Car Blog Showdown: Early-’60s Convertibles

Here’s our latest Car Blog Showdown. This week tgriffith and jgoods were each invited to select their favorite early-’60s convertible. Which is your favorite?

1964 Shelby Cobra

jgoods’ 5 reasons why the 1964 Shelby Cobra is his favorite early-’60s convertible

• It actually did have a soft top (I’ve seen one in the flesh), but you wouldn’t want to use it.
• There’s no greater American sports car status symbol than this.
• It’s fast, drivable (the 289-cubic-inch version, not the 427, which is a lot more demanding), and gorgeous.
• 271 stock hp can get you to 60 mph in the mid-4-second range (the 427 will blow your pants off).
• The early Cobra foibles were mostly gone by ‘64.

tgriffith’s 3 reasons to avoid the 1964 Shelby Cobra:

• Sometimes you just want to cruise in style, but the Cobra’s not a cruiser.
• Do you really want a car that looks like it should have a big wind-up handle on the back?
• jgoods says there’s “no greater American sports car status symbol” than this, but it’s only half American. The other half is British.

1962 Oldsmobile Starfire

tgriffith’s 5 reasons why the 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire is his favorite early ’60s convertible:

• It’s a comfortable, classy cruiser with leather, power steering, and power seats.
• The Starfire is one of the finest designed American classics of the 1960s.
• Oldsmobile’s quality at this time was nearly unbeatable.
• The 394-cubic-inch Rocket engine provided plenty of power.
• Its chrome wrap-around trim provided a look like nothing else on the road.

jgoods’ 3 reasons to avoid the 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire:

• It’s a very big hunk of iron.
• It looks like the fighter plane after which it was named, not a car.
• Try to find a good one.

What’s your favorite early-’60s convertible? Why?

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