The hottest women in Car-Chase Movies....Redux by requests........

About a year ago I ran a post about the hottest women in car chase movies. It was popular and got a lot of good-natured debate going. Recently I had a few requests to re-run it-especially since F&F 7 is coming out-shot around Paul Walker's death and since they killed Gal Gadot and Gina Carano in "F&F" 6,- People have asked me to do it again and I aim to please-so here's my rankings of the hottest women in Muslcecar / Car Chase movies.  # 1. Jennifer Billingsley "White Lightning". With her dark-brown roots showing in her bleach-blonde hair, barefoot in that tight, flowery mini-sundress almost the whole movie, "Shake a Puddin" just oozed sex. When she runs her bare foot up and down his biceps in the front seat of his famous brown LTD and tells Burt Reynolds-"Gator if you want it, just ask." "If you don't that's ok too." I about shit. Burt replies-"What about Roy?" ( Bo Hopkins-her evil moonshiner boyfriend ) She says-"He's not gonna be standing there watching us is he?" "I hope not." Gator says. Later, she has sex with Burt in the river-while Bo Hopkins sleeps in the house up the road. When Burt sets her up for rape so they can escape Big Bear and Sheriif Connors henchman-she doesn't even hold it against him. They kick ass and she drives Burt to a home for unwed mothers for medical attention for his gunshot wounds. She epitomized the southern slut that men die and kill for. Others have tried to do it-Kim Basinger in "No Mercy", Teri Hatcher in "Heaven's Prisoners" and most recently Reese Witherspoon in "Mud"-but none have ever been able to top "Shake a Puddin."  #2. Darlanne Fluegel  "To Live and Die in L.A." This under-rated thriller was directed by William Freidkin ( "The French Connection" "The Exorcist") and starred a young, pre-"CSI" William Peterson as a Secret Service agent after a young Willem Dafoe, who was a master counterfieter that killed Peterson's partner. A classically trained stage actress who'd been wasted in Horror-"Eyes of Laura Mars" and Sci-Fi-"Battlestar Galactica"-she got to show her chops here as Ruth-"Chance's" informant / hooker / girlfriend. And she was naked a lot. When she asks him what would you do if I stopped feeding you information? and he replies "I'd violate your parole and send you back to prison" You know she's going to set him up. And she does. What was great about her performance was she wasn't the cliche' hard-luck girl with a heart of gold. She's a bitch and a whore and she uses men to get what she wants and doesn't care; she knows it and we know it, that makes it unanimous. # 3. Jacqueline Bisset "Bullitt". At 33, in 1977, millions of teenage boys thought she was so smokin hot in bikini panties and a wet-t-shirt that the "Deep" poster outsold everything, inclucing Farrah Fawcett in the red bathing suit that was the 1976 champ. You need to watch "Bullitt" and catch her at 24. The british accent, naked and barefoot under Steve McQueen's wrinkled shirt, offering him breakfast-Like Waynes world-"Schwing!" Only her vomiting after seeing a corpse and reading Steve off for being jaded kept her out of the top spots. # 4. Susan George "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry", "A Small Town in Texas." I upped her ranking because she's in not one, but two cult classics. Three, actually if you count "Mandingo" where her sexy inter-racial love scenes with Boxer Ken Norton got her some Sharon Stone style "Basic Instinct" noteriety for a few years.  "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" actually had a good story about a kidnapping / robbery gone wrong and some good automotive action. She's largely wasted as Peter Fonda and his co-hort make fun of her for most of the film. However she gets honorable mention for spending the whole picture barefoot in hip-hugger jeans and a straining denim halter top. She plays basically the same character-an ignorant slut-as Dan Ackroyd would say- in "A Small Town in Texas". Her football hero boyfriend gets railroaded to prison by the corrupt sheriff on drug charges. So while he's serving time,she of course has no choice but to start sleeping with the sheriff!! Then he comes home, and as they said in Johnny Dangerously-it's Fargin War. Good action and a fight to the finish finale. #5 Isabelle Adjani "The Driver" Adjani is great at playing tortured chanteuses-she stole "Diabolique" from Sharon Stone. As getaway driver Ryan O'Neal's contact and sometime lover-it's her murder that sends him on a path of vengenance and sets up the films excellent final hour. # 6. I'll have to go on the 'net and get her name-but the naked motorcycle rider from "Vanishing Point" has got to be on the list. I loved the '70's. This was before political correctness, and before "PG13" ratings. When I say naked-I don't mean tasteful camera angles, back shots, I mean totally nude and barefoot, full-frontal tit and bush shots and I mean long, lingering shots-not like "Playboy" videos where you think the camera is mounted on an Indy car circling the model!! When Kowalski declines both a joint and sex-she just gets back on the bike and conintues riding! So bad.  #7. Lynda Carter "Bobbi Jo and The Outlaw." She actually made this before she got the "Wonder Woman" gig-but it was released after. It's main attribute is she gets naked a lot. Evangelist turned action star Marjoe Gortner was sexy and menacing as her car-thief boyfriend who kills someone in self-defense, causing them to go on the run. Some decent car-chase action in a Mustang and other cars that Gortner steals. Did I mention that Lynda gets naked a lot?  There's going to be some griping about a few omissions-but I don't care. Sally Field in "Smokey and the Bandit?" Sorry. Can't get a woodie for the "Flying Nun" in a Trans-Am. Jordana Brewster spent all her time in the F&F movies mediating the "Bromance" fights between Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. No sex, and not even a gratuitous bikini scene when they went to Brazil ( Gal Gadot provided that ). The smokin hot Eva Mendes spent about 30 seconds in a bikini in F&F 2, but that doesn't count in my book. Any how let the Ginger vs Mary Ann type debates begin....Mastermind              

