This circa 1938-1939 Ford pickup was found in fairly good condition in Arizona. The 1938-1939 Ford panel and pickup truck bore little resemblance to the Ford trucks that had come before. They were treated to a thorough restyle in 1938, and carried over unchanged into 1939.  Both the 60-horsepower and 85-horsepower V-8 engines were offered. (Photo by Jim Prueter)

This late 1940s Willys Jeep pickup truck was found in a Nevada snowstorm. The Willys Jeep pickup was built from 1947 to 1965 by Willys-Overland Motors. For 1950 the truck got a V-shaped grille with five horizontal bars. More than 200,000 of these trucks were built through its lifecycle. (Photo by Jim Prueter)

1946 through 1948 Lincoln models featured a unique and stylish dashboard that appear user friendly. This unrestored dash was discovered in an abandoned car in South Carolina. Round gauges flanked a large radio layout, speedometer on the left and clock on the right. Four smaller gauges to the left included gas and temperature readings. The standard transmission was a "three on the tree" 3-speed manual. (Photo by Ralph Gable)

This 1955 Oldsmobile was found in retirement in Utah. Oldsmobile was enjoying remarkable popularity in the mid-50s with some creative styling and its Rocket 88 advertising. The GM brand ranked fifth in sales behind Chevrolet, Ford, Buick, and Plymouth with 583,179 units sold. (Photo by Jim Prueter)

Three mid-1970s AMC Gremlins are living together in retirement in a Utah salvage yard. The Gremlin is a subcompact introduced in 1970, manufactured and marketed in a single, two-door body style (1970–1978) by American Motors Corporation (AMC).  Using a shortened Hornet platform, the Gremlin was classified as an economy car and competed with the Chevrolet Vega and Ford Pinto. The Gremlin reached a total production of 671,475 over a single generation. (Photo by Jim Prueter)

The Jaguar XJS is a luxury grand tourer coupe and convertible built from 1975 to 1996. There were three iteration over its 20 years with a final production total of 115,413 units. This third generation (1991 through 1996) example — manufactured under Ford's new ownership — was found in abandoned retirement in South Carolina. (Photos by Ralph Gable)

This 1982-83 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am was discovered in Garden Valley, Idaho. The 1982 model was the start of the third generation that was built through 1992. Sales of the V-8 Trans Am reached a peak in 1979 with 117,108 units sold. (Photo by Jim Prueter)

In the 1940s Pontiac was slotted above Chevrolet, but below Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac in General Motors' 1940s hierarchy. In 1948, the year of this abandoned discovery, Pontiac sold 235,419 vehicles, the fifth best brand in sales below Chevrolet, Ford, Plymouth and Dodge, and just ahead of Buick. (Photo by Jim Prueter)

The 1972 through 1976 Dodge pickup was the first of the third generation that lasted through 1993 and included an independent front suspension, and were built with a considerable amount of galvanized steel to resist rust and corrosion. Transmissions included a 3-speed and 4-speed manual and a 3-speed automatic. (Photo by Jim Prueter)

An early 1930s Ford pickup serves as  an unusual patriotic yard ornament in Washington state. Ford battled with Chevrolet for U.S. sales supremacy during the first half of the 1930s with 1930 Ford's biggest sales year of the period at 1,140,710. Chevrolet's biggest sales year was also 1930 with 640,980 sales. (Photo by Jim Meachen)