Muscle Car Fan

Posts By: Kiril

Rear-side view of a red sports car with black rims indoors.

How I Ruined All My Cars

by Kiril

I’ve managed to ruin quite a few cars, each in its own unique, disastrous way. From overzealous engine mods that left me stranded, to paint jobs that looked more like abstract art gone wrong, my automotive adventures have been a series of unfortunate events. Take my Dodge, which went from roaring beast to a sputtering mess after a DIY turbo install. Or the time I tried to give my old Civic a lowrider look, only to end up with a suspension that had more bounce than a trampoline. Ah, the memories!

Black muscle car with prominent hood scoop at a car show.

Everyone’s Favorite Movie Muscle Cars, Listed Chronologically

by Kiril

Bond’s DB5 and Dom Toretto’s Charger are not the only movie muscle cars worth remembering. A black Trans Am and a customized Mustang fastback both left just as big a mark on car culture, one by boosting real-world sales and the other by spawning an entire tribute-car industry. Here is the rest of the list.

Man repairing an engine on a workbench in a garage.

Building a LS1 Engine for Performance and Reliability

by Kiril

Chevrolet’s LS1, introduced in 1997, replaced the iconic small-block V8 with an all-aluminum design that debuted at 345 horsepower in the C5 Corvette. Its light weight and compact OHV layout have made it one of the most popular engine-swap choices for classic muscle car builds decades later. Properly maintained, a stock LS1 can run well past 300,000 miles – a reliability record that helped cement its reputation among builders.

A man presenting a classic red convertible car indoors.

Ford Mustang 1969 GT 428 Cobra Jet

by Kiril

Ford officially rated the 1969 Mustang’s 428 Cobra Jet at 335 horsepower, a number widely believed to be deliberately understated to dodge higher insurance rates – real output likely topped 400 hp. Fewer than 30 GT convertibles were built with the four-speed R-code version of this engine that year, and today only four are confirmed to survive. This car’s rare Indian Fire Red paint and factory power top make it a standout even within that tiny group.

Yellow and black sports car on display indoors.

2016 Shelby Terlingua Mustang in Yellow Paint

by Kiril

Only 50 examples of this 2016 Shelby Terlingua Mustang were built, and Lou Costabile got a walkthrough of one straight from Shelby American’s own leadership at their Las Vegas facility. President Gary Patterson and VP of Operations Vince Laviolette explain what separates this yellow limited edition from the rest of Shelby’s lineup. Watch to see what fifty cars and a legendary name actually buys you.

Classic black vintage car displayed indoors with polished chrome details.

Buick Riviera 1973 “Counts Kustoms”

by Kiril

Bill Mitchell designed the boattail Buick Riviera to channel the drama of 1930s speedster styling, scaling up a taper he had already proven on the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. The controversial shape divided critics for three model years, and by 1973 Buick had already begun smoothing it out. This particular example later passed through Count’s Kustoms, the Las Vegas shop behind History Channel’s Counting Cars.

Classic orange muscle car parked on a cobblestone street in a city square.

Plymouth Roadrunner Custom

by Kiril

Plymouth built the Road Runner around one idea: strip the luxury trim and let a big-displacement V8 do the talking. The standard 383 made 335 horsepower, but the mid-1969 A12 package added the fearsome 440 Six Pack — three two-barrel carburetors, a fiberglass hood, and 390 horsepower for just $250 more. Only about 1,432 were built, and period testing showed it running nearly as quick as a 426 Hemi in the quarter-mile.

Classic red muscle car with black racing stripes parked on asphalt.

Could This 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 Be a Pilot Car that Escaped the General Motors Crusher in 1969?

by Kiril

This 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 carries a remarkable claim: that it’s a factory pilot car which somehow avoided the crusher GM used on most of its pre-production prototypes. Specialists like the Pilot Car Registry authenticate these claims by searching for factory stampings hidden beneath a car’s paint. One documented 1970 Chevelle LS6 pilot car even carries a handwritten note on its build sheet.

Chevrolet Corvette 1972 Stingray – 350CUI

by Kiril

1972 was the last year Chevrolet built a Corvette with full chrome front and rear bumpers, and the last year for the high-performance LT1 small-block and its ZR1 racing package. It’s also the year Chevrolet switched from gross to net horsepower ratings, making a 350 or 454 Corvette’s numbers look smaller on paper even though nothing mechanical had really changed. Nearly 20,500 Sports Coupes sold that year, proof the C3 was still going strong right before its biggest transition.

Classic maroon convertible muscle car parked outdoors.

Pontiac GTO 1969 Judge Convertible

by Kiril

Pontiac built only 108 GTO Judge convertibles for 1969, and just 292 across the option’s entire three-year run, making any drop-top Judge a genuine outlier. This one carries the 400-cubic-inch, 366-horsepower Ram Air III V8 that the vast majority of Judge buyers actually chose over the rare Ram Air IV. Backed by the Judge’s signature full-width spoiler and tri-color stripes, it’s a snapshot of Pontiac’s performance division at its boldest.

Classic green vintage car parked outdoors on a sunny day.

Ford Falcon 1965 Futura

by Kiril

Before the Mustang existed, Ford’s Falcon Futura was already proving a compact car could have real performance under the hood. The top-trim 1965 Futura Sports Coupe dressed up its economy-car bones with hardtop-style chrome trim and an available 271-horsepower V8 — the same engine family that would soon power the Mustang GT. It’s a quietly important piece of Ford performance history.

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