Hemmings Muscle Machines March 2017

“Hasn’t wrecking muscle cars almost always gone hand-in-hand with owning them”? Have you ever totaled one of your cars?” The question came from a family member during a recent holiday gathering. It was something I hadn’t really thought about for some time. But my kin had. He’d just finished telling me about how he’d demolished a car about a week earlier. We don’t see each other that often, and the last time we’d talked, he expressed a desire to get a “fun” car again. He’d had a few entertaining rides back in the day. A second-gen Trans Am, a five-liter Mustang. But the usual factors of life, a house, kids and such, put off the play things for a time. He was dreaming of a C5 Corvette, but felt it…

ALL-SEASON MUSCLE While the traction control systems used on today’s factory performance cars, coupled with modern winter tires, can make contemporary rear-drive machines somewhat more capable in snow and ice than their predecessors, the perception persists that muscle cars and winter don’t mix. But Dodge is out to change that as it comes to market with what it is billing as the “world’s first and only all-wheel-drive American muscle coupe.” Dubbed Challenger GT, this new variation of Dodge’s retro-themed model borrows the AWD system from its sibling, the Charger, which has offered AWD since 2007. Back in 2009, the Charger began using a “Torque-on-Demand” AWD system that allowed the front portion of the drivetrain to be disconnected until additional traction was needed. The Challenger GT will use the latest version…

HISTORIC CORVETTE RENDERINGS TAKE THE SPOTLIGHT IN GALLERY EXHIBITION Every car designer longs to tackle something like the Corvette: a prestige car, sleek and speedy and exciting, destined for the covers of all the enthusiast magazines. Only a handful get to deliver renderings of the famed Chevrolet sports car, however, and that handful — and their visions — are now the focus of an art exhibit in Detroit. The single-model art show, curated by one of the two art collectors behind the in-the-works American Dreaming documentary, includes more than 100 original drawings and models of every generation of the Corvette up to the current version. Curator Robert Edwards said the idea for the exhibit came from John Peters, a member of the Scarab Club’s board and a Corvette enthusiast. Edwards…

SELLING THE AMERICAN MUSCLE CAR Diego Rosenberg • www.cartechbooks.com • $39.95 The muscle car glory years were all about marketing and building showroom traffic, a sales initiative that’s had few peers since then when it comes to pure success. In 192 hardcover pages, the author—who’s the P.A. voice of the Pure Stock Drags in Michigan each fall—has done a car-by-car, dealership-by-dealership review of the real heavies that moved muscle in big numbers during the great years. It’s a pretty big club, punctuated here by advertisements, interviews with executives, dealership sales materials, and a roll call of the participants, not all of whom are immediately obvious. Show of hands: How many of you Hemmings Nation folks out there remember Scuncio Chevrolet outside Providence, Rhode Island? At one time, it had…

Anyone who came of age in the early to mid-Sixties will remember the duck-and-cover drills practiced during the school season. The idea was that, should the Reds lob the big one over the polar ice cap, you’d be safe under that rickety old desk where you normally sat. Meanwhile, duck and cover took on a whole other meaning in those days out on the streets, when Johnny Law invaded the impromptu red-light drags that sprung up after hours. All the hot machines were there, collecting bragging rights, girls and cash. Even if you weren’t racing, you came out to watch. James Francesconi saw his fair share of stoplight activity back in the day. Growing up in South Jersey — more specifically, Vineland — he drove a 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne sedan…

SPECIFICATIONS PRICE Base price . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,776.00 Price as profiled . . . . . . . . $3,507.05 Options on car profiled . . . L34 Turbo Jet 360-hp, 396-cu.in. V-8, $105.35; M21 four-speed manual, $105.35; A01 tinted glass, $30.55; A39 deluxe front and rear belts, $10.55; G80 Positraction axle 3.73:1 ratio, $36.90; J65 metallic brakes, $36.90; K66 transistorized ignition equipment, $73.75; N40 power steering, $84.30; U14 special instruments, $79.00; U63 push-button radio, $57.40; U73 rear antenna, $9.50; 761 black vinyl trim, no charge; 900 Aztec Bronze paint, no charge; destination charge, $101.50. ENGINE Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chevrolet Mark IV “big-block” OHV…