Kiril

1965 Plymouth Valiant advertisement showcasing a classic black car with a family inside.

Cars We Remember: Daytona Beach reader remembers his ’65 Plymouth Valiant

A Daytona Beach reader’s memory of his 1965 Plymouth Valiant reveals a rare factory combination most Mopar fans never encountered: a small-block V8, a four-speed manual, and a Hurst shifter in a car built mainly for economy-minded families. Chrysler’s 273 Commando made this compact sedan into an early, overlooked entry in the muscle car story, years before the Duster made performance Valiants familiar. Read on to find out why this specific combination remains one of Mopar’s most undervalued early performance packages.

Classic black muscle car driving on a sunny road.

Mecum Spring Classic Auto Auction Rolls Into Indy

by Kiril

A collector car auction that started at a regional airport in 1988 has grown into one of the largest events of its kind, now filling the Indiana State Fairgrounds with roughly 3,000 vehicles each spring. Here’s how Mecum’s Indy Spring Classic became a fixture of the Indy 500’s biggest week, and why the timing was never an accident.

Classic yellow vintage car displayed indoors with bright headlights.

This 1968 Hemi Dart Is The Strangest Ever!

by Kiril

Most Hemi Dart stories are about the famous 1968 factory lightweights built for NHRA Super Stock racing around the 426 Race Hemi. This 1968 Dodge Dart GTS tells a different one: a first-generation Chrysler FirePower Hemi, bored from 331 to 342 cubic inches, tucked under a completely stock-looking hood and fenders. It’s an engine most Mopar fans forgot Chrysler ever built into a Hemi lineage at all. Read on to find out how a discontinued 1950s engine ended up hiding inside a 1968 A-body.

Sleek black classic car with modern rims parked on a sunny street.

Goodguys Car Show Returns to the Hudson Valley

by Kiril

What started in 1983 as a single one-day car show in a California fairgrounds parking lot grew into a national circuit spanning coast to coast — though not every East Coast venue has stuck the way its longtime Hudson Valley date has. Here’s how Goodguys built its reputation, and why a show with 1,500-plus hot rods and muscle cars running for decades in Rhinebeck matters more than it looks.

Customized car with decals and blue headlights in a garage.

NASTY Twin Turbo Mustang – DAMN GIRL!

by Kiril

A New Edge Cobra Mustang with twin turbochargers punching through its grille has become a fixture at I-29’s Heads Up No Prep events, where driver Boost12 keeps returning to test how much boost a no-prep surface can handle. 1320video caught this run as the turbo Mustang fought for traction on an unprepared track — the kind of pass that can go picture-perfect or sideways in an instant. Watch to see which one this was.

Red vintage car displayed indoors with distinctive rear design.

Plymouth Cuda 1971 Street Machine “Striker”

by Kiril

A five-year side project between paying jobs turned this 1971 Plymouth Cuda into a SEMA showstopper, powered by a Magnuson-supercharged Hemi V8 sitting on a custom Art Morrison chassis. More than 500 hours went into the interior alone, leaving the door handles as the only stock parts left on the entire car. Read on to see what it takes to build something this obsessively detailed as a side hustle.

Classic maroon 1960s muscle car in a showroom.

Top US Classic Muscle Cars Museums Every Enthusiast Must Visit!

by Kiril

Planning a road trip around America’s best muscle car museums? One name that used to top these lists, Florida’s Muscle Car City, closed for good in 2021 and sold off its 200-plus car collection at auction. Here’s an updated look at which classic muscle car museums are still standing – including the one built next to an actual Corvette assembly plant, and why institutional backing matters more than you’d think.

Chevrolet Corvette – 1100 HP

by Kiril

A twin-turbo Chevrolet Corvette pushing 1,100 horsepower doesn’t just dominate stoplight showdowns — it flirts with 9-second quarter-mile times in a car most owners could still drive to work. Building reliable four-digit power takes more than bigger turbos, from fuel system upgrades to drivetrain reinforcement. Read on to find out what it actually takes to get there.

Sleek white sports car parked at sunset.

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE could turn in Supercar-like Nurburgring Times

by Kiril

A factory-built Camaro ZL1 1LE, running nothing more exotic than a six-speed manual and a set of summer tires, laid down a 7:16.04 lap at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, more than 13 seconds quicker than the standard ZL1. That time placed it among roughly the fourteen fastest production cars ever recorded on the circuit. Read on to find out what GM engineers say actually made the difference.

Yellow classic convertible sports car parked in a spacious garage.

Plymouth Hemi’ Cuda 1970

by Kiril

Chrysler rated the 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda’s 426 engine at 425 horsepower, a number most enthusiasts agree was deliberately underrated to dodge insurance scrutiny during the height of the muscle car wars. With only 666 built and a documented convertible recently selling for $2.1 million, this screaming yellow hardtop carries real rarity behind its factory options list. Read on to find out what actually separates a genuine Hemi ‘Cuda from a clone.

A red customized pickup truck at a crowded car event.

Chevrolet Silverado Twin Turbo Red Dragon

by Kiril

Pickup trucks aren’t supposed to run sub-8-second quarter miles, but the Red Dragon — a bone-stock-looking Chevrolet Silverado hiding twin turbochargers and a claimed 1,300-plus horsepower — has done exactly that on national television. Built its reputation on Discovery’s Street Outlaws, this truck has lined up against purpose-built race cars and a big-turbo Toyota Supra, closing a gap that used to favor lighter, purpose-built machines. Read on to find out what it actually takes to push a full-size truck this far past what Chevrolet ever intended.

Classic red Ford Mustang in a vintage garage setting.

800HP 1970 Mustang Adds New Meaning To Boss!

by Kiril

A shop’s 800-horsepower build starting from a numbers-matching 1970 Ford Boss 302 highlights just how far modern engine building has come from Ford’s original homologation special, a car built purely to satisfy SCCA Trans-Am racing rules rather than chase a horsepower record. The factory version made a modest 290 horsepower; this one makes nearly triple that. Read on to find out exactly what separates the two and how a rulebook, not a dyno, created the original Boss 302.

A camouflaged car prototype undergoing testing on a road.

Is This Mysterious Chevrolet Camaro The Next Z/28?

by Kiril

Just a week after Chevrolet launched the track-focused ZL1 1LE, spy photographers caught a heavily camouflaged Camaro prototype testing at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds and public roads as far away as Virginia. The aggressive aero package hints at something even more extreme than the current flagship. Read on to find out why enthusiasts think this mule could be wearing the storied Z/28 badge.

Classic black muscle car parked outside a building.

Oldsmobile 442 1969 W-30

by Kiril

A W-30 badge on a 1969 Oldsmobile 442 already means something rare, but this car carries an extra layer most American muscle cars never get: a passport. Oldsmobile built just 171 W-30 sport coupes for the entire model year, and only five of them were sold new in Canada. Read on to find out what the Force-Air Induction system actually did and why tracking down a car like this has more in common with genealogy than car shopping.

Classic silver muscle car with red accents parked at a car show.

1965 Ford Mustang GT Convertible in Silver Gray

by Kiril

When Bennie Horton turned eighteen, his father handed him more than a graduation gift — he handed him a 1965 Ford Mustang GT Convertible in Silver Smoke Gray the family had owned since new. Four years ago, Bennie gave the car the restoration it deserved, and today it carries a story most owners can only dream of: a documented lineage, a decades-old photograph held by an uncle who’s never seen the finished car, and a family that never let it go.

Posts By: Kiril