A restorer who wouldn’t hand his own ‘Cuda over to anyone else, a paint color pulled straight from Chrysler’s loudest era, and a 440 that one viewer called “a monster” before the walkaround even finished. Lou Costabile caught up with Tom Benson on the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale floor to find out how a self-restored 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda ended up looking factory-fresh in Sassy Grass Green. The comments reveal an even wilder history hiding behind that color code. What was it actually like to own one of these new?
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Modern muscle cars like the Hellcat twins hit numbers the original 1960s and 1970s era never touched, but they get there through supercharging and computer control instead of big cubic inches and low compression. Here’s a closer look at how Detroit’s horsepower war came back in the 2010s, and what changed in the engineering between the original muscle car boom and its modern revival.
I’ve managed to ruin quite a few cars, each in its own unique, disastrous way. From overzealous engine mods that left me stranded, to paint jobs that looked more like abstract art gone wrong, my automotive adventures have been a series of unfortunate events. Take my Dodge, which went from roaring beast to a sputtering mess after a DIY turbo install. Or the time I tried to give my old Civic a lowrider look, only to end up with a suspension that had more bounce than a trampoline. Ah, the memories!
Everyone knows the Corvette skipped a model year and the Trans Am’s T-tops leaked. Fewer know that a Southern California dealer scheme got Dodge to build the only production car ever sold new with factory Cragar wheels, or that the fearsome 440 Six Pack wasn’t even the rarest engine you could order in a 1970 Super Bee. Two more little-known muscle car facts worth knowing.
Regular Car Reviews poses a deliberately unanswerable question at the Carlisle Ford Nationals, wandering a field that spans everything from Model A-era classics to a modern carbon-fiber GT. Host MrRegularCar’s deadpan commentary turns a simple car show walkthrough into a running bit about what ‘best’ even means across nearly a century of the same badge. Watch to see which Ford nearly breaks the host’s trademark cynicism.
A 1964 Ford Falcon took home the Best Ford in a Ford award at the Back to the 50’s 2017 car show, an unusual win for a car built as economical transportation rather than a performance machine. Ford’s optional Sprint package added the Fairlane’s 260-cubic-inch V8 and a stiffer suspension, giving select Falcons real personality behind the wheel. The Falcon’s unibody platform also directly influenced the Mustang launched later that same model year. This deep dive covers why the humble Falcon earned its trophy.
Vanguard Motor Sales took this 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle — stock #5668, documented with over 100 photos and finished in a bold orange that’s winning over commenters — out for a real test drive instead of just a showroom walkaround. It’s a rare, transparent look at how a dealer actually vets a classic before it lists it. See how the Chevelle performs when the pedal goes down.
This 1969 Camaro already looked finished when its new owner bought it: fresh silver paint, red leather interior, professional build quality throughout. Then he found out what was actually sitting under that hood, and decided a freshly completed car wasn’t nearly finished enough. What came next involved a 540 cubic inch big block, a six-speed manual, and a shop that specializes in exactly this kind of relentless refinement.
Before the Pontiac GTO existed, corporate policy at General Motors made it impossible: no mid-size car could carry an engine over 330 cubic inches, period. John DeLorean and a small team of engineers built one anyway, testing it in nighttime street races before their bosses even knew it existed. This archival documentary traces how that quiet act of rule-breaking, plus a name borrowed from Ferrari, turned into the car that saved Pontiac and launched an entire era of American muscle. Watch to find out how close it came to never happening at all.
Dodge completely reinvented the Charger for 1971 with a wider, shorter ‘fuselage’ body and a split, twin-grille nose that made the outgoing car look like a different species entirely. It’s also the last model year Chrysler ever offered the 426 Hemi in any car, making this the final chapter of the Elephant engine’s factory life. Just 3,118 Charger R/Ts were built that year, and rising insurance rates meant fewer buyers ever got the chance to check that Hemi box before it disappeared for good.
The 55th annual Chicago World of Wheels rolled into Rosemont’s Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in March 2017, packing three days with hot rods, customs, lowriders, and a Pinup Girl contest for good measure. Among the muscle-car crowd-pleasers was a blue Chevy Nova with its hood popped, drawing the kind of attention only a genuine muscle-era Chevy can earn. It’s proof that Chicago’s biggest indoor car show still knows how to put real iron front and center.
Built in 1996, this Buick GSX became the first GS Pro Street car to break into the 9-second quarter-mile bracket, debuting at the GS Nationals and winning its class outright. Fourteen years later, new owner Bob Ortolani brought it back to the same shop for a fresh powerplant, and this video captures the very first day that combination hit the strip, three passes that kept dropping the number, followed by an unplanned wheelie nobody saw coming. Watch the full run and see how close the car came to the 9.40s.
Matthew Betz’s dad let this 1969 Camaro RS/SS sit for 28 years before it finally started again — and that dramatic restart was just the beginning. This update picks up years later, deep into sandblasting the rusted metal ahead of a full rebuild around an aluminum big block. Longtime followers are still demanding updates. See how far a real, multi-year father-son build has come.
