Instagram Jump Start: An old Goat chews up the competition

28 November 2016

While you have to rearrange the letters and add a vowel to imagine how the GTO got its iconic nickname – “Goat” – it doesn’t take mental calisthenics to figure out what makes the legendary Pontiac muscle car so cool. From its overall style to its power to its kickass image, the GTO grabs attention. So it’s no wonder that a close-up photo of the grille and headlights on a 1967 GTO convertible was the most popular Instagram post on HagertyClassicCars last week.

We know, it’s Monday – the first day back after a long holiday weekend. But we’re here to help. Grab a cup of coffee and get your work week started right by checking out our top five:

1967 Pontiac GTO (1,269 likes) – Of the 81,722 GTOs that Pontiac built in 1967, only 9,517 were convertibles. A 335-hp, 400-cid V-8 was standard.
1965 Mercury Monterey (1,067) – The stock engine in the 1965 Mercury Monterey was a 250-hp, 390-cid V-8. Long before air conditioning became a standard feature, the Monterey had a retractable rear window that allowed for better air flow.
1950 Studebaker Champion/Commander (970) – Bob Bourke’s all-new “bullet-nose” design (influenced by WWII fighter planes) was brought to Studebaker Champion, Commander and Land Cruiser models in 1950. We admired this custom convertible earlier this year in Traverse City, Mich.
1948 Tasco prototype (964) – A concept vehicle designed by Gordon Buehrig, the aluminum-bodied 1948 Tasco prototype was built on a 1947 Mercury chassis and is powered by a modified Mercury V-8 engine. The aerodynamic car is on display at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in Auburn, Ind.
1965 Ford Galaxie 500 (936) – Winter has arrived in northern Michigan and throughout the northeast, as this 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 can attest. The ’65 Ford line, advertised as the “newest since 1949,” offered new bodies, new perimeter frames, new technology (including slightly curved side-glass), new fashionable boxy styling and vertical headlamps. New 289-cid V-8 “Windsor” engines were also available. The hood scoop was an aftermarket addition, however.

One We Love But You Only Liked – Every week there’s a photo on HagertyClassicCars that we think deserved a lot more “likes” than it received. This one – of a 1969 Oldsmobile Hurst 4-4-2 – is one of those.

Best of the Rest – Some vehicles just demand to be photographed. Take the Austin Healey Sprite, for example. Is the itsy bitsy Brit the happiest car on earth or what? The thing actually smiles for the camera. Another one we find difficult to resist is the toothy grin of an early ‘50s Ford pickup truck. So naturally when we saw this photo of a 1952 model near Asbury Park, N.J., we were smitten. The mix of green paint and patina, the white porch, the fall colors … love, love, love. Beautifully photographed by @michaelwsilvia, it’s our favorite automotive Instagram post of the week.