Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2025 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

AT A GLANCE, Mike Radonovich’s 1965 Mustang fastback looks like a convincing Shelby G.T. 350R tribute. It has a facsimile of the “R” front apron, along with the deleted pillar vents and even the lightweight Plexiglas rear window that had a gap at the top designed as an air extractor. It was said to be worth an additional 5 mph on straights. Upon closer inspection there are also details that aren’t so exact. The fiberglass hood, for example, is the twin-nostril type seen on 1967 Shelby models, while the car also wears the side brake scoops that were more associated with 1966 G.T. 350 models. And then there’s the Gulf Oil livery paintwork. No G.T. 350R models ever wore the distinctive Powder Blue/Marigold Orange colors. In fact, Gulf Oil…

SINCE BEFORE THE WORDS muscle and car collided in a sentence, the quest to see which factory produced the fastest example has continued nonstop. Everyone has a story of an unbeatable car with Coke-bottle jumping launches and a $100 bill on the dash. When fans of different brands get together, the volume hits 11, and frequently someone will then break out the magazine articles of the day. It may get heated at times, but we all love the cars of the muscle car era and show at least some respect to every brand, even if it’s sometimes done grudgingly. The Pure Stock Drags (PSD) lives in the space between original factory offerings and the reality that most of these cars have been improved upon during the 50 years since they were…

AUCTION ACTION AT FIRST BLUSH, Monterey Car Week — which culminates with the esteemed Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance — doesn’t sound like the kind of event American performance car enthusiasts would normally put on their “must attend” car calendar. By its very nature, most of the events leading to the crème de la crème concours focus on the sort of Full Classics and European exotics that are favored by high-society types. But part of the signature event’s founding more than 70 years ago was a sports car race on the peninsula’s pine-tree-lined roads. Those races moved long ago to the purpose-built closed course that is WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca today, but that appreciation of brute horsepower remains, and part of its spirit is American performance. Such cars are typically here…

ZORA! ZR1 + E-RAY MILD HYBRID SYSTEM = 1,200+HORSEPOWER, AND 8-SECOND QUARTER-MILES If you thought the 1,064-horsepower Corvette ZR1 coming later this year was something, wait until you hear about the upgrade. Nicknamed “Zora” until Chevy’s marketing folks announce its real name, the long-rumored ultimate mid-engined Corvette takes the ZR1’s twin-turbo, flat-plane crank V-8 (and all of the attendant physical and cosmetic changes necessary to make it look the part) and then adds the Corvette E-Ray’s hybrid system. Sitting on the front axle (which means there will once again be a Corvette with a motor in the front), the 1.1kW system powers the front wheels and is good for 160 horsepower in the E-Ray — though sources tell us that engineers are looking to squeeze the equivalent of 200 horses…

IN THE WORLD of muscle car lore, there are stories, and then there are damn good stories. The following is one of the latter and goes something like this: Dave Smith of Spokane, Washington, was 5 years old when he went with his parents, Dave and Diane Wolfe, to pick up the new 1969 ½ Plymouth Road Runner “440-6BBL,” the A12-coded model they had ordered through Tekoa Motors. Over the next several years Dave rode all over Spokane in the daily-driven world-beater Mopar, watched his dad race it at Deer Park Raceway, and observed his dad install a beefier cam, headers, and 4.56 rear gears, monitored with the installation of a Sun tachometer. Then, in 1974, his dad sold the car. Disappointing as it was, a course was set for…

WE TAKE POWER WINDOWS for granted today — virtually every car and truck has them. In fact, if you’re younger than 40, you likely find manual-crank windows an odd novelty. But, in the 1960s, power windows were only common in top-tier luxury cars like Cadillacs and Lincolns. As you moved down the model hierarchy of any American auto manufacturer, the likelihood of seeing those little switches in the doors rather than a crank became increasingly unlikely, in spite of the fact that electric window lifts were an option on lots of models at that time. Because of this, I was surprised to see factory power windows in the 1969 Camaro my friend pulled into our high school parking lot sometime around 1984. Even then I knew that was quite unusual;…

AUBURN HIGHLIGHTS Worldwide Auctioneers has released its results from its annual Labor Day weekend auction held in Auburn, Indiana, and nearly $5 million in total sales were realized in the category of American muscle cars. Among the cars to sell was a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 equipped with the powerful LS6 engine. The 454/450-horsepower engine was said to be the original numbers-matching unit, and it was paired with the original Muncie M22 “rock crusher” four-speed transmission. The correct components were still there including the intake manifold, Holley carburetor, exhaust manifolds, deep-groove pulleys, and OEM chrome valve covers among other parts. The fully documented car was finished in a beige paint job with black vinyl top and black interior with bucket seats. Optional touches included a remote side mirror, factory…

Letter of the Month: Realizing Mustang Dreams I just finished reading your story about not letting a car get away (“Seizing the Dream,” HMM #255). I’m a classic Mustang guy — bought my first one when I was 16, and just bought my latest one last week. I’m now 61. I live in a small town in North Carolina, and I was looking for my next project car. I’ve had ’67s, ’69s, a ’71, a ’73, and a couple of others I’d rather not mention. So, I decided I wanted to do a ’65 or ’66 fastback. After talking with a couple other Mustang friends and checking the internet daily, my perfect project car showed up one morning online in Bakersfield, California. Unfortunately, that’s way too far away for me…

WHEN MUSCLE CAR SAVANT Chuck Fisher found out that this long dormant 1968 Firebird 400 convertible was ready to be passed on to its next owner, he had to step up, make an offer to save it, and ultimately get it back on the streets where it belonged. Oddly, it wasn’t Chuck’s first rodeo with this particular Pontiac, as the dusty ’Bird and our main character have a long history that goes way back. “I knew of this Firebird for years, so it’s not a barn find for me, per se. But it had been sitting quite a while — the better part of almost four decades. The owners had started a restoration, but sadly, it was never finished for unknown reasons. Knowing that it was a solid one-owner…

HEMMINGS AUCTIONS IS OUR LIVE, ONLINE AUCTION site staffed by customer service professionals ready to help bidders and sellers with any questions. A wide variety of classic and specialty vehicles from all eras are up for bid. Auctions run for one or two weeks, and qualified bidders place their bids electronically. Once a vehicle is accepted into the auction, the seller pays only a $99.95 listing fee. The winning bidder is responsible for a 5-percent fee on all completed auctions. The following are examples of auctions that transpired during the months leading up to press time. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, email the Hemmings Auctions team directly: auctions@hemmings.com. 1985 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z28 IROC-Z RESERVE: $30,000SELLING PRICE: $33,180 RECENT MARKET RANGE: $32,000-$48,000 By the mid-1980s, Ford and GM were…