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1969 was the best-selling year the Plymouth Road Runner ever had, and this four-speed 383 exemplifies why: a 335-horsepower engine borrowed cam specs from the 440 Super Commando, all wrapped in one of the muscle car eras most affordable packages. See the specs and performance numbers that made this budget muscle car a genuine competitor.
The 1971 Buick GS 455 Stage 1 arrived just as emissions rules and insurance surcharges were squeezing the life out of Detroit’s muscle car boom, forcing a detuned 345-horsepower rating down from the prior year’s 360. Even softened, its 455-cubic-inch V-8 still ran low-14-second quarter miles behind dual exhaust and a functional ram-air hood. Only 801 Stage 1 hardtops were built that year, and a mere 114 came with the four-speed manual, making surviving stick-shift cars among the rarest Buicks of the era.
The 1957 Ford Thunderbird was the last of the two-seat Birds before Ford chased volume and made it bigger — which is exactly why it’s so coveted today. This Raven Black example rides on a 312 Y-block and stacks the options high: power brakes, power steering, air conditioning, power windows, and a black porthole top. It’s a road test, not a static walkaround, so you get to see how it moves. Find out if it drives as good as it looks.
The 1953 Buick Special sedan looked like business as usual on the outside, with over one hundred thousand examples rolling off the line. Underneath, though, it was quietly closing out two eras at once: the last Buick straight-eight engine and the last of the swooping postwar body style before a boxier redesign arrived in 1954. What convinced Buick to hold the line on tradition just one more year?
Next time you’re cruising around Adelaide, Australia, keep an eye out for Alf’s stunning 1965 Chevy II Nova SS. This red beauty, imported in 2008, flaunts original California plates and a 283 engine paired with a two-speed PowerGlide transmission. Alf’s dedication to authenticity shines, though he’s added some cheeky dual exhaust Flowmaster mufflers for a power boost. Spot the car, say “g’day” to Alf, and maybe get a peek into its feathered-paint-damaged past. Just don’t mention the missing A/C!
More than 800 cars packed Cobo Center for the 65th annual Detroit Autorama in 2017, one of the most significant gatherings in the hot rod and custom car world. The Ridler Award, reserved for cars debuting for the very first time in public, went to a scratch-built 1933 Ford Roadster running a 427 big block. What else was hiding among 800 cars competing for the hobby’s biggest stage?
This 1960 Chevrolet Impala convertible wears Ermine White over one of Detroit’s most flamboyant designs, from the batwing rear deck to the triple taillights. Under the hood sits a 348 with Tri-Power — three two-barrel carburetors that let it idle gently and then roar. Now residing at the Volo Auto Museum, it’s the kind of open-top cruiser that blurs the line between collectible and driver. Take the full tour and decide which side it falls on.
Don Yenko built his reputation on stuffing 427 big-blocks into Chevys, which makes this 1970 Nova an outlier — when GM discontinued the 427 option that year, Yenko swapped in the high-winding LT1 350 shared with the new Z/28 Camaro instead, creating the car now known as the “Yenko Deuce.” Only 175 were built, split between four-speed and automatic cars, largely to dodge the insurance rates crushing big-block muscle by 1970. Here’s why the small-block gamble made this Nova rarer than most big-blocks of its era.
This black 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo represents the final year of the original luxury coupe’s styling, and buyers that year could still order a genuine 454-cubic-inch big-block right alongside power windows and a vinyl roof. Chevy had already dropped the SS package by 1972, so there was no factory “SS 454” badge, but the big-block engine option carried on at 270 SAE net horsepower. Here’s what actually separated a big-block ’72 from the more famous ’70 and ’71 SS models.
This 1973 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 is one of the last true Z/28s built before emissions rules and insurance surcharges reshaped the muscle car market for good. Its 350-cubic-inch V8 still had four-bolt mains and a forged crank, but output had fallen to 245 net horsepower as hydraulic lifters, a Quadrajet carburetor, and EGR plumbing replaced the Trans-Am-bred hardware of just a few years earlier. Here’s how much muscle was actually left under that round-taillight rear end.
Chevrolet needed an answer to the Ford Mustang, and in the fall of 1966 it delivered one with the first-generation Camaro. From a six-cylinder base model to the Trans-Am-bred Z/28 and a big block strong enough to pace the Indianapolis 500, the 1967 lineup covered nearly every kind of buyer Chevrolet could imagine. It was Chevrolet’s late entry into the pony car war, and it did not stay behind for long.
Only seven 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda convertibles were ever built, and that scarcity has turned each surviving example into a seven-figure event whenever one reaches auction. Recent sales have ranged from 3.3 million dollars at Mecum Kissimmee to bids as high as 4.8 million that still were not enough to close a deal. Just how high can the market push a car this rare?
The 1979 Ford F150 closed out an entire generation of Ford pickups, and the 4×4 models equipped with the 351 V8 were a comparatively rare combination on dealer lots. Under the hood sat a torque-heavy Windsor V8, and underneath rode a suspension design Ford had trusted since 1965. What does a truck built at the very end of a proven formula actually feel like to drive?
1970 marked the high point for the Ford Torino nameplate — Motor Trend had just named it Car of the Year, and the Torino Cobra could be ordered with a 360-horsepower Ram Air 429 and a Hurst-shifted four-speed, though only 7,675 buyers checked that box. This particular Torino’s well-kept interior is a reminder that clean survivors from this era, Cobra or not, are getting harder to find every year.