recently. It was described as “a 10-out-of-10 driver quality example.”— David LaChance

Dodge Coronet “426-S”

Price New: $3,500 ($26,000 today)
Average Value Today: $36,000
Collectibility: ★★★

Dodge threw down against the onslaught of intermediate muscle cars in ’65 with its all-new Coronet, packing the 426-S “Street Wedge.” The Street Wedge was introduced in ’64 as a kinder gentler take on the all-out-race “Max Wedge.” Both were 426s from the RB engine family, but that’s where the similarity stopped. The 426-S, derived from the 413 in the New Yorker, had a daily driver friendly 10.3:1 compression ratio, small-port heads, a hydraulic camshaft and an iron intake topped with a single Carter AFB. Still, the Street Wedge was gutsy, pumping out a conservatively rated 365 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque—enough to move the unit-body Coronet with authority. Armed with: an A833 four-speed, stirred by a Hurst shifter; stiffer-than-standard torsion bars, and rear leaf springs stronger than the workaday base Coronet; plus a .75-inch anti-sway bar from the police package, this Dodge that could go toe-to-toe with the Olds 4-4-2 and the Pontiac GTO for a $3,500 sticker price. The 426-S Coronets found few takers, and estimates are that just over 2,000 were made. These are sought-after collector cars today. Due to their scarcity, we came up short of finding an original car for sale or that sold recently. However, we did find a nice ’65 Coronet 500 that was sold as a Hemmings Make Offer listing back in February. It was featured in a couple of Mopar magazines and was powered by a stroked 383, displacing 431-cu.in. — Mike McNessor

Buick Skylark Gran Sport

Price New: $3,800 ($39,000 today)
Average Value Today: $25,000
Collectibility: ★★★

Flint was last to the big-engine/midsize car party at GM, but it was not to be outdone. The legendary Gran Sport package made its debut on the Skylark in ’65 and quickly staked its reputation as a well-engineered muscle car for a more discerning buyer. Mountain-moving torque was a Buick muscle-era hallmark, and the GS kicked off that tradition with 445 lb-ft at 2,800 rpm from its 401-cu.in. V8—which it dubbed “Wildcat 445.” To harness the nailhead’s twist, Buick made the boxed convertible frame standard under the GS, then equipped it with stiffer springs and suspension bushings, specially valved shocks, plus a .94-inch front anti-sway bar. The Skylark GS was available as a “thin-pillar” coupe, a hardtop or a convertible and exteriors were understated with stylized red Gran Sport badges, minimal side trim, low-profile VentiPorts, plus a revamped taillight panel in the rear. Inside there were vinyl-upholstered bucket seats, a sweep-type 120-mph speedometer, and a tachometer mounted on the center console.

The midsize performance field was getting crowded by the time Buick arrived, but the GS sold fairly well, finding 15,780 owners. These make a fun and uncommon collector car today. Prices are reasonable too, with an estimated average in the $25,000 range. There are deals out there though, like this convertible that sold at Mecum’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, auction last year for $23,000. — Mike McNessor

The post The Class of 1965: Style and Performance Soared Higher in a Milestone Model Year, 60 Years Ago appeared first on The Online Automotive Marketplace.