Get off this "Brand Loyalty" of "This rules and everything else sucks......You might be pleasantly surprised!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again-If I see one more Dodge Pickup with "Calvin"-( of the Comic strip " Calvin&Hobbes" ) pissing on a Chevy Bow-Tie emblem or a Camaro with a "Friends don't let friends drive Fords" bumper sticker, I'm going to ram the driver with my old Buick. My dad was a Pontiac guy and so am I. Yes,- If I had an unlimited bankroll-I'd have a Ram Air IV Judge or an SD-455 Trans-Am. In reality-I'll probably buy another Disco-era T/A ( '77-79 ) and put Edelbrock heads and other goodies on it that's more in line with my current finances. Or maybe buy a '69-77 Gran Prix or a '71-74 Ventura and play with that. But I'm not limited to Pontiacs. I'd love to have a '67-68 Cougar. I think that's one of the coolest cars Ford ever put out. Or a '71-73 Mustang Mach 1. Buddies of mine had those in high school and I have fond memeories of them both. I'd also love to have a '70 "Vanishing Point" Challenger. I can't afford an original Hemi or 440 car-but I bet I could find a 318 version fairly cheap and swap in a snarling 360 or 360 based 408 stroker!!  I'd like to have a '71-74 AMC Javelin AMX. That body still looks cool even today-there are millions of Jeep Grand Wagonneers in junkyards with 360 V8s-and Edelbrock even offers aluminum heads for them. I'd do one red,white and blue with Minilite wheels and sidepipes like Mark Donohue's Championship car. I also like some imports. I'd love to restore a '70-78 Datsun 240 or 280Z. I'd love to have a '70-76 Porsche 914. A new Subaru WRX will blow the doors off 90% of the Musclecars out there-they do 0-60 in just over 5 seconds and the 1/4 in the high 13s. Ditto for a Nissan 370Z. Like Vin Diesel said to Gal Gadot-in "F&F 4" when she caught him looking under the hood of the bad guys Torino-"You like that car?" "I like a fine body no matter what brand it is."  Were all gearheads and were all fighting the good fight against the government and the EPA that want to crush all cars built before 1981. Which includes a friend's 1958 Ferarri Testa Rossa!!  So open your mind and you may be surprised at your next "Dream Car!" Mastermind  

A clone can save you many thousands....If your reasonable....

There's a finite number of premium musclecars, and even if you have an unlimited bankroll-depending on what you want-often the problem is just finding one for sale at any price. As long as you don't try to re-sell it as an original I don't see a problem with clones, although a lot of purists do. Tell me-how does some guy dressing up a '66 Mustang fastback like a GT350H "diminish" the value of your "real" one? Everyone knows his is a fake, and yours is numbers-matching, and the "Real" Shelby will always be worth more than a fake. Get over yourselves. Pontiac only made 697 1969 Trans-Ams. If some guy wants to take one of the other 113,000 V8 Firebirds built in 1969 and contact Year One and dress it up like a T/A-so he has a cool car for say $25,000 instead of the $100,000 plus that a "Real" '69 T/A would bring what harm is there in that? If a guy spends 15 grand on a Mopar Performance 426 crate Hemi and puts it in a nice '69 383 Coronet 2 dr he paid 8 grand for and paints it like a Super Bee,and has 30K in a Hemi Super Bee clone-does that really diminish the value of a real Hemi Super Bee that's worth 150k?  I have a friend who back in the '80's bought a six-cylinder, 3-speed '69 Camaro for $1,000. He dropped in a mild 350, a Saginaw 4-speed, and bought a "Cowl Induction" hood, some Rally wheels from Wheel Vintiques, and painted it like a Z/28. Total cost-$3,500. Everywhere he went people "oohed" and "aahhed" over his "Z/28". He loved it, and eventually put a snarling Rat motor in it, which people at "Show-n-Shines" derided him for for "Ruining" a classic!! These assholes who insulted a stranger for modifying his own car had no Idea that it wasn't a "Real" Z/28!!! He got many laughs out of that!!  So if you wan to buy a '69 LeMans and fake a "Judge" by all means do it! As long as you don't try to sell it as an original, who cares?  Mastermind    

The history of the Z/28.....

