Hemmings Muscle Machines August 2019

I was in a friend’s garage the other day where he was showing me an extensive stash of parts for cars and trucks he doesn’t actually own. The items weren’t random—they were specific bits for certain vehicles, and he hadn’t happened upon them by chance—there had been a master plan. There just wasn’t a vehicle. This friend went through the various bits he had carefully packaged and shelved like an apologetic tour guide. There was a sheepish tone to his explanations of this stuff, and I knew where it was coming from. He was fully aware that it could be seen as a little ridiculous to gather up parts of significant value when there was nothing around to attach them to, and we both knew he wasn’t hoarding these things…

2019 PITTSBURGH GRAND PRIX TO HONOR SHELBY Now in its 37th year, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix is a 10-day extravaganza of motorsports and classic cars, offering something of interest for nearly all. The 2019 PVGP, which runs from July 11 to 21, will honor Shelby as its featured marque, playing host to national conventions for the Shelby American Automobile Club and Team Shelby. Pittsburgh is a fitting location to host a gathering of Shelby automobiles, since several early Cobras were assembled there by Ed Hugus at his European Cars dealership. Hugus and his team completed the assembly of CSX2001 — the first production Shelby Cobra — as well as CSX2003, CSX2004, and CSX2005, installing 260-cu.in. Ford V-8s and transmissions into the rolling chassis supplied by AC Cars. The SAAC-44…

HELLEPHANT STAMPEDE On April 26 (aka “4/26,” or “Hemi Day”), Mopar Performance announced that it was taking orders for the Hellephant crate engine. Now, if you missed it at SEMA last year, the Hellephant is a supercharged 1,000-hp, 950-lb-ft V-8 that costs almost $30K. And doesn’t come with a warranty. Or a car around it. (Or the “plug and play” engine kit that lets it run in any pre-1976 vehicle for another $2,265.) Yet, within two days of www.cratehemi.com going live, FCA had to announce that the run of engines had sold out. Mopar boasted of more than a thousand inquiries but is reticent to say just how many it’s building. Fear not if you missed out: Mopar Performance is mulling over another run for next year. No timetable is…

CLOSE TO A GHOST I read your “Ghost Muscle” article in HMM #191 about a ’70 Road Runner convertible. You were correct in saying they aren’t all gone. I have a ’70 Road Runner convertible in Jamaican Blue. I have owned it since 1981, and it’s never been out of Minnesota during that time. Thought I would share a few pictures with you. Keep the good articles coming. A true believer in Ghosts! Lonnie Waldvogel Somewhere in Minnesota Wow, Lonnie, your car looks just like the one I caught a glimpse of, circa 1999, at a car show in New York. That was the car I wrote about that I thought could be the one I used to see years prior, when I was a kid in the early ’80s.…

My story seems typical of many I read in your magazine: young soldier in Vietnam dreaming of buying a muscle car upon returning stateside, saving money ($135 a month in my case), using the car as a regular daily driver in all weather, trading it in for a more “responsible” family sedan after marriage and kids, and missing the car every day thereafter. Yes, that’s my story, with a few twists. The out-the-door price was $3,200 for my special-ordered teal blue 1968 Malibu convertible, 327/325-horse L79, four-speed, bench seat, power white top, tachometer, and mag-style wheel covers. I chose the top small-block option in the Malibu model instead of the SS 396 for better gas mileage at a lesser cost (remember, only $135 a month). Probably one of a handful…

WHEN DODGE INTRODUCED the Challenger to take on the Mustang and Camaro in 1970, it offered a slew of trim levels, from base to near-luxury SE to high-performance R/T to competition-spec T/A. Engine options in the brochure ranged from a couple of Slant Sixes to two-barrel small- and big-block V-8s to a host of high-performance engines, including a 340 four-barrel, 340 Six Pack (T/A only), 440 Six Pack, 426 Hemi, and a 383 four-barrel, the latter standard kit on the R/T models. You could even get a Challenger R/T convertible. All told, Dodge made just 963 R/T convertibles for 1970, so the company dropped the droptop R/T option for 1971, along with the T/A and its trick 340 Six Pack. But the rest of the engine lineup remained available, albeit…