Last shot is my idea of a classic car (I'm not a fan of American cars). I used to have one of these in college in Colorado; a Mark II that the previous owner had installed a Jaguar XK engine in.
The two tone black & red was my favourite, though I agree why bother with the XK engine, I assume you are talking about the 4.2 not the 3.8ltr engine, or was that prior to your emission regulations?
It was the 3.8 engine. He got it out of a wrecked E-Type. It was a very tight fit, and it messed up the balance of the 3000. In a straight line, however, it went like stink.
In terms of design aesthetics, the E-Type coupe, the 3.8 and first 4.2s before they started stretching the car, is my all-time favorite vehicle. I don't like the E-Type roadster at all. I don't like it's looks, and I've driven one and it's like driving a bowl of jello. It really needs the roof to stiffen it up properly. But the original coupe design is gorgeous. As soon as they started stretching it though, it went from gorgeous to really awkward and ugly.
For awhile in Hawaii I had an Aston Martin DB-4. It was a lot of fun, a very nice design although not nearly as pretty as the E-Type, and is another car I should have kept.
I recently sold my BMW 635Csi. It was a daily driver and with 260,000 miles it was simply getting too expensive to keep up. If I get another play car, it will be a Morgan Plus-8. I've always loved that style of car, the Morgan is one of my favorites. The Rover V-8 they used in it for many years really makes it fabulous to drive.
The only American car that I think is really an aesthetic winner is the Studebaker Golden Hawk. I probably like it because it looks European. But other than that, America has never produced a car I've thought was good looking. They are all way too big, way too fat, and with extremely unaesthetic body lines to my eye. Especially the ones from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. By the 90s they all started looking like Hondas.
What the US does know how to design, however, are trucks. Pickup trucks, semi-tractors, US designers know how to make them look very cool. My favorite pickup design--- they were gutless vehicles but look great--- are the so-called five-window pickups, the ones with the little corner windows in the cab. And I think the 2012-14 Ford pickups look very nice. I've seen the new F-150 and they're starting to screw it up now, since they have to do something different. Like the Toyota Tundra grill the thing now sports.