Instagram Jump Start: Boattail Riviera rides a wave of support to the top spot

19 December 2016

With frigid temperatures gripping most of the U.S., it’s easy to dream of warm summer days cruising on the road or water. So it seems appropriate that our Instagram community got the best of both worlds this week – sort of – by making a photo of 1971 Buick Riviera (and its boattail design) the most popular post on HagertyClassicCars.

Need a little warm-up to start the last work week before the holidays? Check out our top five:

1971 Buick Riviera (1,725 likes) – In addition to the 1971 Buick Riviera’s “boattail” design, its rear license plate is positioned on the left side of the bumper. Built on a 122-inch wheelbase version of GM’s new-for-1971 full-size “B-Body” chassis, the Riviera was equipped with a 315-hp, 455-cid V-8.
1956 Chevrolet Corvette (1,309 likes) – Restyled to include its now-famous side cove, the 1956 Chevrolet Corvette featured outside door handles, roll-up windows and options like power windows, hard top and power-assisted soft top. With a six-cylinder engine no longer available, the Turbo-Fire 265-cid V-8 was now standard, offered in horsepower outputs of 210, 225 and 240. A total of 3,467 models were sold with an MSRP of $2,900 – equal to about $25,594 in today’s economy.
1959 Edsel Corsair (1,211) – After Ford’s Edsel Division stumbled out of the gate in 1958, Edsel slashed the number of model offerings in ’59. One of the models retained was the Corsair, which continued wearing a “horse collar” grille and was powered by a 225-hp, 332-cid V-8.
1970 Plymouth Superbird (1,184) – The 1970 Plymouth Superbird is best known for its high rear spoiler and extra-long nose, which added 19 extra inches to the front of the car in an effort to be more aerodynamic. This one is painted “Petty Blue” and – appropriately enough – autographed by “The King,” Richard Petty, himself.
2005 Ford GT (1,155) – A modernized version of the iconic 1960s GT40, Ford called its new 2005 Ford GT the “Pace Car for an Entire Company.” It is equipped with a 550-hp 5.4-liter double-overhead cam (DOHC) 32-valve engine with supercharger, six-speed manual transmission, four-wheel independent suspension and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes.

You Like It, We Loved It – Every week there’s a photo on HagertyClassicCars that we think deserved a lot more “likes” than it received. This one – a close-up of the broken side badge (and peeling paint) on a 1948 Ford half-ton pickup – is one of those.

Best of the Rest – We love cars. We really love classic cars. Most of all, we love driving classic cars. With that said, how could we resist the opportunity to slide behind the wheel of a classic race car? OK, so we didn’t actually get to drive the thing, but this attention-grabbing photo of Sir Derek Bell slicing corners in the Porsche RS 60 that won the Targa Floria in 1960 is absolutely irresistible. Posted by @royale77, it has everything – a spectacular car, winding road, gorgeous day and a legend at the controls (wearing a classic motorsport helmet and goggles, no less). It’s our favorite automotive Instagram post of the week.