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Mike Musto argues the internet has horsepower backwards, using a balanced Chevrolet Malibu SS built around an LS1 and a Viper-sourced Tremec T56 transmission to make his case for drivability over raw numbers. One commenter dismissed the build as merely ‘medium’ next to a 707-horsepower factory Hellcat — and the response it triggered turned into a real debate about what horsepower numbers actually mean without context. See why balance might matter more than bragging rights.
Why does a Ferrari V8 scream while an American muscle car V8 burbles, even at the same displacement? The answer is buried inside the crankshaft, in a design choice most drivers never think about. Engineering Explained breaks down the flatplane versus crossplane debate that keeps resurfacing every time a new flagship car, from the Shelby GT350 to the Corvette Z06, makes headlines. It is a short explanation that changes how you listen to every V8 afterward.
Only about 112 Dodge Chargers left the factory in 1970 with the 426 Hemi under the hood, and restoration shop owner Al Hickey found one hiding in plain sight. Paired with a Hurst pistol-grip four-speed and finished in burnt orange, this R/T carries details serious MOPAR collectors chase for years. Lou Costabile catches up with Hickey and the car at a Midwest MOPAR swap meet. The story behind how it landed in his eighteen-car collection is half the reason to watch.
This restored 1966 Chevelle SS looks period-correct on the outside, but its 565 cubic inch supercharged V8 making roughly 750 horsepower has nothing to do with the factory 396 options Chevrolet actually offered that year. Even the rarest original engine, the 375-horsepower L78, doesn’t come close. Here’s how this build compares to what left the factory floor.
In just eighteen months, Ford transformed the full-size Galaxie from a family-oriented sedan into a NASCAR-chasing fastback packing a conservatively rated 425 horsepower. A mid-year roofline change and a top-shelf 406-cubic-inch V8 rewrote what a full-size Ford could be. Read on to find out how the 63-and-a-half Galaxie earned its nickname and its reputation on the track.
A dyno breakdown nearly stops a freshly rebuilt 1967 Plymouth GTX from getting its first real test at Nicks Garage. The 440 big block had already survived a full rebuild, now it just needed the shops own equipment to cooperate. Viewers who tune in for the fix stay for the moment the engine finally comes alive on the dyno. It is a reminder that even a top-tier shop runs into problems most builders never show on camera.
What began as Billy Bob’s plan for a simple street cruiser turned into a 700-horsepower, 427 LSX-powered 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle with an interior from Steve Holcomb’s Pro Auto Custom Interiors that commenters are comparing to legendary customizer George Barris. Between the engine note described as sounding like a lion and interior details down to carbon fiber inner fender wells, this build escalated far past its original goal. Here’s how a casual cruiser project turned into one of the best-built Chevelles online.
Not every chapter of muscle car history involves rising horsepower numbers. This rundown of the genre’s weakest performers — including a Corvette rated at just 165 horsepower and a turbocharged Trans Am that needed forced induction just to crack 210 — traces exactly how the 1973 oil crisis and new emissions rules gutted an entire era of American performance. Watch to see which legendary nameplates took the hardest hit.
The third-generation Cadillac CTS-V packs a supercharged 640-horsepower V8 shared with the Corvette Z06 — inside a four-door luxury sedan. This review took that combination to Road America, one of America’s most demanding road courses, to see whether a car this powerful stays manageable for a driver without a racing license. One commenter called it the best car Cadillac has built in twenty-five years. Watch to see why.
Between 1965 and 1967, Pontiac transformed the GTO from a clever option package into the standard every other muscle car would be measured against. Stronger brakes, a new hood scoop, and an engine that grew by more than 60 cubic inches turned three model years into a legend. Read on to find out how Pontiac stayed ahead of Detroit’s entire muscle car field.
Someone swapped a heavy-duty GM Duramax diesel into a classic Chevelle, and the result sounds less like a muscle car and more like construction equipment. Currently running mid-14-second quarter miles, this build is — according to commenters — barely scratching what a properly built Duramax swap can eventually do. Comparisons to a locally famous Duramax Grand National running 8-second passes set the bar high. Watch to see this unconventional build make its pass.
At one of the oldest drag strips in the country, Karen Stalba has spent 20-plus years running alcohol dragsters, cars fast enough to leave muscle cars in the dust. This weekend’s NHRA Lucas Oil Series brought 450-plus cars to historic Atco Dragway, a track with a record-setting past dating back to the 1960s. Here’s what made this South Jersey race weekend stand out.
This 1974 MGB carries a 1.8-liter four-cylinder that had already been through a decade of emissions-driven detuning, and an optional overdrive unit that wasn’t standard until the following model year. Together they tell the story of how British sports cars adapted, or didn’t, to a changing regulatory landscape. The photos show a well-kept survivor of that transition.
There’s a very specific kind of dad joke that only makes sense once you’ve watched a set of rear tires vanish into their own smoke — and this photo is that joke made real. Here’s what’s actually happening under the hood in the seconds before a shot like this.
Zach Straits spent eight years bringing a neglected 1961 Ford Galaxie Starliner back to life, and the result — a 401-horsepower 390 FE-series V8 under one of Ford’s most distinctive fastback rooflines — stopped traffic at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Rosemont, Illinois. Lou Costabile’s My Car Story caught the full build story on camera. Watch to see why one commenter called this the best-looking full-size Ford of its decade.