Left: Here is a very nice, apparently complete example of the 1954 Kaiser Darrin. Kaiser was mainly in the business of making some very interesting sedans, coupes and salesman vehicles, and was the brainchild of steel magnate Harry Kaiser.
The Company decided to try its hand at a sports car, this model was designed by Howard "Dutch" Darrin.
It was an all-fiberglass design, with an amazing door mechanism, wherein both driver and passenger cars slid into the front fenders to afford entry. This arrangement was more recently used in BMW's Z1 sports car, however, that model's doors slid downwards.
Left: Here is a shot of the car with its door opened.
Underneath the hood is a standard inline 6 engine that only generated 90 horsepower. This gave the car a top speed of only 95 miles per hour, and took about 15 seconds to get up to 60 mph. By comparison, the 1954 Corvette with the Blue Flame Six got to 60mph in 11 seconds and feature a top speed of 102 with a 150 hp engine. Neither were impressive in acceleration, but as general sports cars they were surely fun to drive. (Note: Onlooker simply could not get the hint to take his freaking bear and get out of the picture)
Left: The interior is gorgeous with very nice instrumentation and interior fitments.
The one-year only 1970 Superbird. Like its sister the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, these cars were made in very limited numbers to allow their racing counterparts to perform at NASCAR. The rules are always that the cars raced must be based on street cars. That said, Plymouth worked with Creative Dynamics to transform 1970 Road Runners into Superbirds. Modifications were a special steel nose, the use of Dodge Coronet hood and fender pieces, a revised rear window arrangement to improve airflow, and a huge wing in the back.
The interior was your basic Road Runner, although by this year they used the wonderful gauge instruments found in Chargers rather than the previous rectangle speedometer. Base interior was a bench seat and column shift. Options included console and bucket seats.
Engines were limited to the 440 4bl, 440 with 3 2bl carbs, and the 426 Hemi. Transmission options were 4 speed, and Torqueflite 727. 426 Hemi buyers received the Hemi Torqueflite if they wanted an automatic.
You used to see Chrysler/Plymouth Prowlers all over. Now they are a more rare site.
Steve McQueen's Jaguar XKSS. This is the road going version that came after the racing D-types. The design of the time was shockingly modern.
Hints of the Jaguar XKE sports car are felt throughout this preceding design.