Musclecar Review is featuring Z/28's this month so I thought I'd touch on how the "Z" came into being. In the mid '60's the SCCA had a road racing series called Trans-American Sedan Racing-"Trans-Am" for short that was very popular. Oddly-at the height of the musclecar era-the displacement limit was 5 liters-or 305 cubic inches. The 289 V8 Ford Mustang and 273 V8 Plymouth Barracuda did nicely. Ford won the championship in 1966. When the Camaro was introduced Chevrolet pulled out all the stops. Instead of running the little 283 V8 that powered countless Novas, Malibus and Pickups-they took the 327 Corvette block and put a 283 crank in it making it 302 inches. It also had 11:1 compression, a hot solid-lifter cam, Corvette "Fuelie" heads, an aluminum intake and a 780 Holley carb. It was rated at a ridiculously low 290 hp. The buff magazines figured its true output was closer to 350 hp, and that race versions were putting out 460-470 hp. SCCA rules said you had to sell at least 500 to the public to race them. Exactly 602 were sold in 1967 making them legal. The brass couldn't think of a catchy name so they just used the option code-rpo Z/28. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue kicked ass. Winning a lot of races in '67 and the championship in '68. Ford fired back with the "Boss 302" a Mustang with Tunnel-Port 351 "Cleveland" heads on a 302 block. Parnelli Jones and others gave Donohue a helluva run. The competition was fierce and the races were more popular than ever. 1969 was the best sales year to date-of the 200,000+ Camaros sold that year nearly 20,000 were Z/28s. The F-bodies were completely redesigned for 1970-this bodystyle would last until 1981. Since the SCCA changed the rules and now allowed destroking-Chrysler got back into the fray with the new Challenger and 'Cuda by destroking the 340 V8 and Pontiac de-stroked a 400 to build a 303. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue were now racing AMC Javelins with a 304 inch V8. The 1970 production Z/28 now had a 350 V8 with all the 'Vette goodies on it and it was rated at 360 hp in the Z/28 and 370 in the Corvette.  The extra cubes really improved torque and drivability. For the first time an automatic transmission and air conditioning were offered. In 1971 GM lowered compression ratios across the board so cars could run on low-lead gas. This lowered hp to 330. Donohue and AMC won the Championship in a Javelin-but by '71 Ford and GM both had pulled the major factory support so it was kind of a hollow victory-a factory backed team beating a bunch of privateers. In '72 nothing really changed-except a UAW strike at the Norwood, Ohio plant that built Camaros and Firebirds nearly killed the breed. Very few were sold, and 1100 cars that couldn't meet the stiffer 1973 5-mph bumper standards had to be scrapped. GM actually considered killing the F-body line. Only the efforts of Herb Adams and others at Pontiac kept them alive. It was a good decision Trans Ams sales quadrupled that year and Chevy sold nearly 12,000 Z/28's in '73-the best year since 1969. However-the solid-lifter cam was replaced with a hydraulic one, and the aluminum manifold ad 780 Holley was replaced by an iron one with a Quadrajet. For some insane reason-in late 1974 Chevrolet killed the Z/28 option. AMC Killed the Javelin, Ford turned the Mustang into a re-badged Pinto / Capri and Chrysler killed the 'Cuda and Challenger, and Road Runner and Charger for '75. The 454 was longer available in a Corvette-a 350 was the biggest motor you could get and you couldn't even get a 4-speed in California!  Gee, wonder why Pontiac Trans-Am  sales were skyrocketing-they sold nearly 50,000 in 1976-and that was before "Smokey and the Bandit"-that film was released in June 1977. Realizing the error of their ways Chevy brought back the Z/28 in March 1977 after a 2 1/2 year hiatus. Power was an L48 350, but you got a 4-speed with 3.73:1 gears or an automatic with 3.42:1s and sport suspension and graphics that copied the T/A. They were good performers for the time-0-60 times in the 7 second range and 1/4 mile times in the mid 15s. I know a V6 Honda Accord is faster than that now-but these were the darkest days-The advent of Catalytic converters and ever-tightening emission standards killed everyone's performance for several years. '78 and '79 were record sales years. Obviously-if youw wanted a musclecar then-you had two choices-a Trans-Am or a Z/28. "Cowl Induction" was brought back for 1980-a vacuum-operated hood scoop that opened under full-throttle acceleration. It didn't really help performance, but man did it sound cool. In '81-things got worse-you could only get a 350 with an automatic. If you wanted a 4-speed-you got a 305 that wheezed out 145 hp. In 1982 the F-bodies were completely redesigned and this body would last until 1992. The top engine option was a "Cross-Fire" injected 305 with 165 hp,that was only available with a 3-speed automatic. If you wanted a 4-speed you got the 145 hp carburated 305. Yuk. In 1983 things started to get better. The L69 305 "H.O." was introduced that had 190 hp and you could get a 5-speed stick or a 4-speed automatic with it. In 1985 "Tuned Port Injection was introduced and bumped power to 215 hp. As a homage to the "International Race of Champions" race series the "IROC-Z" was introduced.  However-Ford had put the 302 back in the Mustang-with real tube headers and a 600 Holley on an aluminum manifold. The Mustang was not only faster-but several thousand dollars cheaper. In late '86-Chevy stuffed the L98 'Vette 350 into the IROC-Z-but only with an automatic-and they still weren't as fast as a Mustang-that now had even more power with their fuelie 302. The line soldiered on until the big redesign of 1993, that lasted until the demise in 2002. The LT1 and LS1 engines brought great performance in the '90's-but GM priced them into oblivion. A loaded Z/28 was $37,000 in 2002 dollars!!  More than a BMW 3 series, more than a Mercedes C-class, and more than a Lexus IS300!! For a car with a ten year old body, a laughable rear seat, poor visiblity, high insurance rates and 15 mpg fuel economy. Why were 40 year olds-who could afford them buying the luxury / Sport sedans I mentioned instead of Camaros? Because they weren't 17 anymore, and needed to accomodate their wife and kids!  Car and Driver said it best-"This car is absolutely coveted by people who can't afford it." ( Young males under 25.). Ford was selling twice as many Mustangs as GM was Camaros and Firebirds combined. For a good reason-a well-equipped V8 Mustang GT stickered for about 25K-a full ten grand less than a Z/28 or T/A. That's about 300 bucks a month difference in the payment!! Gee, you think that might have made people buy Mustangs??  GM killed them at the end of 2002. The Camaro was resurrected in 2009-with a 300 hp V6 model priced at 22K a screaming bargain. For some reason the "Vette motored LS3 with 400 hp was called the "SS" and not "Z/28". They started about 30K. But again-GM has priced them out of the realm of people who want them. A loaded 400 hp 2014 SS is well over 40K. And guess what? A Subaru WRX that costs 27 grand will give it a helluva run in a drag race or the twisties. So will a Nissan 370Z that starts at 32k.  Yeah-the top dog with the 580 hp blower motor is a rocket and is called the ZL1. I think for 2015 there going to call it "Z/28" again.  But they cost $75,0000!!!  Does GM ever learn?  Apparently not. If I'm going to spend 75K on a sports car-I'll buy a Jaguar F-type or a Porsche Cayman or  a two or three-year old Nissan GtR or Porsche 911 or Aston Martin Vantage or a six year old Ferarri F430 or a '90's Lamborghini Countach!! Not a freakin' Camaro!  Mastermind      

