Hyperlipidemic diet-induced atherosclerotic lesions show a predilection for locating at the site of normal collections of intimal cells in the swine abdominal aorta. This implies that preexisting intimal cell masses (ICM) evolve into early diet-induced lesions. This study characterizes in detail the distal abdominal aortic ICM of young normal swine as a basis for a better understanding of lesion development. Seventeen male Yorkshire swine were used, from neonates to 20 weeks of age. Only three of six neonates showed multilayered ICM, the remaining three showed scattered individual cells or a single layer of cells. All older swine had multilayered ICM at a predictable ventral site corresponding to Evans blue in vivo staining. The majority of cells counted by electron microscopy were smooth muscle (89 to 94%), the remaining were macrophages (1 to 8%) and poorly differentiated cells (3 to 5%). Weanling and older swine showed high proportions of contractile smooth muscle cells. Ergastoplasm-rich smooth muscle cells comprised nearly half of the neonatal population. Stainable lipids were demonstrable in 20-week-olds, but not in younger swine. No foam cells were seen, but cells containing a few droplets totaled 2%; macrophages comprised a high proportion of these. Pyknotic dead cells were rare, being found in the neonate and 20-week-old swine. Mitoses were observed in two ergastoplasm-rich smooth muscle cells in the neonate and one each in contractile smooth muscle cells of a 14- and a 20-week-old swine. Saddlebag-shaped, atypical-appearing cells were present in all age groups, involving all three cell types, and ranging from 1 to 3%. These represented either bridged nuclei and cytoplasm or more likely artefactual distortion of relatively normal cells.