Automotive immortals

Believe it or not, the longest continuously running nameplate in the world is the Chevrolet Suburban. A child of the Great Depression, the first Suburbans were essentially wagons built on a truck chassis and were made for the National Guard and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

View Slideshow:  Cargo Kings

Chevy's Suburban line has persisted for 78 years, and the basic idea of a truck chassis with a spacious, covered body remains the same. The modern Suburban has three rows of seats and remains one of the largest and most powerful SUVs you can buy, and it shows no signs of going away.

The long-term success of Ford's F-Series is a testament to the pickup truck itself. The F-Series was launched shortly after World War II as the replacement for a car-based pickup. After 12 generations, the modern F-150 chassis variants are largely separated by cab size and box length.

Read:  Ford unveils Atlas pickup concept

While the brochure for Ford's original 1948 F-1 truck did promise "living room comfort" and "Spiralounge seats," no one then could have imagined a 2013 F-150 tricked out with heated and cooled leather seats, a voice-controlled Sync system, GPS navigation, rain-sensing windshield wipers, auto-lowering running boards, remote start and power folding mirrors.

2013 Ford F-150

PhotosPricesSpecsReviews

The first-generation Corvette is the most anomalous car in the vehicle's history. It sported a 6-cylinder engine, rather than the pushrod V8 powertrains that defined the 'Vette for most of its history. The first year's run had a 2-speed automatic transmission and, at $3,490, was a far cry from its eventual ideal of the working man's supercar.

View Pictures:  New Corvette Stingray

Celebrating 60 years of production, the redesigned 2014 Corvette Stingray is expected to maintain a starting price of less than $60,000 and outperform sports cars three times its price.

2013 Chevrolet Corvette

PhotosPricesSpecsReviews

Like many off-road vehicles, the Land Cruiser has roots in the military. During the Korean War, the U.S. government asked Toyota to build Jeeps to the Willys specifications, and by the mid-1950s, civilian versions were hitting the road. The now-familiar SUV form emerged in 1958, and the vehicle's off-road abilities and worldwide distribution have served it well.

View Slideshow:  Cars that make a statement

The modern and plush 2013 Land Cruiser is a far cry from its military forebears: The $78,555 SUV is cavernous inside, has leather everywhere and comes with a standard 4-zone climate control and navigation system.

2013 Toyota Land Cruiser

PhotosPricesSpecsReviews

The "SL" stands for "sport leicht," meaning "lightweight sports car," and it was a technological marvel from the start. The original Mercedes 300SL had a tubular chassis with famous, skyward-opening gull-wing doors. It saved weight with an aluminum hood and boasted the first direct-injection engine in production.

Read Blog:  Mercedes 'Gullwing' sells for $4.6M

The latest SL was launched for the 2012 model year. Modern iterations have eliminated the line's "coupe or convertible" quandary by integrating a convertible hardtop roof, but they maintain a visual lineage with side vents and a big, three-pointed star in the middle of the grille.

2013 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class

PhotosPricesSpecsReviews

The award for least glamorous legend goes to Ford's E-Series Van, which has been continuously sold in the U.S. for three years longer than the Mustang. Known for much of its life as the Econoline, Ford's van shares a common ancestor with the Mustang, since they were both derived from the Falcon. The early Econoline vans had a cab-over design with a wacky split grille and bug-eye headlights.

View Slideshow:  Consumer Reports' 2013 Top Picks

The modern E-Series is far less daring, but then, as now, it's hard to argue with the utility: The original carried eight passengers, and modern Ford vans with extended cabs can fit up to 15 passengers.

2012 Ford E-Series Van

PhotosPricesSpecsReviews

Few vehicles have maintained design consistency like the Porsche 911. The German sports car, with its sweeping roofline that has defined F.A. Porsche's car since the first iteration in 1963, replaced the equally legendary 356 designed by F.A.'s father, Ferry Porsche.

View Slideshow:  Best snow cars ever

Although much about Porsche 911 has changed over the years, it remains the same basic two-plus-two, rear-engine sports car — but with a lot more power. Today's 911 has 350 horsepower in the base trim, going up to 530 ponies in the Turbo S, with a zero-to-60 time of just over three seconds.

2013 Porsche 911

PhotosPricesSpecsReviews

The Mustang is Ford's longest-running car nameplate. This legendary pony car was introduced in April 1964 as a "1964 1/2" model-year vehicle. Even though the original Mustang was essentially a reskinned Ford Falcon, it sold like hotcakes. The Mustang has gone through five generations, with a sixth rumored for 2015, but there have been low points for the brand, particularly the design-challenged years from mid-'70s through early '90s.

View Slideshow:  Best and worst movies for car guys

The modern Ford Mustang has returned to a classic look with a focus on performance, including occasional variants such as the 662-horsepower 2013 Shelby GT500. The new GT500 boasts excellent handling, 662 horsepower and a top speed of 200 mph. Ford calls it the most powerful production car made in the United States.

2013 Ford Mustang

PhotosPricesSpecsReviews

The 1965 Mercedes S-Class is the most questionable entry in this lineup, since there is a powerful argument to date the origins of the S-Class all the way back to the mid-1950s "Ponton" W180 and W128 sedans. There is also good reason to claim that S-Class sedans weren't officially named "S-Class" until 1972. In 1965, however, models carrying the S-badge started showing up, along with large V8 engines and luxury amenities that would define the brand.

View Slideshow:  High-end cars on a budget

The S-Class remains the platform that Mercedes-Benz uses to show off its latest and greatest technology. The 2013 S-Class comes in a wide range of fuel-efficient and performance variants, from the S350 BlueTEC diesel and S400 Hybrid to the mega-powerful S65 AMG.

2013 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

PhotosPricesSpecsReviews

The Toyota Corolla was first produced in Japan in 1966, but migrated quickly to the U.S. market in 1968. The simple, cheap, 60-horsepower car sold Americans on the concept of foreign-made compact cars, and disabused us of the perception that Japanese cars were shoddy and unreliable.

View Slideshow:  25 most stolen newer vehicles

A testament to the Corolla's reliability is that Toyota is still producing the car today, and it is routinely among the 10 best-selling vehicles in the U.S. The 2013 Corolla has 132 horsepower, seats five and has a driving range of 343 to 449 miles, depending on transmission type, driving style and fuel choice.

2013 Toyota Corolla

PhotosPricesSpecsReviews

For more information on the vehicles in this slideshow, click the links below:

-Chevrolet Suburban
-Chevrolet Corvette
-Toyota Land Cruiser
-Mercedes-Benz SL
-Ford E-Series Van
-Porsche 911
-Ford Mustang
-Mercedes-Benz S-Class
-Toyota Corolla

Sam Foley is a Connecticut-based automotive journalist who has written for GQ, Forbes, USA Today, the New York Post and various other publications.