balthazar

The woman is Betty Skelton, who held more land & air speed records than any other woman between 1948 & 1970. ChryCo asked her to come out & give the '54 Dodge Firearrow a run around the track. Corp representatives picked her up at the airport and brought her directly to Chrysler's Chelsea Proving Grounds, in her traveling clothes. She hopped right in the Hemi-powered coupe and proceeded to log a 143 MPH average- then a land speed record. Yep, she did it in her strappy heels. Origin : http://blogs.hotrod.com/betty-skeltons-land-speed-record-car-to-hit-auction-block-198.html Skelton : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Skelton '54 Firearrow III : http://www.whatonemillionbuys.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/1954-dodge-firearrow-iii-sports-coupe-concept-car.png Firearrow III was powered by Dodge's 'little' Hemi, a 150 HP 241 CI. Apparently it was later modified WRT the large fender vents. The concept still exists, and sold in '11 for $880K at auction.

bland banana on a narrow track

Ain't that the pathetic truth.

New Yorker Nassau Savoy Southhampton St Regis

I've seen 2 on the road so far.

No one calls an Impala a full-size because the Corvette co-exists. As a 2-seat sports car, those are in 2 separate categories straight down the line. Or is the Corvette a "compact"? Cheap gadabouts (2-seat again for the Met) also fall outside the 'family car' category too, IMO... but duly noted, DD. Really liking those 2-tone hues on the Met!

Agreed; I'm pretty good at ID'ing partial/smashed vehicles, especially in this era, but I would not have pegged it.

It's captioned there, MrB : '69 Charger

I always did like those turbine wheels.

Caption did say smart- but that's not right. It's a VW 'crossfox' :

At one point it time, it was 'pointless' for mercedees to try & convince people a 4-dr could readily be called a coupe... yet look at you.

1969 Charger…

It's 'everything' to complain about in mine. Marketing wears down & dilutes almost everything, eventually.

^ 10th anniversary is notable, but 7500 units is not quite 'rare' IMO. Granted- how many are left...

OVER scrap value? Well... if it runs, I guess....

Wait; it's going to be badged "SH-SH-AWD" ???

Nice, clean, stock maroon 1st gen Corvair Monza coupe.

Well, in your example the '49-52, '55 & '59 are non sequiturs, as there was no other size. But... point made. In parting, we're not here as 'the public'- consumer reports' message board is for them types. Here, I would hope we aspire to be a bit better edumakated.

The terms don't matter to some people... and they do to others. Many of the users of these terms are not defining anything, they're just throwing words around indiscriminately. The EPA, rental companies, marketers.... these are not 'definers'. You know what; I could be on board with the shifting of some terms if all surviving examples of earlier versions were somehow (sadly) stricken from existence. But when one looks at a 2010 Impala, points & says 'That there is a full-size car'... and a '96 Impala SS rolls by, it's all out the window for me. IOW; I can call a minivan a "bus" until others copy me... does that change the definition somehow? If enough people are wrong about something, does it become 'right'? Look at what we call a GM 3.8L engine vs. a DOHC : "OHV".

I've never experienced confusion on this issue...

By far, the vast bulk of body styles here today is the same as it was in 2000, 1990, 1980, 1970... with the exception of the near extinction of hardtops. 2-box, 3-box, hatch, wagon, all older than your cut-off, and all still here. Just sayin.

^ Truck is a bit expensive for hijinks like than on any sort of calculable scale. If the cab is properly engineered, it can have independent-opening suicide doors, maybe with a half pillar that snugs up to the front seatback. Maximum access. Do this for both the ext & crew cabs, and you'd have something over the competition.

Interesting discussion, but I have to ask; if we're going with the 'loosey-goosey' modern marketing terms, what's the diff? I for one would prefer to drive a "wagon" than a "hatch".

"You can't polish a turd." ~ Will Darnell

All the hardware is there for a killer street/strip car, but I always hated these designs. One could bolt this stuff into anything. Jeers.