What do you really need in a car? Cup holders? Side-curtain air bags? Hell no! You need huge fins, needle-sharp spikes sticking out of the front fenders, and radar! The '54 Ford FX-Atmos dream car offered all those critically important features, plus whitewalls. You want one, of course.

The question is: would you take the FX-Atmos when you could have a '51 ZIS-112? This Soviet dream car, according to the definitive Cars Of The Soviet Union was the product of Soviet designer Valentine Rostkova and packed an experimental V8 engine behind its Cylops single headlight. So, what's it going to be? Dearborn or Moscow?

We've got a Nash Cosmopolitan, a couple of early Mustangs, and a Ford F-250 sitting at the roadside:

I see you're a junkyard rat like I am. Or at least I would still be if there were decent pic-n-pulls here in central KY. Anyhow, what about cars that are simply abandoned and left to rot? Thought you might enjoy some shots of a 1952 Lincoln I found on the side of the road, and several Mustangs and other cars doing hard time at my in-laws' farm (long sad story there). I had planned to search out old cars and photograph them in a similar matter; life sorta got in the way the last couple years but I just ordered a new camera and hope to get out there again.

(All is not lost at the farm though, a 1966 Mustang vertible and a 1929 Model A Roadster Pickup (!) await resoration, and I'll be spending a week in June clearing out space in a barn to move the Model A and inventory all its parts - I want to see it rebuilt and do it myself if I can).

Just as Chevrolet had a prehistoric V8, so did BMW, with the aluminum-block, 90-degree engine used to power the BMW 502, 503, 507, and 3200 CS. Built from 1954 through 1965, the BMW OHV was available in displacements of 2.6 and 3.2 liters. Maximum horsepower output was 160. V8 fans had to wait nearly 30 years for BMW to return to the V8 layout.

[Wikipedia, Image source: USA Auto Parts]

The Studebaker V8 was manufactured until 1963, with displacements ranging from 232 to 304 cubes. A heavy but reliable powerplant, the Studebaker V8 powered many a daily-driver Commander or Lark… but it goes without saying that we're more interested in the batshit-crazy supercharged versions. The Golden Hawk of 1957-58 got a McCulloch supercharger and churned out an impressive-for-the-time 275 horses. We all know about the Avanti, which got 289 horsepower out of its blown V8, but even cooler would be a factory-installed supercharged R2 in a '63 Lark, an option that meets with our highest approval. How about a 12-second Lark?
[Bill's Stude Page, Image source]

I think the Jensen GT was one of the best things to come out of the Malaise Era, but I have yet to see one on the street. Great find, Dr. Danger!

Found a couple interesting cars hanging around Boston. First saw that Jaguar MK IX sitting behind my building downtown. I have seen this car before, but not sitting. Its a sweet ride with that Royal Yachting Association emblem on the grill. The (guessing '68) Impala was hanging out in the Stop & Shop parking lot. There was a hard-had and coveralls sitting in the back, looked like iron worker stickers. Probably stopped off for a case of Winter Lager and some rib-eye steaks. Then finally saw the Jensen-Healey GT just before I got back to the house, its breadvanalicious!
Sorry about the camera-phone quality. I always seem to find cars when my real camera is at home.

You need a machine that looks sharp while navigating those twisty mountain roads, right? OK, so this car might not be so great in the snow, but you need to be willing to compromise on function every now and then. I spotted this car parked in a hip South Denver neighborhood last year, and it may have played a role in my decision to get my own, somewhat less shiny Austin-Healey.

Those of you on the other side of the Atlantic might note that the Kent was installed in plenty of beloved British Ford machinery, including the Anglia and Cortina. In fact, the Kent qualifies for our upcoming Longest-Lived Vehicle Engines Of All Freakin' Time feature, being manufactured from 1959 until the present day. Variations of the Kent (some with overhead-cam heads) were used in cars ranging from the Fiesta to the Lotus Elan to the TVR Vixen.

[Wikipedia , image source: Burton Power]

Can you hurl a paint-splattered ladder into the bed of your truck from 20 feet away and not flinch when it hits? The owner of this fine American machine- which parks just a couple blocks from Chez Murilee- can do that!

Back in '59, a base half-ton Ford Styleside pickup would have run you $1,938, or about $14,500 in 2009 bucks. For that price you got a 223-cube I6 and a three-speed manual transmission. That's way cheaper than the least expensive Ford sedan, which was the $2,132 Custom 300 Six business coupe. What a deal!

I spotted Mr. Hall's photography displayed in the windows of the abandoned Good Chevrolet Ron Goode Toyota building, downtown in the Island That Rust Forgot. Once you're done checking out these highlights, you can view many more from the Girls With Cars series here.

Ms Shuweet
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Caught In A Dream
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Manders At The Duel
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Mercedes 300SL Wrong Turn
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Monika Road Devils
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Pheenix Van Sparks 2
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Rebecca With Witchcrafty 6
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Roxy
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Sarah Strangers
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Shaelynn
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Sugar And The Grand Inquisitor
© Philip Hall Images 2009

Sugar Ready For Her Closeup Mr Deville
© Philip Hall Images 2009

If only Dean had had more time, he'd have been like Paul Newman... only better! He wouldn't have messed around with boring ol' Datsuns, instead sticking with Porsches, and he'd have solved Africa's economic problems simply by stepping from his helicopter. Well, probably not, but at least we get to see this cool alternative ending to the famous Porsche-versus-Ford wreck. Thanks to the reader who sent in this tip; I'd give you a hat tip, but your identity has been washed away like the bits on my recently deceased hard drive.

Speaking of weird Fiats, there's nothing wrong with an X1/9 that a supercharger can't fix!

And just to show that the 24 Hours Of LeMons is taking over the universe (or at least the portion of the universe comprised of Northern California car shows), here's a shot of the Italian Stallions X1/9 LeMons car. We'll be seeing this quad-carbed monster at the Arse Freeze-a-Palooza next month!

