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In late 2016, spy shots and a leaked mapping image convinced enthusiasts that Ford’s fiercest Mustang nameplate was coming back for 2017. It wasn’t — the real Shelby GT500 didn’t arrive until three years later, and when it did, it packed nearly 100 more horsepower than anyone was rumoring at the time. Here’s what actually happened between the rumor and the reveal, and why the wait ended up worth it.
Dodge promised the Challenger SRT Demon would be both the fastest and the most advanced muscle car ever built, and the New York auto show debut in April 2017 had to prove it. The 840-horsepower figure handled the fastest part, but it was the technology, from Performance Pages and tire-specific launch control to a factory TransBrake and drag-mode suspension, that made the second claim stick. Read on to find out how Dodge made brute force and sophistication work together.
Pitted, dented stainless trim is one of the first things restorers toss in favor of reproduction pieces, and one of the first things veterans wish they had saved when the repro molding refuses to follow a body line. Original stainless can be brought back to a mirror finish with hammers, dollies, files, a wet-sanding progression from coarse to ultra-fine grit, and careful buffing, but the process rewards patience and punishes shortcuts. This guide walks through each stage and the mistakes that ruin good trim. Read on to find out what saving the original actually takes.
Dodge built the Demon as a drag-strip-ready factory hot rod, and this owner decided factory wasn’t enough — converting his to run on E85 and voiding the warranty in the process. SRTMUSH documents the build with the same unapologetic attitude that’s made the channel a favorite for Mopar fans who’d rather modify than baby their cars. Watch to see what happens when you push a Demon past what Dodge signed off on.
Ford rated this Mustang’s big block at just 375 horsepower, a figure almost nobody who drove one actually believed. Built to satisfy NASCAR homologation rules and assembled outside the factory by an outside engineering firm, this car packed race-bred internals most buyers never fully understood. Discover why enthusiasts still debate its real output decades later, and how a Hemi-inspired head design ended up under a Ford hood.
Rocky Mountain Race Week throws a group of street-legal cars making 2,000 to 3,000 horsepower into a five-day, multi-track endurance test through triple-digit Nebraska heat. This 2017 recap follows day one in Kearney, where sleep-deprived racers are still finishing builds the night before testing begins. Watch to see which of these 2,000-plus horsepower street machines actually survive the heat before the real racing even starts.
When one of the first 2019 Chevrolet ZR1s in the country landed at a Kentucky Chevy dealership, salesman Mike Davenport was there to see it delivered. The car reopened a debate that had nearly killed one of the ZR1’s most talked-about options entirely: should you actually buy the manual? Watch to see the car that nearly didn’t get a stick shift at all.
Aftermarket transbrakes have been drag racing staples for decades, but no manufacturer had ever put one in a production car until Dodge teased the 2018 Challenger SRT Demon. The system locks the transmission so the car sits motionless at high rpm, then releases everything in an instant for a reaction-time edge reported at around 30 percent. Read on to find out how Dodge made a pit-lane modification survive daily driving, a factory warranty, and a 9.65-second quarter mile.
Rumors chasing the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon’s horsepower figure climbed past 900 before SRT’s engineers had finished their own testing. When the official SAE-certified rating finally landed, it told a different story, one backed by an NHRA-certified quarter-mile instead of forum speculation. Read on for what the real number turned out to be, why the rumor overshot, and why the certified figure ended up being the better story.
An ordinary commute turned into an extraordinary sighting when this creator passed a warehouse full of exotic and muscle cars being seized by the DEA and U.S. Marshals — combined value pushing toward four million dollars. From a Diablo Roadster to a heavily modified American muscle car, see what was inside before it scattered to auction forever.
A fan rendering imagines the Shelby GT350R wearing police livery, and the fantasy holds up better than most once you look at the real car underneath. The GT350R’s 5.2-liter Voodoo V8 revs to 8,250 rpm and makes 526 horsepower, the highest-revving naturally aspirated V8 any American automaker has built. Read on for why the powerband suits pursuit duty, why Mustangs have worn the badge before, and why this one would still never survive a fleet manager’s review.
A stock 1969 Charger, an authentic Charger Daytona, and a modern Hellcat go through identical wind-tunnel testing to answer a question most muscle car fans get wrong: the Daytona’s towering wing wasn’t primarily about cutting drag, it was about solving a dangerous rear-lift problem at superspeedway speeds. Watch to see smoke trails and pressure data confirm exactly what Chrysler’s engineers were fighting in 1969 — and how differently Dodge’s modern Hellcat was ever meant to be used.
Air Flow Research built V8BUILDS to answer a question every gearhead has quietly asked at a static car show: how would these things actually run? The autocross-and-show hybrid started small at Willow Springs International Raceway before outgrowing itself, and its next stop lands at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Classic muscle, resto-mods, pro touring builds, and V8-swapped imports are all welcome on the cone course — because at V8BUILDS, the only membership requirement is a V8 doing real work under the hood.
Legendary Motorcar’s Dream Car Garage tracked down a pristine 1969 Plymouth Road Runner for a segment that still draws comments from people who owned one the first time around. The story behind the car runs deeper than its cartoon-licensed horn: a no-frills muscle car built to undercut its own siblings on price, and the rare A12 “Six Barrel” package that made it one of the most feared cars at any stoplight. Watch to see why the Road Runner still commands this kind of loyalty decades later.
Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale week has a way of setting the tone for where muscle car money is headed each year, and 2017 was no exception. With 1,719 vehicles crossing the block and 40 sales records falling, the results revealed which corners of the market were heating up — and which classics were starting to share the spotlight with unexpected competition. A Shelby GT350 and a Boss 429 both cracked six figures, but the real headline was who else was cashing in.