’65 CHEVELLE SS396 BIG-BLOCK Z16!

Posted on December 13, 2024 by MartynL

Chevrolet’s entry in the Supercar Sweepstakes - ’65 CHEVELLE SS396 BIG-BLOCK Z16! – is a rare, fast collectible. Chevrolet had been slow to bring a high-performance midsize car to market. Toward the end of the 1965 model year, they revealed the potent Z16 Chevelle Malibu SS396, powered by an all-new Mark IV 396 big-block. While somewhat boxy, it was the most powerful car in the Supercar Sweepstakes. But there was a problem. Chevrolet General Manager Bunkie Knudsen’s foray into the marke...

THE ORIGINAL DODGE HEMI CHARGER

Posted on November 18, 2024 by MartynL

Bigger than a Ponycar and larger and more luxurious than a Musclecar, THE ORIGINAL DODGE HEMI CHARGER in 1966 turned heads and blew off the competition. The biggest big news for 1966 was the 426 Dodge and Plymouth Street Hemi. After teasing us with on-again, off-again streetable 426 Hemi cars in 1965, the option was officially announced. Rated at 425 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 490 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm, the Street Hemi was, essentially, a detuned race Hemi with milder 276-d...

’67 MERCURY COUGAR

Posted on November 15, 2024November 15, 2024 by MartynL

More of a real GT than Ponycar, the ’67 MERCURY COUGAR delivered performance plus luxury, and a direct connection to Dan Gurney and Trans-Am racing. Launched in 1967 under “The Sign Of The Cat”, the slightly longer and more luxurious Mustang platform ’67 MERCURY COUGAR was a huge success. It appealed to young adults who wanted a Mustang with more interior room, luxurious appointments, and distinctive, up-level styling. Approximately six inches longer than the Mustang, with a three-inch ...

CALIFORNIA CENTRAL COAST CAR SHOWS

Posted on November 2, 2024 by MartynL

CGC’s Jim Palam hits four Fall CALIFORNIA CENTRAL COAST CAR SHOWS, resulting in this colorful Car Guy sampler!Car Guys love zipping along in their cool rides, and metaphorically, on the road of life. We abhor road blocks, detours and obstacles that impede our progress. When my sister and her husband who live up a narrow holler road in the mountains of North Carolina couldn't be reached for over a week during Hurricane Helene, I felt like the gods had ripped the wheels off all of my fun machines....

’64 PONTIAC GTO & THE SUPERCAR REVOLUTION

Posted on October 22, 2024October 22, 2024 by MartynL

An option turns a midsize Tempest into the ’64 PONTIAC GTO & THE SUPERCAR REVOLUTION, and a decade of GTO-badged high-performance Pontiacs. Pontiac called it “A Device For Shrinking Time & Distance.” Magazine editors called it a “Supercar”. And, from coast to coast, enthusiasts flocked to Pontiac dealers see the new GTO, an option that breathed life into a Tempest. Pontiac - not Ford, Chevy or Plymouth - essentially created the option that ignited the Supercar Revolution and an ...

CHEVY 427 MARK II MYSTERY MOTOR

Posted on October 20, 2024October 20, 2024 by MartynL

Unlike the Z11, the CHEVY 427 MARK II MYSTERY MOTOR was not available in a car, or to the public. You had to have serious NASCAR cred to get one of the 20 built. In the 1960s, Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen always seemed to be one step ahead of GM Chairman Fred Donner’s anti-racing missives. While running Pontiac, he had supported the Super-Duty Group that later, after he left, managed to get 421 Catalina Lightweights to drag racers before the axe fell. Then he moved on to Chevrolet in 1961 and...

MERCEDES-BENZ C 111 CONCEPT SUPERCAR

Posted on October 17, 2024October 17, 2024 by MartynL

Few Concept cars have had a longer lifespan with multiple iterations and as many engines as the MERCEDES-BENZ C 111 CONCEPT SUPERCAR.Introduced in 1969 at the Frankfurt Auto Show with a three-rotor Wankel engine; a decade later one of a dozen built and powered with a boosted V-8 is still racking up miles. Originally designed by the legendary Bruno Sacco and developed by a team of engineers led by Rudolph “Rudi” Uhlenhaut, the first and second C 111 platforms were used to experiment with new engi...

’69 PLYMOUTH MUSCLECARS

Posted on October 7, 2024October 7, 2024 by MartynL

Over-Drive Magazine’s Fact Sheets cover everything you want to know about midsize models from base coupes and sedans through ’69 PLYMOUTH MUSCLECARS. Plymouth, like its brand-mate, Dodge carried over most of its high-performance models and 340, 383, 440 and 426 Street Hemi engines for the 1969 model year. For increased durability on drag strips, “A33 Track Pack” and “A34 Super Track Pack” options with 9 ¾-inch Dana Sure-Grip rears were available for four-speed high-performance cars with...

FLATHEADS FOREVER: HISTORY OF HOT RODDING

Posted on October 4, 2024 by MartynL

Henry Ford’s Flathead V-8, introduced in 1932, gave power to the people. It was more than just a bigger engine: FLATHEADS FOREVER: HISTORY OF HOT RODDING, and the rodders & racers responsible for making it happen. Until the advent of modern OHV V-8 engines in 1949, Ford’s Flathead V-8 was the enthusiast’s engine of choice. It still is for traditional ‘old-school’ hot rodders, and competitors in Pre-War class road racing. It’s truly an “evergreen” story: FLATHEADS FOREVER: HISTORY OF...

1967 CHEVY 396/427: BIGGER IS BETTER

Posted on September 29, 2024 by MartynL

Our friends at OVER-DRIVE Magazine have published everything you want to know about 1967 CHEVY 396/427: BIGGER IS BETTER full & mid-size models. Chevrolet expanded its use of four-barrel big-block engines in 1967, offering 396/325 and 396/385 versions in full-size Biscayne, SS and Impala models and 396/350 and 396/375 engines in Camaros and Chevelles. GM divisions were prohibited from using tri-power induction on passenger car engines, barring the use of 427/400 and 435 horsepower Corve...