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Adding a hundred horsepower to most muscle cars means a shopping list: bigger brakes, stiffer springs, wider tires, a stronger differential. The sixth-generation Camaro SS largely shrugs that process off, thanks to a GM Alpha platform shared with Cadillac and a significant weight reduction over the car it replaced. Bolt on a supercharger and the LT1’s 455 horsepower climbs into ZL1 territory. Read on for what the chassis handles on its own, and what it genuinely does not.
Before it became a footnote in “hot or not” debates, the Mercury Cougar beat every other 1967 Detroit product to the Motor Trend Car of the Year award. Built on a name originally floated for the Mustang, it stretched that platform three inches longer and dressed it in a genuinely upscale cabin. Engine options topped out with a 320-horsepower 390 V8. Here’s what made this pony car different from the one it was compared to constantly.
Beneath the plain sheetmetal of this mid-size Plymouth sat one of the rarest engines Chrysler ever sold to the public: the 425-horsepower Street Hemi, built for NHRA stock classes and barely civilized for the street. Only 677 Belvederes were built with it in 1966, a year before the GTX name even existed to advertise what was under the hood. Buyers got forged internals, dual four-barrel carburetion, and a torque curve that demanded a reinforced rear axle. It’s the missing chapter most muscle car fans skip straight past.
A small group of muscle car enthusiasts built Equus Automotive around a simple bet: that a hand-built coupe with a Corvette ZR1 drivetrain and a retro-inspired body could compete with far more established manufacturers. The Bass770 backs that bet with 640 horsepower, carbon-ceramic Brembo brakes, and a six-figure price tag to match. Read on to see what a four-month custom build actually gets you.
Ford built one of its best naturally aspirated V8s for the SVT Mustang Cobra and Ford GT, then quietly dropped variants of it into a Lincoln and a Mercury that almost nobody cross-shops for performance. The used market still hasn’t caught up to what’s actually under the hood of these cars. Read on to find out which two overlooked models carry genuine Cobra-engine credentials for a fraction of Mustang money, and what to check before buying one.
Tesla’s original two-seat Roadster picked up serious upgrades between 2010 and 2012 — a hand-wound stator for more efficient power delivery, adjustable suspension, noise-damping body panels, and a genuinely upscale leather interior. A mid-cycle refresh added new wheels, a touchscreen, and hot-climate hardware before Tesla’s Lotus-based chassis supply ran out for good. Read on to find out how a Silicon Valley startup’s first car built a case for electric performance long before it became mainstream.
Forty-two years after the original Boss 302 was built to win a Trans-Am race, Ford brought the name back with one very specific goal: beat a BMW M3 around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Around the same time, Chevrolet revived the ZL1 badge — a name that started with one Illinois dealer’s odd request for fifty aluminum-block Camaros — on a supercharged, 550-plus horsepower Camaro built using suspension technology borrowed from the Corvette ZR1. Read on to find out how two of Detroit’s oldest names ended up chasing the same import.
Only two examples of this coachbuilt Bentley were ever built, and their paths diverged almost immediately, one preserved in a factory museum, the other sold into a private American collection. Design No. CT150 stands as one of the last projects James Young of Bromley completed before its coachbuilding era ended for good. Read on to find out why this rare Bentley debuted at the Geneva Motor Show before its first owner ever saw it.
The engine gets all the attention, but the suspension is what actually decides whether a muscle car’s horsepower turns into confident handling or a fight through every corner. This guide covers the Hotchkiss leaf-spring setups that dominated for decades, the four-link and independent front designs that eventually replaced them, the factory handling packages worth knowing, and what to check before buying a car with a suspension that has not been refreshed in years. Read on to find out what is really holding your muscle car’s corners together.