Wes | Muscle Car Fan

1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 parked outdoors with a yellow paint job.

Breakdown/History: 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28

A 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 in Butternut Yellow gets the spotlight in Muscle Car Of The Weeks 131st episode, and the story behind its high-revving 302 has less to do with horsepower bragging rights than a racing rulebook. Comments dispute the factorys conservative power rating, pointing to numbers well above the advertised figure. Pulled from a private collection, this Z/28 hides several rare, order-only details most restorations miss entirely. The reason it was built at all comes down to a Trans-Am regulation most casual fans never learn.

A green AMC Javelin car at the Ringbrothers event.

Ringbrothers’ 1972 AMC Javelin – Jay Leno’s Garage

by Wes

Ringbrothers built this 1972 AMC Javelin around a supercharged Hellcat engine pushing roughly 1,100 horsepower — enough to earn a genuine, rare laugh out of Jay Leno himself on Jay Leno’s Garage. Mike and Jim Ring took one of muscle car history’s most overlooked nameplates and turned it into one of the wildest builds the show has featured. Fans in the comments are already asking for more AMC. Watch to see what makes this Javelin different from anything AMC ever built.

2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk in a road test.

2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk | Road Test.

by Wes

MotorWeek puts the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk through both a track test and a street drive to answer an odd question: can a family SUV with a 707-horsepower supercharged HEMI actually behave like a performance car? The numbers, including a 0-60 time that beats plenty of dedicated sports cars, are only part of the story. Host John H. Davis brings three decades of consistency to a review of one of the strangest vehicles Jeep ever built. The verdict explains why it is still talked about years later.

Two classic muscle cars ready to race on a drag strip.

MOPAR: OLD vs NEW AMERICAN MUSCLE CARS DRAG RACING

by Wes

Vintage Mopars from the early 1970s line up against modern Hellcat-era muscle at a drag event at Raceway Park in New Jersey, and the launches do not go the way the horsepower numbers would suggest. Viewers in the comments argue for days about which era actually performs harder off the line. The footage reveals just how much hidden engineering keeps these old cars competitive decades later. It is the kind of old-versus-new debate that never actually settles anything.

Vintage 1979 Trans Am with custom fire wall showcased in a video.

Metal Working Tips: Custom Firewall with Bead Roller and Pullmax 1979 Trans Am

by Wes

A 1979 Pontiac Trans Am arrives at V8 Speed and Resto Shop with rust hiding behind a poorly repaired firewall, and a factory stamping flaw underneath that. Rather than patch over both problems, the crew cuts the section out entirely and fabricates a replacement using a bead roller and a Pullmax, tools most home mechanics never touch. Fabricators in the comments call it some of the most impressive metalwork on the channel. The process reveals exactly what separates a real restoration from a quick fix.

A man stands next to a red Ford Mustang on a sunny day at a pier.

Mustang Owners Be Like…

by Wes

A comedy short built entirely around Mustang owner stereotypes turns out to be backed by a genuinely serious car, a supercharged 2011 Ford Mustang GT putting down roughly 850 horsepower to the wheels. Owner John Fulks even converted it to an automatic specifically to be more competitive at the strip. Muscle Vs Tuner’s short has stuck around in Mustang circles for years because it is made by people who clearly live inside the joke. The reactions in the comments prove it landed exactly as intended.

Truck fails to cut safely, causing a fall near a road.

Tree Falls On Truck – LUMBERJACK FAIL

by Wes

A backyard tree-felling job starts exactly by the book — a wedge cut, a truck backed up as insurance, a plan for which way the trunk should fall. Then the tree reverses direction mid-cut, and the truck that was supposed to be backup becomes the target. Viewers have spent years picking apart the exact moment the hinge wood failed. Watch to see how close a few degrees came to the difference between a Tuesday chore and a viral wreck.

Close-up of a powerful engine in a classic car with a chrome air filter.

