Hemmings Muscle Machines August 2016

“Anyone from the New York metro area can tell you, hot cars have long been a part of the city’s fabric, and cruising those cars around the neighborhood is a time-honored pastime...” For many of us, the cars that move us the most are the ones that are linked to a particular time and place in our lives. Our exhaustive searches for specific parts and pieces required in order to complete meticulous restorations are, in some ways, attempts to restore, or at least preserve, the memories and feelings associated with the days when we first enjoyed those cars. And for most of us, having those cars back, the way we remembered them, does indeed contribute to the connection with the good ol’ days. But what if you could actually go…

CHEVY’S NEW TEN-SPEED Remember when only bicycles had 10 speeds, and you were lucky if your car had four? These days, bikes have 18 and even 24 speeds, and soon, cars will have 10. Chevy’s upcoming ZL1 Camaro will be the first volume-production car to offer an optional paddle-shifted ten-speed automatic transmission against the ZL1’s 640-hp supercharged LT4 V-8. It features an aggressive 4.70 first gear for lightning-quick starts, and has an even deeper overdrive than the eight-speed, offering lower revs and better fuel economy on the highway. Compared to Porsche’s class-leading PDK dual-clutch transmission, the ZL1’s 1-2 shifts are 36 percent faster, while 2-3 and 3-4 shifts are at least 26 percent quicker. It’s also roughly the same physical size as the sixth-generation Camaro’s optional eight-speed automatic, as it…

NATIONAL INVENTOR’S HALL OF FAME EXHIBIT SHOWS 1965, 2015 MUSTANGS SIDE BY SIDE Ever wonder how the cabin of a 1965 Ford Mustang convertible stacks up against the inside of its 2015 equivalent? Ever consider how many patents go into creating a new automobile, versus 50 years ago? Thanks to sponsorship from Ford, a new permanent exhibit at the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame answers these questions by parking a cutaway 1965 Mustang convertible next to a cutaway 2015 model. To allay the fears of collectors, no 1965 Mustangs were harmed in the making of the Intellectual Property Power exhibit, which relied on Ford-licensed reproduction body panels, chassis parts and interior components to create the display. Both the 1965 car (in left-hand drive) and the 2015 car (in right-hand drive,…

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME: A MEMOIR Burt Reynolds with Jon Winokur • www.penguin.com • $27.95 Countless stories are crafted over the course of 50+ years in show business, and Burt Reynolds has compiled many of his into one compelling read, imparted with humility and his wry sense of humor. This collection delves into his relationships with numerous Hollywood heavy hitters and other actors, directors, stuntmen, friends, teammates and family members, and it incorporates interesting anecdotes. There’s also plenty of self-evaluation, including the highs and lows of how he treated some people—and how they treated him. This tome should be appreciated in its entirety, but since this is a muscle car magazine, chapters that will be of particular interest are “Hal Needham” and “Smokey.” Though car movies aren’t the focus…

This muscle car odyssey may ring familiar: Boy buys muscle car in the 1970s, he later sells it due to life’s responsibilities, he seeks out another muscle car decades later to relive his glory days, and the scale of its restoration grows from modest to massive. It sounds simple enough when described here, but living it, as Roger and Mary Jo Gaultney learned, requires trust, deep pockets and intestinal fortitude. Roger bought his first car as a high school junior in 1972 — a white ’69 383 Road Runner with a Torque-Flite — that initiated his lifelong affection for the model. After eight years of prideful ownership, the Plymouth, taking a backseat to marriage and starting a business, was sold. Twenty years later, the Cordova, Maryland, resident was finished sitting…

I had an idea when we bought the Road Runner that it was going to require a substantial investment to restore. When I finally could afford to get started, however, it was just about the time that Mopar values and parts prices started to go crazy. It was hard on my wife and me for a while—the money was leaving so fast and the parts were becoming expensive, but by then we had made the commitment to do a concours restoration, and we wanted to see it through. It was probably easier to build my house than it was to do that Mopar, but Ed, Roger and Frank helped us a great deal to realize our goal, and we are very pleased with the results.…