History | Muscle Car Fan

Classic muscle car with dual exhaust and vintage license plate.

The Australian Muscle Car comparison that never was.

A 1973 comparison test that Australian magazines dreamed up but never actually ran finally happens decades late, pairing Fords Falcon XA GT Hardtop, Chryslers Charger E55, Holdens Monaro 350, and the doomed Leyland Force 7V in one frame. Three of these cars fought it out on Australian roads and racetracks for real; the fourth never got the chance, killed by British Leylands 1974 collapse before a single customer could buy one. Shannons Insurance staged the recreation the industry never managed in period. Which of these four legends finally comes out on top?

A classic yellow muscle car parked on a country road during sunset.

Most Overlooked & Underappreciated Muscle Cars

by Wes

This compilation skips the usual Camaro-and-Mustang highlight reel to spotlight muscle cars that never got their due — built entirely around engine sound and on-screen text rather than narration. Cars like the AMC Rebel Machine and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler packed genuinely competitive specs but never had the marketing muscle of their more famous rivals. Decades later, they’re still waiting for recognition.

1967 red Camaro Cherokee convertible showcased at Muscle Car Week.

Breakdown/Review: 1967 Camaro “Cherokee” Concept Show Car

by Wes

Long before the 1968 Corvette reached showrooms, GM design chief Bill Mitchell used a one-off 1967 Camaro convertible called the Cherokee to test styling ideas that would define it. Muscle Car Of The Week talks with restorer Charley Hutton about bringing the car back, including bumper and color details subtle enough that even longtime Camaro owners miss them. Watch to see the concept even collectors rarely know exists.

Engine before and after a professional rebuild and restoration.

Epic MOPAR 440 V8 Rebuild: Vintage Ford Racer Roars Again!

by Jack Harmon

Snowball Bishop’s old Ford coupe dirt-track racer sat behind his barn for decades, its Chrysler 440 V8 silent and its racing days seemingly over. Hagerty’s Redline Rebuild crew took on the full teardown-to-startup rebuild, hitting real delays along the way before finally getting the engine running and the car back on an actual dirt track after a fifty-year hiatus. It’s grassroots racing history, not a garage queen.

A vibrant orange 1969 Dodge Daytona 440 muscle car.

History/Breakdown: 1969 Dodge Daytona 440

by Wes

V8TV’s Muscle Car of the Week spends time with a 440-powered 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona from The Brothers Collection, breaking down the aerodynamic nose cone and towering rear wing that made it the first car to officially top 200 mph on a NASCAR superspeedway. Comments dig into the engineering, the Daytona-versus-Superbird confusion, and even a family drag-racing memory from the car’s original era. It’s a deep look at Detroit’s wildest aero experiment. Watch to see the full breakdown.

A classic car chase scene on a busy city street with vintage cars.

’68 Charger vs. a ’68 Mustang: The Chase…

by Wes

A 1968 Ford Mustang GT and a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T tear through the hills of San Francisco in one of the most argued-about car chases ever filmed — and viewers still can’t agree on how many hubcaps the Charger actually lost along the way. No score, no CGI, just two big-block V8s and two drivers who knew exactly how much grip they had left. Watch to see why a scene filmed over fifty years ago still beats the chases Hollywood makes today.

Sunbeam Tiger Roadster V8 1964 to 1967

by Ross Mills

When Ferrari passed on refurbishing the underpowered Sunbeam Alpine’s engine, Rootes Motors turned to Carroll Shelby, fresh off building the AC Cobra. What followed was a secretly funded Ford V8 swap, a surprised company owner, and an order so large it was the biggest Ford had ever received from another automaker. Read on to find out how the Sunbeam Tiger came together in eight months.

A bright red 1970 Plymouth HEMI 'Cuda convertible.

1970 Plymouth 426 Hemi ‘Cuda #1

by Wes

This 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda convertible isn’t just rare — it’s the very first of only fourteen ever built, wearing Rallye Red paint, a black top, and the Shaker hood scoop that came standard on every Hemi ‘Cuda. Underneath sits the legendary 426 Hemi V8, rated at 425 horsepower and fed by dual four-barrel carburetors. Decades later, it remains one of the most sought-after Mopars in existence. See what makes serial number one worth more than the other thirteen.

Two men discussing a classic 1970s car with its hood open.

Garage/Barn Find: 1970 Camaro With 1130 Actual Miles!

by Wes

Charley Lillard’s 1970 Chevrolet Camaro carries just 1,130 actual miles — parked in a heated garage nearly forty years ago after a minor ding and untouched ever since, right down to the original air still sealed in its tires. He debuted it at the first-ever Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Rosemont, Illinois, where it stood out even among a field of other rare survivors. Finds this undisturbed almost never happen.

Caterham Seven—Inception to 2004

by Ross Mills

The Caterham Seven traces its roots to a 1957 Lotus design by engineer and Royal Air Force veteran Colin Chapman, but the version built today shares no parts with the original. From a 1973 rights purchase through a South African court battle and a 2004 chassis overhaul, Caterham has kept the stripped-down formula alive for decades. Read on to find out how the design evolved.

A vintage white car driving on a scenic country road.

the LAST Vanishing Point Challenger – 1970 Dodge Challenger RT HEMI

by Wes

Ted Stephens owns all five surviving screen-used Dodge Challengers from the 1997 TV remake of Vanishing Point — the only ones left, since every car from the original 1971 film has been destroyed. His favorite of the five, a white 1970 Challenger RT, hides a detail almost no movie car ever gets: a genuine HEMI under the hood instead of a stunt-friendly substitute. It’s a piece of film history most fans don’t even know exists.

AMC Rebel 1967 to 1970

by Ross Mills

AMC’s Rebel spent 1967 through 1970 quietly doing everything right, offering full-size room in a midsize body, backing it with the most comprehensive warranty in the industry, and proving the point with a record-setting endurance run down the Baja peninsula. Then in 1970 it produced The Machine, painted red, white and blue, with a 340-horsepower 390 as standard equipment. Read on for how the underdog got loud.

1966 Pontiac GTO with 389 Tri-Power engine and 4-speed transmission.

1966 PONTIAC GTO 389 4-speed TRI-POWER musclecar 4K review

by Wes

Filmed on the lot at Garrett Classics in Lewisville, Texas, this 1966 Pontiac GTO wears the setup serious muscle car buyers wanted most: a 389-cubic-inch V8 with Tri-Power carburetion and a genuine four-speed manual. Factory power brakes, power steering, and correct Rally wheels round out a car Pontiac loyalists in the comments call one of the best-preserved examples they’ve seen. It’s unrestored, unmodified, and exactly as honest as a 1966 GTO should be.

A vintage 1968 Buick Riviera in vibrant yellow cruising on a road.

1966 Buick Riviera – Jay Leno’s Garage

by Wes

Randy Clark of Hot Rods and Custom Stuff brought his 1966 Buick Riviera to Jay Leno’s Garage wearing a gold paint job that took his team fifteen hundred hours to complete — longer than most full restorations take start to finish. The Riviera’s clean, GT-inspired lines gave Clark’s crew the perfect canvas for that level of obsession. Even Leno, who has seen thousands of custom builds, wanted to know how anyone justifies that kind of time.

Ferrari 250 GTO

by Ross Mills

Ferrari built just 39 examples of the 250 GTO between 1962 and 1964, each one homologated for GT racing and personally approved by Enzo Ferrari before a sale could go through. Its value has swung from $18,000 at launch to well over $10 million and back over the decades, and one example’s ownership history even includes a convicted drug trafficker. Read on to find out why this European exception still belongs in a muscle car conversation.

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