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This Oldsmobile 4-4-2 has been owned by the same person since he was fourteen years old, and it now runs a genuine high 8-second quarter mile at Streetcar Takeover events. That kind of performance traces its roots back to Oldsmobile’s original W-30 package, which was already turning 13s straight off the factory floor in period testing. Read on to find out what it took to turn a childhood car into a street and strip terror.
Pontiac did not offer a GTO convertible for 1972, which left one option for buyers who wanted open-air performance: the LeMans Sport Convertible, orderable with any of the three GTO-spec engines including the 455 HO at 300 net horsepower. Pontiac built roughly 3,400 to 3,500 of them at a $3,225 base price, and 1972 was the last year the body existed. Read on to find out why the market still undervalues them.
Everyone remembers Jim Rockford’s gold Firebird from The Rockford Files, but according to fans dissecting this ScottieDTV tribute build at the 2017 World of Wheels, the TV car wasn’t quite what it appeared to be. A detailed comment citing James Garner’s own memoirs claims the production swapped in a different Pontiac model entirely for stunt work, and the real horsepower figures beneath that Esprit badging tell a story insurance companies of the era apparently didn’t want advertised.
Three two-barrel carburetors bolted to a 427 sounds like overkill until you understand what Chevrolet was actually chasing in 1967. The L71 Tri-Power package was so demanding that GM refused to offer it with an automatic transmission or air conditioning, building a Corvette capable of embarrassing cars costing twice as much. Only 3,754 buyers, roughly 16 percent of production, checked the box. Read on to find out why the Tri-Power 427 remains the engine serious Corvette collectors chase hardest.
This 1968 Ford Torino GT wears a 428 Cobra Jet engine that Ford didn’t even offer when the model year began — a mid-year option that turned an ordinary mid-size Ford into one of the era’s sleeper legends. Volo Auto Museum director Brian Grams walks through this Candy Apple Red survivor with My Car Story host Lou Costabile, tracing why so few Torinos ended up with the real thing under the hood. Watch to find out what made the wait worth it.
Three years of build time went into this 1970 Chevelle, and it shows in details most viewers would never think to look for: nickel-plated trim swapped in for factory chrome, and baseball-style seam stitching on every seat. The result is a resto-mod so thorough that even seasoned muscle car fans in the comments are struggling to find a flaw. Watch to see what three years of obsessive attention to detail actually looks like.
By 1972, Plymouth had pulled every big-block engine from the ‘Cuda lineup, leaving buyers with nothing bigger than a detuned 340 small block. This particular ‘Cuda refuses to accept that answer, carrying a modified 7.2-liter 440 making 600 horsepower under its hood. Read on to find out why 1972 became one of the strangest years in muscle car history, and why builders keep finishing the story Chrysler left unresolved.
Few nameplates carry as much baggage — good and bad — as the Pontiac Trans Am, a car that went from low-volume performance special to pop-culture icon almost by accident. This transformed example takes that legacy and pushes it somewhere new, keeping the silhouette that made the Trans Am famous while updating what’s underneath. Read on to find out how a build like this honors the Trans Am’s history instead of erasing it.
Only 63 buyers ever ordered the 426 Hemi in a 1971 Dodge Charger R/T, making it one of the rarest — and most consequential — muscle cars Chrysler ever built. Emissions rules and rising insurance costs were closing in fast, and this would be the last year the legendary Hemi was available on the street. Read on to find out why numbers-matching survivors command such fierce attention today.
This 1978 Pontiac Trans Am checks nearly every box serious collectors look for: the handling-focused WS6 package, the rare four-speed manual, and the big-block-adjacent 400 four-barrel, all still together after more than four decades. Viewers are already piecing together its origin story from small details, including a telling clue about why its interior plastics never baked in the sun. Filmed on a real road test with Rob at Street Machines, not a static show floor. Watch to see how it actually drives.
This 1961 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible carries a badge that traces back to a genuinely rare factory combination, only 142 original Impalas got both the SS package and the new 409 V8 before a production issue shut it down. This particular car skips all of that history entirely, running a modern 572 cubic-inch big block that dwarfs anything Chevrolet’s engineers could have offered in 1961. Read on to find out just how rare the real thing actually was.
Only 15,631 examples of the 1956 Ford Thunderbird were built, the lowest total of the original two-seat run, after Ford’s ambitious 20,000-unit target ran into a late launch. That shortfall came with real upgrades, though: a relocated spare tire, more trunk room, and an optional 312-cubic-inch V8 pushing 260 horsepower. Read on to find out what made 1956 the most refined year of the first-generation ‘Bird.
This 1970 Camaro’s split front bumper is one of the most misunderstood details in the entire pony car world, and this candy-painted, big-block example backs the look up with a full custom interior from Steve Holcomb’s shop. Read on to find out where the split bumper actually came from, and why it can’t tell you what’s really under the hood.
This 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air wears a drivetrain Chevrolet never actually offered that year — a modern 350 crate engine swapped in place of the factory’s top-spec 283. Chevrolet’s real 1957 lineup topped out with a fuel-injected small block that made history as GM’s first one-horsepower-per-cubic-inch engine. Read on to find out what made the factory Tri-Five drivetrains so significant, and why so many owners choose a modern small block swap instead.
Spotted at a Scottsdale Cars & Coffee, this 1965 AC Cobra carries a small-block 289 V8 and, according to Lou Costabile, the documentation to back up its ‘real deal’ status — a meaningful claim in a market flooded with replicas. It’s the configuration purists still argue is the best-balanced Cobra Shelby ever built. One commenter calls it a lifelong dream car; it’s easy to see why. Watch the walkaround, and listen for that unmistakable exhaust note.