First thing that comes to mind when you think of the 1960's

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moon rocks.

Casual attire becoming more mainstream for both genders.

Manned space travel.

Vietnam

LSD

End of the Pullman Train era.

cars without headrests or emissions controls

Johnny Carson

skitch henderson

Lime green - everywhere.

monochrome segueing into living color

Musclecar wars of the Big Three (Ford, GM and Mopar) American car companies is what I think of first. Typically the engine displacements of these cars were above 400 cubic inches (6.6+ Liters for our metric friends). They had upgraded transmissions and heavy duty drive-trains (to take the torque) to get the rubber to meet the road. Many of the top models (426 Hemi, 427 side oiler, 427 L88) actually produced more horsepower than advertised, but due to insurance liabilities, they had to down play them. Many of these cars ended up wrapped around a telephone pole by drivers who were not used to driving them properly or inhibited by alcohol (or both).

BTW - Ford's Mustang did not start out as a real musclecar, just a pony car. When it was introduced in April 1964, the largest engine it had on the option list was 260 cubic inches. Later in the model year, the 260 was modified into 289 cubic inches and it became more than just a pony car when Carroll Shelby put some fangs into it (bring it up to 306 horsepower from the hipo 289). It was not until 1967 did Mustangs get factory big blocks under the hood as an option. Very few 1967 Shelby 500s came with 427 side oilers, the same engine used in certain racing versions of Shelby Cobras and GT-40s.

"unsafe at any speed."

First thing i thought of was young Arnold Shwarzenneger back when he was in bodybuilding, because i read an interview from him before.

Riots
"The Generation Gap"

people desiring jobs in the defense industry

People protesting against the Vietnam War.

the heyday of automotive chrome.