Today’s Top Pick is a 1944 Beechcraft D17S Staggerwing. There are a lot of beautiful aircraft out there, but few defy classification like the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggering.

In addition to serving as a private executive transport, the Beech Model 17 also found success as an air racer, with its exceptional speed (cruise of 202 mph, Vne of 212) and stability.

The Beechcraft Model 34 Twin-Quad was developed during the late 1940s and early 1950s – between World War II and the Korean War, an era of rapid post-war advancements in aviation technology.

In the days before private jets, the Model 17 was one of the first single-engine private passenger planes that well-to-do eccentric, wealthy aviators drooled over.

Throughout its existence, the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing served as a military aircraft during the Spanish Civil War between 1936-1939, despite the fact that it was designed first and foremost ...