Thanks for being a gearhead,Dad....Happy Father's Day!!

Father's day is Sunday and I thought I'd pay a little tribute to my Dad and all the others that caused us to love musclecars. Except for maybe Shirley Muldowney or Linda Vaughn's kids-It's almost always Dad who turns us on to cars. When I was really little my dad had a 1959 Pontiac Catalina with the Tri-Power 389. That car hooked him on Pontiacs and set the path for me and my brother. He later had a 1964 GTO. It was a 4bbl model, but it had a 4-speed and 4.33:1 gears. It was lightning fast in a drag race, but a little buzzy on the freeway!!  Then we got a 1965 Catalina Ventura. It was red with black interior and had American Racing Torq-Thrust mags on it. My mom was furious-because he traded in her beloved '58 Chevy Impala without telling her. Dad was a mechanic by trade-and he was always working on the side in our garage when he wasn't working at a car dealer. He got really good at tuning and sychronizing multi-carb setups. Word got around the local speed shops and race tracks-so he had quite a fan club. Our street was always packed with GTOs, 'Vettes,Road Runners and Super Bees, 409 Impalas, Hemi Chargers,-anything with a 3-2bbl or 2-4bbl induction system. Street Racers and Bracket Racers alike all wanted an edge-and if my old man jetted your carbs and adjusted your linkage-you definitely had an edge over someone who's car was stock or tuned by themselves or a run-of-the-mill mechanic. He also had the sports-car crowd-Porsche 911s, Datsun 240Z's, MG's and Triumphs,Austin-Healeys-even a couple of Shelby Cobra owners. Dad was good at tuning snd syncronizing SU's and Webers too. He also did motorcycle carbs too. That's how he met Dave Aldana-who was a factory-backed Honda motorcycle racer. Dave's battles at the San Jose mile with Gary Scott and Kenny Roberts were legendary. The neighbors must have hated us. Any weekend it looked like a car show was going on on our street. Like I said in an earlier post-I didn't think it was odd that people like Dave and Gary or Dino Fry or some other racing celebrity was hanging in our garage. I read magazine tech articles religiously-and helped my dad work. My mom always says I could swap valve springs in a small-block Chevy cylinder head before I could ride a two-wheel bike. My little brother's first words weren't "Mama" or "Dada" I think they were "Wace Caw". ( "Race Car" ). I got to hang with these guys-and "The Kid" ( me ) carried a repected opinion. When I was about 11 a neighbor who was always screwing with his car, messing it up and wanting my dad to fix it-asked dad to set the firing order on his Chevy Impala one day. Dad tells me to go do it. I knew all GM V8's were 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2, so I went and got the car started in about ten minutes. I guess it embarrased him, because the guy never asked my dad for help again!!  Dad got another '65 Pontiac-this one a 2+2 with a Tri-power 421 and the 8-lug wheels. By the time I was in junior high I was getting letters and articles published in Popular Hot Rodding, Hot Rod and Car Craft. By high school my dad had bought a service station and we had moved to Nevada. Nevada was adopting California's smog standard's and My dad had gotten one of the first smog liscences in Nevada. We had ever car dealer beating down our door to get cars ready for sale.  I had a smog liscence before I had a driver's liscence. My first car was a Ram Air III, 4-speed, 4.33:1 geared '69 GTO Judge. Who buys that for a 16 year old?  My awesome dad-who over-rode my mom and my uncle who was a cop. The Judge was King Kong. I smote all challengers in biblical fashion. I also lost my liscence in less than a year. About this time dad also had a 1978 400, 4-speed, WS6 Trans-Am. My mom has a great picture of the Judge, the 2+2, and the The Trans-Am all parked side by side in front of our house. Because of me-my brother's first car was a '69 GTO-although his wasn't a judge. He also carried on the fine tradition of losing his liscence in less than a year. In my 20's I also had an SS396 El Camino, a couple of Disco-era T/A's and a '71 Ventura that I swapped a 400 into after totaling one of the T/A's. My brother got into circle track racing. Through it all, dad was always there to burn the midnight oil with us fixing a motor or a clutch, or whatever, and he was usually good for bail money when we needed it!!  His big gripe when me and my brother would screw up was-"Now I have to listen to your mother about this."  Like he didn't give a shit that we'd led the police on a "Smokey and the Bandit" chase, or had a "RoadHouse" fight in a bar-no he didn't want to hear the "Wrath of Mom" which in his mind would somehow be directed at him, not us-Because-"Who raises people that do shit like that??""  I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He couldn't lecture us too much because his brothers- good old uncle Herbert and uncle Bobby would tell us storys of his antics in the '59 and how they had to come and tow him in or back him up in a fight...Good times.  Were citizens now with kids of our own. My brother's an executive with a liquor supply company that supplys all the casinos in Nevada, and I'm a Service Writer in a car dealership. My son's 20 now-and he always marvelled at how I knew when he pulling shit like I was psychic or something. Dude-do you think I lived in a monastery before I married your mother and had kids?  Anyhow-Dad just celebrated his 75th birthday and him and my brother were talking about turning my brother's old GTO into a "Judge" clone and maybe building a faux RAIV with Edelbrock heads and putting in a Richmond 5-speed. Much to mom's dismay, because that would mean the garage would be occupied for about 6 months!!  Anyhow-Happy Father's day dad-and thanks for all the things you taught me. Some of which we don't talk about or don't mom to know to this day....But I've passed the lead foot, hard fists and hard head on to your grandson-much to his mother's dismay. DNA is a wonderful thing.....Mastermind              

