At Classic Industries, we love celebrating the passion and dedication of restoration enthusiasts across the country. Today, we’re excited to spotlight a new submission to our Featured Restoration Photo Upload Form—a sleek and personal take on a muscle car icon by Giulio Forstall from Keller, Texas.

When John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States on January 20, 1961, the ceremony and surrounding festivities were marked by a powerful blend of tradition and modernity. One of the most visually striking and historically notable elements of the 1961 Inaugural Parade was the use of a fleet of specially modified 1961 Ford Thunderbird convertibles, known as the Presidential Thunderbirds. These unique vehicles embodied the glamour, innovation, and forward-looking spirit of the new Kennedy administration.

The 1961 Ford Thunderbird was a styling triumph for the Ford Motor Company during the space race American car styling epoch of the late 1950's and early 1960's. No one person is credited with coining the nickname Bullet Bird, just as no one designer for the Ford Motor Company is acknowledged with creating this superlative automotive shape that so aptly characterizes space race automotive styling during this era.

The 1960s were a weird and wonderful time to be a car enthusiast. In addition to serving as the beginning of the muscle car era, this decade brought bold and colorful new styling to all of the "Big Three" American car brands. Arguably, the Dodge and Plymouth Mopar cars were at the forefront of this movement with head-turning High Impact paint colors and more unusual options like the one we'll be discussing today. The Mod Top option added one of three vibrant floral print patterns in place of a solid-color vinyl roof, and could even be extended to the interior upholstery.

A 1987 Buick Grand National GNX expert might be able to confirm that Omar Navarro's '87 GNX tribute isn't one of the 547 real ones that Buick manufactured, but it would have to be a GNX guru. The reason for this is that Omar took his solid original 1987 Buick Grand National and purchased an original GNX as a parts car from a car auction in Nevada that had been in a roll over crash.

Vintage Pontiac GTOs from the 1960's through the 70's have been expensive for many years. Having that sort of muscle car as your favorite while you're a broke high school student could make you yearn for something that's simply out of reach. Evan Rose was a GTO fan for these formative gearhead years as a kid. Thankfully, he one day happened to see a 1979 10th anniversary Firebird Trans Am at a car show that really caught his eye.

In a landmark move to celebrate and share its storied automotive history, the Ford Motor Company launched the Ford Heritage Vault in June 2022. This expansive digital archive grants public access to over a century’s worth of materials from Ford, Lincoln, and the now-retired Mercury brands. Created as part of Ford’s efforts to make its heritage more accessible and to commemorate the company’s 119th anniversary, the Heritage Vault is a goldmine for car enthusiasts, historians, collectors, educators, and anyone with a passion for American automotive culture.

Ever since the release of the first pickup trucks, aftermarket companies and custom shops have been looking for ways to make them more rugged for off-road driving. Shortly after WWII, a company called NAPCO began offering 4x4 conversion kits for civilian trucks from Dodge, Ford, and GM. Soon, GM started offering these kits as factory-installed RPO options, and then developed its own 4x4 system to meet demand. A few decades later, trucks like this K5 Blazer were built with off-roading in mind, and buyers upped the ante even further by modifying them with lift kits and bigger tires.

On Sunday, June 8, 2025, the rolling hills of Valley Center, California, played host to the 31st Annual Buicks at Bates car show at Bates Nut Farm. This iconic gathering, renowned as the largest Turbo Buick event on the West Coast, attracted over 100 classic and turbocharged Buicks, including the legendary Grand Nationals and Turbo Regals. Also in attendance were several early Buick GS’s and close to 20 GMC Syclones and Typhoons with one of the 10 Marlboro special edition Syclones coming out of hiding for the show.

Consider this, if you will. You have an impressionable 10-year-old boy, who worships his dad and has gone to car shows with him since he was four years old. Thanks in large measure to his pops, he appreciates and learns about cars from the early 1900's up to the present day, but has a soft spot in his heart and his gearhead brain for automobiles from the Art Deco Design 1930's up through the swingin' muscle car 1950's, 60's, 70's and the exotic super and hyper cars of today.