Hemmings Muscle Machines June 2020

“…going fast and looking good were not mutually exclusive pursuits.” I bounced around atop my perch on the shotgun side of the bench seat, as Rocco Volpe pulled second gear in his ’63 Galaxie. He wasn’t actually getting very deep into the 427’s throttle—probably still running on the primaries of one carburetor, six other venturi ready to flop open at the behest of his right foot. But even at moderate speeds, the ride in the somewhat stiffly sprung Ford, on the country roads of Vermont, quickly evoked a sense of yesteryear. Cars of the early ’60s had evolved from the decade prior, but that lineage was still clearly there. It’s a period that unfolded before I’d come along, but one that I’ve found interesting, ever since I was a young…

IMPRESSIVE,A 1963 CHEVROLET BEL AIR STATION WAGON, WINS 2020 RIDLER AWARD Known as “the most prestigious award in the indoor custom car show industry,” The Don Ridler Memorial Award is presented annually at the Detroit Autorama, in recognition of “creativity, engineering, and quality workmanship.” This year, the award was given to a 1963 Chevrolet Bel Air station wagon named Impressive, built by Brad, Brady, and Cory Ranweiler of New Ulm, Minnesota. The Ranweilers’ shop, Show Cars Automotive, built the engine, which started as an iron-block 409 (bored and stroked to 509 cubic inches), topped by a Hilborn EFI system, and paired to a 4L80E automatic transmission. It’s built on a custom Art Morrison chassis, with custom wheels and trim by Evod Industries. The red leather and carpet are from M&M…

What’s a gearhead to do? Time moves on, life rolls forward, and next thing you know, you’re all responsible and what not. You’ve got a family, with kids, pets, places to be, and none of it seems to jibe with the pursuit of exhilarating motoring, particularly if your preferences lie with burbling V-8 muscle cars. For scores of enthusiasts over the years, this has been the point where the fun cars go away and practical machines take their place. There’s another reality, too. A brand-new Challenger SRT Redeye, with 797 hp, 707 lb-ft of torque, and two-wheel drive isn’t going to work very well for winter commuting around these parts, where snow can linger for nearly half the calendar. Dodge feels your pain, and it’s now possible to satisfy a…

PROPS TO THE PARENTS! I thoroughly enjoy HMM every month, especially the letters that regularly evoke a lot of memories for me. Perhaps mine will do the same for some of your readers. My father passed away several years ago, and I helped move my mother back to Seattle from Oregon. I pulled a box of pictures from their house, and recently had a chance to go through it. I came across two photos of my parents’ garage, which were probably taken around 1980 or so. It made me realize just how much they put up with, as my friends and I constantly monopolized that space for our various automotive experiments. We were one of the few families back then that actually had a garage. Most of the homes had…

“I really appreciated your Buyer’s Guide on the 1965 Barracuda (HMM #200). After I wrecked my ’68 Malibu in college, I picked up this one for $300 in 1977. It was equipped with the base 273, an automatic with a mini-console floor shift, and power steering. One trouble area of note on these cars was the very weak hinges on the trunk. While searching for a replacement hinge in a junkyard south of Dallas, I saw the nose of a black ’65 poking out from a row of decrepit Plymouths. It had an interesting round badge on the front fender, stating that this was a “Formula S.” Pre-Google, car magazines had taught me that Barracudas from ’67 and ’68 (I think) could be equipped with the Formula S, but I…

“I DRIVE IT LIKE I STOLE IT!” admits Larry Atwood, regarding his Pro Touring 1969 Camaro. Another owner might be tempted, at least initially, to go easy on his recently completed build after considering the expenditure required to realize his LT4-powered Gen V Bowtie dream. With all the labor and parts, and the expertise mustered by the crew at the V8 Speed & Resto Shop in Red Bud, Illinois, to not only swap the modern supercharged engine into the classic chassis, but to dial it in to behave like Chevrolet intended all along, you wouldn’t want to risk breaking something right out of the gate, right? Then there’s the Detroit Speed subframe and suspension upgrades, the big Baer brakes… the list goes on and on. Nevertheless, Larry reasons, “We used…