Some cars that never were.....That you can build from junk.....

I have a friend that owns a junkyard and we were talking about how an enterprising hot rodder could build some cool things that the factories never did, and do it relatively chaply. Here's my personal favorites. # 1. Muscle Wagons. Because of their long wheelbase and excellent weight distribution-a wagon actually makes a good drag racer. The obvious front-runners here are the 1968-72 Pontiac LeMans Wagons. Most have 400 cubes and a TH400 standard. Some 1970 and later models may have 455s. Some 1971-72 models will have the "Endura" ( Read GTO ) front bumper and scooped hood. Even if it had the chrome front end-it wouldn't be hard to put a GTO front bumper and hood onto one. How about a "Judge" wagon? # 2. A close second would be '68-72 Olds Cutlass Vista Cruiser wagons, for the same reason-a lot of them have 400 or 455 cubes standard. With the help of Year One and Phoenix Graphics it wouldn't be hard to build a "442" or even a "Hurst / Olds" wagon. You could build an SS Chevelle wagon-but it would take a greater investment-because unlike their Pontiac and Olds cousins-95% of Malibu wagons were small-block powered. You'd have to swap in a Rat. # 3. Dodge Super Bee / Plymouth Road Runner wagon. Take a 1968-70 Dodge Coronet or Plymouth Satellite wagon-if you find one it will have 383 or 440 cubes under the hood. The graphics are easy.  #2. "Off-Brand" El Caminos. Buy a basket case '68-72 El Camino,put a GTO, Cutlass, or Skylark front clip on it. GM engines are easy to swap around. How cool would a "Judge" El Camino with a 400 and a 4-speed be? Or a White and Gold 455 Olds powered "Hurst / Olds" trucklet? Or a 455 Buick powered "GSX" El Camino?   # 3. Thunderbird / Lincoln Rancheros. Same deal here. The 1977-79 Ranchero was based on the LTD II platform, which is the same as the T-Bird / MK V platform. It would be pretty easy to put a Thunderbird or Lincoln Mark V front clip onto a Ranchero. # 4. Cyclone / Cougar wagons. It would be pretty easy to put a Cyclone or Cougar front clip onto a '70-76 Mercury Montego wagon. With a 351C or a 429 / 460-these could be good sleepers.  Something to think about. Mastermind

Don't be a "Big Block" snob... Small Block Musclecars can be fun, fast and way cheaper to build or restore....

