Journal Classic Cars

Featured on AutoHunter is this 1957 Chevrolet Corvette, which is powered by an upgraded 327ci V8 paired with a three-speed manual gearbox. Finished in Cascade Green with white coves and equipped with an off-white soft top over a Parchment vinyl interior, this C1 Corvette is now offered by the selling dealer in Missouri with a matching removable hardtop and a clear Illinois title.

The Cascade Green body is accented with white coves and chrome bumperettes and trim.

When the body-colored removable hardtop is not in place, an off-white soft top with a plastic rear window can be used to cover the passenger compartment.

This first-generation Corvette rolls on 15-inch wheels wheels equipped with polished covers that have knock-off-style center caps and 205/75 whitewall tires.

Inside the cockpit is a pair of Parchment vinyl bucket seats. Features include manual windows, dash-mounted rearview mirror, Wonder Bar radio, and heater. The trunk contains a whitewall spare tire.

Instrumentation consists of a 140-mph speedometer, 6,000-rpm tachometer, and gauges for the fuel level, oil pressure, coolant temperature, and battery. The odometer shows 44,090 miles, but the true mileage on this vehicle is unknown.

The original 283ci V8 has been replaced with a 327, which is equipped with ribbed valve covers and a polished air cleaner housing, and connected to a three-speed manual gearbox.

An independent front suspension and semi-elliptic rear springs help this Vette hold the road. Drum brakes keep it painted-side-up. A dual exhaust system exits from bumperettes on both sides of the rear end.

The auction for this 327-powered 1957 Chevrolet Corvette ends on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. (PDT).

Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and a photo gallery

Color makes the car. You can have the most boring car, but paint it in an interesting hue and someone’s interest may be piqued. Or you can have a totally hot car that looks completely subdued in certain colors. Our Pick of the Day, a 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302, falls in the latter category. It is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Springfield, Ohio.

If you glance at the Ford Torino GT pace cars that were scattered around several tracks in 1970, they all were painted in Pastel Blue. Why did Ford choose this color for that purpose? It doesn’t project an image reeking of performance, and it also doesn’t call attention to itself the way you’d expect.

Let’s pivot to the Mercury Cougar Eliminator, which was available only in a few colors. For 1970, they seemingly were bright colors: Competition Orange, Competition Gold, Competition Blue, Competition Green, Competition Yellow . . . and Pastel Blue. If these colors feel familiar to Mustang fans, it’s because the 1970 Boss 429 was also available in most of these hues, though known as Calypso Coral, Grabber Orange, Grabber Blue, Grabber Green . . . and, yes, Pastel Blue.

Why Pastel Blue was used as part of a limited set of colors for what were FoMoCo’s most image-laden and visible products is only known to dead Ford employees. Trying to make logic brings us to a dead end—for example, American racing colors are blue with white racing stripes, but the blue is closer to a Royal Blue than Pastel Blue, so insert shruggy here.

Interestingly, the 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 was not restricted to several colors. After an auspicious start in 1969, this Trans Am homologation package returned for 1970. Though the facelift removed two headlights, the new styling was overshadowed by a new stripe design, which gave the Boss 302 a fresh look that was equally as racy as its predecessor. Stripes were not the only thing new for the Boss 302 package—a Shaker hood scoop option was a popular addition, high-back bucket seats were now standard, and the formerly standard Magnum 500s were replaced by Ford’s basic wheel cover with trim rings. With dexterous use of the order form, one could spec the sportiest of Mustangs by ordering a SportsRoof with the Boss 302 package, Shaker, rear spoiler, and Magnum 500s.

Yellow appears to be the most popular Boss 302 color for 1970. And Pastel Blue? Only 66 Boss 302s were built in this color. This 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 also stands out in other ways, as the only other options were an AM radio and F60 x 15 belted raised white-letter tires. Note the Marti Report—it shows this car was ordered for dealer stock. In such a subdued color? Strange! Also note that a previous owner added good stuff including rear spoiler, console, gauges, and Magnum 500s in addition to the Competition Suspension, quick-ratio steering, and front disc brakes that were part of the Boss 302 package. “Appears to be all-original sheet metal!” says the seller. “Like-new stainless and chrome! Clean and dry, rust-free underbody that is very nicely detailed!”