What could be better than a Maserati straight six engine? A Maserati straight six engine with Lucas fuel injection, of course! I can't see a single weak point in that plan! OK, here's a gallery for you. We'll be seeing more of that orange Fiat 128 Sport a little later; very interesting story there.

Click on the photo of any engine below to jump to the original post honoring that engine.

Toyota R	Ford Flathead V8	BMW M30
Nissan L	Small-Block Chevrolet V8	Volkswagen Air-Cooled
BMC B Series	Chrysler Slant Six	Rolls-Royce V8
Honda B	GMC Twin Six	Jaguar XK
Pontiac V8	Mazda B	Fiat Twin-Cam
Porsche Flat Six	Offenhauser	Willys Go-Devil
Chrysler LA	Packard Inline 8	Mazda 13B
Crosley COBRA	Volvo Red Block	Subaru EJ
AMC Straight Six	Citroën Type A	Toyota A
Ford Windsor V8	Mercedes-Benz OM617	Nissan SR
Chrysler Trans Four	Chevrolet D V8	Ford Modular
Chrysler A57 Multibank	Ford OHC	Honda D
Buick Nailhead	Buick 215/Rover V8	BMW M10
Volkswagen W	Chrysler IV2220 V16	MEMZ-968
Lotus 900 Series	Ford 385	Mercedes-Benz M100 V8
Chrysler B V8	Toyota M	General Motors LS
Honda F20C	Alfa Romeo Twin Cam	Yamaha SHO V6
BMW M70 V12	Mitsubishi Sirius	Saab H
GM Iron Duke	Coventry Climax FW/FP	Ferrari Dino V6/V8/V12
Ford FE V8	BMC A	Audi 4.2 V8
Big-Block Chevrolet V8	BMW M20	Fiat SOHC
Chrysler Flathead Six	Saab 2-Stroke	Oldsmobile Gen 2 V8
Suzuki G	PRV V6	Cadillac OHV V8
Hudson Six	Nissan VH	Ford Model T
Buick V6	Nissan VG

I found this cartruck parked outside Alameda's Tiki Overload Headquarters a couple months back. The bar was having a small pseudo-car-show, and this Chevy was parked just behind the '51 Dodge Wayfarer we saw a while back.

A base, six-cylinder 1959 El Camino listed at $2,352 new, or about $400 more than a half-ton stepside Chevrolet pickup. For those extra bucks you got a car-like ride and those snazzy fins, though cargo-hauling ability wasn't quite up to serious truck standards. Which would you have chosen?

Just click on the thumbnail image of any of the cars below to jump to the original post, complete with photo gallery. Not sure what's going on? Head on over to the Down On The Street FAQ!

