WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025

Posted on June 7, 2025June 7, 2025 by MartynL

There was low & slow and plenty of go at the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025. CGC’s Jim Palam went along for the fun ride!It was hard to pick just one car that embodied the spirit and essence of the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025, now in its 44th year. But when the 'South of Heaven Filthies car club dropped their audacious Hemi-powered '27 Chrysler 'H-Bomb' hot rod right in the center of the Santa Maria Fairpark, a smile-inducing shockwave spread throughout the park's ...

‘57 FORD Y-BLOCK SUPERCHARGED MUSCLECAR

Posted on June 6, 2025June 6, 2025 by MartynL

Ford offered OHV V-8s, dual quads & superchargers; yet it was the worst of times: the AMA racing ban. The ‘57 FORD Y-BLOCK SUPERCHARGED MUSCLECAR, however, represents the prelude to TOTAL PERFORMANCE. The 1950s ushered in an era of aggressive competition, both on the street and racetracks. Ford, Chrysler and General Motors did whatever it took to lure buyers into showrooms. Detroit’s competitive spirit during the mid-to-late-1950s set the stage for some of the most exciting years i...

’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER!

Posted on June 1, 2025June 1, 2025 by MartynL

The new year ushered in magnum force from Motown: bigger, more powerful engines, a plethora of Ponycars, and the ’70 CHEVELLE SS454: BIG-BLOCK BRUISER! 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 s...

THE QUAIL MotoFest 2025

Posted on May 27, 2025May 27, 2025 by MartynL

Popular motorcycle gathering changes name, cranks up magic and allure. Jim Palam welcomes you to THE QUAIL MotoFest 2025! For its 15th birthday, The Quail Motorcycle Gathering changed its name to THE QUAIL MotoFest 2025 to attract more people, including those who aren't die-hard motorcycle fans. Early on show day, I took a quick preview zip over the manicured lawns of the Quail Golf Club in Carmel, CA, where the bikes, vendor tents, food courts, stages, and displays were getting their fina...

BUICK GNX #002

Posted on May 21, 2025May 21, 2025 by MartynL

Scott Oldham blogs about driving BUICK GNX #002, the first GNX to be involved in a traffic accident! In 1987, I was handling East Coast media relations for Buick Motor Division, wrote the BUICK GNX book that went with each of the 547 GNXs, and had the second production GNX (#002) in my New York City press fleet for a few months. The first media loan went to Joe Oldham at Popular Mechanics magazine, and son, Scott, later to become a respected member of the automotive media communi...

’70 BUICK STAGE 1 SKYLARK & GSX

Posted on May 21, 2025May 21, 2025 by MartynL

Targeting the Olds W-30 4-4-2, Chevy SS454 Chevelle, and other max-perf Motown Muscle, the ’70 BUICK STAGE 1 SKYLARK & GSX catapulted Buick into the heat of the battle for Supercar supremacy. The ’70 BUICK STAGE 1 SKYLARK & GSX, in 360 horsepower trim, were the industry’s first “adult” Supercars. It was a powerful, high-quality, well-balanced midsize coupe (or convertible) with superb ride and handling qualities. While the GS-455 was almost invisible compared with competitive of...

HAJEK MOTORSPORTS MUSEUM OF NASCAR AND DRAG RACING HISTORY

Posted on May 14, 2025May 14, 2025 by MartynL

Some of the most significant competition cars have been carefully preserved and are on display in the HAJEK MOTORSPORTS MUSEUM OF NASCAR AND DRAG RACING HISTORY in Ames, OK. When I was writing FORD TOTAL PERFORMANCE in 2015 for Motorbooks, I had the pleasure of communicating with consummate carguy, Brent Hajek. There were several drag racing cars, as well as at least one land speed record Bonneville Mustang, that I was featuring, and needed some background and timeline information. These we...

’66 MERCURY COMET CYCLONE 390 GT

Posted on May 10, 2025May 10, 2025 by MartynL

Ford’s Lincoln-Mercury Division joins the Supercar Sweepstakes with the ’66 MERCURY COMET CYCLONE 390 GT! No longer a compact model, the Comet-Cyclone lineup for 1966 received styling and big-block power updates to compete with midsize models from GM and Chrysler, as well as Ford’s revamped Fairlane. The most stylish and powerful model - ’66 MERCURY COMET CYCLONE 390 GT - came stock with a 390 cubic-inch FE big-block with four-barrel intake and dual exhausts under its scooped fiberglass...

SPIRIT OF ZORA ’57 CORVETTE FUELIE

Posted on May 4, 2025 by MartynL

Prepped for the 2026 Mille Miglia in Italy, Team Zora USA’s SPIRIT OF ZORA ’57 CORVETTE FUELIE rocks at Corvettes on the Circle! Competitive Historic racer Michael Moss - Lola T70 & Gurney Eagle - wins Class and Favorite Car “gold” with his SPIRIT OF ZORA ’57 CORVETTE FUELIE at the 26th Annual Skyway Corvette Club’s Corvettes on the Circle show on May 3rd. Held at St. Armands Circle, Sarasota, FL, this year’s show hosted more than 175 Corvettes spanning eight generations of America’...

’70 DODGE CHALLENGER T/A – SIX-PACK TO GO!

Posted on May 2, 2025 by MartynL

Created to battle Z/28 Camaros and Boss 302 Mustangs on the road and track, the 340-inch ’70 DODGE CHALLENGER T/A - SIX-PACK TO GO! proved that less could be more. Both Dodge and Plymouth had been involved in SCCA competitive events since the early to mid-1960s, before the Ponycar explosion and factory participation in Trans-Am racing. SCCA’s 1970 Trans-Am rules allowed carmakers to destroke production engines to meet the series’ 305-cube limit. Chrysler responded with the Challenger T/...