SKYLARK GS-400: HOWITZER WITH WINDSHIELD WIPERS!

Posted on April 21, 2025 by MartynL

Buick joins the Musclecar Revolution with a SKYLARK GS-400: HOWITZER WITH WINDSHIELD WIPERS! Not long after having access to 1965 performance cars, I suggested to Mel Jacolow, editor of CARS magazine, that he change the award – American Classic of The Year - he presented annually to carmakers. With production cars getting quicker and faster and carmakers targeting the burgeoning youth market, I felt we needed something more relevant. My suggestion: Top Performance Car of The Year. It...

’65 DODGE CORONET DELIVERED MID-SIZE & MAX-PERF!

Posted on April 17, 2025April 17, 2025 by MartynL

Dodge’s entry in the Musclecar marketplace may have been short on sex appeal, but the ’65 DODGE CORONET DELIVERED MID-SIZE & MAX-PERF! Dodge covered all bases, catering to performance enthusiasts in 1965. New Dodge Coronets could be ordered with 365-horsepower 426 Street Wedge engines with four-speed or TorqueFlite. Unlike the GTO and 4-4-2, Mopar middleweights were void of eye-catching decor. But they were strong enough to get the job done. A total of 2,100 Coronets with 426 Street...

’70 PLYMOUTH SUPERBIRD: WINGED WARRIOR

Posted on April 10, 2025April 10, 2025 by MartynL

Not to be outdone by Dodge, the ’70 PLYMOUTH SUPERBIRD: WINGED WARRIOR continued Mopar’s assault on the Musclecar marketplace and NASCAR’s Super Speedways! Plymouth’s ’70 PLYMOUTH SUPERBIRD: WINGED WARRIOR was basically a midsize Road Runner with a wing and a nose job. Also produced by Creative Industries, the Charger-Daytona-influenced Superbird proved to be a more complex build than the Charger Daytona. It required Dodge Coronet front fenders and a hood to work with the steel “nose cone”. The...

’68 BIG-BLOCK, LOW-BUCK CHEVROLET

Posted on April 5, 2025April 5, 2025 by MartynL

For less than $3,000, you could buy a Baldwin-Motion ’68 BIG-BLOCK, LOW-BUCK CHEVROLET with dyno-tuned 427/425 power, four-speed, and F41 suspension! Overshadowed by the SS-427 Impala in the late-1960s, few enthusiasts were aware that Chevrolet was building a low-end, two-door “post” Biscayne that could be optioned with a 425 horsepower 427 big-block and four-on-the-floor. In 1968, Baldwin-Motion’s entry-level SS-427 Biscayne Street Racer’s Special, with a dyno-tuned 427/425 big-block,...

’66 OLDS TRI-POWER 4-4-2: SERIOUS SUPERCAR

Posted on March 20, 2025 by MartynL

One of the finalists for CARS Magazine’s 1966 Top Performance Car honors was the ’66 OLDS TRI-POWER 4-4-2: SERIOUS SUPERCAR! In 1966, Olds Engineers in Lansing finally developed a big-engined midsize car to compete seriously with Pontiac’s GTO. After revealing the latest 4-4-2 with a four-barrel 400/350, they upped the ante with a late-arriving Tri-Carb version conservatively rated at 360 horsepower. It was Oldsmobile’s first use of three-two-barrel induction since the legendary 1957-19...

1970 CHALLENGER: MAGNUM FORCE FROM MOPAR

Posted on March 16, 2025March 16, 2025 by MartynL

Dodge’s all-new answer to Ford, Mercury, Chevy and Pontiac Ponycars was the 1970 CHALLENGER: MAGNUM FORCE FROM MOPAR. In many ways, 1970 was the storm before the calm. The war in Southeast Asia continued casting a pall over a much-divided country and thinning the ranks of young enthusiasts. Carmakers’ racing budgets were being drastically cut and engineering resources reassigned to prepare for restrictive emissions and safety legislation. And, Ponycar sales had been plummeting and would...

’69 BALDWIN-MOTION PHASE III SS-427 CORVETTE

Posted on March 11, 2025March 11, 2025 by MartynL

After successfully launching SS & Phase III 427 Camaros, Joel Rosen concentrated on Corvettes: ’69 BALDWIN-MOTION PHASE III SS-427 CORVETTE. That’s how author-photographer Randy Leffingwell describes the ’69 BALDWIN-MOTION PHASE III SS-427 CORVETTE in “Joel Rosen’s Saturday Night Special.” The feature appeared in Randy's coffee-table book American Muscle Cars, which is about the late Otis Chandler’s legendary collection. One of the finest examples of Rosen’s cosmetically and mechan...

BONNEVILLE BELLYTANK SURVIVOR

Posted on March 9, 2025 by MartynL

Rocking an authentic fuel jettison tank from an F-86 fighter jet, this BONNEVILLE BELLYTANK SURVIVOR traces its heritage from Sabrejet to the Salt Flats! During the 1940s-1950s, land speed record Lakesters at Bonneville with donor bodies crafted from World War II and Korean War aircraft fuel drop tanks or “belly tanks” flooded the Salt Flats during Speed Weeks. It was the most economical way to build an aluminum-bodied, streamlined racecar. Intact, original Bellytankers are rare vintage...

’67 FORD GALAXIE: 427-CUBE HEAVYWEIGHT

Posted on March 4, 2025March 4, 2025 by MartynL

In 1967, Ford ‘called out’ the GTO with its hot 390 and 427 Fairlanes, put a big-block in its Mustang, and won the Daytona 500, Indy 500, Trans-Am Championship, and Le Mans. And, the ’67 FORD GALAXIE: 427-CUBE HEAVYWEIGHT took no prisoners! Even though all factory drag and NASCAR racing programs were centered around the new 427 Fairlane, Ford still offered customers a choice of W-Code or R-Code 427 side-oiler engines with four-speed transmissions in the full-size Galaxie. Collector Charlie Lill...

DODGE & PLYMOUTH: UNSUNG MUSCLECAR HEROES

Posted on February 28, 2025 by MartynL

While Pontiac unquestionably first exploited the youth market with a targeted high-performance car—the GTO—starting in 1964, credit must also be given to DODGE & PLYMOUTH: UNSUNG MUSCLECAR HEROES for its efforts starting in 1957! Not long after Ford pulled out of the 1957 AMA “agreement”, Chrysler followed suit. But Chrysler did not have Chevrolet and Ford’s racing heritage, nor their budgets and “supported” brand-name racers. They also didn’t have the right image cars to compete wi...