I had the 68 first (in high school) and liked that car a lot, a buddy had the 69 (RS/Endura car).
Hard to remember the first time I saw one, but, The thing that I think first struck me visually about the 69 car was the squared-off upper portions of the wheelwell openings and how the "speedlines" running the length if the body are crafted into the wheel openings...Overall the car has more of an "in motion" styling, than the 67/8. It was definately a more agressive styling statement by GM and more of a "reach", styling-wise.
There are lots more creases in the 69 sheetmetal which really pick up well visually, especially on cars with metallic paint.
Add to this the tremendous number of potential options and color combinations which were available in 1969, and especially the RS option, which is more of a dramatic overall difference to the car vs. the non-RS car, vs the previous two years.
Lastly, popularity of the 69 model is greater because there were simply so many more of them built, due to the long extended production run well into 1970 due to the delay in production start for Gen2.
Many more 69s found their way into peoples lives and memories.
Rob
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