 |
The 2016 SEMA Show settled an old argument when the Ford Mustang was voted Hottest Coupe over Chevrolet’s Camaro, even though Chevy brought the bigger display. But the car that actually stole attention that year wasn’t from either factory — it was a privateer rally driver’s twin-turbo 1965 Mustang making more than 1,400 horsepower. Here’s what happened at the show that’s still a reference point for builders a decade later.
Jay Lenos Burbank garage holds an estimated 180 cars and 160 motorcycles, but a handful of American muscle cars keep coming up whenever he talks about the ones he loves most. A 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T and a 1969 Camaro Z28 sit alongside oddballs like the front-wheel-drive 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado. Here is what his favorites say about what makes a muscle car worth keeping.
Jay Leno owns more than 180 vehicles, but when The Drive asked him to pick his favorite American muscle cars, he skipped the obvious answers entirely. His list includes a 1971 Dodge Challenger, a Ford Galaxie 500 with a forgotten 7-liter engine, a 1,000-horsepower Oldsmobile Toronado, and a crate-engined Buick Roadmaster sleeper. Every pick rewards a level of car knowledge most muscle car fans do not have. See exactly why Leno chose these four over anything more obvious.
Jay Leno’s garage holds hundreds of cars, but only a handful made the cut when The Drive asked him to name his American muscle favorites. The list runs from an expected numbers-matching Hemi Challenger to a reworked Oldsmobile Toronado throwing over 1,000 horsepower at its rear wheels — proof that even a career car collector’s favorites can still surprise.
In January 2017, Ford promised a hybrid Mustang with more low-end torque than the standard V8, backed by a canceled $1.6 billion Mexican plant and $700 million in Flat Rock upgrades. The 2020 target came and went without the car ever showing up. Read on for where that money and engineering effort actually went, and why Ford’s CEO says the idea isn’t dead yet.