TRIBUTE: ’63 ½ FORD 427 GALAXIE!

Posted on May 3, 2020May 3, 2020 by MartynL

‘With Eight Pipes, What Noble Music It Makes’ headlined Ford’s midyear advertising campaign, spotlighting the new ’63 ½ Sport Roof (fastback) 427/425 Galaxie. We look back at the events surrounding Ford’s unleashing of its Total Performance program in 1963, while tech-savvy automotive scribe Don Sherman focuses his attention on a 609 horsepower TRIBUTE: ’63 ½ FORD 427 GALAXIE! In January 1963, Ford unleashed a bevy of high-performance vehicles, timed with its participation in the 1963 Monte Car...

BALDWIN-MOTION: HERITAGE & HORSEPOWER!

Posted on May 11, 2019May 11, 2019 by MartynL

A celebration of more than a half-century of horsepower & heritage and kick-ass, road & track big-block Chevy Supercars. BALDWIN-MOTION: HERITAGE & HORSEPOWER! Randy Leffingwell wrote in American Muscle Cars in 1990,“Motion (Performance) and Baldwin (Chevrolet) got together to provide enthusiasts a faster car than any manufacturer could offer.” Motion Performance’s Joel Rosen was the driving force behind the creation of Baldwin-Motion in 1967. His calling card was a 427 Camaro...

GARAGE STYLE: IN THE GARAGE W/ JIM PALAM!

Posted on August 8, 2018August 8, 2018 by MartynL

Our man on the Left Coast spends some time in front of the camera in his garage while Cindy Meitle profiles him for Garage Style magazine. I first met Jim Palam more than a half-century ago when he was a kid on the pit crew of the legendary “Astoria Chas” Snyder’s ‘67 Corvette powered by an L88 engine, below. The car was KO-MOTION, it was built at Motion Performance, Baldwin, NY, raced by Chas, and I was Editor of Hi-Performance CARS magazine. CARS was one of the Corvette’s sponsors. Chas becam...

ONE OF NONE: PONTIAC RAM AIR V GTO!

Posted on May 13, 2018 by MartynL

Like Chevrolet’s ZL1 Corvette and Buick’s Stage II Gran Sport, Pontiac’s Tunnel Port Ram Air V is part myth, part magic, and has been the subject of urban legends for decades. According to Tom Nell, a Special Projects Engineer at Pontiac in 1971, “Pontiac’s Ram Air V or Mark V was the first Pontiac engine since the 1963 Super-Duty 421 to be developed around the concept of performance and durability, outside the realm of normal usage.” Many of the same high-performance engineers responsible f...

’66 PLYMOUTH STREET HEMI: BONNEVILLE TO SUBURBIA!

Posted on March 2, 2018 by MartynL

After setting the B/Production Flying Mile record of 156.35 mph at the Salt Flats, I daily-drove and drag raced the 426 Street Hemi in around New York City. Bob Summers’, left, pre-production ’66 Plymouth 426 Street Hemi registered a top speed of 160.82 mph and set a USAC-FIA two-way Flying Mile record of 156.35 mph. It also set the two-way Flying Kilometer record of 155.30 mph. The B/Production records had been “owned” for years by factory Pontiacs prepared and driven by Mickey Thompson. I had...

’69½ DODGE: STING LIKE A SUPER BEE!

Posted on February 4, 2018February 4, 2018 by MartynL

Dodge gets its Supercar act together with an aggressive midyear Super Bee with a venomous sting. Built off the midsize Coronet platform, the Super Bee was packaged for testosterone-infused enthusiasts. Like the streamlined Charger 500 and Charger Daytona, Detroit’s Creative Industries handled final assembly of Dodge’s in-your-face Super Bee. With its lift-off scooped fiberglass hood, tri-power 440 Wedge, beefy Dana 60 rear end, status graphics, taut suspension and “electric” colors, the Super ...

INTERVIEW: THE BALDWIN-MOTION STORY, PART 1!

Posted on July 23, 2017August 11, 2017 by MartynL

CGC Editor Marty Schorr and Motion’s Joel Rosen talk to Corvette Report editor Scott Teeters about Baldwin-Motion Phase III Supercars. Marty Schorr is the former editor of Hi-Performance CARS, the founding editor of Vette Magazine, and is the current editor of CarGuyChrolicles.com. He’s also the President of PMPR, an automotive public relations consultancy. Joel Rosen is the former owner of Motion Performance, Baldwin, New York, and currently owns and runs Motion Models, a world-renowned, scale...