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Ford reshaped its entire truck lineup for 1937, offering buyers a choice between an economical 136 cubic inch V8 and the more powerful 221 cubic inch flathead in the same rounded, streamlined body. It was not fast by modern standards, but the flathead-powered ’37 pickup became one of the most popular hot rod platforms of its era. These photos, courtesy of Gateway Classic Cars, show a well-preserved example of that transformation.
Studebaker restyled its 1955 President to compete with Cadillac and Lincoln, but the real story is hiding in the engine bay. A quiet running change partway through the model year gave later cars more horsepower than earlier ones, with no visible way to tell them apart. Here is what changed, and why only 24,665 were ever built.
When the 1973 oil embargo killed the Dodge Dart’s beloved 340 V8, Dodge answered with a new 360 that traded some character for more torque and drivability. A small handful of buyers dressed that new engine up in surf-themed Hang 10 trim instead. Only 47 of those cars were ever built. Here is the story behind Dodge’s quiet 1974 engine swap.
Dodge offered its fearsome Max Wedge 413 across the entire 1962 Dart lineup, station wagons included, pairing a genuinely dangerous big-block with a brand-new lightweight unibody platform. Two states of tune were available, both capable of closing in on a 12-second quarter mile in a car built to also haul groceries. Chryslers engineers proved a mid-size car could out-drag much larger machinery years before the GTO existed. This wagon is a reminder that Mopars muscle car reputation started in unlikely places.
Buick built the Special as its cheapest model for two decades, but the 322-cubic-inch V8 standard in 1956 still made it a genuine performer, not just an economy choice. The three chrome ventiports on each fender were Buicks own status code, telling buyers exactly where the Special sat below the four-port Super and Roadmaster. With 334,000 built across five body styles, it was anything but unpopular. It also represents one of the last years before the Special name disappeared entirely.
Ford built the Ranchero by grafting a pickup bed onto a two-door station wagon, and by 1971 that formula could be ordered with anything from a mild six-cylinder up to a 370-horsepower 429 Cobra Jet. It was the last model year before new horsepower rating standards and emissions rules reshaped the entire performance car market. Despite sharing its underpinnings with the Torino and Mustang, the Ranchero has long traded at a discount simply for looking like a truck. That is starting to change.
This 1932 Ford Roadster carries a 327-cubic-inch V8 and three-speed automatic in place of Fords original 65-horsepower flathead, a swap in keeping with nearly eighty years of hot rodding history built around this exact body style. The Deuce nickname comes from the second digit of its model year, and the car it is attached to sparked an entire subculture once affordable V8 power became a reality. From backyard builds to The Beach Boys and American Graffiti, few cars carry this much cultural weight under a single fender-less body.
Chrysler’s Cordoba became a sales phenomenon on the strength of five words spoken by Ricardo Montalban: ‘rich, Corinthian leather.’ The leather was actually made in Newark, New Jersey, but the name stuck anyway. For 1976, Chrysler bumped the standard V8 to 400 cubic inches, upgraded the brakes, and kept doors so long – 58.5 inches – that they remain some of the biggest ever fitted to a production car. Sales climbed to roughly 165,000 units, propping up a company that badly needed a hit.
This 1926 Buick Model 50 rode on the Master Six chassis, Buick’s top engine platform for the era. For 1926 the inline six grew to 274 cubic inches (4.5 liters), an overhead-valve design making 75 horsepower – genuinely strong for the mid-1920s. Photographed here courtesy of Gateway Classic Cars, it is a reminder that Detroit’s obsession with horsepower did not start with the muscle car era; it just got louder later.
The 1967 Chevrolet Nova SS looked like a mild refresh of Chevrolet’s compact Chevy II, but underneath was a genuine giant-killer: a 350-horsepower 327 V8 available for just $93 more than the base engine. Here’s how the Nova went from economy car to muscle car contender, and what the safety updates of 1967 changed for good.
Named after a speedy antelope, the 1958 Chevrolet Impala danced onto the scene like an Elvis impersonator at a sock hop. As a posh cousin to the Bel Air, it flaunted a snazzy design with horizontal headlights and triple tail lights—perfect for attracting envious gazes. Under the hood, it offered a smorgasbord of engine choices, from a peppy Blue Flame six to a hearty 348 V8. With its jazzy interiors and “eager-to-please” handling, this car was the bee’s knees, helping Chevy reclaim the sales crown.
A caption claiming a 528-cubic-inch Hemi on a 1965 Plymouth Belvedere doesn’t add up as a factory spec, and that’s the tell that this convertible is a resto-mod built around a modern crate engine. Here’s what a real 1965 Belvedere came with from the factory, how Plymouth’s midsize lineup was reshuffled that year, and where a 528 Hemi like this one likely came from.
This restored 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster convertible wears a facelift that was mostly grille and trim, but the details underneath tell the real story: a 216-cubic-inch six, a column-shifted three-speed, and interior touches that were brand new for the model year. Only 20,471 were built. Here’s a closer look at what made the Fleetmaster Chevrolet’s flagship two years running.
By 1974, Plymouth had swapped the beloved 340 out of the Duster for a detuned 360 that made noticeably less impact despite the larger displacement. Yet against all odds, 1974 became the Dusters best sales year ever, with 281,378 cars produced during the height of the first oil crisis. Fewer than 4,000 of those were the new 360-powered version. What does a sales record set under the worst possible conditions say about what buyers actually wanted?
