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Motor Trend named the 1970 Ford Torino its Car of the Year, recognizing a lineup that spanned everything from the hushed, Lincoln-quiet Brougham to the stripped-down Cobra fastback running the quarter mile in under 14 seconds. A 429 Cobra Jet-equipped Cobra could hit 60 mph in 5.8 seconds, while wagon buyers got their own dedicated towing package. Read on to find out how Ford built three completely different cars under one nameplate.
Mercury built the Cyclone for less than a decade and only about 74,286 of them ever left a factory, which is why most casual enthusiasts have never knowingly seen one. That obscurity hides a genuine NASCAR pedigree, a 428 Cobra Jet option and an aerodynamic special built to fight the Dodge Charger Daytona. Read on for why a forgotten Mercury deserves a place alongside far more famous names.
When Carroll Shelby’s partnership with Ford ended in 1969, Ford quietly re-tagged leftover 1969 Shelby Mustangs with 1970 VIN plates under FBI oversight, creating a strange final chapter for the GT350 badge. Only 789 of these “1970” cars exist across GT350 and GT500, and just 10 GT350 convertibles combined a 4-speed manual with air conditioning. Read on to find out how a leftover-inventory loophole became one of Shelby history’s most talked-about footnotes.
This two-owner 1968 Ford Torino GT carries a documented 390 four-barrel rated at 335 horsepower, backed by window stickers, the original invoice, and a title copy tracing it to day one. Ford built the Torino to go head-to-head with the Chevelle SS and GTO, and this survivor still wears the paper trail to prove it earned its place. Read on to find out what period testers clocked at the drag strip.
A 1969 Ford Mustang GT is rarer than most shoppers realize — Ford built only 5,396 of them that year as buyers rushed toward the flashier new Mach 1 instead. This numbers-matching example carries a genuine 320-horsepower 390 four-barrel, dual exhaust, and the tighter chassis tuning that made the GT package more than a stripe kit. Read on to find out why the GT still trails the Mach 1 in recognition despite being the tougher car to find.
For 1970, Ford promoted Torino to the top of its mid-size lineup and spread it across seventeen different models, from a basic wagon to the 429-only Torino Cobra fastback. Coke-bottle styling, a new competition suspension package, and interior updates reshaped the range from top to bottom. Read on to find out what Motor Trend meant by calling the Cobra “completely different.”
Ford didn’t build one 2013 Mustang, it built three: a 662-horsepower Shelby GT500 chasing 200 mph, a road-course-tuned Boss 302 spinning to 7,500 rpm, and a everyday GT that split the difference. Each one shared the same badge but demanded a completely different kind of driver. Read on to find out which one actually deserved a spot in the garage, and why the Boss 302’s single-year window still matters to collectors today.
The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren pairs a 617-horsepower supercharged V8 with a braking system rated to handle 2,200-degree temperatures and a rear wing that adjusts itself the instant the driver hits the brakes. From the limited-run 722S roadster to the tuner-built 722 GT pushing past 670 horsepower, this is a car built entirely around extremes. Read on for the full breakdown of what makes it one of the most technically ambitious road cars Mercedes has ever built.
Only 3,939 Ford Torino GT convertibles were built in 1970, and this one adds a rare M-code 351 Cleveland engine, factory air conditioning, and a deluxe interior on top of that already-thin production number. Read on to find out what made the Cleveland worth chasing and why so few buyers ordered the open-air version at all.
Ford’s 2018 Mustang refresh did more than reshuffle the sheet metal in response to a sharpened new Camaro. The GT quietly inherited a twin-disc clutch, suspension hardware, and Magnetic Ride Control straight off the Shelby GT350’s parts shelf, turning what looked like a mid-cycle facelift into a genuinely better driver’s car. Read on to see exactly what Ford borrowed from its own halo model.
A supercharged Ford GT making an estimated 700 horsepower lines up against a Toyota Supra pushing 570 wheel horsepower on a completely stock motor. One car has a factory-bred chassis and forged wheels; the other is proving what a 2JZ can survive under 28 psi of boost. See which one actually gets to the stripe first.
The Ranchero occupied a strange spot in Ford’s lineup — part car, part truck, and rarely taken seriously by muscle car buyers chasing a Mustang or Torino instead. This 1969 GT changes that calculation entirely by packing a 428 Cobra Jet under the hood. Read on to find out how a car-truck hybrid ended up with one of the most feared engines of the entire muscle car era.
Ferrari built just 39 examples of the 250 GTO between 1962 and 1964, each one homologated for GT racing and personally approved by Enzo Ferrari before a sale could go through. Its value has swung from $18,000 at launch to well over $10 million and back over the decades, and one example’s ownership history even includes a convicted drug trafficker. Read on to find out why this European exception still belongs in a muscle car conversation.
Audi’s R8 was already fast enough to embarrass supercars costing twice as much, which did not stop German tuner MTM from unveiling a 5-liter biturbo version at Geneva in 2011 and then spending two years making it substantially wilder. By 2013 the GT version was making 802 horsepower and running to 223 mph. Read on for what MTM changed, and why the chassis work mattered more than the engine.
This 1969 Ford Ranchero GT hides a 335-horsepower 428 Cobra Jet Ram Air V8 under its Brittany Blue hood, wrapped in white GT stripes and chrome wheels courtesy of The Brothers Collection. One former owner of a nearly identical example says he used to beat 454-powered Chevelles with it. Watch to see what made this coupe utility a genuine muscle car in disguise.