1919 Ford	1924 Ford	1932 Ford	1937 Cadillac
1937 Beardmore	1939 Chevrolet	1941 Chevrolet	1942 Pontiac
1943 IHC	1945 Ford	1946 Chevrolet	1947 Plymouth
1948 IHC	1949 Chevrolet	1950 Dodge	1950 Ford
1950 Ford	1950 Plymouth	1950 Pontiac	1951 Dodge
1951 Willys	1951 Dodge	1952 Dodge	1953 GMC
1952 Dodge	1953 Packard	1953 Chevrolet	1953 Citroën
1953 MG	1954 Chevrolet	1954 Ford	1955 Mercury
1955 Chevrolet	1955 Plymouth	1956 Chevrolet	1956 Imperial
1956 Lincoln	1956 Volkswagen	1956 Morris	1956 Willys
1956 Ford	1957 Volkswagen	1957 Cadillac	1957 Chevrolet
1957 Chrysler	1957 Pontiac	1958 Willys	1958 Mercedes-Benz
1959 Porsche	1959 Morris	1959 Volkswagen	1959 Volkswagen
1960 Cadillac	1960 Triumph	1960 Cadillac	1960 Cadillac
1960 Peugeot	1960 Mercury	1960 Ford	1960 Studebaker
1960 Chevrolet	1960 Rambler	1960 Volkswagen	1961 Plymouth
1961 Morris	1961 Rambler	1961 Chevrolet	1961 Ford
1961 Plymouth	1962 Chrysler	1962 Chevrolet	1962 Chevrolet
1962 Chevrolet	1962 Dodge	1962 Ford	1962 Chrysler
1962 Volkswagen	1963 Chevrolet	1963 Land Rover	1963 Ford
1963 Volvo	1963 Ford	1963 Chevrolet	1963 Chevrolet
1963 Chevrolet	1963 GMC	1963 Porsche	1964 Pontiac
1964 Volkswagen	1964 Chevrolet	1964 Chevrolet	1964 Studebaker
1964 Volkswagen	1964 Checker	1964 Chrysler	1964 Ford
1964 Imperial	1964 Mercury	1964 Chevrolet	1964 Dodge
1964 Ford	1964 Jeep	1964 Chevrolet	1964 Chevrolet
1964 Oldsmobile	1964 Dodge	1965 Austin Cooper S	1965 Volkswagen
1965 Chevrolet	1965 Mercury	1965 Volkswagen	1965 Plymouth
1965 Chevrolet	1965 Volkswagen	1965 Chevrolet	1965 Ford
1965 Plymouth	1965 Alfa Romeo	1965 Ford	1965 IHC
1965 Volkswagen	1965 Chevrolet	1965 Chevrolet	1965 Mercury
1965 Plymouth	1965 Chevrolet	1965 Dodge	1965 Ford
1965 Chevrolet	1965 Chevrolet	1965 Ford	1965 Rambler
1965 Ford	1965 Ford	1965 Ford	1966 Lincoln
1966 Ford	1966 Ford	1966 Ford	1966 Ford
1966 Dodge	1966 Volvo	1966 Dodge	1965 Mercedes-Benz
1966 Pontiac	1966 Porsche	1966 Dodge	1966 Ford
1966 Datsun	1966 GMC	1966 Jaguar	1966 Lancia
1966 Plymouth	1966 Volkswagen	1966 Mercedes-Benz	1966 Chevrolet
1966 Ford	1966 Cadillac	1966 Mercedes-Benz	1966 Ford
1966 Buick	1966 Volkswagen	1966 Volvo	1967 Ford
1967 Mercury	1967 Chevrolet	1967 Ford	1967 Chevrolet
1967 Plymouth	1967 Porsche	1967 Imperial	1967 Galaxie
1967 Volkswagen	1967 Buick	1967 Porsche	1967 Plymouth
1967 Oldsmobile	1968 GMC	1968 Plymouth	1968 Mercury
1968 Mercedes-Benz	1968 Mercedes-Benz	1968 Ford	1968 GMC
1968 Pontiac	1968 Ford	1968 Porsche	1968 Chevrolet
1968 Ford	1968 Buick	1969 Dodge	1969 AMC
1969 Chevrolet	1969 Volkswagen	1969 Volkswagen	1969 Mercury
1969 Chevrolet	1969 Ford	1969 Cadillac	1969 Ford
1969 Buick	1969 Volkswagen	1969 Chevrolet	1969 Cadillac
1969 Cadillac	1969 Mercury	1969 Chevrolet	1969 Lincoln
1969 Oldsmobile	1969 Dodge	1969 Dodge	1969 Datsun
1969 AMC	1969 Ford	1969 Morris	1969 Ford
1969 Buick	1969 MG	1969 Ford	1969 Citroën
1969 Chevrolet	1969 Cadillac	1969 Volvo	1969 Volvo
1970 Ford	1970 Chevrolet	1970 Ford	1970 Chrysler
1970 Cadillac	1970 Dodge	1970 Chevrolet	1970 Chevrolet
1970 Chevrolet	1970 Lincoln	1970 Dodge	1970 Volkswagen
1970 Ford	1970 Ford	1970 Chevrolet	1970 Datsun
1970 Datsun	1970 Chevrolet	1970 Porsche	1970 Dodge
1970 Chevrolet	1970 Puma	1970 Buick	1970 Volvo
