 |
In This Is Us, Jack Pearson sells his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle to help buy the family house, a plot point that lands harder once you know what he actually gave up. 1970 was the peak year for the SS Chevelle, when the big-block grew to a true 402 cubic inches while keeping its famous “396” badge for brand recognition, with the range-topping L78 rated at 375 horsepower. It’s the kind of detail that suggests real care went into the choice.
This widebody Dodge Viper claims a title most builders wouldn’t dare chase: the only air-bagged, wide-body Viper anywhere. With a claimed 1,200 horsepower packed into a chassis never designed for that kind of power, it’s part show car, part street brawler. Here’s what it actually takes to make a build like this work.
A 650-horsepower Camaro isn’t supposed to out-lap a Ferrari 488 GTB, a McLaren MP4-12C, and a Nissan GT-R around the Nurburgring, but that’s exactly what the 2018 ZL1 1LE did, running a 7:16.04 with an ALMS driver behind the wheel. Multimatic’s adjustable DSSV dampers and a genuinely track-tuned aero package back up the number. At ,995, it embarrasses cars costing three times as much.
Plymouth never built a 1971 Superbird – NASCAR’s rule changes killed the aero-car program before it could happen. Gary and Pam Beimke built one anyway, working from documentation for a prototype 1971 Daytona to complete their own tribute in 2001, followed by a matching Superbird in 2003. Add a sunroof and a Hemi and you’ve got one of the more unusual builds on the Mopar show circuit. Here’s the real story behind the Superbird that was never supposed to exist.
A nitrous-huffing, LS-swapped Chevelle showing up to Pure Street class and out-running the big-block faithful is the kind of pass that starts arguments in the pits. Pure Street doesn’t care what’s under the hood — DOT tires, a full interior, and a car that drives itself home are the only requirements — which is exactly why a swap turning real numbers there matters. We dig into what makes these small-block conversions competitive and how nitrous is closing the gap on traditional big-block combinations.
Dodge’s ‘Domestic. Not Domesticated.’ ad didn’t film a Challenger on a drag strip — it sent one into an Alaskan blizzard, and the tagline that closed the spot was a direct shot at anyone who thinks muscle cars are fair-weather cars. Behind the ad was a genuinely new idea for Dodge: the Challenger GT AWD, the brand’s first all-wheel-drive muscle coupe, built to be driven twelve months a year instead of parked every winter.
A blue 1969 Camaro, a first-gen Nova, a ’66 Chevelle, and a full-size Oldsmobile all take their turn peeling out of the same Cars & Coffee lot — and the comments make clear which exits actually earned the crowd’s respect. Two moments around the 1:02 and 3:20 marks draw the loudest reaction. Watch to see which car nailed the send-off best.
The five-figure muscle car market has cooled at the top, but the real action right now is happening under $10,000 — a corner of the hobby where second-tier icons like fourth-gen Dodge Chargers, Mercury Cougars, and even AMC Matadors are quietly building a following. We look at which overlooked classics are still genuinely affordable, and why a growing appetite for vintage trucks and SUVs is reshaping where collector money goes next.
A blue Chevelle sitting in a used-car lot doesn’t look like much until you check what’s under the hood. Chevrolet’s 1970 SS454 came in two flavors, and only one of them, the solid-lifter LS6, earned real muscle car legend status. Fewer than 4,500 Chevelles ever left the factory with this engine, out of over 62,000 SS models built that year. Here’s why that scarcity still makes collectors stop in their tracks.
A Buick GSX built during a five-month factory window in 1970 raises a genuine documentation question for its current owners — one that even a close look at the car’s trim and colors can’t fully settle. Its Stage 1 engine option carried an official rating widely considered too conservative for what the car could actually do. Here’s the open question at the center of this particular GSX.
In 1965, Chevrolet offered Corvette buyers a fuel-injected small-block that cost nearly double the price of the brand-new 396 big-block, and made fewer horsepower on paper. Only 771 people took that bet, and the option disappeared entirely the following year, not returning to a Corvette for another seventeen years. Read on to see why buyers paid the premium, and how this particular ’65 Sting Ray proved it decades later at Drag Week 2015.
Restoration shop owner Luciano ‘Lucky’ Lacerda built this 1961 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible specifically to showcase his own shop’s work at SEMA, finishing it in a deep green that stands out even at a packed Scottsdale cars-and-coffee. It’s a deliberate choice in a SEMA field dominated by trucks and muscle cars. Watch to see what a restoration shop owner picks when the whole point is to prove what he can do.
A 1971 Chevy Nova originally left the factory with a base inline-six – this one now runs a 406 cubic-inch small block with a full roller valvetrain and a build claiming 572 horsepower to the wheels. Paired with drag radials instead of slicks, it’s built to be raced and driven home the same day. See why the 406 stroker combination remains one of the most popular small-block builds in drag radial racing, and what it takes to make that kind of power reliably.
Thirty years after Saleen’s race team swept the Driver’s, Manufacturer’s, Team, and SCCA Escort Endurance Championships in a single dominant 1987 season, Saleen built a Mustang to mark it — and brought back General Tire, the partner that helped secure that win, to do it. Just 30 examples of this Black Label-based Commemorative Edition exist, each packing a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 tuned to 730 horsepower for the street or 750 for the track. It’s proof that some anniversaries deserve more than a badge.