Hemmings Muscle Machines May 2018

After another evening of perusing the usual online haunts dedicated to interesting cars being offered for sale, I found myself once again thinking about the stories we often hear from people who were buying muscle cars back when they were new or slightly used. What often strikes me is that, in the recounting of those days, money rarely comes up as a hindrance to automotive escapades. Did they really have it that good? Common threads always seem to involve young-ish guys in the 1960s with moderately decent employment, who went out and bought some sort of hot car from the local dealer. These weren’t “starter” cars — the ones that either had six-cylinders or, at best, a two-barrel carb feeding a V-8. No, these were indulgent, with big engines, meaty…

RANGER RAPTOR: IT’S COMING Ford’s new baby pickup will pack 2.7-liter, twin-turbo V-6 power Ford is bringing back the Ranger pickup, starting in 2019. In truth, it never really went away: In Australia, Africa, Europe, and South America, an all-new, different-from-ours Ranger pickup went on sale years ago. It just never came to America. But that’s changing. Sales of the midsize pickup market have grown nearly 85 percent in the last five years, and Ford wasn’t about to miss out on a slice of that pie. Ranger was ready to go. The standard ’19 Ranger, now considerably bigger than the long-lived compact truck that shared its name here in the States, will come standard with a turbocharged 2.3-liter EcoBoost four. Power hasn’t been announced, but we suspect Ford might trade…

2018 MOTORSPORT HALL OF FAME OF AMERICA CLASS INDUCTED What do “Lil’ John” Buttera, Carl G. Fisher, Jeff Gordon, Howard Hughes, “Flyin’ Fred” Merkel, U.E. “Pat” Patrick, and Bob Tullius have in common? Previously, the ambiguous answer was “motorsports,” but on March 13, the seven formed the class of 2018 at the 30th-annual Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) induction ceremony. The seven honorees come from six different disciplines, prompting MSHFA President Ron Watson to remark, “Howard Hughes and Jeff Gordon in the same class—that is probably the best example we’ve ever had to illustrate the breadth of our inductee roll.” John Buttera (better known as “Lil’ John” Buttera to his followers) needs no introduction to drag-racing fans, as the constructor’s dragsters, Funny Cars, and pro stockers were campaigned…

THE POWER OF DARKNESS Steven Macy • 847-640-6315 • www.stevenmacystudios.com • $425 A fascination with engineering and a life-long passion for hands-on mechanical work come through in every piece of automotive fine art that comes from the Des Plaines, Illinois, studio of Steven Macy. Lauded for his architectural and automotive illustrations, Steve works in acrylic paint on cold-press illustration board to create incredibly photorealistic scenes that celebrate America’s most iconic classic and high-performance cars. He’s sharing two of his newest paintings with us, and these pay tribute to some of the most popular Plymouth and Pontiac muscle machines built. “Acme Collision and Restoration” is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Warner Brothers’ cartoon bird that gave Plymouth’s Road Runner its name and mascot. This piece shows a mint 1970 Road…

Once upon a time, you could actually order the car you wanted in the manner that you wanted it. Most of us remember the time and lament its passing; it was a time of seemingly endless possibilities and potential. Far from the anodyne three-level option tiers you get with modern cars, you could get all kinds of weird combinations at the stroke of your salesman’s Bic Crystal: a blue exterior with a green interior, station wagons with four-speed-manual gearboxes, individually selected power assists for any number of functions from brakes to door locks to trunk releases. There were also bewildering arrays of choices of powertrain options, with the ability to mix and match engines and transmissions seemingly at will. Obviously, some combinations weren’t recommended, some weren’t allowed, and others just…

The original owner ordered this car to get what he wanted, because you couldn’t get a Monte Carlo SS 454 with a four-speed. So he outfitted it like a Monte Carlo SS, just without the SS 454 option: bucket seats, dash with gauges, console, Rally wheels, heavy-duty suspension, all of it. Someone did a frame-up restoration on it, then it was in Louisiana for a while. The maroon and Saddle was a killer color combination. Basically it’s an oversized Chevelle. They made fewer than 600 big-block four-speed Monte Carlos for 1970, and I’ve never seen another one.…