factory | Muscle Car Fan

A red Corvette performing a burnout on a race track.

$1 Million Burnout ? Ultra Rare 427 L88 Corvette 1/4 Mile Drag Race Video – Road Test TV

A 1969 Corvette L88 — one of only 116 built, and one of the most underrated engines Chevrolet ever sold — rolls to the line with its door still open and runs an 11.5-second quarter mile on the car’s original poly-glass tires. Against a 1970 Chevelle SS 396 that runs a respectable 13.66, the gap says everything about why L88 Corvettes now sell for well over a million dollars at auction. Zora Arkus-Duntov built this engine for endurance racing, not showroom bragging rights. Watch to see just how much faster “Zora’s monster” really is.

Classic 1964 Shelby Mustang GT350 on display indoors.

1968 Shelby GT500KR Convertible 428 Cobra Jet V8 – Original Survivor

by Wes

This numbers-matching 1968 Shelby GT500KR convertible pairs its original 428 Cobra Jet V8 with a four-speed manual, original interior, and – remarkably – its original factory exhaust after more than forty years. Its own video description claims 517 convertibles were built that year, and documented Shelby production figures back that up almost exactly at 518 – though a couple of commenters, including one with a documented twin, try to argue the real number is closer to 318. Filmed at Fast Lane Classic Cars in Missouri, it’s a rare survivor wrapped in its own small mystery. Watch to see the full walkaround.

Classic 1970 muscle car in dark green with powerful performance features.

Breakdown/History: 1970 Dick Harrell 454 Camaro

by Wes

This 1970 Camaro started life as an ordinary factory 350 SS before a trip to the Dick Harrell Performance Center turned it into a 454-powered rarity, and it survives today unrestored, with roughly 6,000 original miles. Commenters pick apart everything from its likely 4.88:1 rear gear to whether those tires are period-correct. See the full breakdown of one of the Brothers Collection’s standout cars.

Old dusty red car with a missing front grille parked outdoors.

Saved From The Crusher: A ’69 Daytona’s Amazing Story!

by Wes

A 1969 Dodge Daytona spent nine years sitting in a Kansas City junkyard, one of roughly fifty impounded cars slowly waiting their turn at the crusher after a used-car dealer’s title fraud scheme collapsed. One collector’s memory of a Richard Petty magazine ad is the only reason it still exists, and the deal he struck to save it was stranger than most restoration stories get. Read on for how it ended up winning a Concours Gold award decades later.

1966 Pontiac GTO with 326 V8 engine and 4-speed transmission.

1966 PONTIAC GTO 389 4-speed TRI-POWER

by Kiril

This 1966 Pontiac GTO runs the genuine factory Tri-Power 389 and four-speed manual that enthusiasts consider the GTO’s high-water mark, filmed for Garrett Classics in Lewisville, Texas. Longtime GTO owners in the comments ran through it like a correctness checklist — Hurst shifter, PMD Rally Wheels, factory power brakes — and approved. See what the car John DeLorean fought GM’s rules to create looks like when it’s done exactly right.

Close-up of two colorful muscle cars with HEMI engine badges.

What’s your pick?

by Kiril

Two Hemi-badged muscle cars, side by side, and no caption to settle the argument. Whichever specific models these are, that small emblem alone guarantees a debate, the 426 Hemi was rated at 425 horsepower when it reached showrooms in 1966, a figure most enthusiasts still consider conservative. It is proof that in the Mopar world, the badge can matter as much as the car wearing it.

Ford Motors V8 supplement FE & FT 3 of 4

by Ross Mills

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.

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.

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