While I’m sure the musclecar fans amongst us would go wild for all manner of classics from my storied birth year of 1968, I’ll confess that muscle machines have never really been my thing. I suppose if I had to choose something from the category, I would be quite happy with a Shelby “King of the Road” GT350 or GT500. I’ve always appreciated the Mustang as being the smaller, more sports-car-like machine of the muscle era, whether or not that was always true.
What I’d really like from 1968 is a Volkswagen Beetle. As much as I loved my 1974 Super, I always wished it were the slimmer, flat-windshield “regular” Beetle. And for non-Super Beetles, 1968 is considered a great one. Totch knows infinitely more about best years for Beetles, but I don’t think you can go wrong with a ’68.
Now let’s check in with Antti Kautonen and Mark Tucker:
Antti
As a former Peugeot 205 driver and enjoyer, I’ll nominate the 205 GTI. While the full-force 1.9 GTI was only introduced later, the 105-hp 1.6 GTI was new for 1984. It also brought the iconic three-door side window shape to the 205 model palette, as the 205 was initially launched with five doors.
The 205 GTI was a great hot hatch and one of the best of the genre. It was light, willing, versatile and perfectly fine to be used as the only car, and importantly, it also looked immensely cool. The 1.6 GTI only came with the 14-inch pepperpot wheels, so you can differentiate those from the 1.9 cars with the 15-inch wheels with a different design. My ideal 205 would be the carbed 1.3 Rallye, but those were also sold from the first light facelift on. My 205 was a warmly sporty 205 XS, so it was spiritually closer to the Rallye as it had a TU engine instead of the bigger, backwards-slanted XU of the 205 GTI.
Mark
1973 … lots of good choices, actually. Big American cars: boat-tail Riviera, fuselage Chryslers, first-year GM Colonnade coupes. Smaller sportier numbers: Datsun Z, Opel GT, Triumph TR6, Fiat 128 Rally. If I’m dreaming big: Pantera.
Top graphic image: Bonhams
1956 Ford Crown Victoria Skyliner with the glass roof.
1969 Dino 246 GT
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Dodge Charger R/T
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Power Wagon new body
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MGB
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Jeep CJ5
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Avante’
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VW Westfalia
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I have a lot of good choices.
1973 = Mazda RX-3, Datsun Z, Peugeot 504 Cabriolet, Citroen SM
Mach 1 Cobra Jet
Well, I share a birth year with Mark it appears. I think 240Z
As a 1980 baby I almost don’t have an answer. I am a geek for Fox platform Fords but I wouldn’t even choose a Mustang given the 5.0 was dropped and the best engine was a wheezy 255ci V8.
I guess AMC Eagle?
You have some really good European options, the GTV6, Esprit Turbo, Quattro Coupe and Renault 5 Turbo came out that year, and greats like the E28, W123, Mk2 Escort, Saab 900 Turbo and Mk1 Golf/Scirocco were in production (sadly, the 16V engine would only come out with the Mk2 in 1981).
Certainly not all daily driver material, but at least some of those are reasonably well-build
I daily drive a 1964 Corvair. A basically identical car was made in 1961 so I guess that would be my answer. Emphasizing practicality and affordability, I could also live with a ’61 VW, a ’61 Alfa Romeo Giulietta, a ’61 Mercedes 190SL, and let’s toss in a ’61 Pontiac Ventura, and a Ford F100 pickup.
My birth year was pretty brutal for car enthusiasts, but the light could be seen at the end of the tunnel. From the perspective of 2026 I find myself torn between wanting the ‘last of the old’ or ‘first of the new’ – carburation or fuel injection, domestic or import, something from the last days of dying companies or something from the early days of rising companies. 5-speed AMC Spirit GT? Jaguar JX6? Toyota Celica Supra? Jeep J-10 truck? Ford Bronco? Chevrolet square body? BMW 6-series?
Ahh, silly me, the answer is obvious – DeLorean.
Ah, one of my favorites, a VW Binz crewcab!
My choice was a 1972 2002tii. I had one for several years. It was a ton of fun, and work!
Alfa Romeo Montreal; TVR 2500M; Maserati Khamsin, Bora, Merak; Lamborghini Countach, Espada, Silhouette; Lancia Stratos, Scorpion/Monte Carlo; Monteverdi High Speed; Saab 99; Ferrari BB512.
Fiat x/19, Ford Granada (no, not that one. The *proper* one), Aston V8.
1966 Corvette Grand Sport
1966 Buick Riviera
1966 Ferrari 275 GTS
Erm, hm. Dallas Jeep, Gianette G4 IV, Suzuki CV1, VW Polo mk2 hatchback.
On a more mundane note, I saw a TE72 Corolla Wagon yesterday and missed mine. Great car, just not for modern traffic.
Chevelle SS 454
1955 Maserati A6GCS/53 and the Borgward Traumwagen
Oh Daily drive?
Tatra 600 Tatraplan!
1967 International Harvester Scout 800. This was the second full year for the 800 models, and the huge 196-cu. in. straight four – really just one bank of IH’s own 392 c.i. V8 – replaced the turbo 152 that tried to deliver sufficient power to move the box around. The 196 had similar power and notably better fuel economy.
Interestingly, one of IH’s first truck engines was also 196 displacement, but that was a big opposed two cylinder.
By 1967 rear seats were available too. So that’s a win.
I love slow cars (hence my username) so I would rock just about anything from 1997 with a manual transmission, especially economy cars and small pickups. If I had to pick one though, I would drive a 2-door RAV4 with a manual
You may already know this, but that era Rav4 featured the spectacular transmission and diffs from the Celica GT-Four.
I think I’d rock a Mustang SVO that had just come out.
Not a lot worth choosing for 1980, but there are two I’d own today, no question: Mazda RX7 or single-cab Toyota Pickup!
A Chrysler 300F with a Pont-à-Mousson
1954 Studebaker Commander Starliner.
Datsun 521 pickup. Which was my first and second car incidentally. I’ve been wanting to find one with a bad engine to convert to an EV.
Jag. E-type MKII, Saab Sonnet, Ford Bronco, Jeep Wagoneer, Volvo 1800S
1955 Gullwing.