Isn’t it wonderful that the country that brought you the Interstate highway network is also the same country that brought the best cruising and highway-eating cars in history? That’s why last week that represent the stars and stripes for less than a $10k budget. Cue the music.

was made at a time when gas was cheap, large families made way for even larger cars, and the Cadillac name was synonymous with style. With its finned rear end and streamlined body, this four-door behemoth is a perfect example of what happens when a car company throws caution to the wind and decides to make something infinitely more classy than anything that came after it. It’s truly an icon.

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9. 2000 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

is the quintessential American car in the modern age - still tightly grasping its muscle car roots with a pushrod small block V8 engine, but employing cost-cutting measures such as a less-than-cheap plastic interior so the driver can focus on the things that matter, namely the ridiculous rate of speed that the car can muster.

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8. 2008 Cadillac STS

is a car that was left by the wayside for a long while, although it wasn’t a bad car in its own right. It housed a 4.6-liter V8 engine that drove all four wheels and had the same angular styling that made the CTS such a success - the same styling that’s featured prominently in Cadillac’s new cars up to the present day. It’s the notbad.jpg of modern luxury cars.

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7. 1989 Dodge Dakota Convertible

When an automaker decides that it’ll combine two categories of cars, it usually ends up with something awesome like the El Camino or something god-awful like the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. combines the ultility and wind-in-your-hair excitement of a convertible ad the ultility of a pickup truck. Questionable? Sure. Awesome? You bet your ass it is.

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6. 2010 Dodge Charger R/T Police Package

is unequivocally the car of The Man, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be one hell of a daily driver. I’ll let explain:

Ladies and Gentleman, here it is. The corned beef hash of the bunch. Something so ‘Murican that it cannot be Un ‘Murica’ed EVER. The Krispy Kreme Cheeseburger of cars. A 2010 Dodge Charger Hemi... wait for it... POLICE CAR. You’ve got v8, you’ve got Hemi, you’ve got Dodge, you’ve got CHARGER, and more importantly a vehicle that used to house guns. MANY GUNS. Shotguns I’m assuming. It’s driver? Kickin’ ass and takin’ names (and personal freedoms most likely). Just ‘Muricaing the SH*T out of people. This particular model still has the push bumper, spotlight, and the sent of donuts. Cheap donuts. If this isn’t America, I don’t know what is. I’m literally crying tears of freedom and saluting simultaneously as I write this.

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5. 1976 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

is a weird one - it was the model that went through the most drastic horsepower decrease after mandatory emissions laws, yet it was one of the best looking Corvette bodies ever made, in my opinion. With the vintage car market high on nostalgia for anything with the Corvette badge on it, buying a well-sorted C3 could be a ticket to a return in the future.

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4. 2003 Mercury Marauder

The Mercury Marauder was the Crown Victoria SS that no one asked for but we all got because Ford knows what we want better than we do. It’s not the fastest or lightest thing in the world, but who can say no to a car with a large V8 engine, raucous exhaust note and mechanical components that will never fail? It’s a car that’ll put hair in places that you didn’t know you had.

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3. 1969 Chevrolet El Camino

is all kinds of right. I’ll let explain:

I present for your consideration, the 1969 Chevrolet El Camino. Arguably the best generation as well, looking like it was never a chevelle/malibu at any point. I’m not sure you can get much more ‘Murican than an Elco. In fact, I’m not sure any other countries even offer a vehicle in car/pick up format. This particular example is running a 350 Turbo Fire engine (sounds ‘Murican) and is claimed to have been restored 2 years ago and running well. Look no further. Bacon, BBQ, Fried Chicken, Apple Pie, El Camino, ‘MURICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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2. 1972 Lincoln Continental

may just be too much car. Here’s with an explanation:

I know what you’re thinking. “Man. I don’t have enough car.” So first thing off the bat, you’re reckoning, go get something like a sedan, with four doors, right? Ha! Wrong!

Listen to me. I will teach you how less is more. Two doors phat, four doors blah! Let me teach you the way of the Lincoln Continental! Let’s start with this bad boy right here. It’s a Mark IV, that’s Mark Four for you non-classics types, all right? They’re asking $6,800! Gee, what is that, nearly a buck fifty per pound?! Visualize a person behind the wheel. Do you even have to ask if this person has an adequate amount of automobile? Fat chance. No way, in fact. Not in a million years. In the automotive realm, the operator of this vehicle is taken care of.

Seriously. White leather. Opera windows. Doors that could knock a lesser human being into next week if you’re careless. Incidentally, when this thing was made, in 1972, “outsourcing” might have meant something like “getting an additional supply for my champagne” or “hiring more musicians for my daughter’s wedding.” It certainly didn’t mean throwing America’s industrial base under a foreign-made bus. Just saying, you know?

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1. 1995 Ford Mustang GT

is my favorite shape for the pony car - ever. There, I said it. It looks exactly what a ‘90s muscle car should look like, along with a schlocky interior made of ABS plastic and hardened vinyl. It’s quirky, it’s crude, and it’s the most fun you can have in an American car. If I owned it, I would drive it to Canada and hand deliver some freedom, two skid marks at a time.

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is the founder of and writes and about on the internet. He owns the world’s cheapest , a , and he’s the only Jalopnik author that has never driven a Miata. He also has a real name that he didn’t feel was journalist-y enough so he used a pen name and this was the best he could do.

My name is Tavarish and I make videos about buying, modifying, and breaking cars. I also have…

You can also follow him on and . He won’t mind.