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Once a year the world’s wildest custom cars fill a Las Vegas hall, and only a few are strange enough to stop the crowd. OutRun’s SEMA 2016 walkaround finds a menacing Dodge Charger, the custom Shomad Nomad, a Goolsby-built Mustang, and one car wearing a 1970 Mustang body that hides a Nissan GT-R underneath. It is American muscle styling fused with Japanese twin-turbo engineering, exactly the kind of impossible build SEMA exists to create. Watch the cinematic tour to see them up close.
A 1940 Chevrolet badge and a “350 CID V8” listing title should not belong to the same car, and yet here they are. This piece looks at what actually rolled off the factory line in 1940 (an 85-horsepower straight-six, not a big-block V8) and how a car like this ends up with a completely different heart decades later.
Beyond the ZL-1 Camaro and Hemi ‘Cuda convertible, the rarest American muscle cars share a pattern collectors have only recently caught onto: overlooked badges, one-year-only engine options, and production runs smaller than a typical high school graduating class. The Buick GSX Stage 1, built just 846 times across three years, is the clearest proof that rarity doesn’t always announce itself at the time.
The check engine light does not explain itself, it just lights up and lets you guess. This piece breaks down what actually trips that warning most often (hint: it is usually not catastrophic), the real difference between a steady glow and a flashing light, and why that trapezoid-shaped port under your dash holds the actual answer.
In 1970, Chevrolet built two versions of a new 454-cubic-inch big block for the Corvette: a 390-horsepower LS5 that reached showrooms, and a 460-horsepower LS7 that never did, killed off by a production strike. That leaves the LS5 as the only way to get 1970’s biggest factory Corvette engine — a rare combination of numbers-matching originality and genuine horsepower-war history.
In 1966 you could buy a Chevrolet Impala Super Sport that looked like a dignified family cruiser and hid one of the most fearsome engines Chevy built. This Marina Blue example carries the new-for-1966 427 in its hottest L72 trim, a 425-horsepower big block backed by a close-ratio four-speed. V8TV walks through the full-size sleeper, from its stacked console gauges to its willingness to smoke the tires for miles. It is a reminder that the big Impala could run with anything. Watch the full breakdown.
It looks like a mismatch: a track-bred Shelby GT350R against an ordinary 2018 Mustang GT. But the everyday GT hides 460 horsepower and Ford’s ten-speed automatic, a gearbox that shifts faster than any human can. Serpent Stangs took both Mustangs to Beech Bend Dragway to settle which one actually reaches the stripe first, and the answer is not the one the spec sheets predict. It turns out the transmission may matter as much as the engine. Watch the runs to see how it plays out.
Lincoln’s 1954 Capri hid something remarkable under its hood: a hopped-up 317-cubic-inch V8 that made more horsepower per cubic inch than any American engine on the market. It wasn’t just a lab number, either — Capris swept the Carrera Panamericana’s Stock Car class across Mexico three years running. Here’s how a 205-horsepower luxury coupe quietly became one of Detroit’s toughest early V8 performers.
The Monkeemobile’s $360,000 sale in 2008 wasn’t the whole story — it was proof of how valuable a documented TV car had become. Customizer George Barris restored the surviving GTO-based car before it crossed the auction block, while tribute replicas built to the same spec have separately sold for over $200,000. Here’s what happened after the cameras stopped rolling.
The 1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo wasn’t just a new model year — it launched GM’s entire ‘Colonnade’ design era, with a pillared coupe roof, opera windows, and a choice of engines up to a 245-horsepower 454 big-block. Motor Trend named it Car of the Year, and Chevrolet sold a record-setting quarter-million of them. Here’s what made this personal-luxury coupe such a turning point.
The second-generation Pontiac Trans Am arrived right when the muscle car was supposed to be dead, choked by insurance, emissions, and a fuel crisis. Instead it became more iconic every year it survived. This video lays out eleven reasons the 1970 to 1981 Trans Am beat the odds, from the Super Duty 455 to the screaming chicken hood to a Hollywood turn that made it a household name. It is a strong case that Pontiac built a legend in the worst possible era for one. Watch to see if you agree.
Kevin Callahan had owned plenty of cars, but none of them ever felt truly his. So he built a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge convertible from an idea up, wrapped in a custom color he calls St. Patrick’s Day Green and named Irish Eyes. Lou Costabile catches the restomod at the World of Wheels show and lets Kevin explain why he walked away from a factory restoration to chase something built entirely around himself. The result is a Judge unlike any Pontiac ever made. Watch to see it.
Marlene Ferguson did not choose her 1969 Hurst Olds 442 for its 455 engine or its rarity. She chose it for one small detail her husband spent years hunting down across the country before they found this white and gold survivor in 1988. Lou Costabile gets the full story at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, and it is a reminder that the best muscle cars are often loved for reasons that have nothing to do with horsepower. Watch to hear her explain it herself.
Most cars need a full suspension and brake overhaul to handle 100 extra horsepower. The sixth-generation Camaro SS didn’t. Thanks to GM’s stiffer Alpha platform, owners could bolt on a supercharger and push output well past 550 horsepower with the stock chassis intact. The only real cost: a voided factory warranty, quickly replaced by aftermarket coverage built for exactly this kind of upgrade.
Most 4,000-horsepower cars are too fragile to do anything but run once and go back on the trailer. Tom Bailey’s twin-turbo 1969 Camaro, “Sick Seconds 2.0,” refuses to accept that, pairing a pair of massive 94mm turbos with power windows, cup holders, and the goal of driving home after every pass. Add targets of a five-second quarter mile and 300 mph, and you have one of the boldest street builds around. See how ScottieDTV captures it.