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AMC built the AMX as a two-seat halo car meant to prove a budget-focused company could build a real sports car, and it worked almost too well: total production across three model years landed at just over 19,000 units. Its 390-cid V8 made 315 horsepower on a chassis shortened from the Javelin until the wheelbase actually beat the Corvette’s. That rarity is exactly why a wanted ad like this one still shows up decades later. Here’s what makes the AMX worth the hunt.
This 1965 Chevy Nova SS wears a body Chevrolet never paired with a 406 cubic-inch V8, a Ford 9-inch rear end, or rack-and-pinion steering — all changes bolted on by a builder chasing quarter-mile performance over factory correctness. Sub-frame connectors, a trunk-mounted battery, and Mickey Thompson drag radials all point toward a car built to launch hard, not just look sharp at a cruise-in. RamblinAround walked through the full build with photos and receipts in hand at Fast Lane Classic Cars. Watch to see how far off the factory blueprint a serious Nova build can go.
1967 was the year the Plymouth Satellite got quietly outranked by its own family. The new Belvedere GTX arrived that year with a 440 wedgehead V8 and, for the first time, a genuine Hemi option. The Satellite carried on as Plymouth’s value performance pick, powered by a 383 available with either a two-barrel or four-barrel carburetor. Here’s how the B-body pecking order shifted in a single model year.
Chevrolet Impala SS, the epitome of performance from 1961 to 1969, started as a humble trim option but evolved into a symbol of Chevy’s prowess. With engines ranging from a modest 250 cu in six-cylinder to a mighty 409 cu in V8, it offered muscle enthusiasts a buffet of horsepower. The 1965 model even ditched “idiot lights” for full instrument clusters, proving it’s smarter than your average car! By 1966, Chevy added side chrome trim to combat “door dings,” because who needs battle scars, right?
The 1957 Chrysler 300C was not just another finned Fifties flagship, it packed a 392 Hemi serious enough to make a real case as the true ancestor of the muscle car formula, years before Pontiac ever built a GTO. Buyers could even order a stripped-down, mechanical-lifter version of that Hemi built purely for performance, though almost nobody did. Here is why the rarest engine option in the 300C’s lineup remains one of the great forgotten specs of 1950s Detroit.
The Dodge Charger burst onto the scene in 1966, a sleek, fastback beauty that made its Coronet cousin look like the introverted sibling at a car family reunion. Luxuriously priced at $3,100, it was like a Marlin with a snazzier hat. Boasting hidden headlights and a taillight grin, it packed options from a 318-cubic-inch engine to the roaring 426 Hemi. In 1967, the Charger donned fender signals and a vinyl roof, but sales took a nosedive—guess not everyone wanted a car that could double as a disco.
The second-generation El Camino (1964-1967) was a Chevelle’s twin, chopped at the B-pillars to create a utility vehicle with a flair for power. Starting modestly with six-cylinder engines, it quickly beefed up with V8 muscle, peaking at a 396-cubic-inch beast by ’67. It evolved with each model year, from power boosts to snazzy upgrades like a collapsible steering column and front disc brakes. By 1967, it was a stylish workhorse, versatile enough for hauling hay or hustling on the highway.
Ford gave the compact Falcon real muscle with the Sprint package and its 289 V8, only to watch its own Mustang, built on the same platform, make the Falcon obsolete almost overnight. Just 300 Sprint convertibles and 2,806 Sprint hardtops were sold in the model’s final year. Here is the story of the compact that lost to its own sibling.
A tip from a stranger led a well-known barn-find hunter to a rural Kansas shop, where a 1965 Chevelle Z16 — one of only 200 ever built — had sat untouched for roughly 48 years. The car’s owner, a local racing legend named Cliff, reportedly received it directly from Chevrolet decades ago, and it still carries the specific factory details that separate a real Z16 from an ordinary 396 Chevelle. Watch to see what half a century of stillness actually looks like.
The Chevrolet Corvair, America’s quirky answer to the VW Beetle, wowed with its rear-mounted, air-cooled engine from 1960 to 1969. It was a hit with budget-conscious buyers, offering style in various body types, including a convertible and even a pick-up truck! The Corvair revved up the sports car scene with the turbocharged Monza Spyder. Yet, Ralph Nader’s “Unsafe at Any Speed” in 1965 pulled the brakes on its popularity, proving that sometimes bad press trumps good engineering.
Oldsmobile’s factory 442 came with a 400-cube V8 good for 345 horsepower back in 1965 – solid for the era, but nowhere close to what a determined builder can squeeze from a stroked big block today. This Cutlass F-85 skips the factory recipe entirely for a 461-cube big block under the hood, built with autocross duty in mind rather than a concours trophy. Oldsmobile itself only leaned into the 442 formula that year after watching Pontiac’s GTO take off. Here’s why a clone built for speed might make more sense than chasing a numbers-matching original.
Rubber-bumper MGBs like this 1979 car are often assumed to be the last MGBs built, though the real final year was actually 1980. The bumpers added over 100 pounds to meet American crash standards and initially hurt handling that a factory fix later helped restore. Here is what changed under those controversial bumpers, and what did not.
The 1964-1966 Ford Thunderbird, a daring mix of luxury and heft, cruised into the spotlight with its stylish flair overshadowing its athletic prowess. Despite a robust V8 engine, its weight made quick starts a distant dream. The ’64 model uniquely boasted “Thunderbird” on its hood, while sequential tail lights debuted in ’65, causing a blip in its release. By ’66, a tweaked V8 and a new Town Landau model attempted to elevate its game. The T-bird’s cinematic stardom added a dash of Hollywood glamour to its legacy.
The 1967 Plymouth Belvedere lived a double life — one version chased down traffic violators for the LAPD and starred in Adam-12s pilot episode, while another, ordered with the rare 425 horsepower 426 Hemi option, could out-muscle nearly everything else on the road. Only 720 buyers checked that Hemi box that year, making it one of the most overlooked factory Hemi cars Mopar ever built.