Not to be confused with Selection Sunday, speaking of which…
I used to be a huge fan of college basketball and the Maryland Terrapins team. Growing up in Baltimore in the 1970s, Dr. Zal and I lived and died (not literally, of course) with the fortunes of the Terps.
After I moved to California in the mid-1990s I didn’t follow college basketball or the Terps as closely. However, I must have still retained a strong connection to the program. How do I know? When Maryland finally won the NCAA basketball championship in 2002, I fainted with about a minute left in the championship game. I regained consciousness with about 20 seconds left and made an unbelievable ruckus after the game, so much so that our next-door neighbors called and said, “I guess Maryland must have won, huh.” We lived in a detached, single-family house. Not that it matters, but by this time we were living in Texas.
Ironically, Maryland’s championship seems to have taken away my interest in college basketball and the Terrapins as I have not really followed either since then. Dr. Zal still follows the sport and the team, but not anywhere near as much as he did when we were younger.
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Thanks to Dirty Dingus McGee the tie has been broken between the 1956 Packard 400 and the 1987 Buick Grand National for the third and final spot in the “Z06 Companion Contest.” Here is his comment:
Guess I’ll take a stab at breaking the tie.
Hard choice as I, like you, am partial to orphans.
That said, the Grand National. Why? It was a trend setter in the direction modern performance cars would go. We now take forced induction high horsepower small displacement engines for granted. In 1987 the only other contender was Dodges 2.2 Turbo II engine (175 hp).
Oh, once again a reminder to read the comments AND to submit thoughtful comments. So, I ask you to choose from among three cars:
The car in the top photo is a 1963 Studebaker Avanti. The middle photo shows a 1965 Buick Riviera and the bottom photo shows the aforementioned 1987 Grand National.
I don’t HAVE to have a ’63 Avanti or a ’65 Riviera or an ’87 Grand National. However, if it’s a Riviera it has to come from model years 1963 through 1965. Which of these cars do you prefer?
I REALLY want to read your votes and, if possible, your rationale like Dirty Dingus McGee in his selection of the Grand National. I guess I’ll close the voting on February 17th.
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Disaffected Musings 
Tough choice between the 3. I certainly wouldn’t kick any of them out of the garage for an occasional oil drip.
I guess in order of “want”
1) Avanti
2) Riviera
3) Grand National
Why that order? The Avanti was the last shot of a dying automaker at remaining relevant. It succeeded partially as the basic shape was produced, by others, until 2006. Second reason was it brought back Studebaker being the only domestic manufacturer to offer a supercharged engine as a RPO (first was the 1957 Golden Hawk that was offered as supercharged only).
Riviera second because it just looks so darn good.
Grand National because of the reasons I posted previously.
But even the “losers” would be welcome in my garage if I was still adding to my collection.
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Many thanks for the vote. I hadn’t thought of asking readers to rank the cars, but that’s a good idea. I could assign points (5 for first, 3 for second and 1 for third) and the car with the most points wins.
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I’d take the Riviera first, then the Grand National, then the Avanti.
I have always had a strong affinity for the mid-60s Buicks as my dad had a 64 Electra 225 Sport Coupe. That nailhead, the aircraft-inspired interior… and the Riviera wraps it all up in a sexier package.
The GN next because, though I drove a Mustang 5.0 in the late 80s, the Grand National was really the car to lust after. My mom actually almost bought a Regal in 1985 before settling on the new FWD Park Avenue. But there is something to the last G-body cars, the rear-driver V8s that died before jellybean styling hit them.
No disrespect to the Avanti… it’s a beautiful car. In my case it just doesn’t hold the same attachment the Buicks do.
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Many thanks, markcars2014. I also have an affinity for Buicks, but it covers even a longer span, from the late 40s through the mid 60s.
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Actually, a good friend has a 1932 Buick 57 that he restored over 16 years, it’s stunning. And another guy who used to come to our shows had a 1952 Buick Super. Those straight 8s are something!
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As you know, Buick engines have had OHV configurations from the beginning. Those straight 8s were incredibly smooth running engines.
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