Boss 302s are easy to find, having had a high survival rate out of the 7,014 built. Very few of them were built in colors rarer than Pastel Blue. If you don’t want to call attention to yourself while calling attention to yourself, then this $75,900 Mustang is calling your name.

Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com

There’s a certain irony to learning about cars in the age of the Internet. With so many resources at our disposal (often from the convenience of our pocket), it also means there are many resources that will lead us astray. Both the good and the bad are subsequently amplified on forums and social media, creating an even bigger mix of useful and worthless information. One example that stands out pertains to vent windows.

I theorize that the bad information that has been amplified is based on how we approach learning these days, as we have gone from archaeology (think junkyards) and a limited number of print resources to an infinite number of web pages. Today, it seems folks focus on the micro instead of the macro. When I was learning about cars, I approached them as if they were people. What do we look at first to distinguish one person from the other? The face; case in point: the first-generation Camaro. A long time ago, I figured out that a 1967 Camaro looks like a ’67, a 1968 Camaro looks like a ’68, and a ’69 Camaro looks like a ’69. The faces of the three appear different, with distinct grilles and parking lights (round for ’67, oval for ’68) or a restyle (’69) distinguishing them; out back, the ’68 taillights were divided versions of what were on the ’67.

But go online and you may find an answer that reads like this: “1967s have vent windows, and 1968s have side markers as regulated by the federal government.” Seriously—do I identify my mom based on her nose or her face? The tried-and-true method that I am espousing has possibly been lost on new generations of automotive enthusiasts, perhaps best exemplified by an inaccurate way of determining a 1969 GM A-body.

The A-body was GM’s standardized small body shared between Chevrolet and Pontiac models, with an occasional Oldsmobile, too. Starting in 1964, GM’s new mid-size platform was designated the A-body, a platform that included the Chevrolet Chevelle, Pontiac Tempest, Oldsmobile F-85, and Buick Special. Within each respective series there were several trim levels (i.e., Tempest, Tempest Custom, and LeMans) as well as performance variants based on a particular trim level (i.e., the GTO was based on the LeMans).

It’s been said that an easy way to discern a 1969 Chevelle SS 396 from a ’68 was due to Chevrolet omitting vent windows. So what do you make of the vehicle below?

You can see this is a 1969 Chevelle with vent windows, so what gives? Two-door Sport Coupes (aka hardtops) and convertibles were produced sans vent windows for 1969, while Coupes (aka post coupes), four-doors, and wagons continued to feature vent windows through 1972. Wouldn’t it be better to focus on the macro and learn to discern between the two years rather than focusing on the (incorrect) micro?

Why this tidbit of misinformation continues to persist is something I cannot answer, but old wives’ tales have a funny habit of finding an inconspicuous space in which to hide and live. Of course, the most famous of these is the Chevrolet Nova not selling well in Latin countries because the name means “it doesn’t go” in Spanish, when the truth is that a nova (a star that flares up and returns to its original luminosity) is the same word in both English and Spanish.

One of the things that makes cars so enjoyable is the people behind those cars and the stories they have about them. Dave Pericak, the former head of Ford Performance, has plenty of those, some of which he shares with Jay Leno in the video below.

Pericak is currently the director of Ford’s EV truck line but, not too long ago, he was the man behind the vehicles that have shown the world what Ford can do, whether that’s on a street in a small American town or the Mulsanne Straight. When you think of the 50th Anniversary Mustang, the GT race car’s 2016 Le Mans victory, the 2017 GT road car, or the S550 Shelby GT350R or GT500, think Dave Pericak.

But if you think Pericak and his team accomplished those feats of engineering and determination without fear or doubts, think again. As the chief engineer of the 2015 Mustang, he knew there was a certain way he needed to do it, which required a larger budget than initially allotted, but he made a case for it and got the necessary funding. The worldwide love of the Mustang was both a blessing and a curse when Pericak took on the 50th Anniversary model.

The S550 Mustang’s more potent variant, the track-ready Shelby GT350R, presented its own unique challenge in the form of its flat-plane crankshaft. Luckily, Pericak and his crew sorted that issue out, but they had to start worrying all over again when they decided to put the same 5.2-liter V8—albeit with a cross-plane crank—into the new Shelby GT500, then connect it with a supercharger and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Developing the last-generation GT supercar, which Pericak calls “a race car with a license plate,” started with the motorsports variant. According to him, the street version only received approval once he agreed to not only race the GT in Le Mans but also to win. It’s safe to say that everything worked out.

