America's Car Museum: Some cars from the 1960s (photo diary)

by Ojibwa for Museums

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Sunday, Jul. 30, 2023 Sunday, Jul. 30, 2023 at 8:07:53am PDT

The decade of the 1960s is sometimes called The Schizophrenic Sixties. By this time most Americans lived in cities. This was an era of wraparound sunglasses, bell-bottom pants, lava lites, day-glo colors, and skateboards. Bumper stickers on cars became common.

With regard to automobiles, Nick Georgano, in his book The American Automobile: A Centenary 1893-1993, reports:

“The post-war baby boomers were coming up to driving age by the mid-1960s and were increasingly likely to want a car different from their parents. Women had traditionally influenced their menfolk in the choice of a car, but were now actually buying cars for themselves, particularly young, professional women, such as teachers, accountants, and doctors.”

Harold LeMay, a Tacoma businessman, loved cars and managed to collect more than 3,000 automobiles, trucks, and motorcycles over forty years of collecting. A number of the vehicles from his collection form the nucleus of the LeMay—America’s Car Museum. This collection of more than 300 cars, motorcycles, and trucks is displayed in a four-level building in Tacoma, Washington. Shown below are some of the cars of the 1960s displayed in the LeMay—America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington.

1963 Studebaker Avanti

This car was promoted as “America’s Only Four-Passenger Performance Car.” The interior of the Avanti featured four bucket seats, and an aircraft-type control panel. It has a 289 cubic inch, supercharged V8 with 289 horsepower and a 4-speed manual transmission.

1965 Buick Riviera GS, 2-Door Hardtop

The Riviera was designed to go head-to-head against the Ford Thunderbird. The Riviera was “to look like a Rolls-Royce with the flavor of a Ferrari.” This car has a 425 cubic inch, 360 horsepower V8 engine with an automatic transmission.

1966 Ford Mustang, 2-Door Coupe

This car has a 289 cubic inch, 200 horsepower V8 engine with an automatic transmission.

1966 Buick Skylark Gran Sport, 2-Door Hardtop

The Skylark Gran Sport was intended to attract performance-minded younger people away from the Ford Mustang and the Pontiac GTO. This car has a 401 cubic inch, 325 horsepower V8 engine with an automatic transmission.