wheels | Muscle Car Fan

Three cars racing on a track under a blue sky with clouds.

The Mustang Absolutely Destroyed The Camaro In Sales Last Month

Chevrolet’s Camaro beat the Ford Mustang for America’s top-selling muscle car crown in September and October — then lost it right back in November, proof that this decades-old sales rivalry can flip in a single month. The same stretch also saw a lifelong Chevelle SS hunt finally pay off, a new Motor Trend show built entirely around muscle car culture, and a 560-horsepower pro-touring Camaro built by Detroit Speed. Read on for what the whole picture says about the state of muscle cars in the mid-2010s.

Cadillac 1954 – 1956 generation four series 62

by Ross Mills

The fourth-generation Cadillac Series 62 arrived for 1954 with wraparound glass, reverse gull-wing bumpers and a dual exhaust routed straight through the rear bumper, then spent three years breaking its own sales records. Along the way it went from a 17.3-second run to 60 mph to a flat 12 seconds. Here is how to tell a 1954 from a 1955 from a 1956, and what the differences actually mean.

Buick Grand National 1986 images

by Ross Mills

Buick called its 1986 Grand National’s turbo V6 ‘under-rated’ in its own brochure — then proved it a year later by handing 547 cars over to an outside shop for a transformation the factory couldn’t build itself. The result, badged GNX, put up numbers that worried owners of contemporary Ferraris and Porsches. Officially rated at 276 horsepower, independent testing suggested Buick was still underselling it. Read on to see exactly what changed under the hood.

Classic red convertible car parked in a garage.

Dodge Dart 1964 GT Convertible 225 Slant Six

by Kiril

While Pontiac was inventing the muscle car with the 1964 GTO, Dodge was building the opposite: a Dart GT convertible with a 225 Slant Six, a pushbutton automatic, and fuel economy nobody advertised. It was not fast, and it was never meant to be. Read on for why the Slant Six Dart may have been the smarter buy in 1964 and why these cars are quietly becoming collectible on their own terms.

Red car performing a dyno test in a garage.

Demon vs Hellcat on the Dyno!

by Wes

The same owner puts his Dodge Demon and Hellcat on the same dyno, on the same day, to finally settle which supercharged Hemi actually makes more power at the wheels. The numbers confirm Dodge’s engineering gap between the two cars, and the video hints there’s still more locked away in the Demon’s factory race-fuel mode. Demonology’s channel built its following on exactly this kind of head-to-head test.

A customized car with massive 26" front and 15" rear wheels.

Drag Racing on 26 inch RIMS – WTF?!

by Wes

Alan Robinson’s Chevrolet Impala wagon weighs 4,720 pounds with its 26-inch street wheels and four JL Audio subwoofers still bolted in, runs a stock-bottom-end 6.0-liter engine at just 10 psi of boost, and still posts mid-11-second quarter miles at Hot Rod’s Drag Week. Getting to the line means swapping two of those 98-pound wheels for drag radials first. It wasn’t even the car Robinson planned to bring. Watch a wagon nobody expected to be fast prove exactly the opposite.

Sleek blue custom retro hot rod car with large front tires.

1933 Chevrolet Roadster 1933-3800 Series V6 images

by Ross Mills

Chevrolet built this roadster during the worst economy in American history – and somehow sold nearly half a million of its kind anyway. Find out how a rebadged “Eagle” with a beaver-tail rear end and a V-shaped radiator became one of the best-selling cars of 1933, and why collectors still chase these six-cylinder survivors today.

A customized Chevrolet Camaro with vibrant paint and open doors in a garage.

1967 Chevrolet Camaro “V12 LS” 2017 NSRA Street Rod Nationals

by Wes

Mike bought his 1967 Chevrolet Camaro at nineteen with a plan he couldn’t yet execute — a build centered on an engine most Camaro owners have never heard of. Nearly two decades later, Quality Custom Rides finally sourced the specialty V12LS motor he’d been waiting for, and wrapped it in suicide doors, an air-ride stance, and custom paint. The plan now is simple: drive the wheels off it. See what a V12 swap actually looks like under a first-gen Camaro’s hood.

A sleek red sports car parked on a street corner near a crosswalk.

Dodge Viper Show 2015

by Kiril

By 2015, the Dodge Viper’s fans already suspected the end was close, and two years later the Conner Avenue plant proved them right. The cars revving at that year’s Viper show were among the last and strongest of a 26-year run: 8.4 liters, 645 horsepower, 600 lb-ft, a six-speed manual, and not a single turbocharger across roughly 31,000 cars. Read on to find out how the Viper grew from a bare-bones 1992 roadster into the final-generation car collectors now chase.

Classic black muscle car parked in a sunny outdoor setting.

Retro Flashback! 1979 Chevy Camaro Z/28

by Kiril

This 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 proves the muscle car era wasn’t as dead as critics claimed. Built with a cammed 350 V8, headers, and its original four-speed manual transmission, it wears the black-and-orange color combination that defined the second-generation Z/28 at its peak. Watch the full 4K road test and tour of a survivor built during the industry’s so-called malaise era.

Rear-side view of a red sports car with black rims indoors.

How I Ruined All My Cars

by Kiril

Every classic muscle car owner has a story about the mistake that cost them an engine, a transmission, or a rear end — and the stories keep repeating because these cars share a handful of very specific weak points. From carburetor floods that can hydro-lock a cylinder to reproduction tires that shock-load a differential, here are the ownership mistakes that quietly ruin more muscle cars than any track day ever could.

Dramatic crash of a Dodge Hellcat captured in a fail compilation.

NEW 2017 DODGE HELLCAT CRASHES FAILS COPS COMPILATION

by Wes

This CasualRacing compilation strings together some of the most expensive mistakes made behind the wheel of a 707-horsepower Dodge Hellcat. From a bystander offering body shop directions before the dust even settles to a dealership salesman sprinting clear of a demo drive gone wrong, these are the moments Hellcat owners hope never make it online. Watch to see just how fast that much power can turn a green light into a very public lesson.

A red car speeding on a wet road with motion blur.

6 Sedans That Are Secretly Muscle Cars

by Kiril

Four doors, a trunk, and — in some cases — more horsepower than the muscle cars they get compared to. From Dodge’s 707-hp Hellcat sedan to a Holden-built Chevrolet SS with a manual transmission, these sedans prove the muscle car formula survived long after two-door coupes stopped being the only way to build one. Read on to see which family cars are actually the quickest thing in the driveway.

Front view of a classic red Camaro SS with chrome bumper and dual headlights.

1969 Camaro SS 396 375HP L78 High Performance “X66” SS396 Bowtie Muscle Car

by Kiril

Filmed in Dallas, Texas, this 1969 Camaro SS 396 carries the rare X66 cowl tag code — a 375-horsepower L78 big-block paired with power steering and power brakes, but deliberately no factory tachometer or gauge package. samspace81’s detailed walkaround catalogues exactly the kind of build-sheet specifics collectors chase decades later. Watch to hear why one commenter says they could listen to that L78 idle for hours.

A classic silver muscle car driving on a road near grassy fields.

Chevrolet Nova 1969 SS 396 Four Speed

by Kiril

Chevrolet built 7,209 Nova SS 396s for 1969, and most buyers skipped the milder engine option for the one built to actually hurt people at the drag strip. Five hundred pounds lighter than a Chevelle running the same 396, this compact turned into one of the quickest cars Chevrolet sold that year. Read on to find out why Chevrolet let its cheapest muscle car become one of its fastest.

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