1970 Volkswagen	1971 Datsun	1971 Volvo	1971 Datsun
1971 Oldsmobile	1971 Chevrolet	1971 Chevrolet	1971 Chrysler
1971 Imperial	1971 Chrysler	1971 Chevrolet	1971 Datsun
1971 Chevrolet	1971 Ford	1971 GMC	1971 Volkswagen
1971 Volkswagen	1971 Toyota	1971 Volkswagen	1971 Buick
1971 Chevrolet	1971 MG	1971 Plymouth	1971 Plymouth
1971 Volkswagen	1971 Plymouth	1971 Plymouth	1972 Mercedes-Benz
1972 BMW	1972 Volkswagen	1972 BMW	1972 IHC
1972 IHC	1972 Volkswagen	1972 Datsun	1972 Porsche
1972 IHC	1972 Chevrolet	1972 Triumph	1972 Plymouth
1972 Lincoln	1972 Mercury	1972 Steyr	1973 BMW
1973 Volkswagen	1973 Chevrolet	1973 Mercury	1973 Opel
1973 Chevrolet	1973 Buick	1973 Chevrolet	1973 Volvo
1973 Capri	1973 Chevrolet	1973 Chevrolet	1973 Mercury
1973 Datsun	1973 Buick	1973 Ford	1973 Pontiac
1973 Dodge	1973 Mercedes-Benz	1973 Datsun	1973 MG
1973 Ford	1973 Ford	1973 Buick	1973 Plymouth
1973 Chevrolet	1973 Volkswagen	1973 Volkswagen	1973 Volkswagen
1973 BMW	1974 Buick	1974 Chevrolet	1974 Volkswagen
1974 Chevrolet	1974 BMW	1974 BMW	1974 Chevrolet
1974 Datsun	1974 Mercedes-Benz	1974 Ford	1974 Ford
1974 Apollo	1974 Porsche	1974 Porsche	1974 Plymouth
1974 Volkswagen	1974 Jensen-Healey	1974 Ford	1975 BMW
1975 Datsun	1975 Ford	1975 Toyota	1975 Citroën
1975 Mercury	1975 Chevrolet	1975 MG	1975 Pontiac
1975 Chevrolet	1975 BMW	1975 Dodge	1976 BMW
1976 BMW	1976 Ford	1976 AMC	1976 Buick
1975 Unimog	1976 Honda	1976 Cadillac	1976 IHC
1976 Buick	1977 Ford	1977 Chevrolet	1977 Plymouth
1977 Honda	1977 Chevrolet	1977 Cadillac	1977 Chevrolet
1977 Toyota	1977 Toyota	1977 Lincoln	1977 Ford
1977 Fiat	1977 Ford	1977 IHC	1977 Mercedes-Benz
1977 Chevrolet	1977 Oldsmobile	1977 Oldsmobile	1977 Volvo
1978 Datsun	1978 Chrysler	1978 Dodge	1978 Honda
1978 Pontiac	1978 Dodge	1978 Dodge	1978 Dodge
1978 Cadillac	1978 Chevrolet	1978 Jaguar	1978 Saab
1978 Pontiac	1978 Chevrolet	1979 Mercedes-Benz	1979 Porsche
1979 Porsche	1979 Chevrolet	1979 Datsun	1979 Honda
1979 Ford	1979 Chevrolet	1979 Ford	1979 Cadillac
1979 Shay	1980 Porsche	1980 Plymouth	1980 Datsun
1980 Honda	1980 Datsun	1980 Plymouth	1980 IHC
1980 Volvo	1981 Datsun	1981 Toyota	1981 Volkswagen
1981 Datsun	1981 Mazda	1981 Fiat	1982 Mercedes-Benz
1982 Datsun	1982 Mercedes-Benz	1982 Mercedes-Benz	1982 BMW
1982 Honda	1982 Mazda	1982 Volkswagen	1982 Toyota
1982 Fiat	1983 Honda	1983 BMW	1983 Toyota
1983 BMW	1983 BMW	1983 Jeep	1983 Volkswagen
1983 Nissan	1983 Toyota	1984 Porsche	1984 Toyota
1984 Cadillac	1984 Toyota	1984 Jeep	1984 BMW
1984 Toyota	1984 Jaguar	1984 Toyota	1984 Toyota
1984 Buick	1984 Plymouth	1985 Alfa Romeo	1985 Toyota
1985 Cadillac	1985 Mazda	1985 Pontiac	1985 Volkswagen
1985 Saab	1985 Toyota	1985 Toyota	1985 Toyota
1985 Peugeot	1985 Porsche	1986 Dodge	1986 BMW
1986 Toyota	1986 Toyota	1986 Ford	1986 Jaguar
1986 Toyota	1986 Dodge	1986 Honda	1986 Pontiac
1986 Ford	1987 Porsche	1987 BMW	1987 Mercedes-Benz
1987 Volkswagen	1987 BMW	1987 BMW	1987 Honda
1987 Toyota	1987 Merkur	1987 Mitsubishi	1987 Subaru
1988 Porsche	1988 CMC	1988 Renault	1988 Peugeot
1988 Mitsubishi	1989 Ferrari	1989 Alfa Romeo	1989 Subaru
1989 Chevrolet	1989 Volkswagen	1990 Buick	1990 Chrysler
1991 Peugeot	1991 Alfa Romeo	1991 Rolls-Royce	2000 Fieroborghini

