Table of Contents
- TLDR
- Why 1959 Mattered
- American Land Yachts
- European Sports and Grand Touring Cars
- The Innovators
- Everyday Cars
- Which Best Car of 1959 to Buy Today
TLDR
The best car of 1959 is the original Mini, because nearly every small car since follows its layout. The most spectacular is the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. The best to actually drive today is the Jaguar Mark 2, and the best investment is the Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder, if you have eight figures lying around. The other eight are below.
Why 1959 Mattered
Detroit hit peak excess in 1959. Fins had been growing for four years, and this was the year they stopped growing and started getting silly: the Cadillac’s rose roughly 42 inches off the ground, the Chevrolet’s stretched flat like bat wings, and Chrysler’s Forward Look cars looked ready to take off.
Across the Atlantic, the mood was the opposite. Alec Issigonis’s Mini went on sale in August, built for a country still rationing fuel after the Suez Crisis, and it rewrote the small-car rulebook. Jaguar launched the Mark 2, Mercedes-Benz introduced the first production car with a designed crumple zone, and Ferrari was quietly turning racing cars into road cars.
So when we say the best cars of 1959, we mean four things at once: the biggest, the fastest, the smartest and the cars people actually bought. Each is covered below, 12 in total, with specs and a rough collector value. Values are ballpark figures for good-condition cars and swing with condition and provenance.
American Land Yachts
1. Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz
This is the car that defines the year. The Biarritz convertible carried the biggest fins Cadillac ever built, twin bullet taillights and a 390 cubic inch V8 making 325 hp. Only 1,320 Biarritz convertibles were made, and the sticker was around $7,400, roughly twice the price of a Chevrolet Impala.
Verdict: absurd, magnificent, and impossible to park. Collector value: about $120,000 to $250,000.
2. Chevrolet Impala
The 1959 Impala is the one with the “batwing” rear deck and cat’s-eye taillights, a complete restyle of the 1958 car in a single year. Engines ranged from a 283 V8 up to the 348 “Turbo-Thrust” in tri-power form, which made up to about 335 hp. It was GM’s volume car, so survivors are plentiful.
Verdict: the people’s tailfin. Collector value: about $40,000 to $90,000 for a coupe or convertible.
3. Ford Thunderbird
Ford turned the two-seat Thunderbird into a four-seat personal luxury car in 1958, and 1959 was its best sales year at 67,456 cars. The 352 V8 made 300 hp, and the dashboard and console were more jet cockpit than car interior. Purists still grumble about the missing two-seater, though the market voted with its wallet. The rest of Ford’s 1959 lineup is worth a look too.
Verdict: the car that invented the personal luxury coupe segment. Collector value: about $20,000 to $50,000.
4. Chrysler 300E
The “letter series” 300s were Chrysler’s muscle cars before the term existed. The 1959 300E carried a 413 cubic inch V8 rated at 380 hp, wrapped in the tallest fins Virgil Exner’s studio ever drew. It was built in small numbers and priced above $5,000.
Verdict: the fastest big American cruiser of its year. Collector value: about $60,000 to $120,000.
5. Chevrolet Corvette
Of course. The 1959 Corvette was the refined C1: a 283 V8 with optional Rochester fuel injection producing 290 hp, a four-speed manual, and 9,670 cars built. The sales were small by Detroit standards, but it kept the Corvette alive as a real sports car at a base price near $3,875.
Verdict: America’s only genuine sports car in 1959. Collector value: about $70,000 to $130,000, with fuel-injected cars at the top.
European Sports and Grand Touring Cars
6. Jaguar Mark 2
Launched in October 1959, the Mark 2 fixed everything wrong with the Mark 1: a bigger glass area, wider rear track and better brakes. The 3.8-liter XK six made 220 hp and pushed the saloon to around 125 mph, which made it a bank-robber’s favorite and a touring car racing champion.
Verdict: the best-driving four-door of the era, and arguably the best looking. Collector value: about $35,000 to $90,000.
7. Aston Martin DB4
The DB4 arrived in late 1958 and reached customers in numbers in 1959. A Touring-of-Milan-designed body, the Superleggera construction method and a new 3.7-liter twin-cam six with roughly 240 hp. It could reach around 140 mph, and it laid the groundwork for the DB5 that Bond later drove.
