What is your favorite model year of cars ever made?

If you were to pick a year where in your opinion most car manufacturers were the closest to getting it right, what would it be? What is your favorite model year of cars ever made?

Few people limit their automotive lust to one model year. Whether it's personal preference or year to year styling and design improvements it's unlikely your fantasy garage would be full of cars from one year. That being said, what year do you think car companies, foreign and domestic, got the closest to getting it right at the same time?
Maybe the model year doesn't contain all of your favorite cars ever made, maybe it does. Perhaps none of the cars made that year are as practical for daily use as a car made two years ago. Maybe two years ago is your favorite year of car production. Maybe the production of a few cars is important enough to overshadow what might be considered by some to be a poor year otherwise. Maybe you think just about everything that rolled out of the factory that year is something you would like to be driving.

My choice falls into the last scenario mentioned. Ignoring my love of muscle cars and many cars produced afterward, I would have to say the 1960 model year is my favorite. I think this was the year many car companies really got the long wide and low style of the late fifties right. 1960 was actually the year when the fin was the highest on many cars despite a more smooth and cleaned up look from the 1959 model year. I can't think of many cars sold in the US in 1960 that I wouldn't love to own. Just imagining a Sonoramic Commando equipped Plymouth Fury, a Mercedes 300SL roadster, a Cadillac Series 62 convertible and a Ford Country Squire Wagon taking up a 1960 only row of my fantasy garage is enough to seal the deal.

I've told you it's 1960 for me, so tell me, what is your favorite model year of cars ever made?

(Photo Credit: dok1)