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This 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS wears the Z-11 badge – a package Chevrolet built for exactly one reason: winning at the NHRA strip. Only 16 to 18 of a planned 50 cars were ever completed after a stamping problem halted production of the aluminum body panels. Paired with an aluminum 409 V8 and no automatic transmission option, the Z-11 backs up its reputation with a Winternationals Stock Eliminator pedigree few production Chevrolets can match.
Built in the year everyone blames for killing the muscle car, this all-black 1971 Pontiac Firebird Formula 455 still hides real teeth: a 335-horse HO big block, 480 lb-ft of torque, and a heavy-duty three-speed for anyone who ordered it to be driven hard. Overshadowed by its Trans Am sibling’s spoilers and stripes, the Formula was and remains the second-gen Firebird’s best-kept sleeper secret.
The first Shelby Super Snake was a 600-horsepower one-off built to promote Goodyear tires, and Ford turned down the chance to put it into production. Four decades later, Shelby brought the name back as a real conversion program, and this Las Vegas-built GT500 is one of the results. Here is the story behind the badge.
Lou Costabile gets a first-production 2017 Ford GT walkthrough from Ford’s Jim Owens at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale, tracing the supercar’s design straight back to the GT40’s Le Mans wins over Ferrari. Form follows function isn’t a slogan here — it’s literally how the car was engineered. See why Ford built its most extreme car in decades.
Jamboolio catches a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T and its 440 Magnum V8 firing up at a 2017 car meet in Kotka, Finland — proof that American muscle car culture never stayed confined to Detroit. Hear what a well-kept RB-series big block sounds like an ocean from its original parts supply. Watch for the startup that needed no translation.
This 1966 Chevelle convertible skips the trailer-queen treatment in favor of being a genuinely great driver, and it’s got the pedigree to back it up. The original ’66 redesign gave Chevelle its iconic coke-bottle shape and spawned the SS 396, of which only 5,429 convertibles were ever built. This particular car swaps in a supercharged LSX for modern muscle, wrapped in a custom interior and a stance that nails the look.
Lou Costabile visits the Barrett-Jackson Collection Showroom in Scottsdale to check out a 1972 Chevrolet Camaro SS finished in the divisive Gulf Green, powered by a numbers-matching 350 small block. Showroom associate Mike Hoye walks through what makes this final-year first-generation SS worth a serious look. Watch for the start-up that seals the deal.
This 1977 Pontiac Firebird Esprit in Buckskin Gold carries a direct link to The Rockford Files, the car James Garner’s character made famous on TV. But its history runs deeper than a screen connection – a mid-1977 factory supply shortage quietly swapped the engine spec partway through the model year. Add the redesigned square-headlight front end and rare option packages like Skybird, and this Esprit turns out to be more complicated than its laid-back reputation suggests.
The twin-turbo Unicorn C5 Corvette already hit 980 horsepower on the dyno once, then a string of broken parts and delays threatened to derail the whole project. Now the build is finally back on the rollers to see whether the fixes held and the curse is really broken. Packing twin turbos into a C5’s tight engine bay was never going to be easy. Watch to see if the Unicorn C5 delivers.
Steve Brody’s 1964 Pontiac GTO convertible scored 997 out of 1,000 points at judging – fitting for the car most historians credit with starting the entire muscle car era. Pontiac’s team built it around a GM displacement loophole, and sales managers were so unsure of demand they capped the first run before realizing they’d underestimated buyers by a wide margin. Here’s the real story behind the car that started it all.
Not every muscle car story needs a famous name attached – this small-block Chevy V8 build is built around something simpler: a dad, his son, and a car that’s more about bringing a crew together than chasing horsepower records. Here’s why builds like this one still matter as much as the six-figure survivors.
Every 1970 Shelby GT350 was actually a leftover 1969 car re-tagged with a new VIN after Carroll Shelby’s Ford partnership had already ended. Only 57 of those cars were convertibles, and this bright orange survivor is one of them. Here is the strange true story behind the final Shelby Mustang model year.
The 4-4-2 name had already been demoted to an option package by 1972, and the convertible body was on its way out entirely. But drop a real W-30 455 under the hood and you’ve got one of roughly 113 built that whole model year. Here’s why this rare drop-top Olds still turns heads at every show it rolls into, and what made its final convertible run so special.
Chevrolet dropped its first real big-block into the Corvette in 1966, and the numbers on paper barely tell the whole story. GM quietly underrated the top engine to keep insurance companies calm. Here’s what made the 427-powered ’66 Sting Ray one of the most significant Corvettes Chevrolet ever built, and why so few came off the factory floor exactly like this one.