Pericak even helped Leno with his custom first-generation Bronco, which is based on a Kincer chassis and powered by the same 760-horsepower “Predator” V8 that’s in the S550 Shelby GT500. Did he once again thrive under pressure and pull it off? Watch to find out.

It was on April 12, 1961. when the first human—Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin—completed an orbit around the earth in the Vostik 1 spacecraft. The ongoing space race between the United States and the Soviet Union pushed the boundaries of rocket technology and space travel.

That movement also significantly impacted the design, technology and marketing within the automotive industry. The low, streamlined profile of the Buick LeSabre, for example, marked a shift to sleekness from the exaggerated style of previous years. In December 1960, this Bimini Blue Buick left the Wilmington, Delaware, assembly plant to begin its journey:

Featured on AutoHunter is this 1961 Buick LeSabre Convertible. The car is being sold by a private seller in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, and the auction will end Monday, June 2, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. (PDT).

The LeSabre was assembled as a General Motors B-body. Advertisements from the era called it “the big surprise in full-size cars.” Buick said the LeSabre reflected a beautiful change in design and engineering. “Inside, outside, underneath, up top—everywhere you look—the ’61 Buick is news all over.” While heavily changed from prior years, one of the exterior features that did carry forward was the characteristic Ventiport layout on the front fenders (something that had been around on Buick models since 1949, though skipped for 1958-59).

The listing says this car received a new soft-top in 1985 and, based on the photos, the last 40 years have treated it well. The torpedo-style bumper ends and the streamlined V-shaped rear end brought in some of the space age-inspired design elements we know and love. The interior, color-coordinated in blue vinyl, benefits from a retro-look sound system but otherwise looks largely original.

Power comes from a 364ci V8 mated to a Turbine Drive two-speed automatic transmission. Buick rated the engine at 250 horsepower and 384 lb-ft of torque. The odometer shows 44,515 miles, and the seller asserts that the reading is accurate. That comes out to fewer than 700 miles per year. Collector appeal? You bet. There can’t be many left with that kind of mileage. Bonus items include a convertible boot, the original Sonomatic radio, uninstalled suspension components and extra hubcaps.

Incidentally, the LeSabre has been gone from the Buick lineup for exactly 20 years as of 2025. It was replaced for 2006 by the Lucerne. All the more reason to celebrate one of the finest Buicks of yesteryear. Place a bid today!

The auction for this 1961 Buick LeSabre Convertible ends Monday, June 2, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. (PDT).

Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and a photo gallery

Do you know the problem with cool old cars? Back in the day, many of them weren’t considered cool or collectible – they were just cars, so they were driven without regard to preserving them for decades to come. But for some reason, that didn’t happen with our Pick of the Day, a 1995 Buick Roadmaster Sedan posted on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Sarasota, Florida.

After a decades-long hiatus, Buick released a new Roadmaster model for the 1991 model year. Actually, make that two: the Sedan and the Estate Wagon. In an age of unibody, front-wheel-drive vehicles, the Roadmaster was old-school with its body-on-frame construction, column-mounted shifter for its four-speed automatic, and a V8 that sent its power to the rear wheels; the Estate Wagon even had faux wood exterior panels! In 1994, a de-tuned version of the C4 Corvette’s LT1 with 260 horsepower (an increase of 80 horses) and 330 lb-ft of torque became the standard engine. By the end of 1996, the Roadmaster was gone again – this time for good.

No matter which bodystyle you chose, the Roadmaster was a big cruiser, and many have been used accordingly, which explains the high amount of miles you typically see on them. Somehow, this 1995 Roadmaster Sedan was spared from a life as a road warrior. Perhaps someone previously inherited this car from his or her grandparents, or a dealership manager bought it from a low-mileage collection of cars. Either way, it has only racked up 6,647 miles in the past 30 years. You can see that gentle use in the state of the Medium Marblehead Metallic paint, brightwork, and undercarriage.

The Gray cloth interior is equally well preserved and offers power windows, locks, and mirrors; a tilt steering column; automatic climate control; and an AM/FM/CD/cassette radio with Concert Sound II speakers.

