Muscle Car Fan

Vintage race car number 55 on the track.

69 days until the Daytona 500: A look back at the outrageous 1969 Dodge Charger

Dodge built the 1969 Charger Daytona to beat Ford on NASCAR’s fastest superspeedways after six straight years of losing the manufacturers’ championship. An 18-inch nose cone tested in an aircraft wind tunnel and a towering rear wing turned a struggling full-size Charger into the first stock car to break 200 miles per hour. It worked so well that NASCAR rewrote its own rules just to slow it down. Read on for how a two-season career made this the most collectible Mopar most casual fans still can’t quite place.

Two cars racing on a drag strip at night with spectators watching.

WHEELIES Compilation – Lights Out 7!

by Kiril

Duck X Productions’ Lights Out 7 turned South Georgia Motorsports Park into a proving ground for radial-tire cars pushing well past 2,000 horsepower, and the wheelstands that resulted became the stuff of drag racing legend. From the physics of exactly when a front end lifts to the underdog racer who showed up without a running car and left with a five-figure purse, the story behind the chaos is stranger than the clips alone let on.

1955 Pontiac Star Chief in blue and white, a classic American car.

land speed record 2 in 1 dayDec-18,1898-1st pass39.245mph(63.15 km/h) 2nd pass 57.65mph(92.778km/h)by Gaston Laubat-electric car “Jeantaud” -Acheres, France

by Ross Mills

1955 was the year Pontiac finally let go of the straight-eight and gave the Star Chief its first V8, a 287-cubic-inch Strato Streak good for up to 180 horsepower. Positioned as Pontiac’s prestige model above the Chieftain, it came in five body styles, from a plain sedan to a Safari wagon to a full convertible, and drew more than 200,000 buyers that year alone. Here’s what made 1955 the turning point for Pontiac’s lineup.

Two black sports cars ready for a drag race at a racing event.

So,Who’s Quickest ? Hellcat Charger or Challenger -drag racing

by Wes

A lineup of stock Hellcat Chargers and Challengers line up for straight-line bragging rights in this drag racing compilation, settling the question of whether the four-door Charger gives up anything against its two-door sibling. Comments range from jokes about spouse-approved practicality to a driver’s cautious launch technique. Watch to see which body style, and which driver, actually crosses the line first.

A detailed model of a black and white Ford Mustang in display packaging.

Caption this!

by Kiril

This black-and-white Ford Mustang diecast, still sealed in its display packaging, is exactly the kind of collectible that keeps scale-model hunters busy at swap meets and hobby shops long after the full-size car left showrooms. Packaging condition, limited production runs, and factory-correct liveries can matter as much to diecast collectors as horsepower does to muscle car buyers. Someone snapped this photo and left the punchline up to you. Here’s your chance to decide what this little Mustang is thinking.

Sleek red sports car parked on a mountain road.

The Accord V6 Coupe Is the Last Real American Muscle Car

by Kiril

A two-door, built in Ohio, with a naturally aspirated V6 and a six-speed manual, sold at a mainstream price to ordinary buyers. Written as a specification rather than a badge, that is close to the original 1964 definition of a muscle car, and by 2017 no American manufacturer was selling one. Read on for how strong the argument actually is, and where it falls apart.

Vintage wood-paneled car parked outdoors with people nearby.

Hey You! Got A Woodie? Car that is…

by Pat C

Henry Ford once bought roughly 430,000 acres of Michigan timberland just to supply the hardwood for his station wagons, running his own sawmill to shape doors, dashboards, and headliners by hand. That wood-bodied construction disappeared by the early 1950s once steel proved cheaper and more durable, but the woodie’s story didn’t end there. A decade later, surfers turned aging wagons into rolling icons of the California coast, the same cars later name-checked in songs like the one that opens this post. Here’s how a grocery-hauler became a cultural symbol.

A classic red 1964 Chrysler Imperial Crown driving on a sunny road.

