factory | Muscle Car Fan

What Color To Paint it? Army Serviceman Buys 71 Charger To Put 572 Hemi In

An Army aircraft mechanic stationed overseas bought this rust-free 1971 Dodge Charger sight-unseen, with plans to drop in a 572-cubic-inch Hemi built for over 800 horsepower. Before the media blasting and undercoating are even finished, one question remains unresolved: stick with factory-correct yellow, or go full restomod with flat black and bold stripes? The build taps into a growing wave of big-block Charger restomods that trade numbers-matching originality for modern muscle and serious street presence.

Close-up of a car engine under the hood.

Incredible 1966 “Carry-Over” GT350 Barn Find

by Wes

Coy Harvey opened a garage door in Lubbock, Texas expecting ordinary clutter and found a 1966 Shelby GT350 buried underneath years of garden tools and Christmas decorations. It’s not just any GT350 — it’s a rare “carry-over” example, built during the transition between the 1965 and 1966 model years using earlier-spec components. Harvey’s own background restoring classic Mustangs meant he knew exactly what he’d found the moment he saw it.

Classic black muscle car parked in a sunny outdoor setting.

Retro Flashback! 1979 Chevy Camaro Z/28

by Kiril

This 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 proves the muscle car era wasn’t as dead as critics claimed. Built with a cammed 350 V8, headers, and its original four-speed manual transmission, it wears the black-and-orange color combination that defined the second-generation Z/28 at its peak. Watch the full 4K road test and tour of a survivor built during the industry’s so-called malaise era.

Chevrolet Chevy II Origins to 1965 – the First Generation

by Ross Mills

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.

Classic black vintage car with chrome detailing on display.

Plymouth Sport Fury 1963 – 361 Commando Convertible

by Kiril

Pop the hood on this factory-black 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury and you’ll find the engine nobody brags about at car shows, and it might be the smarter choice. While everyone chases the 383 Golden Commando, this convertible went a quieter direction entirely. Read on to find out why the less famous engine might actually be the one to own.

800 HP Dodge Charger 605 cid / 9.9 L

by Ross Mills

A naturally aspirated 605 cubic inch Mopar big block making 800 horsepower sounds like it belongs under a modern turbocharged hood, not a classic Dodge Charger. Stroking a factory B/RB big block to this size takes it well past anything Chrysler engineers built at the factory, and it puts this Charger in the company of other 605-inch Mopar builds chasing the same big-inch, no-boost philosophy.

Classic silver station wagon with black wheels parked on asphalt under cloudy sky.

Chevrolet Malibu Wagon 1979 images

by Ross Mills

When the Chevelle name disappeared from Chevy’s lineup in 1978, it was quietly replaced by the Malibu — and by 1979 that included a wagon body style most muscle car fans have never given a second look. Under the hood, buyers could still order a genuine 305 or 350 cubic-inch V8, keeping a real performance option alive even as the car shed nearly 1,000 pounds versus the Chevelle it replaced. With over 120,000 wagons sold that year alone and a vanishingly rare four-speed manual option, this is one of the most overlooked survivors of Chevy’s mid-size lineup.

Ford Thunderbird 1962 Images

by Ross Mills

Ford’s 1962 Thunderbird Sports Roadster used a clever fiberglass tonneau cover to disguise a genuine four-seat convertible as a two-seat sports car, right down to spoke wire wheels and special fender badges. Check the right option box and Ford would add Tri-Power carburetion to the 390 V8, bumping output to a genuine 340 horsepower — but only 120 buyers ever did, out of 1,427 Sports Roadsters built that year. Historians estimate barely 40 of those M-code cars survive today, making this one of the rarest factory options of the entire early Thunderbird generation.

Classic red and white vintage car parked under a clear blue sky.

Ford Galaxie 1961 Sunliner Convertible 390

by Kiril

This 1961 Ford Galaxie Sunliner packs a 390-cubic-inch V8 that could be optioned up to 401 horsepower on paper, paired with a stripped-down three-on-the-tree manual and no power assist anywhere. Years before anyone used the phrase ‘muscle car,’ Ford was already quietly building the ingredients for one. Read on to find out what driving a full-size Ford built this way actually felt like.

1969 Dodge Charger R/T 426 HEMI muscle car in black.

Muscle Car Of The Week: 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 426 Hemi Video

by Wes

This 1969 Dodge Charger R/T pairs the factory-rated 425-horsepower 426 Hemi with a rare 3-speed automatic transmission, a combination found in only a few hundred of the more than 20,000 Charger R/Ts built that year. Part of the Brothers Collection, it carries just over 50,000 original miles. Watch to see what made this specific combination so unusual.

Classic blue Corvette convertible parked on a sunny day.

Chevrolet Corvette 1972 454 LS5

by Kiril

A 1972 Corvette build sheet shows a horsepower number for the LS5 454 that looks like a nosedive next to earlier years, and the reason has more to do with how Detroit measured power than with what the engine actually made. This numbers-matching, Bryar Blue example with a Muncie four-speed and original Rally Wheels sits right at that turning point, and an LS6 cam and intake swap wakes it up further. Read on to find out what really happened to the horsepower wars in 1972.

A classic dark green vintage car parked indoors.

Oldsmobile 98 1951 Sedan 303 Rocket V8

by Kiril

This 1951 Oldsmobile 98 still runs the original 303 cubic inch Rocket V8 that helped ignite Detroit’s horsepower war, and it still wears its factory interior after all these decades. Surviving this honest is rare for a car this old. Here’s why the Rocket name mattered, and why finding one still original is worth stopping for.

Classic black 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Convertible in pristine showroom condition.

1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Convertible For Sale

by Wes

A factory mix-up put an SS badge on this 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu convertible — and when it was restored decades later, the family that had owned it since new put the mistake right back on, badge and all. The story was even verified and published in the Grand Rapids Press back in 1996. Watch to find out why a factory error became part of the car’s identity instead of something to correct.

Classic 1971 Ford Torino GT in light green with racing stripes.

1972 Ford Gran Torino Sport 351 Cobra Jet

by Wes

Anthony Lucarz has owned his 1972 Ford Gran Torino Sport for eighteen years, restoring it back to the factory specifications it left the assembly line with — including a real, functioning hood scoop and an 8,000-RPM tachometer most owners never got to use. My Car Story with Lou Costabile caught up with him and the Cobra Jet-powered Torino to hear how it’s held up. Watch to see what nearly 500,000 other viewers came back for.

A man excitedly points at a white ZR1 Corvette with a bus in the background.

1st 2019 ZR1 delivered in the country. Auto or Manual???

by Wes

When one of the first 2019 Chevrolet ZR1s in the country landed at a Kentucky Chevy dealership, salesman Mike Davenport was there to see it delivered. The car reopened a debate that had nearly killed one of the ZR1’s most talked-about options entirely: should you actually buy the manual? Watch to see the car that nearly didn’t get a stick shift at all.

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