VINTAGE: Top 10 Cars Driven By Mad Men

Automotive Lifestyle

VINTAGE: Top 10 Cars Driven By Mad Men

Cool wheels that would motivate '60s professionals picked by Hagerty collector-car insurance.

Media Release | Posted November 11, 2009 Traverse City, MI

The groundbreaking style of the Studebaker Avanti proved to be the last gasp of a dying automaker. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

Since its premiere in 2007, the popular AMC show “Mad Men” has renewed an interest in the sophisticated lifestyle of the early 1960s. For professionals of this era, the ultimate sign of success was a new car.

Hagerty, one of the country's leading provider of collector car insurance, has put together its picks of the collector cars that the most powerful and influential professionals of the “Mad Men” era would have driven.

"Collector cars are a unique way to show off your sense of style and express your personality," said McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty. "The early '60s especially were an era when quality products and cutting-edge design still ruled in America.

“The ten cars on our list are great examples of the understated and sophisticated design style of this period, and their solid value today makes them a smart way to capture the essence of ‘Mad Men’ era."

Below are Hagerty's picks of "How to Drive like the Mad Men: Top 10 Cars of the Mad Men Era." The leading collectible car price guide, Hagerty's Cars that Matter, has determined approximately what each vehicle is valued at today.

The 1963 Corvette was the only model year with the distinctive split rear window. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

1963 Buick Riviera ($28,000-$36,100): When Cadillac decided against producing the Riviera, Buick enlisted McCann Erickson ad agency to convince GM brass that the car should be a Buick. GM styling chief Bill Mitchell drew inspiration from Rolls-Royce and Ferrari.

Owners knew the value of a powerful, yet beautifully understated car with plenty of room for the mistress and weekend's luggage. And the iconic 1963 Riviera certainly filled the bill.

1963 Corvette Sting Ray ($61,000-$74,000): The 1963 Corvette was perhaps the last truly elegant Corvette before the muscle car era arrived with all its ducts and scoops. A man could "expect a subtle, extra measure of attention and respect" by arriving in such a potent machine.

1961-63 Ford Thunderbird ($35,000-$45,000): With the 1955 Thunderbird, Ford introduced Americans to the concept of a personal luxury car. By the early ’60s, the boys from Dearborn had perfected the notion. Big power, big comfort, "suddenly, you're in Thunderbird Country."

1961-63 Lincoln Continental Sedan ($18,000-$24,000): Conceived just before the beginning of the design-by-committee era, Elwood Engel's magnum opus was the last mass-produced automobile to be designed by a single man.

A 1963 print ad showed the Continental, with doors open in welcome. Below, the tagline stated: "For 1963, we have enlarged your private world and provided you with added power."

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