Some of my oversights were really obvious head-clutchers (e.g., Trabant, Saab 96, De Tomaso Pantera), while others required making all sorts of crypto-arbitrary judgment calls. In order to prevent the flood of hate mails I got from Land Rover, Jeep, and Toyota FJ freaks with Part I, we're going to make one seemingly obvious point even more obvious:
NO TRUCKS! NO TRUCKS! CARS ONLY!
Got it? And, once again, we're denying the Ford Fox and Panther platforms and the Volvo 140/240 entrance to this list. That doesn't mean we don't love those cars (in fact, I've owned at least one of each), but each underwent a major chassis redesign before it hit the magical 20-year mark. I'm still not convinced that the C2 and C3 Corvettes are the same car, and Ford's nostalgic reissue of a handful of ceremonial Model Ts doesn't add another year of production to the T's scorecard. Feel free to debate the merits of these decisions in your comments, but try to keep the venom level at or below rattlesnake level. OK, here we go, in order of years of seniority:

Morgan 4/4
54 years (1955-present)
When Morgan redesigned the suspension for the 4/4 Series II in 1955, they figured there wouldn't be much need to change anything after that. Engine suppliers come and go, so they've had to change powerplants every so often (the current 4/4 comes with a Ford Duratec four), but otherwise the Morgan remains pretty much the same wood-framed machine our grandparents knew and loved.
Image source
Lotus / Caterham Seven
52 years (1957-present)
You don't see Sevens on the street very often, since the racetrack is this car's natural habitat, but they are road-legal motor vehicles and thus qualify for this series. Lotus built the Seven until 1972, and Caterham (and about 500 million others) have kept the production lines going since then.
Image source
Hongqi CA770
40 years (1958-1998)
Even the Great Helmsman himself needed a car, for those occasions when he had to inspect the progress of the Great Leap Forward, and there was no way that the People's Republic Of China was going to let the running dogs of imperialism outdo them when it came to classy luxury rides for important government officials. Thus was the Hongqi CA770 limousine born. It appears to have ZIS ancestry, but the Bamboo Curtain keeps such sensitive state secrets from our hands.
Image source
Nissan President 150/250
24 years (1965-1989)
Until replaced by a stretched version of the car we know as the Infiniti Q45, Nissan's luxury flagship was the mighty President. The styling appears to have hints of Mercedes-Benz W123 and Plymouth Volaré, and power came courtesy of the President-only Nissan Y OHV V8.
Image source
Trabant
34 years (1957-1991)
There's not much to say about the most famous Warsaw Pact vehicle of all: two pistons, two strokes, plastic body, and more than three million made. Primitive by any standard, but it put East Germany on wheels!
Image source
Bristol Type 603
33 years (1976-present)
The case could be made that the 603 was really just a warmed-over version of the 1946 Bristol line, but we're setting the 1976 body redesign as the cutoff. You could get a 603 with a Chrysler 318 or 360, and some even came with factory turbocharging!
Image source
Lada Niva
32 years (1979-present)
I dismissed the Lada Niva for its truckishness the first time around, but Unicmanest has convinced me that it's no more a truck than was the AMC Eagle or Subaru Outback. And no, there's no possible way to convince me that the Land Rover was really a car.
Image source
Toyota Century
30 years (1967-1997)
The first generation of the Toyota Century limo, which was based on the Crown luxury car, stayed pretty much the same for 30 years. Why tinker with a successful formula? The "Toyota Hemi" V series V8 powered this perennial zaibatsu favorite.
Image source
Lotus Esprit
28 years (1976-2004)
This was a really tough one, but I'm going to say that the endless series of minor mutations in the Esprit kept it essentially the same car for its run.
Image source
Shanghai SC760
27 years (1964-1991)
It's tough to get good information about Chinese cars designed before Nixon's 1972 trip, but it appears that the Shanghai SC760 was an all-Chinese design and remained virtually unchanged throughout its production run.
Image source
Studebaker Avanti / Avanti II
25 years (1962-1987)
I wanted to stay away from the slippery slope of replica cars, if only to avoid the nightmare of dealing with Cobra replicas, but the Avanti II was built using the original Studebaker frames and tooling and thus qualifies. The engines were small-block Chevrolets (proper Studebaker V8s being unavailable), but otherwise we're dealing with genuine Avantis.
Suzuki Alto / Maruti 800
25 years (1984-present)
The Maruti 800, still in production in India today, is based on the second-gen Alto. It has a long way to go in order to match the Hillman Hunter/Hindustan Ambassador, but 25 years is a good start!
Image source
Rolls-Royce Corniche
24 years (1971-1995)
There's not much you need to change on a car like this, so Rolls-Royce stuck with a winning formula.
Image source
Rolls-Royce Phantom VI
23 years (1968-1991)
374 were made. The Queen got two of them. Any questions?
Image source
Wartburg 353
23 years (1965-1988)
With only seven moving parts in the engine, there wasn't much to go wrong with this East German machine.
Image source
Audi 100 C3 / FAW Hongqi CA7200/CA7300
(21 years) 1982-2003
FAW (or some copycat) might still be making Audi C3-based cars in China now, but we can't be sure. We are sure, however, that the production run lasted at least 20 years.
Image source
Jaguar XJS
21 years (1975-1996)
Should this car be lumped in with the XJ6, just because the chassis is pretty much the same? Blasphemy!
De Tomaso Pantera
21 years (1970-1991)
Can we write about the Pantera without mentioning Vince Neill and his ill-fated 3-block trip to the liquor store? Apparently not! Anyway, the Ford Cleveland-powered Pantera stayed more or less the same for the entirety of its production run, and we all want one!
Image source
Reliant Regal
21 years (1951-1972)
Yes, three-wheelers with closed bodies count as cars. The Reliant Robin nearly qualified as well, but missed by a couple of years.
Image source
Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
20 years (1955-1975)
I left the Karmann Ghia out the first time because it's just a Beetle pan with a sporty body, but that wasn't fair. The Karmann Ghia was a distinct model! Too bad the Brazilians didn't keep making it for an extra 30 years.
Reliant Scimitar
20 years (1964-1984)
The first few generations of Scimitar were pretty much the same car under the skin.
Image source
Saab 96
20 years (1960-1980)
How did I miss this car the first time around? Its ancestry stretches well beyond 20 years, but a couple of decades as perhaps the best two-stroke car ever made is accomplishment enough.
Image source
Cadillac D Body
20 years (1977-1997)
I was very skeptical about including this car in the list, but Cadillac ice-racer William sold me on it. He also came up with some exhaustingly comprehensive rules for determining eligibility for the All-Time Survivors list, and I'll post them pretty soon, but for now I'll just share what he had to say about the Caddy D:
Of course it's the downsized Cadillac Rear Wheel Drive Fleetwood/de Ville ("D" Body), introduced on Cadillac's 75th anniversary for '77. Built from August 1976 until July 1997, the new "Right-Sized" Caddie (and GM's first full metric car) came in a variety flavors (de Ville sedan and two door, Brougham & Fleetwood) and a litany of engines: The program started with the L33 425, last of the "big iron" Caddie V-8's (down from the glory days 500 CID and nearly the same digits in torque), and soldiered on with the most diverse/bizzare collection of engines ever to grace a motor car: 368 Cadillac "Sleever," LF9 Buick diesel V-8, 253 Buick V-6 (the first non-V-8 for a Cadillac), the "8-6-4" disaster variant of the 363, an Oldsmobile 5.6, and finally the Cadillac "GM Corporate V-8 engine of Tomorrow" (forgotten the next day) the All-Aluminum cam eating 4.1 HT. And that's just the first ten years. Sure the de Ville and Fleetwood nameplates bailed to the dark side going front wheel drive in 1985 but the Brougham soldiered on in venerable "D" body glory for another decade and more.

The engine-of-the-week theme continued with an Oldsmobile 307 LG8, Chevy 5.0L and finally the Chevy 5.7. With the beginning of the Republican power shift, production packed up and moved to Texas to be closer to oil millionaires who would soon rule/ruin the world. The 1994 re-deux took the "D" body into the world of suppository-based styling complete with Corvette-derived LT-1 350, but in reality it was just a re-skin with the same frame and underbody of Grandpa's car. GM corporate greed and America's thirst for pickup trucks finally made the plant more desirable for more profitable mobile gun rack production and the last GM rear wheel drive passenger car was retired, but only after Elvis and 1.7 million examples had left the building for the last time.

20 years? The (separate) frame, main body structure (more steel alone than most complete cars) is the same from the first to the last. Panel for panel all are the same until '93, when the got out the hasp and rounded out the edges. But nothing else built by Detroit comes even close, so I think we have a strong candidate for the something that was truly Big Three built "big iron" and didn't finish out its production life in exile in Argentina (though likely this was the car exiles in Argentina where driving)..

There's no need for all those power-sucking valvetrain parts and wasted piston motions with a two-stroke. Saab built two- and three-cylinder two-strokers during the 1950s and 1960s, and the three-banger was installed in various Saabs (including the 95 and 96) from 1955 through 1966. Thanks to Tanshanomi for the recommendation!
[Wikipedia, The Auto Channel]

Even 20 years is a long, long time in automotive-design years, and so we've established that as the cutoff for this list. We're not talking about model names that have been around forever (e.g., Crown Victoria, Century, Bluebird), but a particular chassis/generation of a car that remained fundamentally unchanged over its lifespan. We're not including light trucks, mostly because it's damn near impossible to sort out Soviet military stuff. Obviously, a lot of quasi-arbitrary judgment calls had to be made with some of the candidates- does a different engine or totally restyled body make for a distinct vehicle?- and so we're confident that we've provided something to enrage every one of you, be it a car that totally qualified that we blew off or a totally undeserving car that we sneaked into the list. For example, were there differences between the first few generations of the Ford Fiesta sufficient to make that car ineligible for this list? We said yes, which Fiesta zealots will no doubt consider to be fatwa-grade heresy. In any case, we've probably made some mistakes, and we've definitely missed some cars that belonged on the list. Fire away with the hate mail, by all means!

