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Myvintageiron7512 lines up a modern LS1 against a classic small block 350 for a straight side-by-side comparison, correcting a bore-and-stroke mix-up right in the video description. The comments turned into a deep dive on why GM’s small block became the most swapped engine in history, from matching bellhousing patterns to 850-horsepower stroker builds. Watch to see the comparison and judge the debate for yourself.
George and Margaret Oleskiewicz’s 1967 Camaro RS SS convertible pairs a rare L78 396/375hp big block with a fully documented options list, right down to the luggage rack and correct disc brakes. George has owned the car since 1995, and Margaret has her own reason for still showing up to the events. Watch to hear why judges call this Marina Blue convertible the Holy Grail of first-generation Camaros.
General Motors capped the Camaro’s engine displacement in a way that put it at a disadvantage against rivals — until one Pennsylvania dealer decided the rulebook didn’t apply to him. Don Yenko’s dealer-built engine swaps eventually became a factory-documented option, and decades later the same name resurfaced on a supercharged Camaro built specifically to answer the Dodge Demon. Here’s how a workaround became one of Chevrolet’s most enduring performance names.
This 1969 Dodge Charger isn’t a restoration, it’s a transplant: the classic fastback body dropped directly onto the chassis of a 2016 Challenger SRT Hellcat. The donor brought a 707-horsepower supercharged HEMI, independent front suspension, modern brakes, and an entirely contemporary cabin beneath unmistakable Coke-bottle sheet metal. Read on to find out why builders keep choosing this approach, and whether a muscle car’s soul lives in its body or its bones.
This 1977 Pontiac Firebird Esprit in Buckskin Gold carries a direct link to The Rockford Files, the car James Garner’s character made famous on TV. But its history runs deeper than a screen connection – a mid-1977 factory supply shortage quietly swapped the engine spec partway through the model year. Add the redesigned square-headlight front end and rare option packages like Skybird, and this Esprit turns out to be more complicated than its laid-back reputation suggests.
A 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 — one of just 69 ever built — lines up against an equally rare 1969 Corvette L88 for a quarter-mile grudge match between two of Chevrolet’s most extreme homologation specials. Both cars share the same 427 big block, both are worth serious money today, and both owners chose to race them instead of trailering them to a show. Poly-glass tires, low-eleven-second passes, and a decades-old rivalry between two GM legends collide on the same strip. Watch to see which one crosses the line first.
AMC wasn’t supposed to be a player in the pony car wars at all — until Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue took over an ailing Javelin program and built a race car from scratch in barely six months. By 1971, that Javelin was winning races by five-lap margins and had taken the manufacturer’s championship right out from under Ford and Chevrolet. Read on to find out how the smallest of Detroit’s automakers became Trans-Am’s biggest underdog story.
Chevrolet’s internal rules banned any engine over 400 cubic inches in a 1969 Camaro, so dealer Don Yenko found a loophole using fleet paperwork meant for taxi cabs. That workaround produced the COPO 9561 and the ultra-rare 9560 ZL-1, an all-aluminum engine so labor-intensive that only 69 were ever ordered. Read on to find out how a $4,000 engine option ended up quietly outperforming its own factory horsepower rating.
Automotive Territory rounds up ten classic American muscle cars rebuilt with modern engines, transmissions, and brakes — machines its host argues could outperform today’s supercars. Builders like Ring Brothers show up on the list, and the comments have turned into a running debate over whether a restomod still counts as a real muscle car. Watch to see the full ten and decide for yourself.
1972 was the year the El Camino finally proved itself, with production crossing 50,000 units for the first time ever. This particular survivor skips the big-block theatrics for a workhorse 350 and a three-speed — the combo real owners actually drove daily. Curious why a base-trim SS candidate can out-charm a 454 at a show? The answer’s in the numbers Chevy never advertised.
A memory made at a Denver-area drag strip in 1998 turned into an almost two-decade quest for one Camaro enthusiast. When Brandon Pursley finally found the exact black 1991 Z28 that had stuck with him since high school, he was also buying the first year the Z28 name returned after the IROC-Z era. Read on for the story behind this Camaro of the Month and what makes the late third-generation cars worth the wait.
Mistaken for his teammate’s identical car and later disguised as a Road Runner and then a Dodge Charger, this Plymouth Superbird spent decades with its true history erased, until a collector’s detective work and Richard Petty’s own crew proved The King really had driven it. A full restoration at Petty’s shop brought one of NASCAR’s genuinely lost cars back into the light.
Ford built 3,939 Torino GT convertibles for 1970, and the body style survived only one more model year before disappearing. Most got the mild 351 two-barrel, with 1,289 of those paired to an FMX automatic. At the top of the range sat roughly 64 convertibles with the 429 Cobra Jet, split about 37 automatics to 27-32 four-speeds. Read on to find out what to check before deciding what this yellow droptop is really worth.
The ‘Unicorn C5’ twin-turbo Corvette already put down 980 horsepower on the dyno once, then spent three months getting torn apart, rebuilt, and delayed by broken parts before the team at 1320video could chase the number again. Tucking a pair of turbochargers into a C5’s notoriously tight engine bay is never simple, and this build proves it. The team found a few more horsepower along the way and plans to push it further still.
One of our readers walked into a Chevrolet showroom in 1967 while still in high school, paid cash, and drove home in a brand-new Camaro that never left his ownership. Fifty years later the car is still immaculate, wearing dual white racing stripes and a story most muscle car fans only dream about. Read on to find out what it actually takes to keep a first car for half a century.