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Most self-described Mustang fans can name the car on sight, but can they name the fighter plane it’s named after, or the year its horsepower hit an all-time low? This look at pony car trivia digs into the prototype badges, supercharger conversions, and Hollywood cameos that built the Mustang legend, ahead of a quick IQ test to see how much of it you actually knew.
The most famous Mustang in movie history never rolled out of a Shelby shop, never carried a 428, and was not even the first car to wear the name. Eleanor was assembled out of donor fastbacks, a crate small-block, and one designer’s imagination, and she is now worth more than most of the genuine Shelbys she was built to imitate. Here is what was actually under that hood, how many were built, and why the courts eventually got involved.
It looks like a rusted-out junkyard reject, but the “Rust Bucket” Camaro driven by Eric Yost is running a different motor than the last time 1320video caught up with it — and it’s about to prove that immediately. A record-setting roll race and a tense battle against a Nissan GT-R are just the start. What’s actually hiding under that beat-up wrap?
Muscle car memes love to joke that these cars were never meant to follow the rules of the road, and that attitude traces back further than the internet, to Route 66’s postwar reputation as a symbol of American freedom. Ironically, by the time the first true muscle cars hit showrooms in 1964, the interstate system was already erasing the very road that built the myth. The joke survives anyway, kept alive today by cruises and tours chasing that same open-road feeling.
The 1968 Dodge Charger redefined what a Mopar muscle car could look like, but very few left the factory with this exact combination: a 426 Hemi, a four-speed manual, and a paint color believed — though never fully confirmed — to be unique to this single car. Featured as Episode #154 of V8TV’s Muscle Car of the Week series and restored with body and paint work commenters specifically praised, this Charger sits at the intersection of several kinds of rarity at once. Watch to see the details that make collectors call this Hemi car a genuine home run.
A black 1968 Pontiac Firebird 400 HO convertible is the spark behind this question: what were you driving the first time you hit 120 mph? Pontiac’s 400 HO packed 335 horsepower and ran 0-60 in 5.3 seconds, quick enough to beat a 390 Mustang, a Camaro SS 396, and a 340 Barracuda in a 1968 Car and Driver test. Decades before traction control and ABS, that kind of speed took real nerve. Tell us your car, your engine, and the moment you found out what both were made of.
A 1970 Dodge Coronet convertible is already a rare find — Dodge dropped the body style after this model year — but this one raises the stakes with a 440 big block and a four-speed manual, a combination few original Coronet buyers chose. Nick’s Garage, known for real, unscripted diagnostic work rather than highlight-reel repairs, tears the engine down piece by piece to see exactly what decades under the hood have done to it. The channel’s slow, methodical approach has earned it viewers as far away as Indonesia. Watch to see what a genuine 440 teardown actually reveals.
Dave Saruk’s 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T wears factory Hemi Orange paint over a genuine 426 Hemi engine, and according to viewers, its history traces back to a barn in Switzerland before making its way home. Dave’s search for the car started with sibling rivalry, after his brother-in-law bought a Hemi Challenger first. Filmed at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Rosemont, Illinois, this is one more entry in Lou Costabile’s ongoing hunt for great car stories. Watch to hear the full story.
EngineLabs and the Horsepower Wars crew settled the endless LS-versus-Coyote debate the only way that counts: two engine builds, a strict $9,999 budget each, and a dyno at the respected Westech Performance Group that doesn’t care about brand loyalty. The results compare more than peak horsepower, weighing efficiency and power delivery across the curve for both platforms. See which engine came out on top — and why the argument still won’t die in the comments.
Hennessey Performance took an already track-focused Camaro ZL1 and pushed it to roughly 1,000 horsepower, building a car aggressive enough to earn the name Exorcist. Forrest’s Auto Reviews got behind the wheel to kick off 2018, delivering an unscripted, iPhone-shot drive that shows exactly what four-figure horsepower feels like in a car that started as GM’s factory flagship. Watch the drive and see why the muscle car era’s comeback is more than nostalgia.
A Shelby GT500 owner claiming roughly 800 horsepower at the wheels decided to call out every Dodge Hellcat he could find for a street race — a bold move given that stock Hellcats already run low-to-mid 11s from the factory. The result did not go the way the callout promised, and the comment section made sure everyone knew it. Between jokes about losing to sedans and suggestions to call out a Prius next time, this one became less about the race and more about what happens when trash talk meets a stopwatch. Watch to see how it actually played out.
A full-size 1967 Ford LTD XL was built to coddle its owner with a hushed ride and chrome trim — not to embarrass drag racers. This Lime Gold example, part of the noted Brothers Collection, hides Ford’s factory R-Code 427 rated at 425 horsepower behind a four-speed manual, a combination so rare that dealers barely stocked it and Ford’s own brochures barely mention it existed. It’s one of only a handful of full-size Fords built this way. Watch to see just how much muscle Ford hid inside its plushest cruiser.
Ford named its most famous racing engine after a number that was not even accurate. The block actually displaced 425.98 cubic inches, but the sanctioning bodies had set 427 as the ceiling, so Ford built to the limit and rounded up. That engine went on to win Le Mans outright, get one variant banned from NASCAR before it could race, and become the most valuable set of casting numbers in the Ford world. Here is why it still matters.
AMC arrived late to the muscle car wars, but its 1970 Rebel Machine — loaded standard with a 340-horsepower 390, Twin-Grip differential, and that unmistakable red, white, and blue paint — gave the independent automaker a legitimate seat at the table alongside the GTX, Road Runner, and Chevelle SS. One owner even ordered his sight unseen from Vietnam, picking it up the same month he returned home. Fewer than 2,400 were built. Watch to see why this AMC still commands respect decades later.
Car News TV skips the narration entirely for this rundown of nine of the rarest cars in the world, letting engine notes and on-screen text do the talking instead. Viewers immediately started debating the details in the comments — questioning whether the Ford GT40 shown is an original or a later-built continuation, and nominating a 1969 Camaro as the sleeper highlight among a field of million-dollar Ferraris and Porsches. See which nine cars made the cut.