Classic Cars of 1968
 

The 1968 AMC Javelin was one of that breed of classic cars of 1968 known as pony cars. A pony car was a car with the sportiness of a muscle car, but a bit smaller than your typical muscle car. The name came, naturally from Ford Mustang, as a small mustang is, of course, a pony. The AMC Javelin was available as an inline 6, straight 6 or V8 cylinder engine and could reach a top speed of 120 mph. It had a sporty look and feel while being roomier than the Ford Mustang or Chevy Camaro.

The Barracuda was one of Plymouth’s entries to the classic cars of 1968, based on the popular Plymouth Valiant. The Barracuda, like the Valiant, came in the classic A-body frame, but a number of new variants were introduced in 1968 including convertible, fastback and notchback. The 1968 Barracuda had a 5.2 liter V8 engine, except for a special line of 50 fastbacks which featured a 7 liter hemi designed for stock car drag racing.

Don’t be fooled by the light sounding name, the Dodge Super Bee deserves its place among the classic cars of 1968. This two door coupe premiered in 1968 and while it was lower priced than many muscle cars of the day, it had no shortage of power, with a V8 engine (upgradable to the high-powered hemi) that could produce 335 horsepower and compete with most of the muscle cars on the market that year.

Some say the 428 Mustang Cobra Jet was the quickest Mustang ever in the muscle car era. This car, introduced in 1968, was an update of the 427 model which just wasn’t competing effectively enough with the other muscle cars on the road. The 428 was a different matter. This car could do 0-60 in 5.4 seconds, had a top speed of around 120 mph and cranked out 410 horsepower. It had more than enough speed and strength to give just about any car on the road back in 1968 a run for its money, and it looked cool, too.

1968 wasn’t the first year for the Ford Fairlane, but Ford chose this year to really beef this car up to make it a full-size competitor. Two varieties were added, the Sportsroof Fastback and the Torino series. The less expensive models were still marketed as Fairlanes, while the big ticket versions were Torinos. The Torino came with a 302 cubic inch V8 engine standard, but you could upgrade to a 427 that produced 335 horsepower and could do 0-60 in 5.5 seconds. The Fairlane Torino GT two door fastback was by far the most popular model sold that year.