The 1962 Pontiac Bonneville and Parnelli Jones' 1964 Mercury Marauder

Never much liked what people think of as classic cars of the Fifties, the chrome beasts of '55-58.  Four years of chrome-laden slag mobiles, with certain beautiful exceptions--I always liked '57 Plymouths and '57 Fords. But 1958 in almost anything was a pretty horrible nadir. Actually the 1958 Chevrolet and Pontiacs were nice-looking, but 1958 Buicks? '58 Oldsmobiles? Depraved monsters of chrome.Then came '59--wow. Especially the GMs. Even Buick and Olds became beautiful, strange cars in 1959. 1959 to '65 are, for me, the great years for American cars. But so many car guys of an older generation got stuck in a 1950s time warp. Nostalgia---the word seems almost specific in our culture to Fifties-yearning. "Fifties" as a concept started in 1972, with Lucas'  American Graffiti--or maybe in 1969, with Sha-na-na,  and hasn't let up. Especially here on the East Coast, where a lot of small town car shows are still dominated by Tri-5 Chevys with their Chinese sheet metal and fuzzy dice, while the fairground sound system blasts tiresome 'classic' rock 'n roll, etc. 
If I were to get into cars--as opposed to old trucks-- it would be machines like the 1962 Pontiac Bonneville above, found on autospeed.
Or Parnelli Jones’ Mercury Marauder, here heading for the clouds at Pike’s Peak, 1964. (Image via Axis of Oversteer. I found it on Four Lean Hounds.)