1970-1979

Lincoln Continental Mark IV

Both pictured are from 1972. My first and most classic love of older cars begins with this one. My grandfather owned one of these, and my father likes to recall the great difficulty of backing it into the dipped garage without scraping it. It's amazing in all colors, but like all other longer older cars, I like the browns and red variants best. The window in the back and the rear of the car are my favorites to look at here.

The Continental Mark IV is a personal luxury car that was marketed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from the 1972 to 1976 model years. As with the Mark III, the Mark IV shared its chassis with the Ford Thunderbird, with the Mark IV receiving its own bodywork below the windows. Hidden headlights and a faux Rolls-Royce chrome grille were retained, and a Continental spare tire trunklid. Each special '76 "Designer Series" package featured an individually coordinated exterior and interior color combination with specific trim and interior fabrics. The opera window was fitted with the signature of the corresponding designer, and the dash was fitted with a 22-karat gold-plated dashboard plaque, which could be engraved with the name of the original owner.

Oldsmobile 442

The Oldsmobiles in these pictures are from different generations, but from the same decade. The left is a '72 2nd gen, the right is a '73 3rd gen. The Oldsmobile 4-4-2 is a muscle car produced by Oldsmobile between the 1964 and 1987 model years. The "4-4-2" name (pronounced "four-four-two") derives from the original car's four-barrel carburetor, four-speed manual transmission, and dual exhausts. The 4-4-2 was born out of competition between Pontiac and Oldsmobile divisions of GM.

AMC Gremlin

Pictured left is '72, right is '75. The AMC Gremlin, also called American Motors Gremlin, is a subcompact car introduced in 1970, manufactured and marketed in a single, two-door body style. The Gremlin was classified as an economy car and competed with the Chevrolet Vega and Ford Pinto, introduced that same year, as well as imported cars including the Volkswagen Beetle and Toyota Corolla. The small domestic automaker marketed the Gremlin as "the first American-built import." The Gremlin reached a total production of 671,475 over a single generation!

1980-1989

Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

Both pictured are from 1986. The third-generation Firebird consisted of three models: Firebird, Firebird S/E, and Firebird Trans Am. The Firebird was the base model, equivalent to the Camaro Sport Coupe; the Firebird S/E was the luxury version; and the Trans Am, the high-performance version.

The supercomputer KITT from Knight Rider was a modified 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, complete with a flashing red scanner light on the front!

Cadillac Fleetwood d'Elegance

Both pictured are from 1987. The Cadillac Fleetwood is a full-size luxury sedan that was marketed by Cadillac from the 1977 through 1996 model years. The first-generation Cadillac Fleetwood was introduced for 1985 as the division downsized its full-size C-body platform sedans to a front-wheel-drive layout. For 1985, the Fleetwood was actually a de Ville trim option, rather than a separate model. The optional d'Elegance package, added tufted-button seating among other niceties for the FWD Fleetwood sedan.

Chevrolet Celebrity

Pictured left is from '84, right is '88. The Chevrolet Celebrity is a front-drive, mid-size passenger car line, manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet for model years 1982–1990, over a single generation. It shared the front-wheel drive GM A platform with the Buick Century, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and Pontiac 6000 in two-door notchback coupe, four-door sedan, and five-door station wagon body styles. After the 1989 model year, the Celebrity sedan was replaced by the Chevrolet Lumina. Along with becoming the highest-selling Chevrolet car for 1986 and 1987, the Celebrity would be the highest-selling car in the United States for 1986.

1990-1999

"Dustbuster" Pontiac Trans Sport

Pictured left is from '92, right is '94. The Pontiac Trans Sport is a minivan that was marketed by Pontiac from the 1990 to 1999 model years. Officially designated a U-platform vehicle, both generations of the Trans Sport share mechanical commonality and shared componentry with the W platform Pontiac Grand Prix. Derived from the chassis of the mid-size Pontiac 6000, the Trans Sport concept was nearly 6 inches lower than the Plymouth Voyager of the time.

The long front overhang (resulting from the front-wheel drive chassis) of the body was poorly received, leading to the minivan being referred to as the "Dustbuster" (after the handheld vacuum cleaner).