Like the cars shown yesterday, the Collector American Closed class at the Keenland Concours d'Elegance was made up of cars manufactured between 1950 and 1975. Only these were coupes and sedans with hardtops such as this 1956 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. This car set a record for Cadillac with over 41,000 being built.
This 1955 Lincoln Capri was a car of opportunity. Around this time Packard was in decline and Lincoln saw the chance to move in and cut into the market then dominated by Cadillac. Introduced in 1953 this was, sadly, the last year the car was manufactured.
One of the most recognizable cars from the 1950s is this 1955 Chevy Bel Air. The first of the famed "Tri-5" full sized Chevys, this car was branded "the hot one" by General Motors advertising. The low price, clean fresh looks and full size led this to being a very popular car.
It's the suicide doors that make this 1964 Lincoln Continental stand out. Dubbed suicide doors because of how the back doors open backward, exposing the exiting or entering passenger to the potential of on coming traffic, this styling has since been copied by customizers all over the country.
1961 saw the last year of production for the finned version of the Studebaker Hawk. Fewer than 4000 were made and only a handful of those, such as this one, had an automatic transmission.
The second series of Ford Thunderbird ran from 1958 until this example from 1960. This saw the car moving away from the sports car its previous series was introduced as and more toward a family car. Even though it could still top 120 miles per hour it was beginning to grow into a luxury car.
The 1957 Chevy Bel Air is the most collected car of that decade. With its extended fins that had grown over the past two models, the 1957 is perhaps the perfect example of the quality of American car from that era.
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