Story: 1964 Chrysler Imperial Crown Coupe

by Wes

Joe Pieroni has owned his 1964 Chrysler Imperial Crown Coupe since 1989 — and in thirty-five years, he says he has seen exactly one other one. The two-door Crown Coupe was always the rarer choice within Chrysler’s already low-volume luxury division, and survivors from this era are scarcer still. Commenters call it the most beautiful car they’ve ever seen. Watch the full walkthrough to see why this Imperial has stayed in one owner’s hands for over three decades.

A classic blue 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in a scenic wooded area.

Kids restore dad’s 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in memory of late mother

by Wes

Richard Schmidt’s 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T convertible sat untouched for forty years after he and his late wife Kitty stopped using it as their everyday cruiser. His kids brought it back — not for the horsepower, but in her memory. Hagerty named the finished restoration its 2016 Classic of the Year, beating eleven other finalist stories. Watch the full story and see why one viewer called it ‘how to make a car guy cry 101.’

Classic 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T in blue with white stripes parked in driveway.

1971 Dodge Challenger R/T RT in B5 Blue & 426 Hemi Engine

by Wes

Tom Lembeck’s 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T packs a numbers-matching 426 Hemi, a factory Pistol Grip 4-speed, and fewer than 12,000 original miles, plus an interior option, a factory Dictaphone, that most Mopar fans have never actually seen in person. Lou Costabile sat down with Tom to walk through what makes this all-original survivor so rare. Watch to see the details that left even viewers stunned.

Man welding a metal frame under a car in a workshop.

Muscle Car Restoration – Metal Work – Patch Panel

by Wes

Rust doesn’t ask permission before it eats through a Mustang’s rear quarter panel, and fixing it properly is slower and more exacting than most people assume. This video follows Greg cutting and welding a patch panel into a 1967 Mustang coupe, doing the kind of careful sheet metal work that separates a repair that lasts decades from one that fails in five years. Watch the process and see why commenters call this a dying craft.

Three vintage cars displayed in a garage with automotive memorabilia.

Which of these three music-inspiring cars appreciated most?

by Kiril

Appraiser Donald Osborne, who moonlights as an opera singer, sat down with Jay Leno to settle a debate between three cars that each inspired a hit song, including the 1952 Lincoln Capri immortalized in “Hot Rod Lincoln.” Only one of those three cars turned its musical fame into real collector-market gains. Nostalgia and rarity don’t always move together, and this roundup only proves it further with dispatches from a London concours and a Chicago muscle car show. Here’s what actually separates a beloved song car from a valuable one.

Classic white convertible car at an indoor car show.

1967 Pontiac Firebird Convertible in Pearl White

by Kiril

This 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible looks close enough to factory-stock to fool a casual glance — until you learn the restoration shop deliberately built in modern parts to make it run and handle better than it ever did new. Shop owners Chuck and Debbie Woolery walk through exactly what changed and what stayed original on this Pearl White, 400-cubic-inch first-year Firebird, shown at Chicago’s World of Wheels. Watch to see where the line between restoration and improvement actually falls.

Classic black muscle car parked on a sunny day.

Important Things To Consider Before Buying A Muscle Car

by Wes

Buying a muscle car is rarely as simple as signing the paperwork — insurance, storage, resale value, and repair costs all factor into whether the purchase makes sense long-term. Some models appreciate with proper care; others lose value the moment you drive them home. Read on for the questions worth answering before you commit to a purchase you can’t easily walk back.

Classic dark blue muscle car with dual hood scoops and chrome accents.

1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 455 engine 1970 images

by Ross Mills

General Motors spent the late 1960s capping its intermediates at 400 cubic inches. When that rule disappeared for 1970, Oldsmobile answered with a 455-powered 4-4-2 whose advertised horsepower figure was almost certainly a deliberate lie. This Gateway Classic Cars example wears the badge quietly, but the W-30 story behind it involves fiberglass hoods, red plastic fenders, and an insurance industry that was watching very closely. Read on for what Lansing was really hiding.

Welcome to the exhilarating world of muscle cars!