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On a recent episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage,” appraiser Donald Osborne challenged Leno to guess which of three unrestored classics had appreciated the most — and even Leno got it wrong. The reveal says a lot about how collectors actually value originality over polish, a lesson echoed by Ralph Lauren’s own decades of collecting and by the crowds still showing up to events like the Daytona Turkey Run. Read on to see why the roughest-looking car in the lineup won.
Barrett-Jackson’s 2017 Northeast auction at Mohegan Sun led with a 1971 Dodge Hemi Challenger R/T and a pair of 1970 Plymouth ‘Cudas, and the production figures behind those cars explain the interest better than any catalog description. Chrysler built just 71 Hemi Challenger R/T hardtops for 1971, and fewer than 800 Hemi ‘Cudas across the model’s entire life. Read on for what those numbers mean and why documentation now decides the price.
Chevrolet needed a new face for its NASCAR Cup Series program after the SS sedan went out of production, so it turned to the Camaro ZL1 — a nameplate every enthusiast recognizes, attached to a race car that shares nothing with the road version. Underneath sits the same tube-frame chassis and pushrod V8 the SS ran. The gamble paid off in the very first race. Read on to find out how the swap actually worked, and why the problem came back around.
Three days isn’t nearly enough time to see everything Chrysler ever built parked in one place, but the Mopar Nationals crowd tries anyway. Held at a drag strip with roots along the old National Road, the event has grown into one of the largest single-marque gatherings in the country. Read on to find out what keeps it growing after nearly four decades.
Hennessey built the Exorcist Camaro ZL1 to push a factory 650 horsepower platform to 1,000 horsepower and a 217 mph top speed. A larger supercharger, custom camshaft, and ported heads make the jump possible without sacrificing the factory warranty structure. A Final Edition run of just 57 cars marked 57 years of the Camaro nameplate.
Jeffrey Harkins bought this 1969 Ford Ranchero already dressed up as a low-rider, sagging on the wrong springs with side pipes bolted on for looks. Eight months of real work later, from suspension to floor pans to a swapped-in Mustang 302, it sits proud and ready for its first show. It’s a reminder that the best rescues aren’t about paint, they’re about undoing somebody else’s bad decisions first.
A stock sixth-generation Camaro ZL1 already runs the quarter mile in the low elevens straight off the showroom floor. Vengeance Racing decided that was a starting point, built one past 1,000 rear-wheel horsepower, and ran a 9.58 at nearly 153 mph, the quickest sixth-gen ZL1 in the world at the time. Then they went considerably further. Read on to find out how far the platform can actually be pushed.
Norman Sargent named his restoration shop “Grave Robbers” for a simple reason — it revives cars everyone else had given up on. His passion traces back to a childhood ride in his stepfather’s 1967 Mustang Fastback, a car built the year Ford redesigned the Mustang to fit bigger engines. That personal history now shapes how his shop approaches every barn-find project that comes through the door. Read on to find out what makes his approach to restoration different.
The Hot Rod Super Nationals has been bringing muscle cars and hot rods to the Canfield Fairgrounds since 1987, and after a decade-long detour to Quaker City Motorsports Park, it’s been back home since 2016. With attendance topping 30,000 over a three-day weekend and collectors driving in from as far as California, this is one of the Ohio Valley’s genuine car culture institutions – right down to the Saturday night cruise into Boardman.
Ford Performance and Roush Performance don’t put their names on aftermarket power numbers lightly, which is what makes this dealer-installed supercharger kit for the 2018 Mustang GT and F-150 worth paying attention to. The kit pushes the Mustang to 700 horsepower and the F-150 to 640, all while keeping the factory warranty fully intact. See exactly what Ford is backing and why it still matters for Coyote-powered owners.
A routine trademark filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had Mopar fans refreshing message boards for weeks after Fiat Chrysler quietly renewed its claim on the word ‘Cuda,’ two years after doing the same for ‘Barracuda.’ Corporate lawyers rarely do anything without a reason. Read on to find out what the filing does, and does not, actually confirm.
Every Memorial Day, a parking lot behind a Sacramento museum fills with a very particular kind of car, one built less for daily driving and more for making a statement. The 8th Annual Vettes & Vets show pairs two things California car culture takes seriously. Read on to find out what the event is actually raising money for.
A Demon spinning its tires looks like ordinary internet content until you understand what is happening underneath. This was the first production car with a TransBrake, the first delivered from the factory on drag radials, and the first with an air conditioning system repurposed to chill its own intake air. The burnout was not showing off, it was a required procedure. Read on for what made the 840-horsepower Challenger genuinely unprecedented.
Dodge did what no other muscle car maker had tried when it gave the Challenger GT all-wheel drive, pairing the system with the 305-horsepower Pentastar V6 and an eight-speed automatic. The front axle engages automatically in freezing temperatures, when the wipers come on, in Sport Mode, or the instant traction is lost, then disconnects to protect fuel economy while keeping a rear-drive feel. Read on to find out how Dodge built the first factory muscle car that does not have to hibernate every winter.
Doug DeMuro calls the 2019 Corvette ZR1 the ultimate Corvette in this review, working through the supercharged LT5 V8 and the quirks that earned it his signature DougScore. The comments are just as entertaining as the car, endless “Doug is the type of guy” jokes, plus one pointed reminder that the mid-engine C8 arrived not long after. Watch to see if the ZR1’s case still holds up.