Smithsonian Deciding Which 2 of 11 Classic Cars to Put on Display

I've owned a lot of cars in my time that would be considered "classic" today. I've had a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda, a 1968 Ford Mustang, a 1963 Chevy Impala, and a 1963 Rambler Classic. I have also tooled around in a Desoto, a '65 Ford Galaxy, and a Studebaker Lark. And the list goes on. I'd probably have a fortune today if I would have kept these cars in good condition and put them in a warehouse somewhere.

Do you have some favorite cars from when you were younger that would be considered classics today? Well, the Smithsonian has about 11 of them. And they want to put two on display at their museum, but they can't decide which ones to display. They want the public to help decide.

Here are a few of the cars that they are considering putting on permanent display, according to CNN: First up is probably the most expensive car that they have in their collection, a 1948 Tucker. There are only a few of these cars that are left from the original production.

I understand that Francis Ford Coppola has a couple of these million dollar babies. The Tucker was so far ahead of its time that the big automakers put the Tucker Automobile Company out of business by not letting them get enough sheet metal to make the cars.

Among the innovations of the Tucker were the first seat belts, the first fuel injection, and that unique front headlight that turned when the driver did.

Next up is the General Motors EVI. "GM introduced the EV1electric car in 1996 as a production version of a 1991 concept car called the Impact. It sold mostly in California, where state regulations at that time required manufacturers to offer a certain number of zero-emission vehicles." The car cost $35,000 and suffered from lack of sales even in California and was eventually discontinued. .

The next car in the lineup is the 1903 Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout. Actually Henry ford wasn't the first to mass produce automobiles like a lot of people think. It was actually a man named Ransom Olds. Old Henry did hold the distinction of having the first factory production line.

The Runabout sold in the few thousands, but Olds left the company because he wanted his car to be for the everyday man, but the company focused on the high-end buyer. Shortly after he left, Oldsmobile merged with Buick to form the basis for General Motors.

And finally, a car that most of you have never even heard of: The 1953 Glasspar. The Glasspar was the first car to have a fiberglass body. It had one because the designer of the car built boats for a living. He built the car bodies as a sideline to the boat business and the buyer had to supply all of the rest of the car. Later, GM used the Glasspar as the basis for its own fiberglass-bodied sports car, the Corvette.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/autos/1012/gallery.smithsonian_race_to_the_museum/6.html