Classic
American Cars
A red 1957 Corvette in 1991. Thirty-five entries and counting — Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes, Cadillacs, Thunderbirds, a Hemi 'Cuda, a Pontiac GTO Judge, a Trans Am, a Dodge Super Bee. Wheels that turn. Two license plates on every car. Sculpted by Don Palmiter, known around Hallmark as simply "The Car Guy" — the man who pitched this series, built it, and spent his career making sure the American automobile got the tribute it deserved.
Don Palmiter Got Behind the Wheel at Age Two
Don Palmiter first got behind the wheel of his brother's pedal car at age 2. "It was a 1948 Steel Craft Pontiac station wagon," he says. "Burgundy with cream trim." He describes it with the warmth and emotion usually reserved for an old flame. The love of automobiles never left him — it followed him through a career that began with Hallmark the week after he graduated from high school in 1967, through embossing and greeting cards, through sculpting, through the move to Keepsake Ornaments in 1987, to the moment when he looked around the Keepsake division and noticed there was very little there for men. "There was nothing masculine in the offering," he recognized. He needed to look no further than his own first love. Three years after presenting his idea for an American classic cars series, it was launched. He became known around Hallmark as "The Car Guy." He still is.
The series launched in 1991 with the 1957 Corvette — red, 3¾" wide, wheels that turn, durable resin, excellent detailing. The packaging, now in The Henry Ford's permanent collection, reads: "Through the years, we've had an ongoing romance with the automobile. Prized for their style and aura of adventure, the American car was a dream machine. This new series celebrates the Classic American auto, and will bring you a different car each year, authentically modeled after the original classic." Every car since has carried two license plates — one with the model year of the car, one with the year the ornament was issued. Those two plates are the series' most specific design decision: a way of saying that the 1957 Corvette and the 1991 ornament are the same object seen from two different moments in time.
"Through the years, we've had an ongoing romance with the automobile. Prized for their style and aura of adventure, the American car was a dream machine. This new series celebrates the Classic American auto, and will bring you a different car each year, authentically modeled after the original classic."
— Hallmark packaging, 1991 Classic American Cars #1 · 1957 Corvette · Artist: Don Palmiter · In The Henry Ford Collection
1957 Corvette #1 (1991 — the beginning) · 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda #8 (1998) · 1969 Dodge Super Bee #35 (2025 — latest)
1957 Corvette — 1991 (#1)
A red 1957 Corvette carrying a Christmas tree — Don Palmiter, 3¾" wide, wheels that turn, durable resin, series verification #1 stamped on the bottom. The packaging is in The Henry Ford's permanent collection. The 1957 Corvette was an obvious first choice: the car that defined what an American sports car could be, the car that turned automotive design from functional to aspirational, the car that is still the most immediately recognizable American classic. Carrying a Christmas tree. Because if you're a 1957 Corvette and it's December, you have somewhere to be.
Shop the 1957 Corvette — First in Series →Don Palmiter — The Car Guy
Don Palmiter arrived at Hallmark one week after graduating from high school in 1967. He began in the artistic engraving department, moved through greeting cards, and reached Keepsake Ornaments in 1987. He noticed immediately that the collection had little to offer male collectors — "There was nothing masculine in the offering." He needed to look no further than his own first love: cars. Don Palmiter first got behind the wheel of his brother's pedal car at age 2. "It was a 1948 Steel Craft Pontiac station wagon. Burgundy with cream trim," he says with the warmth usually reserved for an old flame.
Three years after presenting his idea, the Classic American Cars series launched in 1991. It made Palmiter known around Hallmark and with ornament enthusiasts as "The Car Guy" — the sculptor who goes to conventions and auctions, who has his share of impulse purchases, who has never actually restored a car but considers sculpting Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments a better investment. The 1991 series launch was "tremendously successful." It created an entirely new category of Hallmark collector — the automotive enthusiast who had never thought to collect ornaments, who now had a reason. Palmiter also created the Kiddie Car Classics line in 1992, inspired by his need to pay homage to that first 1948 Steel Craft Pontiac pedal car he drove at age two. "I travel to signing events all over the country," he says. "People will show me pictures of the pedal cars they had as children and then have me sign that exact replica. They are thrilled that I have created an ornament from 'their' car. I can't tell you how much I thoroughly enjoy that."
Tips for the Collection
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01Look at both license plates on every ornament. The Classic American Cars series' most distinctive design detail: two license plates per car, one with the model year of the car and one with the year the ornament was issued. On the 1991 Corvette, the model plate reads "57" and the issue plate reads "91." This dual plate system is the physical expression of the collection's central premise — a dialogue between a car's original moment and its Keepsake moment, thirty-four years apart on the 2025 Super Bee.
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02Roll the wheels on each car before hanging it. Every Classic American Cars ornament has wheels that turn — the most satisfying tactile detail in any automotive Keepsake collection. Each December when the cars come out of storage, roll each one before it goes on the branch. It is the same instinct that makes you pick up a die-cast model car as a child and push it across the table before putting it on the shelf.
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03The 1998 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda and the 1997 Hurst Oldsmobile 442 are the collection's muscle car peak. The late 1990s entries represent the height of American muscle car culture — the Hemi 'Cuda (1970) and the Hurst 442 (1969) are among the most sought-after collector cars in automotive history, and the Keepsake ornaments that represent them are among the most sought-after in the Classic American Cars series. Display them prominently.
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04The 1959 Cadillac De Ville (#6, 1996) is the collection's most dramatic entry. No car in automotive history produced a tail fin like the 1959 Cadillac — a fin that was simultaneously the apotheosis and the beginning of the end of the American chrome era. Don Palmiter's Keepsake version captures the scale and the attitude of the original. It is the entry that non-car people notice first, because the fin is so extreme it requires no automotive knowledge to recognize as extraordinary.
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05The 2024 Corvette L88 is the first metal entry in the collection. The 2024 1968 Chevrolet Corvette L88 (QXR8151) is noted as a metal ornament — a material change from the resin that defined the series from 1991 onward. Display it alongside the 1991 Corvette (#1) for a 57-year comparison between the same nameplate across two different materials and two different Keepsake eras.
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06All 25 available Classic American Cars ornaments from the collection are at Already Christmas. From the 1991 Corvette through the 2025 Dodge Super Bee — the American automotive romance, on the tree.
Classic American Cars Keepsakes — 1991 to 2025
Wheels turn · Two license plates · Every car authentically modeled. Click any car to shop.
Don Palmiter first got behind the wheel at age two — a burgundy and cream 1948 Steel Craft Pontiac pedal car, "with cream trim." He described it with the warmth usually reserved for an old flame. Three years after pitching his idea for a series that would give male collectors something to be enthusiastic about, the 1957 Corvette arrived in 1991, red, wheels turning, a Christmas tree strapped to the hood. Thirty-five more cars followed. The Mustangs, the Camaros, the Corvettes, the 1959 Cadillac with its impossible fin, the Hemi 'Cuda, the GTO Judge, the Trans Am, the Dodge Super Bee. Each one authentically modeled. Each one with two license plates. Each one with wheels that turn. The American romance with the automobile, on the tree.
All available entries here. The 36th car has not been announced.
✦ Part of our Collection: Hallmark American Series, Explored ✦