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Chevrolet’s Nova SS 396 was never supposed to be a serious performance threat, but buyers overwhelmingly chose the hottest 375-horsepower L78 engine option anyway, and the compact, Camaro-based body made it 500 pounds lighter than a Chevelle running the same motor. That weight advantage turned Chevy’s cheapest muscle car into one of its quickest. Here’s the math behind why the Nova SS 396 still earns respect today.
Nineteen million views and counting: a drag racing compilation pits Hellcats, a Tesla, a Porsche, a factory Shelby GT500, and a Corvette ZR1 against a lineup of home-built project cars, including a Chevy Nova rebuilt from the ground up. One viewer joked about losing to “half Optimus Prime.” Watch to see whether money or obsession wins at the strip.
Eighteen pro-built classic Chevrolets lined up at Auto Club Speedway for the Super Chevy Muscle Car Challenge, and the smart money was on a Camaro to win the handling-focused competition, the way it usually does. Instead, a 1972 Corvette out-drove every single one of them. Watch the full episode to see how the results played out — and how at least one driver managed to hit a cone anyway.
Looks fade at a stoplight, but sound is what actually sticks with people — and five specific muscle car engines, from Pontiac’s GTO to Dodge’s Challenger R/T, are widely considered to have never been matched by anything Detroit builds today. Watch to hear what made the GTO, 442, Road Runner, Chevelle, and Challenger R/T sound different from everything that came after them.
American Motors never had Detroit’s budget, but for a few years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, its Javelin and two-seat AMX spinoff went toe-to-toe with the Mustang and Camaro on both the street and the Trans-Am track — with Roger Penske and Mark Donohue behind the wheel of a purpose-built 5.0-liter version. Watch to see why this overlooked underdog still deserves a second look.
A 1970 Oldsmobile 442, bought for $1,500 in 1994 and simply driven like any other used car, sits at the center of a story about how undervalued genuine muscle car iron once was. With its W-30 forced-air induction package and a 455 rated at 370 horsepower, this was Oldsmobile’s peak performance statement before insurance pressure forced Detroit to pull back. Watch to hear the secrets most fans never heard.
This factory-black 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible skipped the flashy 383 Golden Commando in favor of the 361 Commando, a torque-heavy two-barrel V8 built for real-world driving, not bragging rights. Riding on Plymouth’s freshly redesigned B-body with a red interior, pushbutton TorqueFlite, and a power top still working after six decades, it’s proof the ‘lesser’ engine choice can be the smarter one.
Brad Conley owns one of the actual Stage 1 prototype show cars Buick used to prove the GSX deserved to exist before the division ever built one for a customer. Host Kevin Oeste finally met his own childhood dream car face to face at the 2018 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Chicago — and Conley did more than let him look. Watch to see what happened when the owner invited him to sit inside.
A movie-pedigree Eleanor tribute, a one-of-503 NASCAR homologation Daytona, and a heavily customized Road Runner all crossed the same Mecum Las Vegas stage in one weekend, selling for a combined $995,500. Each car represents a different reason bidders pay six figures instead of five — provenance, rarity, or pure taste. Watch to see which one drew the fiercest bidding, and which one is still splitting opinion in the comments.
Pontiac never let 1981 Trans Am buyers have real horsepower and a manual transmission in the same car — the factory forced a choice. This owner refused to accept that trade-off, dropping a 400-horsepower crate small-block and a four-speed stick into a genuine WS6 Trans Am. Recorded in POV binaural audio so you can hear exactly what the factory never let buyers experience, this build answers a forty-year-old complaint.
Plymouth built just 666 Sport Fury GTs in 1970, aiming this full-size muscle car at buyers who wanted straight-line performance without giving up a big, comfortable body. This Alpine White survivor represents a genuinely rare combination of chrome, stripes, and 440 cubic inches of Detroit muscle. Here’s what made the Sport Fury GT such an unusual entry in Plymouth’s lineup.
An $8,500 asking price on a 1969 Chevelle SS 396 barn find sounds like a steal — until a 40-year restoration veteran breaks down exactly what it actually costs to finish, and what the market will actually pay once it’s done. The gap between those two numbers is bigger than most buyers expect. Watch to see the full math and decide whether this one is a deal or a trap.
Richard Rawlings and the Gas Monkey Garage crew found three 1970 Dodge Challengers — purple, black, and orange — hiding in the same barn, and the tipster who found them wanted a $10,000 finder’s fee for the tip alone. Pulled from years of barn-find hunts across Camaros, GTOs, and Monte Carlos, this compilation shows exactly how those negotiations really go down. Watch to see whether Rawlings pays up or walks.
Julia parked her 1970 Plymouth Barracuda convertible in 2003 after a minor fender bender left her too overwhelmed to deal with the repairs — and it sat for twenty-three years. When Hagerty’s Driveway Finds crew finally got the call, the durable 318 small-block came back to life faster than anyone expected. What didn’t come back so easily was Julia’s reaction to seeing it running again. Watch to see her response.