Of course, when it comes to vehicles that were in showrooms decades ago, low mileage isn’t everything. Parts and fluids wear out over time, so it’s good to know this B-body received new whitewalls, shocks, coolant, belts, hoses, and filters within the past 12 months.

Sadly, you don’t see a lot of these Buicks now. When you do, there’s a good chance the Roadmaster you spot isn’t nearly as clean as this one. You can make this 6K-mile 1995 Buick Roadmaster Sedan yours for $29,950, then decide if you want to keep it as it is or rack up thousands more miles as you cruise down the road ahead.

Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com

To a gearhead, concept cars can be emotional roller coasters. They blow you away with their styling and inspire fantasies of owning something so visually exciting and distinctive, but it doesn’t take long before reality sets in. Concepts rarely make it into production looking the way they did on a manufacturer’s car show stand. Many of them have been destroyed because they weren’t street-legal and the automakers who created them didn’t have storage space for them. The Concept Speedtop that BMW recently showcased at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2025 won’t meet that fate because BMW is going to put it into production – but not for long.

So what exactly is a Speedtop? That’s BMW-speak for a three-door interpretation of one of its Touring (aka wagon) models, essentially a shooting brake. It certainly has a concept car look to its V-shaped front end, slim headlights, and the center spines that run down the middle of the hood and the roof. Even the paint job has a show-car flare to it, transitioning on the roof from Floating Sunstone Maroon to Floating Sundown Silver.

The two-seat interior has a similar two-tone look. According to BMW, “Here, the brown ‘Sundown Maroon’ world harmonizes with the light ‘Moonstone White’ of the seats. The two-tone leather upholstery divides the dynamic and functional areas of the interior. The visually striking roof spline on the exterior is mirrored as a light beam in the two-tone leather headliner, providing atmospheric, indirect illumination.”

The open compartments behind the seats have leather straps designed to hold made-to-measure luggage for a weekend getaway. The leather-lined two-level trunk can hold a matching weekend bag. You may recognize the company that makes the luggage: Schedoni – the leather goods company that crafts the fitted bags that go inside the front and rear trunks of Ferraris. And if you’ve ever worn a pair of wingtips or longwings before, you’ll spot all of the brogue-style details on the upholstery.

BMW didn’t release any engine or performance stats for the Concept Speedtop, but the company did say that it will have “the most powerful V8 engine currently offered by BMW.” Assuming that excludes a full hybrid setup like the one in the M5 Touring, it seems as if the Concept Speedtop will be equipped with a 617-horsepower 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, such as the one in the mild-hybrid X5 M Competition.

So how many Concept Speedtops will BMW produce? Seventy lucky collectors and enthusiasts will be able to get their hands on one. Perhaps we here at the ClassicCars.com Journal will see one at a future Arizona Concours d’Elegance. If we do, we’ll be sure to share our experience with you.

“Glad you’ve found the magic.” That’s what the owner of Bob’s Station and Motel told me after I checked in for the night on a recent 2,000-mile journey from Arizona and Wyoming and back. He was right – and I never thought I would find such a unique treasure in the middle of nowhere.

After all, the town of Kanosh, Utah, is home to fewer than 500 people. It is located several miles away from a major north-south interstate; I lived in Utah for over 20 years and had driven past the exit sign a hundred times or more, but I never had a reason to check it out. I’m glad that I finally took the time to venture off the beaten path and explore it this time.

There isn’t much hustle and bustle in Millard County, although the area is home to some of Utah’s most rugged recreational areas, like Great Basin National Park and Meadow Hot Springs. My overnight stay led me to Bob’s Sinclair Station when I needed to find a place to stay that was close to my travel route and wanted to experience something a little different.

The motel has just seven rooms, and I was the only guest for the night. Parked out front was a worn and weathered 1979 Ford F-350 tow truck – its registration sticker expired in 2013. The story goes that Bob Nafus and his wife Valyrie bought the service station in 1986 and operated it as a wrecker facility and small equipment rental store. Not long afterward, the adjacent Kanosh Motel was purchased by the Nafus family as well. In Bob’s obituary (he passed in 2020), it reads, “Bob liked to think of Kanosh as a destination.” He came to the aid of many travelers over the years.

