There are so many things that can make a car special – the way it looks, the way it drives, the way it was built… and all of these are great reasons to own a classic. What makes this car special? Find the answer next week!

We love driving and admiring classic cars, but we also enjoying writing about them and sharing them. In this spirit, we’ve brought you ‘classic times’, our very own bi-monthly publication featuring Condon Skelly news, event listings, tips from insurance experts and hilarious stories from owners. We care about more than just classic car insurance – we aim to share the enjoyment of classic car ownership with everyone.

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The ’48 Tucker Torped0, also known as the Tucker Sedan. Only 51 copies were sold before a number of factors shuttered the Tucker factory, but the car still stood as a grand symbol of the time. An aspirational time for America – it was certainly a car with lofty aspirations of its own. Its enormous 589 cubic inch engine was daring, as was the styling, but the true innovation lay in the various and unique engineering concepts. The Torpedo was rear-engined, rear wheel drive, and had a third headlight in the middle of the vehicle that swiveled to illuminate the road when turning. Further, the vehicle was available with an automatic transmission, had a number of passive safety features, and had the gas tank up front. All of these coalesced into a brilliant design that would have revolutionized the auto industry, were the brand not put to death by circumstance and conspirators, namely the big three in Detroit.

At Condon Skelly, we love attending car shows and events across the country. Recently, we decided to start working on some videos of our travel and all the great classic cars, customs, and hot rods we’ve seen. Check out the first in our series of classics from around the nation.

 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu_FEFeb8L0&w=640&h=360]

This car represents the bold thinking that swept postwar America. A beautiful, if sad reminder of a bygone age of dreamers. Almost everything about this car is unusual and intriguing…

The Mazda RX7! Mazda has long been a proponent of the Wankel rotary engine design used in the RX7 and its kin, but this was the first car to achieve mainstream success, a reliable track record, and popular following, paving the way for the modern and much-loved RX8. The Wankel engine featured in this vehicle is brilliant because it has so few moving parts and takes up so little space. It’s power-to-fuel-economy ratio is strong, its form factor is tiny, and it’s big on fun, making it a clever implementation of an even cleverer design. This car is certainly to Mazda’s credit.

Perhaps the most iconic era for American collector cars – the muscle cars of the 60s. Before technology, emissions, and other concerns entered the picture, there was one goal – power. In the late 1960s, Motown produced some of the most memorable engines – and beloved shapes – that we’ve seen to this day. Here are a few we’ve fallen for:

This car has roots in the 60s, but really came into its own in the 80s and 90s, when it became the first car with a specific and unusual feature to garner major commercial success. Pictured here is the third and final generation, early copies of which are just turning 20.

Pennsylvania plays host to a variety of American history, from the revolutionary war to the civil war. But there’s some newer national treasures to appreciate in PA – the collector car scene. The are a number of beautiful antiques, classics, and customs we’ve found in our travels – here are just a few:

A Citroen DS19! Truly a car that took the world by storm, Citroen received ten times the number of orders it had anticipated at its debut in 1955 at the Paris Auto Show. The car showcased many novel features for its time including power windows and power steering (among others), but its true innovation was the hydraulic system underlying most of the operating aspects of the vehicle. The hydraulics served as motivation for the power windows and steering, but also the suspension, widely considered a revolution in the trade-off of ride comfort for handling. To this day, a late and well-kept example can sell for six figures. But any model from its two decades of production can make a unique contribution to a collector’s garage, as it did to the modern automobile industry.