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Ford Motors V8 supplement FE & FT 3 of 4

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.

Restored car gas cap with a unique dent.

My restoration has begun-gas cap is now fully restored

by Ross Mills

One classic car owner’s restoration didn’t start with the engine or the paint job — it started with a single gas cap. That choice says more about how real restorations actually unfold than any teardown photo could. Read on to find out why the smallest parts often matter the most.

Ford Galaxie 1962 and 1963

by Ross Mills

In just eighteen months, Ford transformed the full-size Galaxie from a family-oriented sedan into a NASCAR-chasing fastback packing a conservatively rated 425 horsepower. A mid-year roofline change and a top-shelf 406-cubic-inch V8 rewrote what a full-size Ford could be. Read on to find out how the 63-and-a-half Galaxie earned its nickname and its reputation on the track.

A classic car performing a burnout with smoke around the rear tires.

Supercharged Small Block Cuttlass vs Big Block Chevelle l Heads up l Street Race

by Wes

A supercharged small block Cutlass and a big block Chevelle met on the same starting line in this MidWestStreetDrags heads-up money race, and viewers say they could call the winner before the tree even dropped. The matchup reignited one of drag racing’s oldest arguments: boost versus cubic inches. Only one build walked away with bragging rights — and the other guy’s cash. Watch to see whether displacement or forced induction wins the day.

Chevy Big Blocks W series –2nd Gen-The best V8 ever produced-maybe

by Ross Mills

Chevrolet’s ‘W’ series big block ran into a hard power ceiling around 6,500 rpm, prompting a near-total redesign that became the Mark IV, nicknamed the ‘porcupine’ engine for its distinctive splayed valve angles. The new architecture kept key ‘W’ features like side-oiling and Moraine main bearings while dramatically improving high-rpm breathing. Read on to find out exactly what changed under the valve covers.

Chevrolet five window pickup 1951-images

by Ross Mills

Chevrolet’s postwar Advance-Design trucks hit the market a full year ahead of the competition, and by 1951 the line was refining details that collectors now prize above almost everything else — starting with the five-window cab option. New brakes, revised door windows, and a shorter cargo bed all arrived quietly that year. Here’s what made 1951 one of the more distinctive model years in the Advance-Design run.

Dodge Charger R/T: Forgotten Muscle Legend—Rare Features, Raw Power & Untold History!

by Jack Harmon

By 1977, the Dodge Charger nameplate barely resembled the fastback muscle car that made it famous a decade earlier — and the R/T badge on this particular car raises a question most muscle car reviews skip entirely: was it still earning that name, or just borrowing it? AutoMastersHQ digs into the specs, the styling, and the restoration realities of a Charger most collectors overlook. Watch to find out what got lost, and what actually survived, in the decade between 1968 and 1977.

Bright green 1970 Plymouth Duster with black racing stripes on display.

1973 Plymouth Hemi Duster For Sale

by Wes

A 1973 Plymouth Duster spent decades under bedsheets in a Toledo, Ohio grandmother’s garage before it emerged with only 22,000 original miles — and later gained a stroked 472-cubic-inch Hemi built by Ray Barton. Sold through Vanguard Motor Sales, the car pairs a period-correct green interior with a magazine-featured Sublime Green rotisserie restoration. No official horsepower number has ever been published, but the parts list makes the case on its own.

Classic blue convertible car displayed indoors with polished chrome wheels.

Buick GS 1970 – 455 Stage 1 – 4-Speed Convertibles

by Kiril

Buick is not the first name most people reach for when the conversation turns to the quickest muscle cars of 1970 — which is precisely the mistake the Stage 1 package existed to correct. A GM rule change that year finally let Buick drop a full 455 into a midsize car, and period testers recorded quarter-mile times that embarrassed far louder reputations. Convertibles were rarer still. Read on for the numbers behind the most underrated muscle car of 1970.

Rear view of a classic muscle car showcasing its distinctive tail lights and exhaust.

Cuda Powered By A Mind-Bending 1,500hp Turbo 6.7-Liter Cummin…

by Wes

Most diesel-swapped muscle cars announce themselves with zip-tied plumbing and a cowl hood hiding the mess underneath. This Plymouth Cuda carries a compound-turbo 6.7-liter Cummins that looks like it was cast for the engine bay, backed by a reported 1,500 rear-wheel horsepower and a torque figure north of 3,000 lb-ft. The parts list explains the numbers. The fabrication explains why anyone took the build seriously.

Classic red muscle car with black racing stripes parked on asphalt.

What Is the Difference Between a Muscle Car & a Sports Car?

by Jack Harmon

Muscle cars and sports cars get lumped together constantly, but the real dividing line isn’t attitude — it’s a specific set of engineering decisions around displacement, weight, and chassis design made an ocean apart. A 1970 Chevelle SS454 outweighed a period Porsche 911S by more than 1,400 pounds, and that gap explains more than any horsepower figure could. Read on to find out exactly where the line falls, and why it’s gotten blurrier in the decades since.

Jaguar XKE 1969 to 1974

by Ross Mills

Between 1969 and 1974, Jaguar’s E-Type went through more change than any four-year stretch in its history — detuned engines for U.S. emissions rules, a completely new V12, and a dozen ultra-rare lightweight racers built alongside the roadgoing cars. The Series III’s 5.3-liter V12 turned the E-Type into a genuinely different machine, capable of 135 mph and a 14.82-second quarter mile. Read on to find out what separates a Series II from a Series III, and why twelve specific cars from 1963 and 1964 remain the most valuable E-Types ever built.

Classic white muscle car parked on concrete.

Is this Cougar Hot or Not?

by Kiril

This white Mercury Cougar could be a modest six-cylinder cruiser or one of the scarcest big-block muscle cars Mercury ever built, and the only way to tell is a small badge easy to miss. Only a fraction of 1969 Eliminators carried the largest engine Mercury offered that year. Read on to find out just how rare this one really is.

Classic black 1972 Chevrolet Nova in pristine condition.

1972 Chevrolet Nova For Sale

by Wes

Vanguard Motor Sales has listed a 1972 Chevrolet Nova built as a tribute to Don Yenko’s legendary big-block Novas, backed by a genuine 454 with real ZL-1 Snowflake heads, an explosion-proof bell housing, and Wilwood brakes on all four corners. One commenter says he built and sold a nearly identical car years ago — and still regrets it.

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