A personal luxury car is an American car classification describing a highly styled, mass produced, luxury vehicle with an emphasis on image over practicality. Effectively high priced Veblen goods, personal luxury cars favor style and perceived cachet while accenting the comfort and satisfaction of their owner and driver above all else. A high level of features and trim is offered, typically at the expense of passenger capacity, cargo room, and fuel economy. Characteristically built on a two- door platform with distinctive exteriors, they often share mechanical components in common with their manufacturers' popular mass market vehicles. As a result these vehicles were a profitable segment of the post- World War II automotive marketplace.
In the U.S., the four - seat 1958 Ford Thunderbird expanded the personal luxury car into a major market segment.
