The late 50's, 60's and very early 70's were extremely interesting years for the domestic automobile companies. The bad side was poor fit and finish, lack of durability and lack of safety concerns. The plus side was that you could order almost anything you wanted and get it any color you wanted. On top of that, the manufacturers themselves were pushing boundaries. Just look at what Ford did at Le Mans in 1966. Working for Pontiac, I was fortunate to see some of their creations as well, such as a station wagon type Trans Am. A friend of mine ordered a 1962 bare bones Biscayne with a 409 and four speed. He was the only guy I ever met who Hurst would not guaranty their shifter for because he broke so many of them. In the early 60's, Pontiac Motors made a special run of aluminum front ends, producing just enough so they could be used by stock car drivers. Rules at the time said the factory had to produce 200 (IIRC) parts before they could be considered 'stock'. There were also some interesting variations of the venerable 421 Pontiac engine of the time. While I'm on the subject of Pontiac's and 421's, there were more than one 421 Tempest/GTO produced for "test purposes" too. Dealers even got into the act, ordering small cars with big engines. The standout for me was the 427 Chevy Nova that you could get from Yenko Chevrolet.
From an economic standpoint, grouping options together and limiting the public's choice of colors and equipment makes sense, it's sure has limited the amount of fun it was to order it the way you wanted it, and drive away with a fairly unique car.
Personally, I had two cars of that era I would love to have back. One was a 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix that left the factory with a 421 ** engine and a 4 speed manual trans. The engine had such a high compression ratio that the car came with an extra battery mounted in the trunk. The car was red with black interior. The second car I'd like to still have was a 1964 Chevy Impala Super Sport convertible with the legendary 409 engine. Bright red with a white top and white interior, it was head turner in more ways than one. But while it's fun to remember these cars, one must always remember they were fuel hogs, requiring premium gas, lacked almost any safety devices, rusted out in just a couple of salt laden winters, and couldn't hold a candle to cars of today in almost every category except perhaps styling. That is evident in some car manufacturers returning to styling of the past, like Ford with the Mustang and Chrysler with the Charger.
