The Ten Best General Motors Cars Post -WW2: List #1

10 best GM cars, Postwar Years. One person's list. A few others will follow!

1. 48-9 Cadillacs, especially the 49 Coupe de Ville with the new 331 CID OHV V8. And, of
course, the Hydra-matic transmission.

2. 55 Chevy Bel Air, with a V8. For the first time, a low priced car with great looks and great
performance. So good, in fact, that people are still making 55 Chevys. And still making
the V8 engines. And even the Powerglide transmissions are still be used in some drag
racing cars.

3. 63 Corvette. Independent rear suspension, great looks, great performance.

4. 63 Riviera. Elegance rarely achieved in a mass produced car.

5. 67 Eldorado. Same as above, with the addition of front wheel drive in a big car, a world
first.

6. Almost every 65 GM car, Chevy through Caddy. A styling hit for the entire corporate
lineup. Not many companies can pull this off.

1965 Buick Wildcat

7. 71 Camaro and Firebird. Once again, styling that made the competition look like
yesterday’s newspapers. And performance to match.

8. 71 Vega. Outstanding styling, a lot of engineering that was later copied by everybody,
especially body engineering such as door hinges welded at assembly. Innovative
manufacturing. Too bad the vehicle engineering was so bad, especially engine and body
rustproofing.

9. 76 Cadillac Seville. Another example of outstanding elegance in design, matched with
truly advanced engine control electronics. Others, even other GM cars, copied the
styling themes for the next decade, but none did it as well.


10. 77 Chevy Caprice. The downsized cars were engineering masterpieces, saving weight,
saving space and increasing roominess. They were also elegant sort of like the 76 Seville.
And they set new standards for quietness. Rolls-Royce bought a bunch of these cars to
study and try and learn why they were so quiet.