factory | Muscle Car Fan

Ford Motors V8 supplement FE & FT 3 of 4

Ford built the FE 427 Cammer to solve one problem: Chrysler’s 426 Hemi was dominating NASCAR, and a conventional block wasn’t going to catch it. The side-oiler engine replaced a normal camshaft with an idler shaft and a six-foot timing chain driving twin overhead cams, hollow sodium-filled exhaust valves, and a hemispherical combustion chamber Ford couldn’t even call a Hemi because Chrysler owned the name. Sold as a crate engine in 1968, the dual-carb version made 657 horsepower for $2,350. Read on for how Ford’s FE family evolved from Mercury’s 410 to this NASCAR-killer.

Muscle Car Tuner DragRace: HPE650/SuperSnake/Speedfactory

by Ross Mills

A Hennessey HPE650 Camaro, a Shelby Super Snake, and a SpeedFactory-built Challenger SRT8 lined up with one thing in common: none of them left the factory anywhere close to this powerful. Hennessey went the naturally aspirated route with ported heads and cams, Shelby went straight to a Whipple blower, and SpeedFactory brought the Mopar. Here is why weight and traction usually decide these matchups long before horsepower does, and why the format of the race changes the answer.

Classic yellow muscle car parked indoors with polished chrome wheels.

Rats Forever Forever Rats: Jerry McLean Kept His 1969 SS396 Chevelle Big-Block Powered

by Kiril

Chevrolet built more SS 396 Chevelles in 1969 than in any other year of the option’s run, more than 86,000 of them, and yet keeping one genuinely big-block powered five decades later is its own kind of stubbornness. Jerry McLean named his build Rats Forever, and anyone who knows what a rat motor is already understands the entire philosophy. Here is what that commitment actually costs, and why the community respects it.

Classic red convertible sports car in a showroom.

Ford Mustang GT500KR 1968 images

by Ross Mills

Legend holds that Carroll Shelby trademarked the ‘King of the Road’ name in a hurry after hearing Chevrolet wanted it for a Corvette — securing it for his new 428 Cobra Jet-powered Mustang instead. Shelby built the GT500KR for barely two months in 1968, producing just 1,053 fastbacks and 517 convertibles — 1,570 cars total. Independent road tests of the era clocked it at 5.4 seconds to 60 mph, numbers that placed it among the quickest American cars you could buy.

A classic red muscle car parked outdoors near a building.

How much would you pay for this one?

by Kiril

The triple-carb 440 under this Cuda’s hood was not a casual option. Plymouth built barely 1,700-some of them in 1970, split between four-speed and automatic cars. Here is what made the 440 Six Pack such a rare and serious performance package, and why guessing its value takes more than eyeballing the sheet metal.

A green AMC Javelin car at the Ringbrothers event.

Ringbrothers’ 1972 AMC Javelin – Jay Leno’s Garage

by Wes

Ringbrothers built this 1972 AMC Javelin around a supercharged Hellcat engine pushing roughly 1,100 horsepower — enough to earn a genuine, rare laugh out of Jay Leno himself on Jay Leno’s Garage. Mike and Jim Ring took one of muscle car history’s most overlooked nameplates and turned it into one of the wildest builds the show has featured. Fans in the comments are already asking for more AMC. Watch to see what makes this Javelin different from anything AMC ever built.

Red Ford Mustang parked indoors with headlights on.

Why the Ford Mustang is the Top Performance Car of 2016?

by Kiril

By 2016, the Ford Mustang had transformed from a beloved but provincial American icon into a genuine global performance car, built at the factory in right-hand-drive for the first time in the nameplate’s history. Independent rear suspension and a chassis tuned for corners rather than just straight lines opened waiting lists across dozens of new countries. Read on to find out what made 2016 the Mustang’s breakout year worldwide.

Red sports car driving on a road at sunset.

