Muscle Car Fan

Posts Tagged: classic

Ford never actually tied the Mustang GT package to a single engine, letting 1968 buyers choose between a mild 302 V8 and the fabled 428 Cobra Jet, all wrapped in a genuinely upscale interior with a two-spoke safety steering wheel and bench-seat option. That same duality put a GT 390 fastback on movie screens in Bullitt, and the surviving ‘hero car’ later sold for $3.4 million. Read on to find out why the muscle-or-luxury debate has never actually been settled.

Muscle cars are supposed to be big, right? Not always. From the pint-sized Dodge Dart to the compact-turned-icon Ford Falcon, some of the era’s hardest-hitting machines came in surprisingly small packages. Here’s why going small was sometimes the smartest move Detroit ever made.

Las Vegas is not just one of the best cities for classic car enthusiasts by reputation – it is backed up by real numbers, hosting the SEMA Show’s roughly 160,000 attendees and 2,200 exhibitors every year since 1977. Combined with St. Louis, Sacramento, and Miami’s own car cultures, this list reveals what really makes a city a haven for enthusiasts: infrastructure, climate, and a packed events calendar.

This 1969 Mercury Cougar convertible goes all-in on triple black paint, top, and interior, powered by the brand-new 351 Windsor V8 that debuted that same year and would go on to power Fords for two more decades. Cougars have always delivered genuine Mustang performance with a nicer interior, at a lower price than the badge everyone remembers. Read on to find out why this triple-black build makes that case so well.

Roadster Shop took a 1967 Chevelle that looks period-correct from fifteen feet away and hid a 680-horsepower supercharged LS, a custom Fast Track chassis, and a six-speed manual underneath it. The build keeps its original-style interior and chrome trim intact, proving a genuine pro touring monster does not have to look like one. Read on to find out what’s really under that Onyx Black paint.

This 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS went through a nearly three-year restoration before Vanguard Motor Sales put it up for sale, and the spec sheet reveals more than a fresh coat of paint — Edelbrock heads, a Ford 9-inch rear end, and an engine block with a story of its own. Watch the full walkaround to see what’s really under the surface.

Plymouth hasn’t built a car since 2001, so how does a 2013 Plymouth Superbird exist? Underneath the nose cone and wing is a modern Dodge Challenger, transformed by a specialty conversion kit into a tribute of one of NASCAR’s most famous aero cars. Watch to see how the illusion holds up.

Getting real drag wheels onto a modern Camaro, Mustang, or Challenger is nothing like bolting slicks onto a classic Chevelle, and that fitment gap is what Race Star Wheels built its business around. From a single design launched in 2009 to Friction Stir Fusion welding and a partnership with Pro Stock stars Greg Anderson and Jason Line, here is how one wheel company earned its place on serious drag cars, and what that means for the weekend racer.

Most 1969 Chevrolet C10 pickups left the factory with a small-block six or a 350 doing the work. This one didn’t take the usual path — a 396 big block sits under the hood, a combination Chevrolet built but never pushed hard in its truck lineup. Read on to find out why a big-block C10 is a rarer find than most people assume.

This 1959 Corvette left Chevrolet’s factory with a 283 small block, but it now runs a 350-based 383 stroker wrapped in a bold Packers green and yellow rally wrap over what used to be plain silver paint. That combination signals a car built for driving and attention rather than numbers-matching judging classes. Read on to find out what Chevrolet actually offered in 1959 and how far this particular Corvette has strayed from it.

This restomod build doesn’t just show off a finished classic — it walks through the entire transformation, from a full teardown to a modern powertrain swap, upgraded brakes, an all-new wiring harness, and a fresh interior that still respects the original design. It’s a rare look at everything that goes into bridging vintage style with modern performance, including the costs most builds prefer to leave out. Read on to see exactly what a build like this actually takes.

Everybody remembers the SOHC Cammer Comets that terrorized A/FX in 1964, driven by names like Dyno Don Nicholson and Arnie Beswick. Fewer people remember what Bill Stroppe’s shop built the following year to chase down the class just below it, a stripped, small-block Comet that could embarrass cars with a full inch of displacement advantage. Read on to find out how a 289 beat cars it had no business beating.

1979 was the biggest sales year the Firebird ever had, and the Formula sat in an interesting spot between the budget-focused Esprit and the flashier Trans Am. This example carries the shaker hood and dual exhaust that made Formula buyers feel like they’d gotten the enthusiast’s Firebird without paying Trans Am prices. Read on to find out what made 1979 such a pivotal year for the second-generation Firebird lineup.

A pair of veteran car show judges pulled back the curtain on what actually earns points on the show field – and it’s rarely the stuff that catches a casual walker-by’s eye. From factory-correct parts and materials to inspections of the engine bay, trunk, and undercarriage, judging a classic car is a far more forensic process than most owners realize. Here’s their advice on where to actually focus your restoration.

Scroll To Top