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Spy footage of a camouflaged 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE testing at Germany’s Nurburgring hinted GM was chasing something bigger than a marketing photo op. The 650-horsepower pony car went on to post a 7:16.04 lap, the fastest ever by a GM production vehicle, beating even the Corvette ZR1’s prior benchmark. Read on to find out what the 1LE package actually does to make that possible.
The second-generation AMC Javelin looked like nothing else in 1971, with flared fenders, a molded grille and an asymmetrical dashboard wrapped around the driver. It also won the Trans-Am championship, went to work as a police car, and could be ordered with a 401 V8 built to survive 8,000 rpm. AMC’s smallest-budget muscle car may have been its most audacious. Read on for the full story.
In 1987, a hand-built car with no factory badge beat Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini to become the fastest production car in the world. Built in a small German garage by tuner Alois Ruf, the twin-turbo Ruf CTR reached 211 mph and earned the nickname ‘Yellowbird’ after a hair-raising magazine test made it an instant icon. Its record didn’t last forever, but the story behind the car that beat the giants at their own game is one most muscle car fans have never heard in full.
The Bugatti Chiron’s speedometer reads to 310 mph, but the car is electronically limited to 261, and the reason is not the engine. It is the tires, which are asked to survive forces that required a test facility originally built for space shuttle rubber. Read on for what actually happens to a tire at those speeds, why the limiter exists, and what happened when Bugatti finally took it off.
GME Performance, a Leipzig tuning shop most American enthusiasts have never heard of, built a Mustang GT making 705 horsepower and 590 lb-ft, enough to put a stock Hellcat on notice. What separates it from the usual dyno-number flex is everything that came with it: adjustable coil-overs, ventilated floating brake discs, a full aero kit, and a 3.9-second 0-62 time. Read on for how the build came together and how it stacks up against Ford’s own factory answers.