 |
Carroll Shelby’s first reaction to Ford’s request wasn’t enthusiasm, it was something closer to an insult about the Mustang’s sedan-based platform. What he built anyway went on to dethrone Corvette from an SCCA class it had owned for years, three championships running. The story of how a reluctant partnership turned a ‘mule’ into a racehorse still defines every high-performance Mustang that followed.
This 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda Convertible carries something almost no other droptop from that model year can claim: a numbers-matching 426 Hemi paired with a Pistol Grip Hurst 4-speed. Chrysler built only a small handful of Hemi ‘Cuda convertibles for 1971, and fewer still left the factory with a stick. Here’s what makes this survivor one of the true unicorns of the muscle car era.
The 1987 Monte Carlo LS never got the NASCAR-driven Aerocoupe treatment its SS sibling did, but it quietly outsold expectations with a torquey optional 5.0-liter V-8 and a genuinely comfortable interior. It also happened to be riding out the final months of the G-body platform before Chevrolet closed that chapter for good.
The 2015 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals wasn’t just a display, it was a preview of Mecum’s next auction block, and the lineup proved it: a 640-mile Superbird, a genuine Yenko Camaro, and a 1-of-8 1969 Trans Am convertible all headed to the highest bidder. This is what happens when the country’s biggest collector car auction house shows up with real intent.
A supercharged Hellcat and a Tesla in Ludicrous mode line up at the same drag strip, and the results keep getting argued about years later. Instant electric torque versus 707 horsepower fighting for traction, on paper it isn’t close, but real-world matchups have gone both ways depending on tires, mods, and how exactly you define winning. Here’s what actually happens when these two very different machines meet at the stripe.
Pontiac’s Ventura started out as a dressed-up Nova for buyers who wanted a little more badge appeal without stepping up to a full-size car. This 1973 example takes that formula and adds a custom exhaust, engine mods, and a two-tone paint job that Pontiac never offered from the factory. Here’s the story behind the compact Pontiac most people forget existed — and why this one sounds nothing like it should.
Ford wouldn’t even let regular dealers sell this Mustang; SVT handled every sale directly and made sure buyers weren’t planning to flip it. Powered by a reworked Lincoln Navigator V8 making 385 horsepower, the 2000 Cobra R ran a 12.9-second quarter mile with no back seat, no radio, and no apologies. Only 300 were ever built.
This 1973 Lincoln Continental wasn’t restored because it was rare or valuable — it was restored because the owner’s mother had owned it first. Manns Restoration in Festus, Missouri rebuilt the original 460 V8, went through the suspension, and fitted a new white vinyl top to bring it back to cruising condition. RamblinAround calls it one of the nicest surviving examples of its era. Watch to see the finished tribute.
Chevrolet had less than two years to answer Ford’s Mustang, and the 1967 Camaro convertible — dropped top, fully retractable canvas roof and all — turned out to be worth the rush. We look at what made that first model year matter: the platform it shared with the brand-new Firebird, the six-cylinder cruiser most buyers skipped, and the SS and big-block options that turned a rushed pony car into a legend.
Modern muscle cars like the Hellcat twins hit numbers the original 1960s and 1970s era never touched, but they get there through supercharging and computer control instead of big cubic inches and low compression. Here’s a closer look at how Detroit’s horsepower war came back in the 2010s, and what changed in the engineering between the original muscle car boom and its modern revival.
Ford and Chevy have been trading blows since 1964, when the Mustang beat the Camaro to market by two full years and forced Chevrolet to play catch-up ever since. From COPO Camaros and Cobra Jet Mustangs on the drag strip to Trans-Am road racing and modern-day Friday night grudge matches, the Mustang-vs-Camaro fight has never actually ended.
A 174-day strike at Pontiac’s Norwood plant cut 1972 Firebird production almost in half and nearly ended the nameplate outright — which makes every surviving ’72 rarer than its price tag ever let on. We look at what makes this model year identifiable at a glance, from the honeycomb grille to the detuned-on-paper 455 H.O., and how a Firebird built during a strike still resulted in one of the era’s rarest Trans Ams.
Dodge built 55,700 Coronet 500s for 1966 — and only 136 of them left the factory with the fire-breathing 426 Street Hemi under the hood. Pair that rarity with a flawless black respray and you’ve got one of the most respected intermediates Mopar ever built, a car that turns heads for reasons most passersby never suspect.
Before Roxy Starr ever got behind the wheel of a muscle car, her mother Ilona was already deep into Pontiac ownership with a 1969 Firebird convertible and GTO. This 1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W-30 tells a different chapter, the year GM finally let Olds drop a 455-cubic-inch V8 into the 4-4-2, backed by a weight-saving fiberglass hood and aluminum trim. It’s widely considered the best all-around 4-4-2 Oldsmobile ever built.
Bobby Alloway has built a career on hot rods that make people stop mid-sentence, and his 1960 Ford Starliner — freshly debuted at the 2017 Goodguys Nashville Nationals — is no exception. Black paint a mile deep, a lipstick-red custom interior, and a 429 Boss engine that pounds the ground the moment it’s cranked up. ScottieDTV caught a few minutes with “The Man in Black” himself to find out what makes this build different.