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A labor strike delayed the second-generation Camaro’s launch, and by 1971 new federal fuel rules were already forcing GM to detune its engines — a sign the muscle car era was running out of steam. This lightly customized ’71 keeps a near-stock interior and a subtle stance rather than chasing a full build. See how much of the original formula survived into a transitional year for the segment.
As muscle car performance faded under new emissions rules, Buick’s Gran Sport line shrank right along with the rest of the industry — but this 1972 GS 350 somehow survived with its factory paint, original interior, and numbers-matching drivetrain intact. Buick built fewer than 8,600 GS hardtops and convertibles that year, and true unmolested survivors are increasingly rare. See what an original ’72 GS looks like below.
The late-seventies Pontiac Trans Am looked like it could outrun a jet, then broke your heart the moment you drove it. This 1979 example, found at Steve Holcomb’s Pro Auto Custom Interiors, sets out to fix that with a 7.0-liter swap replacing the original underpowered 6.6, plus custom paint and interior work. ScottieDTV has a personal stake, since a ’79 Trans Am was his own first car. Watch to see the Bandit-era icon finally given the muscle its styling always promised.
This 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona in Hemi Orange was never really built for the street. It was Chrysler’s aerodynamic weapon for NASCAR’s superspeedways, so effective it was eventually banned, and this one carries the legendary 426 Hemi under its hood. Filmed at the Barrett-Jackson Collection Showroom in Scottsdale, the walkaround covers the details that separate a genuine winged car from a tribute and lets that Hemi announce itself. Watch to hear why collectors go quiet around cars like this.
A “sweetest moment” waits at the end of the video, but the real story is under the hood. This 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator carries the 320-horsepower 390 big block, a rarer choice than most Eliminator buyers made that year — only 260 of 2,250 total Eliminators got this engine. Built as Mercury’s answer to the Boss Mustang, it traded outright drag strip focus for genuine street presence.
The 1958 Thunderbird was the car that turned Ford’s two-seat personal car into a four-seat sales phenomenon — and this particular Square Bird has been modernized well beyond its factory 352 V8. A Coyote engine swap and a two-tone gloss white and satin grey paint job give it a driver-focused build that still respects the original’s clean lines. See the full custom interior and engine bay in the photos below.
This 1971 Chevrolet C10 arrived during Chevy’s best-ever year for truck sales, when demand for a well-built, good-looking pickup was at an all-time high. Under its Cheyenne trim and fresh egg-crate grille sits a truck built with front disc brakes and coil-spring independent front suspension — real upgrades for the era. Finding one this original, more than five decades later, is increasingly rare.
Steve McQueen’s 1968 Mustang fastback from Bullitt is the most famous movie car in Hollywood history, and it’s inspired countless tribute builds ever since. This one takes the formula somewhere unexpected, trading city-street chase scenes for desert terrain. Here’s a look at the original Bullitt Mustang’s specs and what it typically takes to turn a classic fastback into something built for sand instead of asphalt.
The original 1963 Corvette Grand Sport was built to hunt Shelby Cobras before GM’s corporate ban on factory racing killed the program after just five cars. This continuation, built by Superformance under official license from General Motors, uses molds derived from the original factory tooling and a tube chassis matching the originals. This particular example pairs that pedigree with a Lingenfelter LS7, four-wheel vented Wilwood brakes, and enough creature comforts – A/C, power windows – to make it as livable as it is fast.
Kye Kelley’s nitrous-powered Shocker Camaro built its reputation the hard way: hand-tuned in a small New Orleans garage, known for razor-sharp reaction times and launches that looked closer to a rocket sled than a street car. This clip captures it squaring off against a twin-turbo rival in one of Street Outlaws’ classic nitrous-versus-boost showdowns. The Shocker would later be destroyed in a testing crash and rebuilt from the ground up, but moments like this are why the rivalry never really ended.
The 1969 Camaro SS wore a body style used for exactly one model year, and its 396-cubic-inch V8 came in three distinct horsepower ratings depending on how the order form was checked. The range-topping L78, rated at 375 horsepower, transformed the car from a quick street cruiser into a genuine drag strip contender. Decades later, that one-year-only combination remains among the most valuable first-generation Camaros at collector auctions. What made the L78 option worth chasing over its milder siblings?
George Hansen first fell for the 1959 Pontiac Bonneville in 1958, when a magazine ad of its front grille caught his eye — and it took until 2017 for him to finally own one. His Mandalay Red convertible wears the factory Tri-Power engine and a restoration so sharp it looks showroom-fresh. Lou Costabile tells the story where the car and the sixty-year wait finally meet. Watch to hear how it came together.
Pontiac rushed the Firebird to market just over a month after the Chevrolet Camaro, sharing its cousin’s shape but running its own engine lineup. The convertible was the rarer of the two body styles that debut year, with just 15,528 built. Notably, the 350 cubic inch V8 most fans associate with later Firebirds was not actually available until 1968 – first-year buyers chose between a 326 or a GTO-sourced 400 instead.
1969 was the single best sales year the Chevelle SS 396 ever had, thanks largely to Chevrolet turning it from a standalone series into a widely available option package. Buyers could get the 396 big block, in 325, 350, or 375 horsepower form, on everything from the Malibu coupe to the El Camino. This Monaco Orange example, still running strong on Dallas streets, is a genuine survivor of that record year.
This 1975 Pontiac Trans Am in blue with a white stripe has belonged to owner Mike Lorusso since 1989 — and over those decades he has pushed its 400 to roughly 500 horsepower. Filmed by Lou Costabile at an Illinois cruise night, it’s a survivor from the muscle car’s leanest year that refuses to act its age. The startup alone is worth the watch. See why the crowd keeps circling back.