Newport Car Museum Part III: USA

Back at the Newport Car Museum, here's some classic made in the USA automobiles! As a reminder, every car in this museum is cool, and owned by one collector. 

This is the Tesla Roadster, this one from 2010. If it looks familiar, you have a good eye for cars, because it's a Lotus body! Range 244 miles. You can read more on this particular car at the Newport Car Museum page: TESLA ROADSTER

With 90 horses in a 2176 pound fiberglass bodied car, my guess would be that this would be a BLAST to drive. It's a 1954 Kaiser Darrin 161, so something you do NOT see every day!

The Chrysler company has a long history with the 300 name, and this one was HUGE!

1957 Chrysler 300C, and C is for Convertible. 

1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible. The tail fins rise up 42 inches off the ground, so taller than a Ford GT40 LeMans race winner's roof! 

The Caddy gets my vote for coolest tail fins inspired by the jet age EVER!

If you're confused, this is the REAR of the Cadillac!

It's big, it's yellow, it has checkerboardish vinyl interior, the 50s is calling!

Buick

1957 Desoto Adventurer Convertible. Check out all the chrome! Some spell the company as DeSoto. 

If it looks like a jet, it must be fast! 

You can read about the history of DeSoto at this link: DeSoto

The final year for DeSoto models was 1961, they were part of the Chrysler company. 

1958 Chevrolet Impala Convertible. At least you don't have to wonder if it has a spare tire. 

1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda. You might know the color as Plum Crazy, which was the inspiration for the Bunch of Idiots team Dodge Coronet. 

The SS badge tells us that this Super Sport Chevrolet Impala is a higher performance model. 

The 1961 Impala SS 409 Convertible is over-looking some other classics in this section of the museum. This upgraded new engine was offered late in the model year, with only 142 built in 1961. Not all of those were convertibles, and the museum estimates that there are only about 10 of these models still running. No wonder the Beach Boys were inspired to sing "She's real fine my 409" with lots of cool vocal harmony on the "409" part!

1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible. 

This 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 came with a 302 CID engine. 

One of my favorite old rock songs is "Thunderbird" although I think it's a song about the wine! Still, I have to quote the song; "What's the word? It's THUNDERBIRD!"
This one is a 1957 D-Code Convertible.

1954 Chevrolet Corvette. If you have a time machine handy, you might want to go back and buy a couple of these! The museum has a room FULL of Corvettes, and you'll see a Fuelie, a 63 split window, and plenty more. 

This is a modern version of the classic Ford Shelby 427 SC Cobra, this one is from Kirkham with an aluminum body. The company is still building them, here's their website: KIRKHAM MOTORSPORTS

And we're in a room full of Ford Shelby automobiles. This is a 1999 Shelby Series 1. The museum's Shelby page has more info on this collection: FORD SHELBY COLLECTION

This was one of my favorite cars on display, a 2020 Little Tikes Cozy Coupe!

The Cozy Coupe has been around since 1979, and at times has been the top selling "car" in the US, over 500,000 per year! I had an idea to paint my red little FIAT yellow on the roof to look like one of these, but I didn't do it. Feel free to copy my idea if you have a small red car!

2018 Ford GT. I'd seen one of these at the Audrain Auto Museum in Newport also, but I'm always happy to see another one!

2005 Ford GT

1968 Ford Shelby GT350 Convertible. With the air intakes in the hood and other features, you can figure this is not your regular Mustang. I had a 2004 Mustang GT that had a fake air scoop on the hood, so that was kind of odd!