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Plymouth built the 1968 Road Runner to be cheap and fast, then let buyers pile a $714 Hemi on top of a car designed around a stripped-down budget pitch. Only 1,019 out of roughly 45,000 Road Runners built that year got the big engine. Here’s why so few buyers took Plymouth up on its most contradictory option.
Shot for a Unique Cars magazine feature and aired on Australia’s Today Show in 2011, this comparison lines up classic Australian muscle against American big-blocks to argue which country built it better. Aussie cars like the Falcon GT and Holden Monaro were engineered for distance and touring-car racing, while American muscle chased straight-line cubic inches. The two rarely meet on the same track. See which philosophy comes out ahead.
WasabiCars stumbled onto a collection of American muscle rotting away in Japan, including RS and Z28 Camaros, a 429 Mach 1 Mustang, and a Pontiac Trans-Am. Restored and correct, cars like these command serious money, which makes the neglect painful to watch. It plays like a sad time capsule of projects that never got finished. Find out how this many collectible muscle cars ended up rusting half a world from home.
BMW’s 8-Series Concept revived a nameplate that vanished from showrooms for nearly two decades after the original E31 coupe was discontinued in 1999. Debuted at the exclusive Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este rather than a traditional auto show, the concept previewed a production coupe arriving in 2018 with a lineup topped by a twin-turbo V12. Its low hood, sweeping roofline, and 21-inch wheels signaled BMW’s intent to reclaim flagship coupe territory it had quietly ceded years earlier.
The “Ice Charger” from The Fate of the Furious looked like a classic 1968 Dodge Charger on screen, but underneath it was a purpose-built, all-wheel-drive stunt car with three locking differentials and spiked tires. Six identical copies were built just for the Iceland scenes. Here’s where the real cars ended up.
Most retellings of the muscle car’s decline stop at the 1980s comeback, but the real numbers behind the collapse, and the technology that eventually revived it decades later, tell a far more dramatic story. Here’s what actually happened between the insurance crisis of the 1970s and the 700-horsepower factory cars of today.
At Drag Week 2017, the 1320video crew spotted something they did not expect: a full-size Chevrolet Impala wagon on 26-inch blades that weigh nearly 100 pounds each. Builder Alan Robinson swaps just two for drag radials at the track, then runs 11-second passes despite a 4,720-pound curb weight. The math should not work, but the timing slips disagree. See how this big-body oddball became a Drag Week standout.
Ford officially rated the 1969 Mustang Mach 1’s 428 Cobra Jet at just 335 horsepower, a number period testers and modern dyno pulls both say undersold the engine by roughly 75 horsepower. Here’s why Ford’s own advertised figure was closer to a legal workaround than an honest measurement.
Only 17 Plymouth ‘Cuda convertibles were built in 1970 with the 440 Six-Barrel engine and a four-speed manual transmission, fewer than the automatic version of the same car, and a fraction of the attention the Hemi ‘Cuda gets. Here’s why this quieter big-block convertible might be the rarer find of the two.
This 1972 Ford Gran Torino Sport arrived during the one year Ford dared to redesign the Torino from the ground up, then walked the styling back within twelve months. Under the hood sits a 351 Cobra Jet, a Cleveland-block V8 carrying real Boss 351 lineage. Here’s why this specific model year stands apart from every Torino before or after it.
Roadkill episode 38 hands Finnegan and Freiburger two 707-horsepower Hellcats and a 645-horsepower Viper GT to launch a new Dodge sponsorship, and they do it with maximum tire smoke. Then things escalate at a motocross track, with guest appearances from Carlos Lago, Fred Williams, and drifter Tony Angelo. It is expensive machinery meeting total irreverence. See why this Hellcat-Viper-Hellcat thrash is one of the show’s most quoted episodes.
This 1970 Ford Torino Cobra hides a numbers-matching 429 Thunder Jet V8 behind one of Ford’s most overlooked muscle-car nameplates. A Marti Report confirms its rare factory combination of a close-ratio four-speed, 3.50 Trac-Lok rear end, and factory air conditioning, an unusual pairing for a car built to run the quarter-mile. Here’s why this quiet-badged Torino deserves more attention than it ever got.
The 1970 Ford Torino lineup is like a Swiss Army knife on wheels, offering a model for every driver from luxury seekers to speed demons. The Brougham is so quiet, even the Lincoln Continental might blush. Meanwhile, the GT flexes with non-functional flair, and the Cobra roars with 370 hp — enough to peel your toupee. Wagons get square, but still haul in style. Whether you’re cruising in a Cobra or carting groceries in a wagon, the Torino proves it’s a jack-of-all-trades in the automotive world.
1967 was the first year Buick fitted the Riviera with its all-new 430-cubic-inch V-8, replacing the older Nailhead design with a bigger-valve engine rated at 360 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque. Buick kept the 430 in production for only three model years before superseding it with the 455 in 1970, making this a narrow window in Riviera history. Add the Gran Sport package’s heavy-duty suspension and Positraction rear end, and a numbers-matching example like this one represents a genuinely rare combination.
The 1973 Ford Torino embraced new regulations with its square front fascia and energy-absorbing bumpers, adding over an inch and 100 pounds. While the car’s power slightly dipped, its opulent Gran Torino Brougham model offered luxury with nylon cloth or faux leather interiors. The “laser strip” option and a quieter, smoother ride gave it a dash of flair. Despite losing the Ram Air scoop, the Torino still outpaced GM, selling over 168,000 more units than the Chevelle. Not quite a supercar, but a street star!