The Scottsdale Pavilions Car Show (also called the McDonald's Rock and Roll Car Show) is the longest continuously-held car show in the United States. For over 30 years, cars, motorcycles, and everything else have been cruising in every Saturday night. You never know what you might see here!

1987-1990 Nissan Pulsar Sportbak

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During the space race of the 1960s, Americans were captivated by the idea of space travel. It permeated every aspect of our culture, from songs and TV shows to magazine articles and an explosion of science fiction entertainment. Automotive manufacturers were quick to hop on the bandwagon, giving their latest models out-of-this-world names like Ford Galaxie, Mercury Meteor, and Oldsmobile StarFire.

After the moon landing in 1969 and the final Apollo mission in 1972, the country’s burning interest in the space program was reduced to a flicker. However in the 1980s, there was a resurgence of space-inspired names as a whole new generation of vehicles adopted galactic monikers. Here are a few examples:

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Local Motors Rally Fighter

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If you have been to our website before, you would probably agree that a Toyota Camry is a pretty boring car. It’s not a bad car, it is just not terribly exciting. The reason it is boring is because the Camry was designed to meet the need of drivers all over the world.

It has to be good at city driving for commuters.
It has to be good at highway driving for families and road trips.
It has to be good at being a taxi, commercial vehicle, or suburban grocery hauler.
It has to work in freezing cold Michigan winters and brutal Phoenix summers.
It has to be safe and pass crash test standards.
It has to meet vehicle emissions standards.
It has to be aesthetically pleasing.
And it still has to be affordable!

The Camry is a car that’s designed for every type of driving environment. But what if automakers built cars specific to the region where they were to be used? What if car manufacturers built a vehicle for the Pacific Northwest, a different vehicle for the Midwest, and another car for the Deep South?

Well, that is exactly the idea behind Local Motors.

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1966 Mercury Monterey Sedan: Ford’s Middle Child

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Back in the 1900s, an Austrian psychotherapist by the name of Alfred Adler came up with an interesting idea. Adler believe that one’s birth order was a major influence on the personality of a person.

For example, Adler believed that in a family with three children, the oldest and youngest children received the most attention from the parents with the middle child often being “forgotten.” Although Adler didn’t have any scientific research to support his theory, the idea of birth order is still well-known today.

So what does all this have to do with cars? Well for a long time, the Ford Motor Company was a family of 3 brands: Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury. Ford was the original and the oldest brand with the largest offering of cars, including entry-level vehicles. Lincoln was positioned as the luxury brand, maker of the finest vehicles that Ford had to offer. Then there was Mercury, the brand caught in the middle. Continue reading →

Copper Queen: 1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport Custom

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When the Ford Motor Company introduced the Thunderbird in 1955, they created a market for a brand new type of vehicle: the personal luxury car. From the very beginning, the Thunderbird was a big hit that broke sales records and earned high praise from customers.

Over at General Motors, VP of Styling Bill Mitchell wasn’t about to let Ford hog the spotlight. He decided that General Motors needed a personal luxury car of their own. Mitchell asked designer Ned Nickles to come up with a rival to Ford’s 2-door, 4-seater Thunderbird. Continue reading →

1963 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk

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When I visit a classic car show, there is never a shortage of Fords, Chevrolets, Chryslers, and other American muscle cars. However, it’s rare to see a Studebaker at the local cruise-in night. Why is that? The simple answer is that Studebaker just didn’t build a whole lot of cars.

Take this 1963 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk for example. It is one of just 4,009 produced in 1963. In that same year, Ford sold 63,313 Thunerbirds and Pontiac sold 72,959 Grand Prixs. As you can tell, this car was definitely not a big seller, which makes it all the more special to have spotted this GT Hawk at the Scottsdale Pavilions.

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Ford Ranger 2.3 Turbo

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One might assume that since the Ford Ranger came from the factory with the 2.3 “Pinto” engine, and the turbocharged SVO Mustang also used a 2.3, that it ought to be a simple matter to just scrape all the turbo stuff off of a Mustang or Thunderbird Turbo Coupe (or Cougar XR7 or Merkur XR4Ti), slap it onto a Ranger and be done with it.

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