Best Big 3 Land Yacht

[paintim613]

The first car I ever drove, 1960 Chrysler.

[Hallabutt]

Excuse me, I meant to indicate 1961 Pontiac bubble top. I really do know the difference, the 62 would be my second fav full sized Pontiac, though.

[studegary]

I thought that faux convertible was grand prix only.

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65 corvair had curved side windows I believe.

In 1962, the Catalina two door hardtop and the Gran Prix shared the same body (convertible roof lines). The external difference is in the grille and other trim. For 1963, the Gran Prix became a different body.

[t walgamuth]

You're right. I don't remember ever noticing one before.

[studegary]

You're right. I don't remember ever noticing one before.

Gran Prix production went from 30,195 for 1962 (a low number for '60s GM production and the first year of the GP) to 72,959 for 1963.

[christophe]

A '68 Mercury! My Mom and Dad had a Colony Park Station Wagon version of that car that they bought from my Great Aunt after her husband died. This was in 1971. It had a 390 V-8 with a 2 barrel carb. I loved the amount of power the car had, and that wasn't even the biggest engine available. Unfortunately, a ride on any secondary road at all made the back seat passengers seasick. Way too much roll and slop. I guess if we had bought heavy duty shocks and/or springs for it, it would have been a much better car to ride in, but we didn't know any better back then.

Lucky you! I'd love to met these cars in the flesh, but when I was young, the market for US cars was almost extinct in France. Once in a while, I do a research on Hemmings for this very model. Who knows, one day I might be foolish enough to hit the buy button!
Nice day to all.

[Noxnabaker]

Just go north Christophe, in Sweden you'll see enough US cars to last you a while, google images "Power Meet Sweden" for example.

[Michidan]

In 1962, the Catalina two door hardtop and the Gran Prix shared the same body (convertible roof lines). The external difference is in the grille and other trim. For 1963, the Gran Prix became a different body.

Yes it did, quite a nice new body with a beautiful concave rear glass shared with its Olds Starfire cousin only.
The nice green example here currently resides alongside my Studebaker. Love them both.



I don't think it's fair to lump any GM B body, especially a 2 door, into the land yacht category though. They are big, but there were soooo many bigger.

[t walgamuth]

No not at all, just a land schooner.

[Greenstude]

For styling in that era, it is hard to beat a 1955 or 1956 DeSoto --- well maybe a '56-'57 Golden Hawk is close. For both quality and looks, I like mid-1960s Chrysler products and AMC Ambassadors.

[JRoberts]

For me a black 1958 Imperial would do it. But then, so would a 1966 Charger or a 1961 Pontiac bubble top.

[rowan]

I owned a “67 Electra Duce and a Quarter land yacht - 455 Wildcat engine. It was quite a cruiser.

[studegary]

For me a black 1958 Imperial would do it. But then, so would a 1966 Charger or a 1961 Pontiac bubble top.

I saw the Charger II show car at the World's Fair. I kept pestering dealers because I figured that all that they had to do was lop off some of the rear and they would have a production car. I took delivery of the first one in this area. I kept it nine years and 150K miles. It was a great car, but I would not consider it to be a "Land Yacht", the subject of this thread. I saw a '66-'67 Charger in the staging area at the current Mecum Auction, but I did not see it sold. Also, in the time that I have watched the auction over the past three days, I have not seen any Studebakers.

The closest that I came to owning your other two was a 1967 Imperial Crown Coupe and a 1962 Pontiac Catalina Ventura hardtop coupe.

[Lothar]

The car that my new wife and I were driven away from the church in after our wedding (1991) was my father-in-law's 1978 Olds 98 Regency Brougham 4-door sedan. The family calls it the "funeral car" because thats when they often used it. It still only has about 5000 miles on it now. I'm afraid that the mice on the farm have had their way with it by now, though. My first car was a 1966 Chevy Belair 4-door. I replaced it with a 1966 Olds 88 "Celebrity" 4-door with a 396 v8. My favorite cruiser, though, was my 1962 Chevy Impala 4-door, which was my daily driver 1990-96. I drove it all over the mountains of Wyoming and it never stranded or ditched me, summer or winter.

[Studedude]

When our 3 boys were teenagers, one of these was our family car:

We hauled a lot of kids, bicycles, and related items in that '71 Caddy Fleetwood 75! We also had a Mercury Colony Park station wagon, but the Caddy was a lot more fun. Used funeral car, jump seats, low mileage, well maintained. <G>