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Car News Central counts down seven of the rarest American cars ever built, from a two-off Duesenberg SSJ capable of 140 mph to a Corvette L88 whose real horsepower figure still sparks arguments in the comments. Along the way: an eight-car Trans Am convertible run split evenly between automatics and four-speeds, and the last Studebaker fast enough to matter. Watch to see the full list.
Myvintageiron7512 lines up a modern LS1 against a classic small block 350 for a straight side-by-side comparison, correcting a bore-and-stroke mix-up right in the video description. The comments turned into a deep dive on why GM’s small block became the most swapped engine in history, from matching bellhousing patterns to 850-horsepower stroker builds. Watch to see the comparison and judge the debate for yourself.
George and Margaret Oleskiewicz’s 1967 Camaro RS SS convertible pairs a rare L78 396/375hp big block with a fully documented options list, right down to the luggage rack and correct disc brakes. George has owned the car since 1995, and Margaret has her own reason for still showing up to the events. Watch to hear why judges call this Marina Blue convertible the Holy Grail of first-generation Camaros.
A 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 — one of just 69 ever built — lines up against an equally rare 1969 Corvette L88 for a quarter-mile grudge match between two of Chevrolet’s most extreme homologation specials. Both cars share the same 427 big block, both are worth serious money today, and both owners chose to race them instead of trailering them to a show. Poly-glass tires, low-eleven-second passes, and a decades-old rivalry between two GM legends collide on the same strip. Watch to see which one crosses the line first.
AMC wasn’t supposed to be a player in the pony car wars at all — until Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue took over an ailing Javelin program and built a race car from scratch in barely six months. By 1971, that Javelin was winning races by five-lap margins and had taken the manufacturer’s championship right out from under Ford and Chevrolet. Read on to find out how the smallest of Detroit’s automakers became Trans-Am’s biggest underdog story.
Automotive Territory rounds up ten classic American muscle cars rebuilt with modern engines, transmissions, and brakes — machines its host argues could outperform today’s supercars. Builders like Ring Brothers show up on the list, and the comments have turned into a running debate over whether a restomod still counts as a real muscle car. Watch to see the full ten and decide for yourself.
Ford built 3,939 Torino GT convertibles for 1970, and the body style survived only one more model year before disappearing. Most got the mild 351 two-barrel, with 1,289 of those paired to an FMX automatic. At the top of the range sat roughly 64 convertibles with the 429 Cobra Jet, split about 37 automatics to 27-32 four-speeds. Read on to find out what to check before deciding what this yellow droptop is really worth.
The Buick Riviera GS looked like a country-club cruiser, but hiding under its sculpted hood was a 430-cubic-inch V8 making 360 horsepower — enough muscle to embarrass cars that looked far more aggressive. Only about one in ten Rivieras built in 1969 left the factory with the GS handling package, making genuine survivors a rare find today. Between hidden headlights, retractable wipers, and a drivetrain most buyers never even asked about, this personal-luxury coupe hid a genuine sleeper’s heart.
Fifth Gear puts two of television’s most famous cars through a real head to head, the Dukes of Hazzard’s General Lee against Starsky and Hutch’s Ford Gran Torino. Host Vicki Butler-Henderson gets behind the wheel of both to find out which screen legend actually handles better once the cameras stop editing for drama. The result says as much about decades of TV car myth as it does about either car.
Before a torn-down Chevy 350 can become a running engine again, it has to survive the machine shop — where a block gets bored, honed, and resurfaced to tolerances no home garage can match. Motorz’s Chris Duke walks through this often-skipped step as part of a five-episode small-block rebuild series. See what separates a properly machined block from one that just looks rebuilt.
Ron Smith bought this 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona — one of only 503 built — for a road trip before shipping out to Vietnam. He drove it for over a decade after coming home, then parked it in his father’s lockup for more than twenty years. Restorer Marshall Woolery brought it back, and the finished car has since been featured in Hemmings Muscle Machines. Watch to see the Daytona that waited two decades for its second life.
A driver takes a 2017 Camaro ZL1 out for their first-ever laps on track, sharing the session with a Ford GT — one of the most exclusive supercars Ford has built in decades. With a supercharged 650-horsepower LT4 V8 and a chassis engineered specifically for road-course work, the ZL1 was built for exactly this moment. Watch how a first-timer handles a car with this much capability.
A 2008 Shelby GT500 running a smaller supercharger pulley, a custom tune, and drag radials for roughly 650 horsepower takes on a completely stock 2013 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe and its factory 556 horsepower LSA V8 in a heads-up quarter mile. The Cadillac’s showing against a 100 horsepower deficit drew real respect in the comments, and the channel even responded to a viewer’s question about the included density altitude data. Watch the run to see just how close a modified car and a stock one can actually be.
V8TV’s “Muscle Car of the Week” spotlights a Rally Red 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda AAR — the numbers-matching, 340 Six-Barrel-powered homologation special built for exactly one model year. Housed today in The Brothers Collection, this AAR carries the tighter steering ratio and unmistakable strobe stripe that set it apart from every other ‘Cuda on the road. Watch to see why collectors call it the sharpest example they’ve found.