Everyone gets caught up in "Big Block" Fever-and will only consider the premium models-especially if your on a tight budget-this really limits you. A small-block car may be the only way some of us can enjoy a classic muscle machine. Here's some examples. # 1. GM "A" body. There are way more Cutlasses, Le Mans, Chevelles, and Skylarks out there from 1968-77 with 350 cubes under the hood than there are with 396, 400 or 454 or 455. The upside is they can usually be bought way cheaper than their big-block cousins, and with a little help from the aftermarket can be made to really run without a huge investment. # 2. GM "F" body. Disco-era T/A's aside-there are way more 1968-81 350 Firebirds and Camaros than there are 396, 400 and 455 versions. In fact-many '77-79 base model, Esprit and Formula Firebirds might have 350 Chevy or 350 Olds engines as well as Pontiacs. The potential of the small-block Chevy is unlimited. We all know that. You can buy or build SBC's with anywhere from 260-550 hp.  With the 350 Olds and Pontiac motors-with intakes, cams, headers, etc-you just accentuate what the factory did-made big torque at low rpm. You can make 350 hp and 400 lbs of torque with these engines pretty easily. That should put a 3,600 lb "F" body solidly in the 13 s.  Beyond that-you need to swap in a 400 or 455 or get nitrous. # 3. Ford Mid-Size. There are WAY more Torinos and Montegos and Mustangs and Cougars built from 1969-76 with 351W, 351C, or 351M motivation than there are 429 or 460 versions. The upside is-351W's and 351C's both have huge aftermarket support and can be made to really run without a huge investment. The 351/400M motors respond ok to basic hot rod tricks-intakes, cams, headers- but their anemic 8:1 compression and huge head ports limit them. Some guys in the "Engine Masters Challenge" have made 500+ hp with 400M's-but their so big and heavy-and the bellhousing bolt-pattern is the same-and they cost no more to buy or build-that you might as well swap in a 429 / 460. # 4.  Chrysler "B" Body. There is a bunch of 318 powered Satellites,Chargers and Coronets, as well as Plymouth Sport Furys and Dodge Monacos-which are techincally "C" bodies-but similar-built from 1968-78. 318 models make nice drivers and get decent gas mileage-but are really underpowered for serious performance work in these big cars. A 360 is a bolt in swap-and Mopar Performance and other people make stroker kits to turn a 360 into a 408. Blueprint engines sells a "Turn-Key" 408 stroker with 375 hp and 460 lbs of torque and a 3 year / 30,000 mile warranty. That should help live out your "Elwood Blues" fantasies pretty good.  # 5. Chrysler "E" body. We all know there are way more 318 Barracudas and Challengers built from 1970-74 than there were big-block models. 318 models can run surprisingly well with basic hot rod tricks-intakes, headers,cams etc- or the 360 or 360 based strokers are a bolt-in. Junkyards are full of Dodge Trucks and Jeep Cherokees with 1992 and later "Magnum" engines-both 318 and 360 cubes-obviously the 360s are more desirable-but "Magnum" heads breathe better than many aftermarket ones, and Edelbrock sells Performer and Performer "RPM" intakes with a "Magnum" bolt pattern. More than enough power to live out your "Kowalski" fantasies. # 6. Short bed 1/2 ton pickups. Millions of short-bed, 1/2 ton, 2wd pickups were built during the late '70's and because of loopholes about GVW-"Gross Vehicle Weight" nearly all of them ( Except California models ) had Catalyst-free pipes until 1978. 350 Chevys and 360 Dodges have great potential. 360 and 390 Fords have the double-whammy of no power and crappy gas mileage-as do the 351 / 400M versions. But their all cheaper than the 440, 454 or 460 relatives. And with aftermarket help-heads,cams,intakes, etc-a "Muscle Truck" can be a fun sleeper. # 7. 1968-79 Chevy El Camino / Ford Ranchero. These Car / Truck hybrids have their own "cult" following. Again-there's way more more 350 and 351W, 351C and 351M versions out there than there are 390,396,429,454 or 460 versions. With any kind of power infusion-your main problem is wheelspin.  Mastermind        

STOP!!!! With what's "Correct" or Original!!...For the common good....