Verdict: the template for the British grand tourer. Collector value: high six figures in strong condition.
8. Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder
Ferrari wanted an open 250 GT for American customers, and the California Spyder was it. The long-wheelbase car used Colombo’s 3.0-liter V12 with around 240 hp, and only about 50 were built. The same V12 family won Le Mans and the Tour de France over the next several seasons.
Verdict: the poster car, and the most valuable one on this list by a wide margin. Collector value: well into eight figures for good examples.
9. Porsche 356B
Porsche unveiled the 356B in late 1959 with higher bumpers, a larger rear window and a better-sorted chassis. The 1600 Super made 75 hp and the Super 90 made 90 hp, from an air-cooled flat-four that weighed almost nothing. It was a small car with a big reputation for building quality. For how the 356 gave way to the 911, see the 1963 Porsche model guide.
Verdict: the sports car that anyone can use every day. Collector value: about $60,000 to $150,000 depending on body style.
The Innovators
10. Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor (the original Mini)
Launched in August 1959 at £497 including tax, the Mini put a transverse 848cc four-cylinder engine over the front wheels, with the gearbox in the sump. Around 34 hp doesn’t sound like much, but the car was 10 feet long and gave roughly 80 percent of its floor area to people and luggage. Alec Issigonis’s design became the blueprint for almost every front-drive small car afterward.
Verdict: the most influential car of the year, maybe of the decade. Collector value: about $10,000 to $30,000 for early cars, more for Cooper versions.
11. Mercedes-Benz 220 SE (W111 Fintail)
Mercedes answered American fins with small, restrained ones, and the W111 earned its place in history for what was underneath. Béla Barényi’s rigid passenger cell with front and rear crumple zones made it the first production car designed to absorb impact. The 220 SE added fuel injection and 115 hp from a 2.2-liter six.
Verdict: the car that made passive safety a design discipline. Collector value: about $25,000 to $60,000.
Everyday Cars
12. Datsun Bluebird 310
Nissan’s 1959 Bluebird 310 was a small family saloon with a roughly 1.0-liter four. It was reliable and cheap, and it was the car that put Datsun on the export map. It has none of the glamour of the cars above, which is exactly why it belongs: it points at where the next decade of the industry was heading. For the models that followed, see classic Datsun models that defined an era.
Verdict: the quiet one that predicted the future. Collector value: low and unpredictable, since surviving cars are rare outside Japan.
Which Best Car of 1959 to Buy Today
If you want to drive it every weekend without drama, buy the Jaguar Mark 2 or a Porsche 356B. If you want the loudest statement for the money, buy the Impala or the Thunderbird. If you want the one with the biggest fins, you want the Eldorado Biarritz, and you’ll need a wide garage.
| Car | Engine | Power | Rough value today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz | 390 V8 | 325 hp | $120,000 to $250,000 |
| Chevrolet Impala | 283 to 348 V8 | up to ~335 hp | $40,000 to $90,000 |
| Ford Thunderbird | 352 V8 | 300 hp | $20,000 to $50,000 |
| Chrysler 300E | 413 V8 | 380 hp | $60,000 to $120,000 |
| Chevrolet Corvette | 283 V8 | up to 290 hp | $70,000 to $130,000 |
| Jaguar Mark 2 | 2.4 to 3.8 six | up to 220 hp | $35,000 to $90,000 |
| Aston Martin DB4 | 3.7 six | ~240 hp | High six figures |
| Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder | 3.0 V12 | ~240 hp | Eight figures |
| Porsche 356B | 1.6 flat-four | 75 to 90 hp | $60,000 to $150,000 |
| Mini (Austin Seven/Morris Mini-Minor) | 848cc four | ~34 hp | $10,000 to $30,000 |
| Mercedes-Benz 220 SE | 2.2 six | 115 hp | $25,000 to $60,000 |
| Datsun Bluebird 310 | ~1.0 four | Modest | Low, rare |
One more thing about 1959. It is the last year the industry could pretend that bigger was always better. Within twelve months, Detroit launched the compact Corvair, Falcon and Valiant, and the Mini was already clearing the way. The best cars of 1959 mark both the end of an era and the start of the next one.
Marco Delantero
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This article was researched against manufacturer records and editorially reviewed before publishing. We accept no payment for coverage. Some guides contain affiliate links; see our affiliate disclosure.