Things get somewhat sticky when it comes to Fiats built outside of Italy. We think the Polski Fiat 125p shouldn't get lumped in with either the Fiat 125 or the Fiat 1300/1500, it being a cost-cutting mashup of the two, so we're giving this 24-year veteran its own place of honor in the Jalopnik Cars Of Immortality Hall Of Fame. Likewise, by the time VAZ got around to the VAZ-2107 (aka Lada Riva), its design had diverged sufficiently from its Fiat 124 ancestry that we consider it and the 124 to be separate cars. You 124 fanatics don't need to fret about that outrage, though- thanks to production in India and Egypt, the 124 doesn't need the later Ladas to nail down 31 years.

You may have noted the conspicuous shortage of American machinery in this list; other than the first-gen Ford Falcon (built in Argentina until the 1990s) and the Checker Marathon, there were no easy calls to be made for American manufacturers. We've included the rear-wheel-drive GM T Body, because of the bewildering swarm of Kadetts, Chevettes, I-Marks, and low-production South American clones that flew forth from that design; we're saying 21 years for the T, and you're free to argue your guts out about it. How about the GM B platform, which stayed in service from the '61 Buick Invicta to the '96 Chevy Caprice? The General performed nearly half a dozen major redesigns of the B platform over the decades, and not enough components interchange between one B generation and the next for it to be considered the same car for 20 solid years. Same goes for the Ford Panther platform (1979-present) and the hordes of Chrysler K derivatives (eternity). The Model T was only made for 19 years, so it doesn't make the list (unless someone can dig up some proof that it was being bootlegged in the Maldives), nor does the Willys Aero, even with all those years of production in Brazil. What really broke our hearts was the Rambler American/Renault Torino, which almost made the list at 18 years of production in Wisconsin and Argentina (we were looking for loopholes to prove that the '64 Rambler American was actually a cosmetic facelift of an earlier version, but no dice).

This project got really challenging when we got to Chinese-built versions of Japanese and Korean cars. The line between "facelifted license-built copy" and "based on heavily modified chassis design" gets increasingly blurry in China, and most likely we've overlooked a couple of 20+ year Chinese versions of Mazdas or Suzukis. Chinese Volkswagens were a lot easier to figure out, but how about Malaysian Mitsubishi clones- or are they clones?- sold in China? Ai-ya!

Here we go, fifty cars that were built for 20 years or longer, as close as we could get to the right order:

Volkswagen Type 1
65 years (1938-2003)
The Beetle was built in Germany from 1938 through 1980, which would have put it in second place on our list, behind the Mini but just in front of the 2CV. However, production in Brazil (1950-1996) and Mexico (1955-2003) gives the little Ferdinand Porsche-designed ass-engine air-cooler a whopping 22-year-edge over the Mini.

Morris Oxford / Hindustan Ambassador
55 years (1954-present)
The case could be made that the previous generation of the Oxford, which debuted in 1948, was similar enough to the '54 that the Oxford/Ambassador deserves 61 years instead of 55. However, the Amby is still being made! That means the much-beloved little Indian car has a shot at catching the Beetle. Engines have come and gone (the '09 Amby has Isuzu power), but the essential Oxford-ness of the car remains.

Austin Mini
43 years (1957-2000)
An Old Mini with airbags? Yes, the car that started the front-wheel-drive/hatchback revolution managed to stay relevant into the current century. Park one of these next to one of those BMW-built imitators and you'll see what a small car really looks like!

Citroën 2CV
41 years (1949-1990)
How much power does a car really need? Ask a Citroën engineer in the late 40s and he'd tell you: nine horsepower! Later models had nearly four times that, with 33 horses being the max from the factory. Of course, some had a little more than that when they went racing. Nearly four million were made.

Fiat 128 / Zastava Skala / Nasr 128 / SEAT 128
40 years (1969-present)
How many versions of the groundbreaking front-driver 128 are out there? Why, even Enzo Ferrari drove one! In addition to being a huge hit in Europe, where it was built until 1985, Zastava continues to build 128s (branded as the Zastava 55) to this day; as of last year, you could still get an Egyptian-made Nasr 128.

Austin FX4
39 years (1958-1997)
We can't include the Checker Marathon in this list without also including the most iconic of the old London Black Cabs. The FX4 was built by different manufacturers over the years and went through quite a few engines, but it remained essentially the same vehicle. Two Austins in the Top Ten!
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Fiat 1100 / Premier Padmini
38 years (1962-2000)
Clearly, the key to getting your car built for a few extra decades is to make Indian buyers love it. As the Fiat 1100, this car was done in Italy by 1969, but India's Premier Automobiles Limited kept on making the 1100 (badged as the Padmini) until 2000.
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Hillman Hunter / Iran Khodro Paykan
37 years (1967-2004)
Hey, Rootes Group machinery survived into the 21st century! The Paykan got Peugeot power eventually, but it remained a Hillman at heart. Paykan production equipment was sold to a Sudanese company a few years back, though we've had no news so far of any gleaming new Paykans being built there. Wait a couple of decades and we may see the Paykan hang in there to beat the Beetle's longevity record!
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Peugeot 504
37 years (1968-2005)
The 504 was built for 15 years in France, then continued production in Argentina until 1999. Africans still loved the 504 after that, with production continuing in Kenya (2004) and Nigeria (2005). Don't be shocked if someone starts building the 504 once again.

Renault 12 / Dacia 1300
37 years (1969-2006)
The 12 was yet another Renault success story, with production on five continents and millions sold. The last Renault-branded 12 was built in Turkey in 1999, but Romanian automaker Dacia made the 12-clone Dacia 1300/1310 until just a few years ago.
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Fiat 131 / SEAT 131 / Tofaş Murat 131
35 years (1974-present)
Also known as the Brava and Mirafiori, the 131 had ten years of Italian production, then lived on in Spain, Turkey, and now Ethiopia.
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Volkswagen Golf Mk1
35 years (1974-present)
Yes, you can still buy the first version of the biggest-selling VW car since the air-cooled Beetle! South Africans love the Mk1 Golf so much that they've been making them since 1974.

