What Car, in Your Opinion, is the Most American?

Any V8 in any chassis because...  Merica'.

P71 and variants. That and giant luxury coupes from the 70’s. ‘All that metal, just for one guy’

I can't believe only two people said F-150. F-150, F-150, F-150..... All day long! Our most popular pickup. This is a no-brainer people!

Pickup Truck. These are the images that come to my 50-something year old mind:

70s F250, about an 80 GMC, and a 60s D100.

The dented bumper, rusted wheel wells, and multi-primered paint are exactly as they should be.

Ford F150. Because America is so great, even a person of modest income can afford a big, comfortable, powerful and capable vehicle, used or new, whether they need it or not. Every time I see these trucks I feel blessed to live in this country. I got to daily drive and road trip a full size machine for 3 years without taking out a loan, and statistically I've never earned enough money to even be considered "middle class".

Correct answer is 59 corvette. Red with white coves. I will also accept  57 with single head lights if that's your preference.

It is a 60 year old design that is still an unmistakable American Icon. Plus it was beating the Brits and Euros at their own game, doing it with a V8. 

The standard carb version (non fuely) took half the time to 60 than the Porsche

The Ford Model T was cheap enough and rugged enough to be the first car for millions of Americans who previously relied on true horse power. As they say, it was "the car that put America on wheels".  And that was way before common folk in other lands got cars.

Mustang, Corvette, Cadillac and the "personal luxury" cars all are great examples of America's fabulous auto industry, although some were more of an American take on a European theme, as suggested by names like "Monte Carlo" and "Seville".

But I agree the full sized pickup truck emerged as a uniquely American phenomenon with no real counterpart in other countries. Ford will tell you the Ford F Series has been the best selling vehicle model line here since 1977, and the figures aren't even close these days.

Now I will take this opportunity to post my dad's photo of his '98 F150, of which I now have custody.

In reply to TopNoodles :

When Town Cars dominated the livery market In NYC new ones were used to haul Wall Street execs and since they ran forever they filtered down through their life to eventually be gypsy cabs in low income areas.  One night at work I was talking to some Eastern European tourists in Harlem when a shiny black Lincoln pulled up to a bodega and picked up a couple kids.  One of them commented about how it seemed that in America everyone was rich enough to travel by limousine.

paranoid_android said:

No mention of the minivan yet?  Like them or not, they’re pretty ‘murica.

I thought about (especially since I own a Grand Caravan), but in reality the idea wasn't invented in the US or arguably perfected here - the VW's Bug based van pre-dates the Chrysler design by a couple of decades or so. The original Ford Transit as well. It's essentially an American take on a European idea.

Ian F said:I thought about (especially since I own a Grand Caravan), but in reality the idea wasn't invented in the US or arguably perfected here - the VW's Bug based van pre-dates the Chrysler design by a couple of decades or so. The original Ford Transit as well. It's essentially an American take on a European idea.

When did the US have a Transit before Europe?

I thought the original Transits were Escort-based.  As in, the 1960s.

In reply to Knurled. :

We didn't, but that's not my point - which is the Caravan idea (a smaller van based on a car platform) is not really very "American".

Ian F said:

In reply to Knurled. :

We didn't, but that's not my point - which is the Caravan idea (a smaller van based on a car platform) is not really very "American".

Parsing error on my part.

2nd gen Ram. Taking an already very American idea and saying "What if we made it even berkeleying bigger?" is possibly the most American thing you can ever do.
 

Probably something like this!

In reply to bobbylaw :

But I prefer my '67 Mustang!

In reply to Jordan Rimpela :

I don’t think that any car is more American than the Canadian built 99-11 Crown Victoria. Bloated body, automatic only, available bench seat, low horsepower engine, and a fanatical whacker following living out their law enforcement fantasies behind the wheel. 

Thread title says CAR , so I'm going Vette, Mustang, and model T, or even the station wagon as wholly American of American cars.

Now if, perhaps even intended, the OP had asked about the most American vehicle then Jeep, F150(or pickups in general), or any SUV would be the answer. And I'd have to lean to SUV as the rush to them caused even Porsche to bow to American tastes. Virtually every manufacturer has created and sells one now. 

In reply to Patrick : My first car, 6 cyl and powerglide.

In reply to Floating Doc :

First picture could be a '46,  the tan one is not.

iceracer said:

In reply to Floating Doc :

First picture could be a '46,  the tan one is not.

I'm not sure if I trust my memory 100%, but I believe that's what I was told. 

I thought this had the build date, but no:

ShawnG said:

6000SUX

I'll go with F150, also. 

In reply to Floating Doc :

The difference is the windshield..  The CJ 2A had the split w/s. until around 1950 and the CJ 3 A got the one piece w/s and other very minor changes.

In your case it is possible that a windshield swap was made.

iceracer said:

In reply to Floating Doc :

The difference is the windshield..  The CJ 2A had the split w/s. until around 1950 and the CJ 3 A got the one piece w/s and other very minor changes.

In your case it is possible that a windshield swap was made.

Thanks for clarifying. I thought I recalled seeing something with the build date, but I could be mistaken. I'm also  quite unfamiliar with these.