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Forget the Hellcat for a second. The quickest street-legal Challenger running the quarter-mile right now might be a plain R/T with a secret. Todd Barber’s twin-turbo build runs mid-8s on public roads, no supercharger badge required. Here’s how a sleeper build like this manages to embarrass cars with twice the advertised horsepower.
Ford never offered an 850-horsepower Mustang from the factory. That number only exists because Shelby American got involved. Here’s how the Super Snake’s Kenne Bell supercharger conversion turned an already-potent GT500 into one of the most powerful street-legal muscle cars ever built, and why finding one in all-black is a special kind of rare.
A “1965” Shelby Cobra 427 with just 6.1 miles on it sounds impossible, until you know that Shelby’s CSX4000 continuation series carries genuine CSX chassis numbers and period-correct specs but was actually built starting in 1997. Here’s what separates an authenticated Shelby-signed continuation Cobra from a kit car, and why this one earns the REAL DEAL label.
A supercharged LT4 V-8, a 198-mph top speed, and a quarter mile in the 11s. The 2017 Camaro ZL1 doesn’t need a political metaphor to make its point. Reviewers who got behind the wheel walked away calling it “too fast to be fun,” and once you see the custom Goodyear tires Chevy built just for this car, you’ll understand why.
Ford reinvented its personal-luxury flagship for 1964 with a bold, squared-off design and a cabin that felt like something out of a world’s fair — and buyers noticed, snapping up nearly 100,000 Thunderbirds that year alone. The convertible added a fully automatic power top borrowed from Lincoln, while a torquey 390-cubic-inch V8 handled the muscle underneath all that formal styling. A handful of ultra-rare special-order cars even packed a 427 V8, though most buyers stuck with the accessible 390. It remains one of the best sales years the Thunderbird nameplate ever had.
Oldsmobile’s 1972 Cutlass Supreme played it two ways — formal enough for the country club, quick enough to embarrass cars that looked far more aggressive. Buyers could spec the Rocket 350 V8 anywhere from a mild 160 horsepower up to a genuinely lively 200-horsepower version backed by dual exhaust and a four-speed. With roughly 300,000 Cutlass-badged cars rolling off the line that year, Oldsmobile had quietly built one of the best-selling nameplates in the country. Top-output Supremes from this era are now becoming legitimate collector favorites.
Get ready to rev your engines and your imagination as we dive into the world of TV’s top custom car guru. From a mind-blowing carbon-fiber ’Cuda that’s as sleek as it is speedy, to the all-wheel-drive 2017 Dodge Challenger GT perfect for those who like their muscle cars with a touch of practicality. Oh, and let’s not forget the outrageous 800-hp Challenger SRT Hellcat X—turbocharged, supercharged, and sure to make your grandma spill her tea. Buckle up for these wild rides!
Every muscle car owner has heard the paint-shop horror stories – cars disappearing for months or years without progress. Muscle Car Review’s April 2017 issue sat down with three respected restoration pros, Bob Perkins, Jason White, and Ken Maisano, to get real advice on hiring a painter and working with a shop. Their tips are aimed squarely at helping readers avoid becoming the next horror story. Here’s what they had to say.
A 1970 Boss 302 doesn’t need much of an introduction among Ford people, but this Candy Apple Red example — filmed cruising the roads of Southern California — comes loaded with factory options that separate a good Boss 302 from a great one. Shaker hood, a five-speed conversion, and even factory air conditioning show up on a car built to win Trans-Am races, not pamper its driver. That combination alone makes it worth a closer look.
Al VerSchave has owned the same 1966 Chevy II Nova for fifteen years, dragging it through multiple moves while slowly turning a lightweight economy coupe into a Pro Street monster pushing past 870 horsepower. Builds like this don’t happen overnight – they take a decade and a half of patient upgrades, serious chassis work, and a refusal to trade in for something newer.
The 1967 Camaro launched with a small block nobody had seen in a Chevy showroom before, the 295-horsepower L48 350, and for that first year it was exclusive to the brand new pony car. Dressed up with color-keyed hood stripes, SS badging, and a bold grille emblem, it proved Chevrolet’s new contender could genuinely perform against the Mustang from day one. This example still carries that same first-year SS 350 look that helped define an entire era of Camaro history.
Jack Scanlon spent a decade restoring his 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 in Grabber Orange back to its 428 Cobra Jet-powered original spec, working with a dedicated restoration shop to track down authentic parts. Filmed at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, the finished car looks factory-fresh. Hear the story of what it took to get it there.
Have you ever found yourself at a car show, nodding along as someone throws around the term “pony car” and wondered if they’re talking about a horse with a penchant for speed? Fear not, fellow auto enthusiast, you’re not alone. A “pony car” is not just a tiny equine with a need for speed, but a class of American muscle cars, like the iconic Ford Mustang. The term originated in the 1960s when these compact, stylish, and affordable vehicles trotted onto the scene, redefining cool.
Ford built more than 607,000 Mustangs in 1966, but fewer than 5,500 of them carried the K-code — a 271-horsepower 289 High Performance V8 you had to know to specifically order. Spotting one wasn’t easy either; the giveaways were subtle, like a thicker vibration damper and the absence of a vacuum advance unit on the distributor. Convertible K-codes are rarer still, with fewer than 200 believed to have been built that year. Six decades later, this quietly rare engine option remains one of the most coveted finds in the entire Mustang universe.
Plymouth built just fourteen 1971 Barracuda convertibles, and only seven of those got the 426 Hemi – a rarity so extreme it turned the Hemi ‘Cuda convertible into the most valuable muscle car ever sold at auction. One example brought $3.5 million in 2014, a record that still stands for Detroit’s muscle car era, while another chased a $4.8 million bid without finding a buyer.