Renault 4
33 years (1961-1994)
Usually, a Renault made for more than 30 years indicates that some Warsaw Pact nation built it under license for a couple of decades past the point of relevance in the home market. Not so with the 4! Intended as competition for the hugely successful Citroën 2CV, the Renault 4 outlived its rival by four years.
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Moskvitch 408/412
33 years (1964-1997)
You'll have to pick up the definitive guide to Soviet cars to get the whole Moskvitch 408 story, but here's one fun fact: when the hard-currency-strapped Soviet Union started importing Moskvitches to the UK, the price tag for this fairly substantial car was £22 less than the tiny Mini. Including cars made by the Izhevsk Mechanical Works, the 408/412 stayed in production until the late 1990s.

Ford Falcon (first generation)
31 years (1960-1991)
Imagine going to a Ford dealership and having a choice between a new Sierra XR4i and a new '62 Falcon. That's how it went down in Argentina, where facelifted but still recognizable first-generation Falcons were made until 1991. You could even get a diesel Falcon! We're just disappointed that Ford Of Argentina didn't keep building the '69 Fairlane fastback into the 1990s.

Peugeot 404
31 years (1960-1991)
Kenyan production kept the 404 (car of choice for Ho Chi Minh) going for extra decades.
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Fiat 124 / VAZ-2101 Lada / SEAT 124 / Tofaş Murat 124 / Premier 118NE
31 years (1966-1984, 1986-2001)
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Renault 5 / SAIPA Sepand
30 years (1972-2000)
We North Americans knew the 5 as the Le Car; we missed out on the goofy European 5 ads but we did get some cheezy ones of our own. European production halted in 1996, when the last Slovenian 5 left the assembly line, but Iranian carmaker SAIPA made the 5 (badged as the Sepand) until 2000.
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Vauxhall Victor FE / Hindustan Contessa
30 years (1972-2002)
We could probably stretch the ancestry of the Contessa back another couple of generations of Vauxhall Victors, but 30 years is pretty good. Do the owners of Contessas, with their early-70s British styling, look down on the Ambassador drivers stuck with 40s British design?
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Fiat 126 / Polski Fiat 126p
28 years (1972-2000)
The original Italian-built 126 made it to 1980, but fortunate Polish buyers could get the Polski Fiat version for another 20 years.
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Zastava Koral / Yugo
28 years (1980-2008)
Is this car really a Fiat 128? We think the Koral (aka Yugo) differs enough from its progenitor, and has sufficient history of its own, to merit its own entry in our all-time survivors' list.

Volkswagen Passat Mk2 / Santana
28 years (1981-present)
Is the Mk2 Passat close enough to the Mk1 to move the start date back to 1973? We say it's not. As long as the Chinese keep building Santanas, however, the second-gen Passat will keep moving up in the ranks.

Alfa Romeo Spider
27 years (1966-1993)
Will Alfa freaks be proud that this design stayed in front-line service for so long, or splutter about the changes that "modernized" their car over the years?

GAZ-3102 Volga
27 years (1982-present)
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VAZ-2107 / Lada Riva
27 years (1982-present)
We'll be seeing one of these at the 24 Hours Of LeMons next month!
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Checker Marathon
26 years (1956-1982)
Many different engines, but the Marathon stayed the same.

Mitsubishi Lancer (3rd gen) / Proton Saga
25 years (1983-2008)
How much of the Lancer Fiore remains in today's Saga? Nearly all of it, apparently. Note: the image depicts the non-Lancer-based '09 Saga.
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Daihatsu Charade / FAW Xiali TJ7101
26 years (1983-present)
See how much useful information you can extract from the FAW website about this fine automobile, then let us know if we were totally wrong in assuming that it's still a Charade.
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Fiat Uno
26 years (1983-present)
The Uno was made all over the world, but Brazil is the last Uno holdout, building sedan and wagon versions.
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Porsche 911
25 years (1964-1989)
Was the 911 essentially the same car until the 964 version? Quite a tough call; if we exclude the 911 from the list, we'll be fending off a rain of Molotov cocktails from enraged Porsche fanatics who feel left out. Including it will make many of those same fanatics mail us some Unabomber-style packages, since we're implying that the 911 hasn't always been at the very leading edge of performance-car technology. We decided that sufficient parts interchange between '64 and '89 models to get the 911 on this list.

Fiat 127
25 years (1971-1996)
The Argentinean version of the 127-based Fiat 147 wagon continued until 1996, 16 years after Fiat stopped building the car in Italy.
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Lada Samara
25 years (1984-present)
There's no Fiat content in the all-Russian Samara, and you can still buy yourself one! After the end of the Soviet Union, the Samara got some pretty entertaining commercials.

Volkswagen Jetta Mk 2
25 years (1984-present)
You can still buy the second-gen Jetta in China, where the car is badged as the Jetta King.

Polski Fiat 125p
24 years (1967-1991)
Not really a Fiat 125 (the suspension is from the 1300), we say the 125p is a separate model.
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FSO Polonez
24 years (1978-2002)
It's a Polski Fiat 125p under the skin, but we think the Giorgetto Giugiaro body and variety of engine choices make it a different car.
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Jaguar XJ6 Mk1
24 years (1968-1992)
The original XJ6 was just so good that no major redesigns were needed for those 24 years.

Citroën Traction-Avant
23 years (1934-1957)
The oldest car on this list, the Traction-Avant was so far ahead of its time in the 1930s that it stayed relevant into the Jet Age.

