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At SEMA, Fullboost’s Luke tracked down Johnathan Goodwin to find out how his “electronic supercharger” — a battery-and-motor bolt-on that boosts power without hurting fuel economy — actually works, bolted to a 1957 Pontiac instead of the Hummer it had quietly been tested in months before. The same hot rodders who usually chase cubic inches were suddenly asking about kilowatts. Watch to see exactly how the E-Charger fills a turbo’s torque gap.
A factory-built Camaro ZL1 1LE, running nothing more exotic than a six-speed manual and a set of summer tires, laid down a 7:16.04 lap at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, more than 13 seconds quicker than the standard ZL1. That time placed it among roughly the fourteen fastest production cars ever recorded on the circuit. Read on to find out what GM engineers say actually made the difference.
A shop’s 800-horsepower build starting from a numbers-matching 1970 Ford Boss 302 highlights just how far modern engine building has come from Ford’s original homologation special, a car built purely to satisfy SCCA Trans-Am racing rules rather than chase a horsepower record. The factory version made a modest 290 horsepower; this one makes nearly triple that. Read on to find out exactly what separates the two and how a rulebook, not a dyno, created the original Boss 302.
Just a week after Chevrolet launched the track-focused ZL1 1LE, spy photographers caught a heavily camouflaged Camaro prototype testing at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds and public roads as far away as Virginia. The aggressive aero package hints at something even more extreme than the current flagship. Read on to find out why enthusiasts think this mule could be wearing the storied Z/28 badge.
This 1969 Dodge Charger 500, reportedly the very first one built and originally used by the Dodge News Bureau for promotion, is one of only 27 built with the 426 Hemi and four-speed manual — and the only one combining that drivetrain with Bright Red paint, a black cloth interior, and power windows. Documented by Chrysler records and Mopar authenticator Galen Govier, it sat in a private Ontario collection for decades in unrestored condition. Read on to find out why collectors value it over a fully restored example.
A handful of original miles can be worth more than a six-figure restoration. Collectible cars with fewer than 100 miles routinely sell for 88 percent above guide value, and even 1,000-mile examples carry a 60 to 67 percent premium. Starting from Porsche’s decision to retire its millionth 911 to a museum, this piece digs into why untouched originality commands such a steep price, what actually qualifies a car as a survivor, and what every mile really costs an owner.
Turbocharging an engine that never had forced induction from the factory is one of the most rewarding upgrades in the hobby and one of the most misunderstood. The turbo itself is the easy part; fuel delivery, tuning, intercooling, boost control, oil and exhaust plumbing, and sometimes the engine’s own internals all have to change with it. This guide explains how boost works, why lag exists, how much is realistic, and the order that keeps a project from ending with a tow truck. Read on to find out what the weekend-job crowd leaves out.
The 2017 New York International Auto Show brought plenty of new SUVs and market debuts, but one reveal dominated every conversation on the floor: a supercharged Dodge Challenger with Vin Diesel doing the honors on stage. Weeks later, the NHRA’s own governing body would ban the car from competing in its own sport. Read on to find out what Dodge built, and why an entire sanctioning body decided it could not be trusted on the track.
Nelson Bandy spent years trying to buy a 1968 Shelby GT500KR convertible from the young couple who owned it in Lobelville, Tennessee, before finally closing the deal in the summer of 1978. He has driven it so rarely since that it spent the last 30 years hidden inside a pair of storage containers. Read on to find out what makes this one of just 318 GT500KR convertibles built, and why Bandy still cannot decide whether to restore it or just get it running as-is.
As insurance surcharges and emissions rules were strangling the muscle car era, Pontiac quietly built one final genuine performance engine: the SD-455. Hand-assembled with race-grade internals and installed in a Firebird lineup that had nearly been canceled, fewer than 300 examples were built for 1973. Read on to find out why enthusiasts still consider it Pontiac’s best-kept secret.
A wrecked Dodge Challenger Hellcat with fire damage to its body still carries one of the most valuable engines in the modern muscle car world underneath the scorched sheet metal. The supercharged 707-horsepower Hemi and its heavy-duty eight-speed transmission were both engineered to survive far more abuse than a stock tune ever demands. Read on to find out why builders specifically seek out toasted Hellcat donor cars.
The Chevrolet SS was a genuine rear-wheel-drive V8 sedan hiding in plain sight on American dealer lots for four model years, and most enthusiasts either never noticed it existed or spent years quietly recommending one before it disappeared. Built on a rebadged Holden Commodore platform in Australia, it packed a 415-horsepower LS3 V8 and, eventually, a genuine six-speed manual. Its cancellation had almost nothing to do with American sales. Read on to find out what actually killed it.
US Mustang sales have been sliding as American buyers shift toward SUVs, yet the same car has become the best-selling sports coupe on the planet once global markets are counted. Ford’s decision to engineer the Mustang for right-hand-drive and international emissions standards opened dozens of new markets that had never had legal factory access before. Read on to see how one sales chart can miss the bigger picture entirely.
PatriotFest in Tulsa puts a car and motorcycle show on the real Route 66, near the Historical Route 66 Village, as part of a festival built to promote the city as the most patriotic in the country. Some owners detail all Friday night, others give their trucks a quick rinse, and for Dudley and Vicky Jones the preparation started years earlier. With proceeds going to local veterans and food trucks and live music on the grounds, read on to see what pulls so many different owners onto the Mother Road for one Saturday morning.
The Ford Mustang was one of the best-selling sports cars in the world when Australia’s ANCAP crash test authority handed it a rare and damaging result: just 2 out of 5 stars. Weak airbag performance, a door that opened in the pole test, and a near-total absence of modern driver aids all factored into the score. Here’s what the testing found, and how Ford eventually responded.