Cars of Our Lives: Rolling Through the Decades
September 11, 2018
Cars of Our Lives: Rolling Through the Decades
By Tim Clary
For every decade since 1908, there has been a car that has spoken to people since it rolled off the assembly lines and onto the racetrack. While people’s opinions differ vastly on which car they believe made a certain decade so important in automotive history, there are some that the world of car enthusiasts couldn’t live without. While some will argue that the best cars only come from certain countries and/or manufacturers, every car company and almost every country has given the world a piece of what they believe a car should be. In this list I will list my picks for what car made the decades dating from 1958-2018.
https://www.corvsport.com/1959-c1-corvette-specifications/
1959 Chevy Corvette
Ahh! The fifties. A time when you could pick up a new Corvette for only $3,875. While that wasn’t an amount of money that people just had sitting around at the time, it sure is a fraction of the cost of what a new Corvette would run you today. In 1959, the Chevy Corvette was a stylish and curvy brute of a car; with the option either having 230hp-290hp, and a weight of just above 3,000 pounds, the Chevy Corvette would leave almost any car of the time at the stoplight with cloud of smoke in their face and the gorgeous glowing of its taillights in their eyes.
http://wasabicars.com/video.html?view=YGa7ZHcvHM8
1969 Mazda Cosmo
If you were to walk up to a group of car guys in almost any bar in America and ask them if anyone knows how to fix a Rotary engine, that will most likely look at you bewildered and clueless as to what a Rotary engine is. Unfortunately, it took Japanese cars a good while to finally make their way into the American market. This is sad because there were so many great Japanese cars that really threw away the blueprints as to what the world thought a car should be and made it their own; from this desire to be different, the Mazda Cosmo was born with the looks of a spaceship and with a heart that had never before graced soil outside of Japan. With only 126hp, but a weight of just 2,116pds, this car would take a corner like a spaceship would take to the night sky.
1979 Datsun 280ZX
While it may not receive as much glory as the earlier Datsun 240Z, the 280ZX is still one of the most influential cars of the 1970s. With its long, slopping hood and hatchback styled rear end; the 280ZX looked like what it was, a sports car. The 280ZX offered an a new inline 6 cylinder L28 engine that made 145hp and featured a updated interior and body styling from the previous 260Z and 240Z. Unlike other Japanese sports cars at the time, the 280ZX sold rather well in the U.S. and is still a highly collectable car.
https://www.evo.co.uk/advice/15473/mercedes-benz-190e-25-16-evolution-ii-pictures#0
1989 Mercedes Benz 190e 2.5 16v Evolution
From DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) to the street, the 190e Evolution combined the best of European performance with some of the best stylish to ever be put on a ‘boxy” car. While this car had a price tag of over $63,000, $128,888.7 in today’s money, many people since the first appearance of the car have dreamed of someday owning one. While the car only produced 192hp, it made up for it in its aerodynamics and enhanced suspension. While seeing one of these today is a rare sight due to only around 500 being made, owning one is even rarer with current market prices around $100,000.
http://www.avongroup.com/show/item/13016
1999 Honda Civic Type R
Honda was a company that up until the nineties was known for making family friendly vehicles that were cheap and reliable. With an increase in the desire for smaller cars and people wanting sportier and quicker cars without having to pay a sporty price, Honda decided that they would put their family friendly reputation on the line and throw their hand into the performance car market, and what better car to use than one of their most known cars, the Honda Civic? The Civic Type R came with an updated body an interior that was as close to a race car as Honda was allowed to go without sacrificing safety. The Civic even received a stronger engine that had DOHC (Double Overhead Camshafts) and VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) giving it more horsepower at higher RPMs. While the Civic Type R wasn’t sold in the U.S., it’s still considered a highly influential car that helped to bring popularity of Japanese sports car to the U.S.
https://www.corvsport.com/2009-c6-chevrolet-corvette-zr1/
2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1
Looking to take down a $500,000 Ferrari in a car that cost a 5th of the price, in 2008, the Corvette ZR1 did just that and so much more. When the ZR1 was released, it was the fastest Corvette ever produced, and it really put both Chevy and the Corvette back on the map as a more than capable rival to cars that were being sold for three to five times the price of the ZR1. The ZR1 came with an LS9 engine that produced an astonishing 638hp and 604lb-ft of torque, that’s enough horsepower to rocket the ZR1 from 0-60 in just 3.3 seconds and the Corvette keeps accelerating all the way until you reach its top speed of 200.4mph. While the ZR1 carried a price tag of just over $100,000, when compared to its competition, the ZR1 was more than worth it.
https://www.motor1.com/news/240042/chevy-corvette-zr1-top-speed/
2019 Chevy Corvette ZR1
Yes. This is the third Corvette on my list and the second ZR1, but am I wrong? If it weren’t for the Corvette, I can say with certainty that the automotive world would not be anywhere near where it is. And the newest ZR1 has definitely set a benchmark in Corvette history. An average top speed of 212mph, more carbon fiber than any other production Corvette, 755hp, 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds, and wing big enough to have to have the Dodge Viper ACR scared, the 2019 Corvette ZR1 is what I would call my second favorite car to ever come off a General Motors production line. After just a few months of being released, the ZR1 broke the lap record at VIR’s Grand West Course without even trying. With the 7th generation Corvette ending production in 2018 and the 8th generation being released next year, General Motors knew that had to send of the 7th gen with a bang and they have released a car with enough bang to create a second universe every time you floor it.
Disagree? Have an idea for a more influential vehicle? Write us!
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