Great Cars: American Classics

The 1964 Mustang created a stampede in American showrooms similar to the frenzy created by the Beatles. Ford had a series of polls to see what baby boomers wanted in a car. The Mustang was it. Just a short three years after the Mustang's unveiling at the NY World's Fair, the one millionth Mustang trotted off the assembly line. The Mustang was the inexpensive sporty car the world was waiting for.

The 1953 Corvette was the American car designed to fulfill the yearnings of soldiers returning from war. Chevrolet's fiberglass two seater was the first mass- produced, American sports car. Over the years, the Corvette has evolved from a cute looking roadster to the menacing Sting Ray and now to one of the world's sleekest, sexiest and fastest high-tech sports cars.

A willy salesman and carriage builder, Billy Durant, was asked to help David Buick's struggling company. He stepped in, saw the potential and leveraged its assets to create the world's largest corporation, GM. Ever since, Buick has been an icon in American automobiles. Once legendary designer Harley Earl took charge of its lineup cars like Century, Roadmaster and Riviera began to turn heads.

One of Henry Ford's early suppliers, Henry Leland, took over from Ford and turned his first company into one that would symbolize the best of America. Many people were building their own unreliable cars. Leland was convinced there was a better way. He borrowed and applied manufacturing techniques from Colt Firearms to his cars. His cars then earned the title of the "Standard of the World."

The Pontiac GTO was created by John Delorean alongside a group of young engineers. They raced against kids at night and took what they learned back to their offices the next day. The result , the GTO - it gave America's young people a car that really looked good and went fast. "You can sell an old man a young man's car but you can't sell a young man an old man's car."

The 1955 Ford Thunderbird was meant to fulfill the desire for a sporty American car. In just two years, about 40-thousand T-Birds were sold. Shortly after, Ford took the Thunderbird in another direction. It became bigger and gained a backseat. It eventually was killed by Ford and then resurrected as one reminiscent of the original. it is one of the most durable names in US automotive history.