History | Muscle Car Fan

Two classic muscle cars racing side by side on a drag strip.

1970 Chevelle SS396 vs Henry J “Green M&M” – 1/4 mile Nostalgic Drag Race – Road Test TV

A 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 running a factory Turbo Hydramatic 400 automatic squares off against a modified 1951 Henry J nicknamed the Green M&M in this quarter mile nostalgia drag race. Kaiser-Frazer built the Henry J as a stripped-down economy car decades before drag racers discovered its featherweight unibody made it a natural straight-line weapon. Viewers praised the channel’s consistent camera work and asked for more up-close burnout footage. Does decades of muscle car engineering really beat a proper weight-to-power ratio down the strip?

Burnt-out vintage car wreck in a forest clearing.

Camaro Graveyard Rip 1967-1969

by Wes

A salvage yard in Vancouver, Washington holds rows of first-generation 1967-1969 Camaros, stacked and slowly being parted out rather than restored. Some commenters call it Camaro heaven; others insist it’s the opposite. Between debates over the best of the three body styles and stories of cars sold too cheap decades ago, this yard says a lot about what gets saved in the classic car world, and what doesn’t. Watch to see what’s actually still sitting there.

A shiny red 1968 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible in an indoor showroom.

1967 Chevrolet Impala SS Convertible in Red Paint & 427 Engine Sound

by Wes

Owner Craig Golz brought his red 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible, complete with a 427 big block and a white top, to the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Rosemont, Illinois. Lou Costabile lets the engine do most of the talking, and viewers respond with their own memories of owning full-size Impalas decades ago. It’s proof that a full-size convertible can hold its own at a show packed with Corvettes. Watch to hear the 427 come to life on camera.

A classic 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T 426 HEMI in black.

Breakdown/History: 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T 426 HEMI

by Wes

This triple black 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T carries the paperwork of Mr. Norm’s Grand-Spaulding Dodge, the Chicago dealership famous for building factory Hemi muscle cars regular buyers could special-order off the showroom floor. Under the hood sits a 425-horsepower 426 Hemi, built in the final model year before compression ratios and horsepower ratings changed for good. Mopar fans in the comments call it a dream car outright. Watch to see why documentation matters as much as horsepower on a car like this.

A 1969 Camaro and a modern car racing at Michigan International Speedway.

Hemmings 1969 Camaro ZL1 vs 1968 Firebird Ram Air II

by Wes

First published in Hemmings Muscle Machines back in December 2011, this quarter-mile pass pits one of the roughly seventy all-aluminum ZL1 Camaros Chevrolet ever built against a Pontiac Firebird running the airflow-focused Ram Air II. Commenters dig into cam specs, gearing, and a surprising trap speed result that still sparks debate. Watch to see which factory rarity actually crosses the stripe first.

Chevrolet Small-blocks Number 5

by Ross Mills

Chevrolet’s small-block V8 family produced far more than showroom horsepower numbers. One race-built variant powered Trans-Am championships and outran a factory V8 on the other side of the world, while a separate production variant quietly set a naturally aspirated output record that stood for nearly forty years. From mechanical fuel injection to Checker Motors options, the small-block’s reach went places most engine families never get close to. Here’s how two very different small-block Chevrolets earned their reputations.

Rusty vintage Studebaker cars stored indoors in North Carolina.

The Hoard of Rusting Muscle Cars in North Carolina

by Wes

On the back roads of North Carolina, a small fleet of genuinely significant muscle cars, a red Plymouth Cuda, a first-generation Mach 1 Mustang, and an early-70s Road Runner among them, sits quietly dissolving into the landscape, watched over by their owner and his dogs while he works toward saving them one day at a time. The Auto Archaeologist tracked down this particular hoard, and it was significant enough to earn its own writeup in Hot Rod Magazine. Watch to see exactly what’s sitting in that grass.

