Hemmings Muscle Machines May 2023

We car enthusiasts tend to find certain vehicles to really connect with… A few of the cars and owners we’re highlighting in this issue got me to thinking about the concept of the “ultimate” car. In this case, ultimate would be used to mean the owner’s idea of the most perfect iteration of his or her chosen model. We car enthusiasts tend to find certain vehicles to really connect with, and from there it seems a natural progression to start thinking about the best version that can be imagined — and then possibly setting out to make it real. The owners of some of our feature cars all appeared to be motivated by that drive in one way or another, and I think it’s a mindset many of us can…

PRODUCTION LINE Hey, the Corvette is mid-engined now. Didja hear about it? Yeah, it’s been four years. The time, how she flies. Is that long enough to call a mid-engined Corvette “traditional?” Well, now that the shock of Chevrolet actually designing a mid-engined Corvette and foisting it upon the masses is no longer a new feeling (for most of us, anyway), it’s time to get down to normal Corvette business. You might imagine that this would involve discussing things like power figures, quarter-mile times, and lateral-G numbers around a skidpad. Slide-rule comparisons between Corvette cost-and-performance versus the European competition’s. Eternal hand-wringing over the lack of a manual transmission. Heavens no. Chevy’s 70th Anniversary Special edition Corvette is here. What’s in it? The usual trim spiffs, mostly: specific dark-finish wheels for…

Letter of the Month: Collecting Keepers Reading Terry McGean’s editorial “Shifting Standards” (HMM #233, January 2023) and “Restoration Education” in the January issue of your sister pub, Hemmings Classic Car, really brought back memories of my early interest in cars that began when I purchased my first car in 1968: a ’64 Falcon Sprint hardtop for $500 (I still have it). After taking it to a service station for some engine issues that were not resolved, it became apparent to me that in order to keep a car on the road, I would need to learn how to do the maintenance work myself. And learn I did. Over the next two decades I bought more than 65 cars, most for less than $500; did mechanical work, body and paint work,…

MODIFIEDSPOTLIGHT: B-O-P BOB BACHMAN’S INFATUATION WITH PONTIACS, and more specifically, GTOs, started when he was a youngster called upon to work on weekends. While most kids look to avoid work when they’re not in school, Bob didn’t mind his “job” at all. “When I was a kid, I would spend my Saturday mornings doing something I loved,” Bob explains. “Those days were spent with my grandfather, who had a very important job as far as I was concerned. He was a salesman at Jones Pontiac in nearby Lancaster, Pennsylvania, our local Pontiac dealer. He would bring me in and let me tag along, following his every move as he did his job. I loved hanging out with him and of course, getting to check out the finest cars in the…

THINK ABOUT AMERICAN PERFORMANCE CARS IN 1978. SLIM PICKINGS, WE KNOW. WHAT WAS OUT THERE? Corvette, yes; expensive, though. Trans Am? Sure, but the spats and stickers weren’t for everyone. Who was making a proper four-seat, big-engine coupe in the old-school muscle car mode? Almost no one. Almost. Contrary to these photos, not even Dodge, really. Chrysler Corporation was rarely averse to engaging in a little parts-bin engineering, particularly when developing models during the 1970s. It shouldn’t have surprised anyone when the Dodge Magnum was introduced as being “all-new” for its 1978 debut. Cynics would call it a Charger SE/Cordoba with new front and rear (even the window sticker listed it as a “Charger SE/Magnum XE”). Rectangular quad lights lived behind retractable clear plastic covers, and an upright four-slot grille…

STOCKSPOTLIGHT: B-O-P INPUTS WE RECEIVE DURING OUR YOUTH VERY OFTEN set the tone for direction in adult life, and for Jim Mueller and the Oldsmobile marque, that sentiment certainly holds true. You see, Jim grew up surrounded by Oldsmobiles during his formative years, so it’s of no surprise that he might own a Lansing classic as an adult. Yet what is surprising is the fact that until this particular ’66 showed up on his radar screen in 2017, he’d been without his own Olds since his very first car — a ’66 Cutlass four-door he purchased in 1973. “I’ve always been into cars and trucks, but for whatever reason, I really gravitated to the Jeep scene for my adult-owned vehicles,” Jim says. “More recently, I wanted to get back to…