Muscle Car Fan

Thunderbird 1962-1963

Lee Iacocca took over Ford’s day-to-day operations determined to give buyers more reasons to visit a showroom, and the 1962-1963 Thunderbird Sports Roadster was part of that push — complete with wire wheels borrowed straight from genuine sports cars, a fiberglass tonneau cover, and an ultra-rare 345-horsepower Tri-Power engine option that lasted barely a year and a half. It also involved Elvis Presley, a collapsing wire wheel, and a name change that almost happened but didn’t. Read on to find out how it all fit together.

1969 Camaro ZL-1 with a powerful engine on display at a car show.

video: THE FIRST 1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 EVER BUILT

by Wes

This 1969 Camaro ZL-1 isn’t just rare — it’s chassis number one, the very first of only 69 ever built, delivered to Fred Gibb Chevrolet on New Year’s Eve 1968 and turned into a drag-strip record setter almost immediately. Host Charley Lillard walks through its all-aluminum 427, its competition history, and why fewer than 40 ZL-1s are believed to survive today. One commenter calls it simply the Holy Grail of all Camaros.

Classic 1960s beige Ford Galaxie car parked outdoors.

Plymouth Satellite 1965 – 426 Wedge

by Kiril

A 1965 Plymouth wearing rare copper paint and a 426 badge sounds like it should be running the legendary Hemi. It isn’t. A full year before the street Hemi rewrote what that number meant, Plymouth was already building a completely different 426 around a wedge combustion chamber. It lasted two model years before disappearing from the brochures almost entirely. Read on to find out what happened to the other 426.

Close-up of a 460 cubic inch engine block undergoing assembly.

How to: 440 Stroker Build part 1

by Wes

A stroker build video that started as a simple garage update turned into something bigger once the comments filled up — viewers sharing their own battles with the same aftermarket parts supplier, technical debates over cylinder sleeving, and one builder’s blunt verdict that the 440 is the most powerful wedge in the world. Part one covers only the beginning of this Mopar big-block project. Watch to see where it starts.

Classic red Pontiac GTO with polished wheels parked outdoors.

Car Hack: Transform Your Muscle Car’s Headlights from Dull to Sleek

by Kiril

The toothpaste trick for cloudy headlights is one of the most repeated tips in the car world, and it does work, but almost nobody mentions the two things that matter most: how quickly the results disappear, and the fact that most genuine classic muscle cars do not have the kind of headlights it applies to. Here is what is really happening to a hazy lens, why the fix fades in weeks, and what to do instead depending on what your car actually came with.

Classic orange muscle car parked on a street.

Guess the year, make and model!

by Kiril

This orange muscle car is a Mercury Cyclone, a nameplate that started as a Comet trim level before evolving into a genuine 427 and 428 Cobra Jet-powered NASCAR aero warrior. Despite matching Torino and Chevelle SS performance, it remains one of the most overlooked muscle cars of the era. Read on to find out how a car built to homologate NASCAR aero packages ended up parked on a quiet street instead of in the history books.

Classic silver sports car with red wheels on display indoors.

Chevrolet Corvette 1963 Pro Touring

by Kiril

Only one model year of Corvette ever wore the split rear window, and Chevrolet deleted it after twelve months because the designers and the engineers could not agree. That single detail is why a 1963 Sting Ray coupe carries a premium no other C2 can match, and why building one into a Pro Touring car with an LS3 and side pipes is such a loaded decision. This one crossed the block at Auburn. Read on to find out what that split window actually cost.

Glossy black muscle car with hood open at an indoor auto show.

Dodge Challenger 2015 HELLCAT Pigeon Forge Rod Run 2015

by Kiril

A 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat turned up at the Pigeon Forge Rod Run wearing modifications its owner never bothered to explain, parked among hot rods four times its age. The stock car already made 707 horsepower and held an NHRA-certified 11.2-second quarter mile, which makes the question of what got changed more interesting, not less. Here is what that supercharged HEMI actually is, what owners typically do to them first, and why a barely-used car earned a spot at one of the South’s oldest gatherings.

A sleek red sports car with black rims parked in front of a building.

Gen-6 2016 Camaro SS that tops 200 mph!

by Kiril

Two hundred miles per hour is not a horsepower problem, it is a physics problem, and drag gets exponentially harder to overcome the faster you go. Hennessey took a brand-new sixth-generation Camaro SS, added a supercharger and a long list of supporting hardware, and came back with a verified 202.1 mph. Here is what went into the HPE750 package, why the number was so hard to reach, and how a factory Camaro ended up in company that used to belong exclusively to exotics.

Classic light green vintage pickup truck in pristine condition.

This is a beautiful Chevrolet truck!! But, which model & year?

by Kiril

Chevrolet’s 1957 Cameo Carrier borrowed styling tricks from the Corvette parts bin and offered power steering and power brakes years before that was normal on a pickup. Sales had already cooled from its 1955 debut by the time this example was built, making surviving trucks genuinely rare. Read on to find out which model year is hiding behind the paint.

Classic vintage muscle car parked outdoors on a sunny day.

Guess the year, make and model!

by Kiril

This 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS wears the first major redesign of GM’s mid-size muscle car, along with a brand-new standard equipment: the 396-cubic-inch big block, now installed in every SS built that year. Chevrolet sold over 72,000 of them, but only a fraction carried the rare, solid-lifter L78. Read on to find out what separates a 1966 from the Chevelles that came before and after it.

A red classic convertible car displayed indoors with polished wheels.

1968 Mercury Cougar XR7-G “ Dan Gurney ”

by Kiril

Only about 619 of them were ever built, and the racing driver they were named after had left the brand before the model year was over. The 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7-G began as a tribute to Dan Gurney’s Trans-Am program and ended as a one-year-only special with no factory racing effort left to celebrate. What buyers actually got for their money is stranger than the story behind it. Read on to find out what made this Cougar different.

Classic black 1972 Chevrolet Nova in pristine condition.

1972 Chevrolet Nova For Sale

by Wes

Vanguard Motor Sales has listed a 1972 Chevrolet Nova built as a tribute to Don Yenko’s legendary big-block Novas, backed by a genuine 454 with real ZL-1 Snowflake heads, an explosion-proof bell housing, and Wilwood brakes on all four corners. One commenter says he built and sold a nearly identical car years ago — and still regrets it.

Side view of a vintage green muscle car parked outdoors.

Pontiac Lemans 1968 images

by Ross Mills

Pontiac badged this LeMans engine a “350” even though it actually displaced 353.8 cubic inches, a naming quirk that’s followed the model for decades. A full 1968 redesign turned the LeMans into a genuine cross-shop for buyers eyeing the pricier GTO. Read on to find out why the numbers on the badge never quite matched what was under the hood.

Sleek white and black sports car showcased at an auto event.

A 10-second Mustang That wont break the bank? Ohio dealer will sell you one for $60K

by Wes

Lebanon Ford Performance is selling a purpose-built Mustang capable of mid-10-second quarter miles for $59,995, straight off the dealer lot. The comments split between buyers doing supercharger math and one self-described Mopar loyalist grudgingly admitting the car earns its reputation — sleeper looks, no fender flares, and a question about the warranty that nobody quite answers.

Welcome to the exhilarating world of muscle cars!