1972 Mercury Cougar Eliminator CJ 428 in vibrant orange at a car show.

1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator CJ 428 in Competition Orange

by Wes

Gord Nelson had a Cougar Eliminator on his bucket list for years before his wife Kelly spotted the right ad and told him to go get it. The car that resulted is a 1970 Cougar Eliminator CJ 428 in Competition Orange — one of Mercury’s rarest pony car packages, shown at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals. Watch to see what made the Nelsons’ hunt worth it.

Ford Fairlane Ranchero from 1970 to 1979½—on the Torino, Thunderbird, LTD platform

by Ross Mills

This 1979 Ford Ranchero GT was the final Ranchero Ford ever built, closing out a twenty-year run competing head-to-head with Chevrolet’s El Camino. Gateway Classic Cars brought this GT-trim example into its Tampa showroom, built on the Fairlane-derived platform Ford chose specifically to match the El Camino’s V8 displacement options. One viewer even laid out the platform history in detail in the comments. Watch to see how the American car-truck idea went out — and why some buyers still think it went too soon.

Three people enjoying a sunny day at an outdoor event with a humorous sign.

Chevy LS Engine Debate: Which Reigns Supreme?

by Jack Harmon

A short clip arguing for one LS engine over the rest reopened a debate that car builders have been having for two decades, and the replies did most of the actual work — dyno tuners, swap veterans, and at least one owner running 400 horsepower off a five-thousand-dollar budget all weighed in. The disagreement gets specific fast, down to head combinations and secondary-market pricing strategy. Watch to see which engine started the argument in the first place.

Classic 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 in black and red with stylish wheels.

1968 Chevrolet Camaro Test Drive Classic Muscle Car for Sale in MI Vanguard Motor Sales

by Wes

A restored 1968 Chevrolet Camaro sitting on a Michigan dealer’s lot shows just 500 miles since a full 2007-2008 restoration – and one of the comments comes from a man who actually drove it across the country on the Hot Rod Power Tour. Between the documented VIN, a folder of receipts, and a real road test from an owner who bought it, this listing addresses nearly every risk buyers usually worry about. Watch to see what made him say yes.

Carroll Shelby: Father of the Shelby Muscle Cars

by Ross Mills

Carroll Shelby’s heart condition ended his racing career, but it never slowed down the second act that followed. From founding Shelby American in 1962 to shaping the Cobra, the Shelby Mustang, and later Dodge’s Viper program under Lee Iacocca and Bob Lutz, Shelby left his fingerprints on two rival American automakers at once. Read on to find out how one man’s name ended up on performance cars from both Ford and Dodge.

Muscle car with open hood at a car show, showcasing engine.

BARN FIND !! 1970 Challenger 340 T/A Six Pack – Origin of the Hellcat? Road Test TV

by Wes

A barn find 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A has been sitting untouched for years, its original 340 cubic inch Six Pack engine still intact under the hood. Dodge built only 2,399 T/A Challengers that year, and viewers can’t even agree on the factory paint color, some call it Panther Pink, others Plum Crazy Purple. The video poses a pointed question: would you trade this original for a modern Hellcat? Most commenters say no.

Chrysler 300 SRT8 for 2013 is a sleeper

by Ross Mills

The 2013 Chrysler 300 SRT8 wears no hood scoop, no rear wing, and nothing that separates it visually from the six-cylinder rental-lot version parked next to it. Then you step on the gas, and a 470-horsepower 6.4-liter Hemi puts a lot of imported performance machinery in the rearview mirror. Launch control, three suspension modes, and a 175 mph top end round out one of the best sleeper sedans Detroit ever built. Read on to find out what makes it work.

Concept Car in 1956 Became a Popular Muscle Car Name in 1967

by Pat C

GM’s 1956 Firebird II was a titanium-bodied, gas-turbine dream car that never got anywhere near a dealer lot, so how did its name end up on one of the most iconic pony cars Detroit ever built? Pontiac almost called its new 1967 Mustang-fighter something else entirely before reaching back to that jet-age concept. Read on to find out how a Motorama turntable car gave its name to a nameplate that ran for 35 years, and what the first Firebird buyers actually got for their money.

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