2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Specs, Price: Muscle Car Claims Title of Most Powerful Production Vehicle

by Kiril

The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon made 808 horsepower on pump gas and 840 on race fuel, ran a certified 9.65-second quarter mile, and lifted its front wheels hard enough to earn a Guinness record. It also arrived with a steel crate of drag parts, a factory transbrake, and an air conditioner repurposed to chill the intake charge. Dodge built it for a single model year and then walked away. Read on for what it actually took to get there.

A bright yellow Ford Mustang on a sunny road.

What It’s Like to Drive a 1000HP Mustang [4K]

by Wes

Ryan’s Mustang produces 930 horsepower at the wheels through a fully built motor and a Procharger centrifugal supercharger, yet the Gears and Gasoline crew describes the power delivery as smoother than cars making far less. Built for both weekend driving and half-mile racing, it’s a dual-purpose build its own owner treats like nothing special. Watch to find out why that composure surprised everyone in the car.

Two sports cars parked on a desert road under a clear sky.

Unleashing the Fury: All-Motor 4.6 Mustang Dominates the Streets

by Jack Harmon

The 2007 Mustang GT’s 4.6-liter three-valve V8 made 300 horsepower and 320 lb-ft, ran the quarter mile in the high thirteens, and never had the reputation of a big-inch engine. In the right hands it consistently embarrassed cars that outgunned it on paper, without a turbo or a supercharger anywhere in the build. The secret was never displacement. Read on for where the power actually hides in a naturally aspirated 4.6, and what it costs to find it.

A classic red Porsche sports car parked on the road.

Porsche 912-1969-images

by Ross Mills

The 1969 Porsche 912 was the last of its kind — a four-cylinder alternative to the 911 that briefly outsold its six-cylinder sibling before Porsche folded the nameplate away for good. Built on the same stretched wheelbase and flared fenders as that year’s 911, it’s now drawing steady collector interest for being simpler, cheaper to maintain, and increasingly rare. A well-kept example today can bring well into five figures.

Classic green muscle car with dual white racing stripes parked indoors.

True Stories of The Muscle Car Fan: AMC Exec Passes Javelin AMX With Go Package

by Pat C

Brad Mathis learned to drive on his grandfather’s grasshopper-green AMC Javelin AMX — a fully loaded “Go Package” car built by a man who spent his career working inside AMC’s High-Speed Stop Division. What started as supervised laps around a garage at age twelve grew into a personal collection of seven AMC vehicles and a Javelin now in its fourth generation of family ownership. Read on for how one family turned a single car into a lifelong AMC obsession.

Chevrolet Impala SS 1963 images

by Ross Mills

The 1963 Impala SS looks like a full-size cruiser and, ordered correctly, was one of the fastest cars Chevrolet sold that year. The car in this Gateway Classic Cars gallery carries the rare factory dash-mounted tachometer, an option most buyers skipped and the one that tells you what the original owner intended. Read on for the engine that a pop song made famous and the aluminum trim that defines the model year.

Purple muscle car performing a burnout with smoke on a race track.

426 Hemi GTX vs 440 / 6 Pack Challenger – 1/4 Mile Drag Race & Burn Out Video – Road Test TV

by Wes

A 1967 Plymouth GTX running the legendary 426 Hemi lines up against a 1970 Dodge Challenger 440 Six Pack in this quarter mile drag race from Road Test TV — two of the rarest muscle cars Mopar ever built, going head to head. The Six Pack jumps out front early, but the Hemi has a plan for the second half of the run. One viewer’s story about his own father predicted exactly how it would end. Watch to see who takes it.

Annotated side view of a classic Mustang highlighting key exterior features.

22 clues on how to identify a real GT Mustang

by Kiril

Bolting GT badges onto a base Mustang takes ten minutes. Telling a genuine factory GT from a well-executed clone takes a good deal longer, and the tells are not where most buyers look. A VIN digit, a stamped reinforcement plate, a gas cap and a rear valance will settle the argument faster than any emblem. Here is what to check, in what order, before the money changes hands.

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