The "gran turismo" aspect of the car promised a luxurious cabin.

This is a very rare car, 1 of 412 Grifos produced over the model run from 1965 - 74.

Class 25D: Sports vehicles, open, 1970 - 1994.

1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible.

This is actually a rare car. Exact production figures don't seem to be available. But the best guess is that about 5,000 RX7 convertibles came to the US for 1988.

1993 Jaguar XJR-S convertible.

1993 Jaguar XJR-S convertible.

Jaguar, in conjunction with Tom Watkinshaw Racing, offered this V12-powered limited edition version of the long-running XJS in 1993. A total of 100 cars, 50 coupes and 50 convertibles were sold in the US for the 1993 model year.

Technically, only two colors were available: black and red. But included in that tally of 100 cars were 5 painted in Silver Frost.

This car is number 100 of 100 cars produced, and the only convertible painted Silver Frost.

Power comes from Jaguar's 5.3L V12 engine that was enlarged to 6.0L for this application.

The 6.0L V12 makes 329 hp.

This car was also one of my favorites of the show for obvious reasons.

1949 Packard Eight club sedan.

1949 Packard Eight club sedan.

Even though Packard is one of my favorite marques, I'm not very familiar with the company's inner workings. But from what I read about this era, Packard referred to it's line of cars for a particular model year by a "Series" designation. For example, the 1946 model year was Packard's 20th Series, 1947 was the 21st Series, 1948 was the 22nd Series, and so on. But for 1949, Packard changed the Series over in the middle of the model year. This means some cars carry 22nd Series style numbers (an "early" 1949), and some carry 23rd Series numbers (a "late" 1949). If I interpret what I read correctly, this car is from the 23rd Series, which would make it a "late" 1949 Club Sedan, body code 2395.

Class 26B: Production Vehicles excluding 1948 Ford, 1948 - 1949.

Classes 26 and 27 are for "mass produced identical models." As the name implies, the term "Production Vehicles" covers a large pool of potential entrants and is, therefore, divided into a total of 23 different sub-classes grouped by model year.

1949 Willys-Overland Jeepster.

1949 Willys-Overland Jeepster.

Power comes from Willys' 134 CID "Go Devil" I4 that makes 60 hp. This is actually a rare vehicle, 1 of 2,960 produced, and 1 of 2,307 with the I4 engine, (an I6 was optional).

The Jeepster is actually a phaeton body, meaning a vehicle that doesn't have fixed weather protection. A phaeton differs from a convertible in that a phaeton doesn't have roll-up windows, instead opting for detachable side curtains.

Class 26C: Production Vehicles, 1950 - 1951.

1950 Mercury coupe.

1950 Mercury coupe.

Since the brand's introduction in 1939, Mercury sales had hovered in the 75,000 - 85,000 unit range. That all changed for the 1949 model year thanks to very well received styling and engineering updates. Sales more than tripled, topping 300,000 cars in 1949, and 293,000 cars in 1950. The customized 1949 Mercury driven by James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause only added to the car's popularity.

Power comes from a 255 CID "flathead" V8 makes 110 hp.

1950 Dodge Wayfarer Sportabout roadster.

This is a rare car, 1 of 2,903 made that year.

Class 27A: Production Vehicles excluding 1955 Chevrolet, 1954 - 1955.

1954 Mercury Monterey Sun Valley coupe.

Power comes from Mercury's 256 CID V8 that makes 161 hp. This OHV design was all-new for 1954 replacing the venerable "flathead" V8.

Mercury produced two lines of cars in 1954, the entry-level Custom series, and the upper-level Monterey series.

The Sun Valley was an upper-level Monterey model that featured a see-through plastic roof.

This was more than a simple sunroof. The entire front half of the roof was made of clear plastic. The biggest problem with the design was the heat. Very few cars were equipped with air conditioning in those days, (it was available, but very expensive). So in order to keep the heat in check, the plastic was tinted green. Mercury also offered a snap-in interior shade.

The Sun Valley coupe found 9,761 buyers in 1954.

Class 27B: Production Vehicles excluding Chevrolet, 1956 - 1957.

1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner.

The two cars seen in the photos above and in the next series of 8 photos below are examples of the famous "Retractable Hardtop" convertible marketed by Ford from 1957 - 59. While not the first production retractable hardtop, (that honor belongs to the Peugeot 402B Éclipse from 1935), it was the first produced on any kind of scale. A total of 48,394 were produced over the model's three year run.

Beginning in 1952, Ford used the name "Sunliner" to identify its top-of-the-line Crestline convertible. The retractable models of 1957 - 59 were given the name "Skyliner" to distinguish them from the soft-top Sunliner that was also available in those years.

Soft-top convertibles have been around as long as the automobile itself. But the idea of a designing a hardtop that can be lowered for open motoring was never really explored. The benefits of additional weather protection were offset by the complexity and cost of making it happen. All of the sensors, switches, and wiring involved added to the MSRP. The physical size of the roof meant either the trunk area had to be equally as large to accommodate it, or the roof had to be able to be folded, which necessitated even more complexity and cost. And then there was the problem of luggage space.

Since the hardtop roof took up so much space in the trunk, very little was left for any kind of storage when the roof was down. Ford made sure to install a warning label to let buyers know how much storage space they had.

I'm not sure which Ford V8 was installed in this car. But displacements of 272, 292, or 312 cubic inches were available in 1957.

Both of these cars were beautifully restored. I loved the attention to detail !

The second of two 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliners.

1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner.

Ford had to design the hardtop roof to fold in order to allow it to fit in the trunk. Getting this design to work involved seven electric motors, four lifting jack mechanisms, numerous switches, sensors, and solenoids, and more than 600 feet of additional wiring. It's easy to understand why the Skyliner was the most expensive car in the Ford lineup.

1957 Dodge Custom Royal convertible.

This is a rare car, 1 of 2,456 made that year.