Hemmings Muscle Machines October 2018

“…bring the look of the magazine to contemporary tastes while also broadening the editorial package…” Last month, I mentioned that we’d been working on updating HMM, and the results are now in your hands. Redesign efforts on established magazines often focus on the graphic element, and we’ve done that in the past ourselves, but there’s more to this latest effort, so I wanted to use this space to walk you through the improvements we’ve made. First, the why: In spite of enjoying a very loyal readership, we feel it’s important to continue the ongoing process of refining our product — like working to dial in the optimum tune on a race car. We want to keep things interesting for the audience, and of course, we’d like that audience to continue…

EL MIRAGE DRY LAKE CONSIDERED FOR FIRST PERMANENT OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE AREA DESIGNATION On initial review, H.R.857 doesn’t appear to bring much change to how off-roaders and land-speed racers get to use public Southern California desert lands. El Mirage, along with five other Off-Highway Vehicle Areas, will remain under federal oversight and open to the public for motorized uses—including land-speed racing — as it has for nearly a century. In fact, the bill now winding its way through Congress, also known as the California Off-Road Recreation and Conservation Act, was specifically written to preserve that access by permanently designating those six areas as National Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Areas, preventing both developers and federal officials from ever blocking access to those lands. According to background on the bill from Representative Paul Cook,…

What you’re looking at is something of a lame duck. By the time you read this, this Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody will no longer be available. There will be a 2019 Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody, of course, but it will have found 10 more horsepower (for a total of 717). It will have a new front fascia and twin-scooped hood. And, at a starting price of $58,650 (before shipping and the gas-guzzler tax), it will be five-grand cheaper out the door, assuming you find a dealer willing to let one go for MSRP. The Widebody kit, seen here and exclusive to Hellcats and Demons last year, is available on the Challenger R/T Scat Pack for 2019. It doesn’t just look tough, it’s functional, too. The extra 3.5 inches of…

MORE VINTAGE RACERS Really enjoy your features on older race cars. I worked at Bandimere Speedway as track announcer for five years. I miss the stockers, gassers, and pro stock. The feature on the ’56 Chevrolet “Speedy Delivery” ( HMM #180) in the July issue was very enjoyable. I enjoy NASCAR racers as well. Thanks, Barry Bays Via email BAD MALIBU I just finished reading Terry McGean’s column from the HMM August 2018 issue entitled, “Wisdom from the Corner Garage.” First of all, I read every HMM literally from cover to cover. But for this current issue, what memories Terry’s column conjured up for me. I was just back from Vietnam, ready to complete my college education courtesy of my spending a year in WesPac and the graciousness of the…

“Every time I think the content of your fine magazine is lacking, boom, you hit one out of the park! Last month, a Buyer’s Guide on my current car, a ’68 AMX (HMM #178), and now the Mustang GT/CS (HMM #179)! My first car, purchased in 1973, was a black-on-black CS with a 390 4-V and four-speed, no less. It is apparently one of only two thus equipped. I paid a princely $650 for it, and had it not had the CS package, that might have very well been too much, as it had been well used, to put it mildly. As your readers know well, in 1973 most any of our now coveted heirlooms could be purchased for less than $2,000, at least where I lived in Northern California.…

THERE ARE TWO THINGS we like to see here at HMM: old muscle cars making fast passes and vintage Super Stockers restored to their old glory. When those two stories intersect, we bring our full, undivided attention. Never titled, this 1970 Plymouth Duster has always been a race car, so why shouldn’t it still be a race car? The seventh in a series of eight cars raced as the Riddler, this Duster has had a rich history. And were it not for Dan Sukosd, intent on bringing it back, not only to its former glory, but also to a safe, capable quarter-mile killer, it might still be sitting in mid-project state, carved up and all but used up. As a younger man, Dan “ate and slept drag racing.” In 1974…