Morris Minor
23 years (1948-1971)

ZAZ-968 Zaporozhets
22 years (1972-1994)
Depending on how you interpret model changes and upgrades, the air-cooled "Soviet Corvair" might qualify for moving up in the ranks of this list... or being dropped from it. Try not to roll it over, comrades!
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Tatra 613
22 years (1974-1996)
Hooray, a Tatra made the list!
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Mazda 121 / Kia Pride / Saipa Pride / Ford Festiva
22 years (1987-present)
Talk about your confusing cascade of captive imports and badge engineering! We're pretty sure that some variety of this car has been in production since 1987.

Peugeot 405
22 years (1987-present)
Peugeot stopped making the 405 in France in 1997, but Iran Khodro continues to build them to this day.

Citroën DS
21 years (1955-1976)
Another example of a car so ahead of its time that Citroën could keep selling it for decades. Too bad the Goddess was so complex; otherwise someone would still be building the DS.

Austin-Healey Sprite / MG Midget
21 years (1958-1979)
Not much about the Spridget changed over its lifetime, other than the addition of big black plastic bumpers and the subtraction of horsepower. Oh, sure, the bug eyes disappeared early on and a few nods to modern technology (e.g., disc brakes) were slapped on, but overall we're dealing with a car that was obsolete from day one and stayed that way throughout its production run (as a Sprite owner, I'm allowed to say such things).

General Motors T Body (RWD)
21 years (1973-1994)
The Chevette, the Acadian, the Kadett C, the Gemini, the I-Mark, the Bird, the Chevanne... the list of cars that The General and his allies built on the rear-wheel-drive T platform goes on and on. Hell, maybe someone is still building the T; our eyes started glazing over after a couple hours of research.

VAZ-1111 Oka
21 years (1988-present)
The Oka appears to have the honor of Most Horrible Economy Car In The World nailed down, but it still sells pretty well in the former Soviet Union.
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Zastava Florida / Nasr Florida
21 years (1988-present)
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Fiat 500 (original)
20 years (1957-1977)
Would you believe that Fiat built the iconic Cinquecento until 1977?
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Saab 99/900
26 years (1968-1994)
As MrB00st and 900pilot have pointed out, the 900 was essentially a lengthened 99, and the 900 went to a new platform in '94. So, 26 years instead of 20.

Suzuki Cultus Gen 2 / Geo Metro / Holden Barina/ etc
20 years (1989-present)
Also known as the Suzuki Swift, this car probably holds the record for most bewildering sequence of model names and licensing deals.

That's why we're going with a couple of classic Italian machines once again, only this time we're going a lot skinflintier on the budget side. Just how cheap are today's totally easy projects? 500 bucks apiece! That's right, we're looking at sure-fire Index Of Effluency contenders for potential 24 Hours Of LeMons teams. Whether you decide to race one of these beauties or turn it into a painfully cool daily driver, you should be able to do it by investing just a 55 gallon drum brimming with little sweat and a cubic foot of few dollars.

Why is it that those lucky Yurpeans got almost all of the Lancia Betas? The first new model manufactured by Lancia after being taken over by Fiat, the Beta had a screamin' Fiat Twin Cam engine, front wheel drive, four wheel disc brakes, and all sorts of excessively complex innovative suspension features. You'd think they'd have sold like crazy in Malaise Era North America, but these days you'd be lucky to find one Beta per time zone. As for getting one for a 3-figure price, forget it! No, don't forget it, because this 1977 Lancia Beta Berlina (go here if the listing disappears), located in theoretically rust-free New Mexico, is ready to clank into your life for just cinquecento bucks! It appears that most of the paint on its horizontal surface has been burned off by the desert sun, and we must assume that the interior is in hopeless somewhat rough shape, but then we see those three magical PCH words in the listing ("ran when parked") and we know everything will be just fine! Thanks to five_on_ninetyeight for the tip.

Front wheel drive? Unless we're talking about a Citroën or maybe a 500-cubic-inch Eldorado, it's tough to work up the motivation to sacrifice your mental, physical, and fiscal health on the Hell Garage altar for a front-driver. You've got plenty of Italian rear-drive options available, and things get even better when you start thinking about horsepower-doubling engine swaps. Say, a Fiat 1100 with the original 1098cc engine torn out and replaced with a powerplant nearly twice as big? But where would you find that, you ask? A Texas rattlesnake hissed out a message about this 1959 Fiat 1100 with Toyota engine (go here if the listing disappears), and we're passing it on to you! Only $500, and the engine-donor car drove itself to the garage under its own power. The engine looks like a Toyota A of some sort, and the front suspension from the unidentified Toyota was swapped in as an added bonus. Not only that, the seller says he's "built several before," so you know he or she must have all the engineering tricks worked out by now- most likely you'll be able to just smash your skull against tinker with it for several eternities a couple of afternoons and get this ToyoFiat into fully roadworthy (or raceworthy) shape!

The first Chrysler Flathead Six, a 68-horsepower engine displacing 201 cubic inches, appeared in 1924, and it was still being installed in Dodge Power Wagons and military M37 trucks as late as 1968 (the last of the Flathead Six-powered Chrysler cars rolled off the assembly line in 1959). After that, Chrysler kept making the engine for industrial and farm use well into the 1970s. 50 years, or just close to it? We'll need input from you serious vintage Mopar experts to know for sure!
[Wikipedia, Allpar]

Rust seems to have taken a few bites out of the Pontiac, but it hasn't surrendered! Here's what Nuyear68 has to say about his finds:

Not necessarily an island that time forgot, but still a home for some neat DOTS candidates. Here's a 1965 Oldsmobile Starfire convertible. Pretty low production, it was the last Starfire ragtop, with the 1966 coupe being the end of its run until unceremoniously brought back as a dinky hatchback in the 80's (I think).
This one sports wheels from a 1972 Olds, and the neatest feature of this car is the side exhaust outlets at the rear of the fenders.
Must be an Olds guy who owns this, notice the nice Olds 98 Regency coupe in the driveway.
Rust hasn't forgotten this oldster I spotted here on Staten Island. It's a 1952 Pontiac - plain jane model with not too much trim, but a real neat chrome treatment up the deck and down the nose.