Classic Cars

For a few decades after World War II, the American car was more than a way to get to work. It was the family's pride in the driveway, the reason for a Sunday drive, and the place where many of us learned to parallel park, had a first date or heard a favorite song on the radio. Every fall, the new models arrived with chrome, color and tailfins, and neighbors walked over to see what had changed.

The years from the 1950s through the 1980s brought two-tone Chevys and big Cadillacs, the first Mustangs and Corvettes, wood-paneled station wagons, muscle cars rumbling at the stoplight and sensible compacts when gas prices climbed. There were drive-in movies and carhops on roller skates, hot rods on Main Street on Saturday night, and car songs on every jukebox. Ask anyone of a certain age about their first car, and the stories come quickly.

These four quizzes take a slow cruise through that era. The first visits Detroit and the companies that built the cars. The second looks at famous models, the third turns to car culture, from drag strips to drive-ins, and the last covers the cars that starred in movies, on TV and on the radio. There is no timer and no rush, so roll the windows down and see how many you know.