7 Of Ford´s Greatest Engines Throughout History

by Wes

This countdown of Ford’s greatest engines set off a wave of comments nominating everything from the bulletproof 300 straight-six to the underrated 351 Cleveland as glaring omissions. See which seven engines made the official cut, and judge for yourself whether the list holds up against a century of Ford engineering.

A red 2017 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R racing alongside a blue 2017 Chevy Camaro ZL1 on a track.

2017 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R vs. 2017 Chevy Camaro ZL1

by Wes

Kelley Blue Book pits the naturally aspirated Shelby GT350R, making roughly 100 horsepower per liter without a turbo or supercharger, against the supercharged Camaro ZL1 on both street and track. Viewers calling it one of the best Mustang-versus-Camaro comparisons ever filmed still can’t agree on a winner, with plenty admitting they’d happily own both. See which engineering philosophy — high-revving naturally aspirated power or supercharged torque — actually wins when both cars hit the same road.

A classic black car driving on a winding road during daytime.

Why 800HP is Too Much…

by Wes

Mike Musto argues the internet has horsepower backwards, using a balanced Chevrolet Malibu SS built around an LS1 and a Viper-sourced Tremec T56 transmission to make his case for drivability over raw numbers. One commenter dismissed the build as merely ‘medium’ next to a 707-horsepower factory Hellcat — and the response it triggered turned into a real debate about what horsepower numbers actually mean without context. See why balance might matter more than bragging rights.

Comparison of flat plane and crossplane engine firing orders with diagrams.

Flatplane vs Crossplane V8 Engine – Explained

by Wes

Why does a Ferrari V8 scream while an American muscle car V8 burbles, even at the same displacement? The answer is buried inside the crankshaft, in a design choice most drivers never think about. Engineering Explained breaks down the flatplane versus crossplane debate that keeps resurfacing every time a new flagship car, from the Shelby GT350 to the Corvette Z06, makes headlines. It is a short explanation that changes how you listen to every V8 afterward.

Classic 1973 Dodge Charger R/T HEMI in vibrant red parked outdoors.

1970 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi 426 4 Speed in Burnt Orange & Start Up

by Wes

Only about 112 Dodge Chargers left the factory in 1970 with the 426 Hemi under the hood, and restoration shop owner Al Hickey found one hiding in plain sight. Paired with a Hurst pistol-grip four-speed and finished in burnt orange, this R/T carries details serious MOPAR collectors chase for years. Lou Costabile catches up with Hickey and the car at a Midwest MOPAR swap meet. The story behind how it landed in his eighteen-car collection is half the reason to watch.

A colorful robotic arm assembling a car door frame in an industrial setting.

1967 GTX 440 Big Block Restored and Tested

by Wes

A dyno breakdown nearly stops a freshly rebuilt 1967 Plymouth GTX from getting its first real test at Nicks Garage. The 440 big block had already survived a full rebuild, now it just needed the shops own equipment to cooperate. Viewers who tune in for the fix stay for the moment the engine finally comes alive on the dyno. It is a reminder that even a top-tier shop runs into problems most builders never show on camera.

Classic black Monte Carlo with wood paneling on display.

Worst and Slowest Muscle Cars Ever

by Wes

Not every chapter of muscle car history involves rising horsepower numbers. This rundown of the genre’s weakest performers — including a Corvette rated at just 165 horsepower and a turbocharged Trans Am that needed forced induction just to crack 210 — traces exactly how the 1973 oil crisis and new emissions rules gutted an entire era of American performance. Watch to see which legendary nameplates took the hardest hit.

2022 Cadillac CTS-V showcasing aggressive styling and performance features.

2017 Cadillac CTS-V 640 hp Road and Track Review

by Wes

The third-generation Cadillac CTS-V packs a supercharged 640-horsepower V8 shared with the Corvette Z06 — inside a four-door luxury sedan. This review took that combination to Road America, one of America’s most demanding road courses, to see whether a car this powerful stays manageable for a driver without a racing license. One commenter called it the best car Cadillac has built in twenty-five years. Watch to see why.

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