I hate to be such a cynical, miserable, sarcastic bastard all the time, but people drive me to it. Got an email from a guy who wants to buy one of the five 1970-71 BFG "Tirebirds". If you don't know-when B.F. Goodrich introduced the Radial T/A-they also sponsored some Pontiac Trans-Ams to run in the SCCA Trans-Am series. Jerry Titus and Milt Minter won a few races in them. I've touched on it before-the cubic inch limit in T/A racing was 305 inches. When it started in the mid '60s-Ford ran Mustangs and Chrysler ran Barracudas-the 289 Ford V8 and 273 Mopar did nicely. Then Chevrolet upped the ante with the Z/28. They took a 327 block and put a 283 crank in it and made a 302-with all the goodies-Corvette "Fuelie" heads,11:1 compression solid-lifter cam, etc-Mark Donohue and Roger Penske won the title in a Camaro. Which caused Ford to counter with the "Boss 302". Herb Adams and other Pontiac engineers wanted to play-and since SCCA rules allowed de-stroking-they built a 303 inch Pontiac engine with "Tunnel-Port" heads like Ford was working on. In testing they found the small engine ran better with production heads, so that's the way they went. But the 303 Pontiacs had a lot of expensive one-off parts in them, and they blew up a lot. And after DeLorean got promoted-( He allowed Adams and others a lot of slack when it came to racing and "back-door" stuff ) the factory support dried up. The SCCA ruled that since Canadian Firebirds had Chevy engines, it was legal for privateers and others to run the much more plentiful and more reliable 302 Chevy engines in Firebirds. So the races that Titus and Minter won were done with Chevy engines!  Anyhow-this guys question was what would be more "Correct"-should he try to find a 303 Pontiac-which would be IMPOSSIBLE. The last "Real" Pontiac V8 was produced in November 1977. They stockpiled a bunch of 400's for '78 and 79 Trans-Ams. The 303 program was killed in 1969 when Delorean left. That's 45 years ago. Herb Adams and the other engineers are long retired-and the tooling is long gone. And 45 years ago they had a lot of one-off, custom parts-they de-stroked a 400 Pontiac to 303 inches. Moldex and Hank the Crank made custom 2.84 inch stroke cranks to go into the 400 blocks and they had custom connecting rods that were longer than 7 inches and custom pistons-standard Pontiac Rods are 6.625 inches. They had RAIV heads-which are exceptionally rare and prized-Edelbrocks are exact replicas-but their not "original". So even if he had Donald Trumps bank account-the chance of getting a running, 303 Pontiac at any price-is nil. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning. Then he asks-should he try to find a "DZ" code 302 Chevy?  My response-and I don't think I'm being an asshole here-was put a crate 350 Chevy in it and have fun at track days or vintage car races. Or if your super-anal and "Gotta Have" a 302 Chevy-GMPP sells "Bowtie" Blocks with a 4 inch bore and 3 inch storke cranks, so you could build a 302 Chevy if you wanted to. But it's not going to have 1969 date codes!!  How do you restore a non-production race car to absolute "Originality?" Think about it-this car started life as a 1970 Trans-Am. The original engine was an RAIII 400. However-the cubic inch limit in the racing class was 305. So the "Original" "Just as it left the factory" shit is out.  How do we know with absolute certainty-what this 44 year old race car-was originally equipped with? Was it initially built with a 303 Pontiac and had a Chevy engine swapped in it later? Or was it built with a Chevy from the start?  Who gives a f%$k? No one keeps records of vin numbers or how many engines a race car has had!!!  Enjoy it or don't, but stop agonizing over this non-issue!!!  For example-Richard Pettys legendary '74 Charger initially had a 426 Hemi in it. Then when the big-blocks were outlawed-they went to a 360. However-the last "Factory" Hemi Charger was built in 1971. So if someone wanted to restore Petty's Charger-should it have a 426 Hemi in it or should it have a 360 in it?  The same with Fords. Ford built two Boss 429 Cougars-one for "Dyno Don Nicholson" and one for "Fast Eddie" Schartmann. Like with the Boss 429 Mustangs- they started life as 428 models and were sent to Kar Kraft for the "Boss" conversion. However- since these cars were never sold to the public-they were race cars from the start-if someone bought it and wanted to restore it-should he put a 428 in it or a Boss 429?  Dyno Don Nicholson ran a Boss 429 Maverick in Pro Stock in the early '70's. We all know Ford never made a Boss Nine Maverick. So how would one restore that?  First off-Old race cars are money pits!!  Secondly-they were RACE CARS!!!  There's nothing "Original" on them from day one!!  If you can afford to play with one, enjoy it, but don't agonize on it not being "Original".  Mastermind      

Some alternative bodystyles for the Silver State Classic......

A while back I wrote about a guy asking what combination would be best for running in the unlimited-200 mph class in The Silver State Classic. I suggested that the most cost-effective would be 1982-90 Trans Am with a big-block Chevy. I said this because aerodynamics are as important as power and these T/A's had a drag coeffiecient as low as .028-.032. An aerodynamic car can go faster with less power than a non-aerodynamic one with more power. That's just physics. I suggested a Big-block Chevy because, like it or not-nothing makes more power for less money than a Rat. A Chrysler Hemi or Boss-Nine Ford can make as much or more power-but at double or triple the cost. That aside-I keep getting inqurirys from people asking about other body / engine combos that could do it. People don't realize-it's pretty easy to make just about anything go 150. A boxy little Subaru WRX Turbo goes over 140 with only 265 hp. The 380 hp Supercharged F150 Lightning went something like 143 a few years ago, and a boxy Ford pickup doesn't exactly slice through the wind. It's that 50 mph from 150-200 that's hard. Hot Rod featured a couple of guys trying it in a '68 Charger a few years ago-and even with a 650 hp 440 they "only" averaged about 185. Which is a helluva acheivement in a boxy '60s Charger. That's why I recommended the combo that I did. So without further adieu-here's som alternative bodys that you could do it in. # 1. 1976-77 Olds Cutlass. Richard Petty won a bunch of NASCAR races in this body after his legendary 1974 Charger was outlawed for 1980. ( Bodys couldn't be more than 5 years old, so '79 was the last years it was legal ) The Petty Team figured out that the fastback, slope nosed Cutlass was more aerodynamic and thus much faster on the Superspeedways-( Daytona, Darlington and Talledega ) with the same amount of power than the square nose, notchback windowed Monte Carlos that a lot of other GM teams were running. The other teams protested because Petty was running the ubiquitous Chevy engine and not a 350 Olds. NASCAR ruled that since GM was playing musical engines with their production cars-that it was perfectly legal for racers to run any GM engine in any GM body. Several other teams quickly switched to Cutlasses after the ruling. If they were going 200 in 1980 with a 366 cubic inch limit-one should be able to do it today with a big-block. Again-I'd use a 454 Chevy. If you want a "Real" Olds engine then you'll need a 455. And you'll need Edelbrock Aluminum heads and a serious cam, and some serious bottom end work. Mondello Performance would be your best source. Yes, it's POSSIBLE to build a 700 hp Olds engine, but it's going to cost way more than a 700 hp Chevy.  # 2. 1974-77 AMC Matador Coupe. These fastback coupes had moderate success in NASCAR in the late '70's winning a few big races. Since AMCs use Chrysler bolt pattern bellhousings ( The "Torque-Command" automatic is a Torqueflite ) I'd recommend a Mopar Performance crate Hemi or a stompin' 440 or 440 based 505 stroker. Again, bang for the buck-it's a lot easier to get 600+ hp out of a 426 Hemi or 440 Mopar than it is a 360 or 401 AMC. You could do it-Edelbrock offers aluminum heads and guys have competed in the 'Engine Masters Challenge" with AMCs and made 550+ hp reliably-but the Mopar path would be the one of least resisitance. # 3. 1979-93 Fox Mustang. The last "5.0" tested by Hot Rod in 1993 hit 144 mph with only 225 hp; 200 should be attainable with 500+, which should be easily attainable with a 347 SVT crate motor and a blower. SVT makes a kit to swap in a 429 / 460-but thats a lot of money-and probably not much more power than the blown 302/ 347. These are your best chances-dollar-versus-performance wise. Fantasies of 429 Torinos, or 440 Road Runners are just that-fantasies. Mastermind.          

