Hemmings Muscle Machines November 2020

“…it was the wheel sizes, and sometimes the tires, that were messing with my mind.” Even as a young kid, I would occasionally sense that one example of a particular model of car just looked cooler than another, even though the two were seemingly the same. Particularly puzzling were certain early ’70s Mopar muscle cars that had Rallye wheels — why did some seem so tough while others were just okay? Chevy muscle cars with Corvette-style Rally wheels were confounding, too — some were good, some were better, and others were somehow great. At some point well before I could drive, I figured out that it was the wheel sizes, and sometimes the tires, that were messing with my mind. The Mopars I’d favored had 15 x 7-inch Rallyes with…

2020 CHEVROLET CORVETTE STINGRAY CHOSEN TO PACE THE 104TH INDIANAPOLIS 500 On Sunday, August 23, a field of 33 Indy Cars took the green flag for the 104th Indianapolis 500, delayed from its traditional running on Memorial Day weekend. Leading the pack to the start/finish line was a Torch Red 2020 Corvette Stingray, marking the 17th time that America’s sports car has paced the greatest spectacle in racing. The Official Pace Car Stingray, driven by GM president Mark Reuss, was equipped with the Z51 performance package, a ground effects kit and spoiler, Carbon Flash exterior accents, GT2 seats, and 104th Indy 500 graphics. Other modifications included integrated strobe lighting, though it’s unclear if the Corvette’s mid-mounted 6.2-liter V-8 — rated at 495 horsepower — or the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission received…

HELLCAT HAULER 2021 RAM TRX: 702 HP, SUB-13-SECOND 1/4-MILE, MASSIVE OFF-ROAD CAPABILITY. HELLCAT ALL THE THINGS! Once upon a time, you could buy a Hemi-powered, Torque-Flite-shifted, 3.55-geared, Dana 60-rear’ed street machine that would rip to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and do the quarter-mile in under 13 seconds on a fat set of Goodyears. In 2021, you can do this again. But this time, you don’t even need to drive on pavement. This is the four-wheel-drive 2021 Ram TRX, the first real competition for Ford’s strong-selling Raptor. Under that wide hood is, to no one’s surprise, Hellcat power — rated here at 702 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, and available only with an eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic. The dual-path air induction system is designed to allow maximum breathing while shrugging…

Send your letters, photos and opinions to tmcgean@hemmings.com RESTOS AND MODS Terry: Great column on your Camaro this month (“Creative Wrenching,” HMM #205). I have every copy of HMM published since issue #1. I love this magazine because of its coverage of classic muscle cars, but what is with all those restomods in this issue? Restomods are nothing but a fabrication of a classic car. I guess you need some of those for publication purposes. Since we both own classic Camaros, I thought I would attach a photo of my 1968 SS/RS coupe with an L34 396. I recently had it restored to 95 percent original, with many factory parts on it from 1968. Thanks for the classic articles. D. J. Holding Dover, Florida Your Camaro looks great and being…

“They say, ‘You only get better with age!’ Well, when it comes to my 1970 Monte Carlo, named ‘Selene,’ I have to agree! This year marked the 50th anniversary of the Chevrolet icon, and thanks to builders like me and many others, the first-generation Monte Carlo has never looked better. More and more of these cars are showing up in the auto enthusiast world, and with the moniker ‘Chevelle in a Tuxedo’ attached, it’s long overdue! My car sports a 650-hp, 468-cu.in. big-block Chevy fed through a Holley Super Sniper fuel injection and ignition system. It also has a CVF Racing front assembly, FTI TH400 transmission with a 2,800-rpm stall torque converter, and the original GM 12-bolt rear end with many more performance parts added in. At 50, she’s still…

WITH LATER BABY BOOMERS and earlier Generation Xers in their fifties, there’s a distinctive and undeniable shift in the vehicles being restored and restomodded these days. Vintage SUVs are all the rage and even the so-called “malaise-era” cars are finding more attention from those who grew up in the post-factory-supercar years. Fifty-something auto upholsterer Chuck Yee is part of that movement. His ride in high school was a silver 1977 Cutlass Supreme, a car that was as popular in the Seventies as fondue pots and brown leather jackets. He planned to keep it forever and build it into a proper street machine, as soon as he earned enough money. A couple of stupid guys playing with matches and gasoline, however, changed the plan. While the Cutlass was under wraps in…