Planned obsolescence helped create unique American vehicles throughout the postwar era, though ya gotta wonder why no one at the Big Three thought, “Gee, we could save some money if we used the same grille next year.” Hindsight not being 20/20, it nonetheless is unfair to apply today’s thinking to the past.
Two of the below AutoHunter Picks share the distinction of being restyled in their respective final model years, something that we will never see again. Another is equally as unique, but its obsolescence wasn’t planned. And the last one shows that noticeable model year changes were a state of mind that lost traction by the 1990s. What’s your fave?

1970 Plymouth Road Runner Coupe
The third is the word, it seems—the 1969 Camaro was unique (as was the same-year Firebird). So was the 1970 Road Runner. The styling bore little resemblance to the 1968-69, but it also embraced a scoop here, a decal there, and many more eye-searing colors.

A standard three-speed was a downgrade to maintain the low base price, but that didn’t detract from the overall goodness of the concept, nicely demonstrated by this “TX9” Black Velvet example with 383 (with Six Barrel system added), Air Grabber, Hurst “Pistol Grip”, and nicely contrasting gold interior and stripes.

1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
I’ve always leaned into the idea that this was the super-duper version of the Firebird 400, just like a Judge was to a regular GTO. But have you compared the price of the two packages? They differ by almost $700, which points to the Trans Am as being a much more substantial package.

This is one of the rarer ones, a 400 Ram Air (a.k.a. Ram Air III) paired with the TH400. Per the PHS invoice, we see it has plenty of the good stuff: Rally II wheels, Rally gauges, and console, plus the Y86 Décor group, which consisted of Deluxe steering wheel, wheel opening moldings, custom pedal trim, and dual horns.

1958 Chevrolet Delray Sedan
This was the one-year-only replacement for the 150, though the name formerly was used on a 210 with a fancy all-vinyl interior starting in 1954. Considering its new status as the cheapest of Chevrolets for 1958, that makes for a nice starting point for a vintage hot rod.

This gilded ’58 sedan features matching Torq Thrust-inspired mags and whitewalls, a small-block upgrade, and floor-mounted B&M shifter. I’d remove that and install a five-speed (after all, there’s already a hole there) and go beat up on Camaros.

1992 AM General Hummer H1
Remember when these civilian behemoths were the scourge of the road? The vehicle for those lacking virility? They were never big sellers for suburban roads, as this first-year ’92 is one of 316 out of the 11,818 built through 2006.

This 16,438-mile example looks the part with its Sand Beige paint, but don’t let its military background fool you—you have black leather interior, air conditioning, and power options. Under the hood you’ll find a 6.5-liter turbodiesel V8 backed by a four-speed automatic and dual-range transfer case.