Hemmings Muscle Machines February 2021

“…a new twist on the engine swap: Installing engines from older cars in newer ones.” The engine swap has been a time-honored tradition of hot rodding for almost as long as people have been “hopping up” cars to make them go faster. The first hot-rodders took to tinkering with the four-cylinder engines that were common prior to World War II, and the aftermarket emerged with speed parts to assist. Some of the inline-sixes of the day were subjects, too, but once Henry’s V-8 came out, its appeal with speed seekers caught on quickly. After the war, flathead-powered hot rods became common, but when the first overhead-valve V-8s were introduced by Detroit, things began to change. Before long, many of the rodders who’d spent lots of time, effort, and money to…

FCA UNLEASHES AN 807-HP REDEYE CRATE ENGINE Need a little more grunt for your 318 Barracuda or Slant-Six E-body Challenger? How does 807 horsepower and 717 lb-ft of torque sound, courtesy of FCA’s latest crate engine offering, the Hellcrate Redeye Supercharged HEMI? Announced on November 6, the 6.2-liter HEMI V-8 is topped with a 2.7-liter supercharger that produces 14.5 psi of boost, compared to 11.6 psi in the standard Hellcrate engine. Strengthened internals (forged steel crankshaft with revised balancing, forged alloy pistons, powder-forged connecting rods, and twice the piston cooling) not only cope with the added boost, but permit a redline of 6,500 rpm, 300 rpm more than the standard Hellcrate. The Hellcrate Redeye comes standard with a flexplate for mating to automatic transmissions, but Mopar also sells the parts…

2021 JEEP WRANGLER RUBICON 392 THE FACTORY-BUILT BRO-JEEP: 470 HORSES, 0-60 IN 4.5 SECONDS, ON SALE SHORTLY Remember when Jeeps were thrifty little off-roaders, four- and six-cylinder engines plugging away through all four wheels? Was it Enzo Ferrari (or perhaps his right-hand man in America, Luigi Chinetti?) who called the Jeep “America’s only sports car”? Not only would the old man flip his wig to see Jeep and Ferrari under the same corporate umbrella, he’d be amazed to see one perform as well as the example seen here. As threatened a few months ago, Jeep has pulled the trigger on the 2021 Wrangler Rubicon 392: a 4x4 packed full of FCA’s 392-cu.-in., 470-hp, 470 lb-ft V-8 that will reach 60 mph from a standstill in just 4½ seconds, and break…

Terry: Having read the “The Right Rollers” editorial in the November issue (HMM #207), I wanted to take a moment and say thank you. It was a great piece, and you were right on the money with what you had to say. It’s amazing how a different set of wheels and tires can change the look of a vehicle, both positive and negative. I, too, have a set of 15 x 7-inch Rally wheels on my 1972 El Camino, and I love the look of the car with them. My 1972 Chevelle has 17 x 8 American Racing wheels, and I love that look also. I think the Chevelle would look terrible with the Rally wheels, but that is only one old geezer’s opinion. One of the first things I…

IN A YEAR THAT HAS SEEN MORE than its share of uncertainty, it was questionable if the 26th-annual Pure Stock Drags would even be held. We are pleased to report that the event went off as usual, providing a little bit of normalcy as 109 muscle cars returned to Mid-Michigan Motorplex. Of course, the event was held under the rules of 2020. No outside spectators. Social distancing was practiced in the pits and on the track. Elbow bumps replaced the pre-shootout handshakes. Our Canadian racers were locked out. Many longtime competitors decided staying home was in their best interest. In many ways this year was different, but the action on the track was exactly as it has always been. Michigan treated us to two beautiful fall days of weather, there…

THIS FAIRLANE ROLLED OFF THE LINE about five days before the Mustang made its debut. Perhaps gearing up for that new car caused some shortages for other models. How else do you explain that this Fairlane came with a 1963-type interior and a too-long driveshaft? It’s not as though the intervening years are a great mystery. Current owner Don Antilla, of Southbury, Connecticut, acquired the car only in early 2020. He’s known of it since 1966, though he didn’t finally get to see it until very recently. He’d been bugging its second owner to sell for more than 54 years, but that fellow, Mario Muollo, was more interested in street racing the solid-lifter Fairlane than restoring it or selling it. He finally stopped driving it around 1993 (the last date…