I have a particular fascination with vintage service stations, and that’s in large part because it runs in the family. Back in late 2022, I wrote a story on my late great-grandfather’s station. Then last year, I featured a unique Art Deco station in Tucson. So, the story of Bob’s station was of particular interest to me.

The current property owner told me he believes the service station and motel both date back to the 1950s. Most impressive to me was how original they both looked. The Sinclair received a new paint job a few years ago, but its floor plan (including outside-access restrooms), roll-up doors and mercantile-style shelving in the front office probably look the same today as they did 75 years ago. It felt like I was traveling back in time to admire it all.

When dusk started to set in, the clouds made for some striking photo opportunities, and I wandered out of my motel room to capture the moment. I couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing place to spend the night – aside from the occasional car driving past, the only thing I could hear was the sound of a neighbor’s sprinklers. When compared to the fast pace and stress that many of us deal with in the modern world, it was a welcome contrast.

My experience at Bob’s and the Kanosh Motel made me reflect on what it might have been like to visit a Sinclair station 50 or more years ago. The stories it could tell!

Magical, indeed.

Note below the quartet of vehicles, all of which are for sale on AutoHunter or ClassicCars.com. Can you tell us what they have in common?

Besides that, we’ll give you a gold star if you can tell us the marque and the model—we won’t fuss about the model year. You can post your answers below in the Comments section.

Click on a photo to reveal each car

Every Tuesday, you’ll find an automotive puzzle at The ClassicCars.com Journal. You can check out previous games for more car challeges!

The Plymouth Barracuda’s glory years were 1970-74, and there are some folks in the Mopar camp who feel the final one ended on a strong note thanks to the introduction of the 360 small-block. While the 360 first appeared in 1970 for full-size cars, a performance version—and a successor to the 340—did not appear until 1974 for the Road Runner and Barracuda. Not only is this 1974 Plymouth ‘Cuda listed on AutoHunter an authentic 360 car with four-speed manual, but it also features electronic fuel injection. Other features include power steering and brakes, black vinyl top, black longitudinal stripes, scooped hood with black-out, rear spoiler, and more. Painted in lime green with a black interior, this swan song Mopar pony car comes from the selling dealer with a clear title.

The hue looks just like the High Impact color from 1970, “FJ5” Limelight, making this ‘Cuda easy to see in just about any light. The flanks are complemented by the optional stripes available for ’74. Other features include vinyl top, matte black non-functional scooped hood, hood pins, rear spoiler, body-colored racing mirrors, rocker panel trim, and fender-mounted turn signal indicators. A set of 17-inch versions of Plymouth’s Road Wheels is wrapped in 255/50 Nitto radials.

The black cabin is furnished in vinyl with a pair of bucket seats up front. A center console houses a Hurst “Pistol Grip” four-speed. Both the console and dashboard feature woodgrain trim. Other options include a three-spoke Tuff steering wheel, power steering, and aftermarket Pioneer AM/FM stereo with CD player.

The instrument panel includes a 120-mph speedometer and gauges for fuel, coolant temperature, and voltage, plus a clock. An aftermarket 8,000-rpm tachometer is mounted under the dashboard. The odometer reads 67,791 miles, though the title reads mileage-exempt.

The engine code in the VIN shows “L,” signifying this ‘Cuda is one of the rare vehicles built with the new 245-horsepower 360 High Performance. The four-barrel has been co-opted by an electronic fuel-injection system that works in conjunction with an Edelbrock intake manifold and headers. Also pedigreed per the fender tag is a four-speed manual.

The undercarriage features power front disc brakes and a dual exhaust system. You’ll find a 3.55 gear in the rear differential, a nice compromise between performance and streetability.

Unlike the Dodge Challenger, there would be no Barracuda after 1974. It was a different world, full of uncertainty after an oil crisis and increasing federalized regulations that seemed to kill all the fun. Yet this 1974 ‘Cuda shows how Plymouth persevered and refined the Barracuda, and further refinement has been implemented with several modern updates including fuel injection. Looks hot and drives hot? That’s a proposition that we’re sure you can live with, so be sure to bid soon because the car in this AutoHunter Spotlight ends on Friday, May 30, 2025, at 11:45 a.m. (PDT).

Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and a photo gallery