A "Thunder Road" redux would really fly.....You listening QT?.....

A while back I discussed the proposed "White Lightning" remake that Quentin Tarantino was thinking about. I haven't heard any more buzz on any movie sites, so maybe it fell through or is just on the back burner. If QT wants to make a blockbuster gangsters and car-chase flick he should consider "Thunder Road." If you don't know-"Thunder Road" was written by Robert Mitchum who'd been in a few westerns in the '50's. Like "White Lightning"-"Thunder Road" was about Luke Doolin- a "Gator" type-who ran moonshine whiskey in the south. Mitchum got the studio to buy it because he had talked to Elvis Presley. We all know Elvis was a huge rock star-and had made a few movies-but they were all low-budget camp that had him sing a lot. He wanted to be taken seriously as an actor-and he thought playing the evil Luke Doolin would get him the respect he deserved and maybe even an Oscar. Presley verbally committed to do it with Mitchum and the studio brass. With Elvis as the star-the studio virtually gave Mitchum a blank check. Like Steve McQueen years later in "Bullitt"-Mitchum wanted total realism-he contacted actual ATF agents and actual Moonshiners that were on probation. The cars, and the gangster pecking order, the corruption, police procedures were all to the letter real. Then Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager-threw a monkey wrench in. He wanted massive changes to the script. He felt that playing a criminal would tarnish Presley's good-guy image. The studio had already started pre-production-buying the cars, building the sets, and paying consulting fees to the Justice Department, the ATF, and Dept of Corrections. The studio said no-Presley played the part as it was written. Elvis wanted to and sided with the studio brass and Mitchum. Ultimately, Parker convinced him that it would be a bad career move, and he pulled out. The studio went ahead with Mitchum as the star and the rest is history. It made Mitchum a huge star and was a blockbuster hit-the second highest grossing movie of 1958.  Anyhow-you could do a totally badass remake today. Here's how I'd do it. # 1. Time period. A no-brainer-Late 1960's. Doolin is an Ex-Green Beret Viet Nam Vet who comes back to the family business, which is Moonshine. This allows you to use '60's cars-which with their heavy frames and suspensions can do the stunts without falling apart like modern cars would. # 2. Social issues-and "Old School" businessmen vs "New School" businessmen. Having been to Viet Nam and seen the corruption and vice there-Doolin sees room for expansion and unlimited income. Instead of just booze-with his asian military connections-he sees the drug trade-heroin and cocaine, and prostitution as the wave of the future. He wants to orgainize the drug, booze and pussy trade in his state and own it. And having fought alongside many different people-he wants to hire a bunch of other Vets as his security and salesman. Obviously him hiring blacks and other minorities will outrage the hillbilly gangsters and Law Enforcement alike. Which sets up....# 3. Like Micheal Corleone standing alone against Barzini and Tattaglia and the other five families-besides the ATF and the DEA, Doolin will have to fight the "Old School" other moonrunners who don't like him thinking he can just take over and hire niggers and gooks, and tell everyone how to do business different than they have for the last 40 years since Prohibition put them in business. # 4. This will give you plenty of opportunity for kick-ass fights, gunfights and car chases. As long it;s done "Old School" and real-no CGI or physically impossible shit like in Transporter 3. # 5. Casting. Doolin has to be a Hillbilly. No Mark Wahlberg, Ben Affleck or Matt Damon. My choice would be-after his back to back, stunning performances as evil Texas hustlers in "Mud" and "Dallas Buyers Club"-Matthew Mconaghey. Brad Pitt would be good-Who can forget the Utterly Evil and remorseless "Early Grace" from "Kalifornia", or the Colonel in "Inglorious Bastards?" ( "This Nazi wants to die for the Fatherland" "Oblige him". ) Edward Norton could do it-remember his stunning portrayal of a Nazi Skinhead in "American History X?"  Cameron Diaz,Jennifer Aniston, Charlize Theron,Tricia Helfer, Pam Anderson, Scarlett Johansen-one or more of them could all be great as Doolin's-southern fried bleach-blonde,barefoot, trailer-park Barbie Coke whores. Don Johnson would be great as the corrupt sheriff who likes the profit and the perks of allowing Doolin to do business, but also has to throw the Feds a bone once in a while to keep his job. I think it could really fly. Now if we could get Troublemaker Studios on board....Mastermind          

Not collectible....Just Weird.....

I talk to a lot of people that are very proud of some ultra-weird combination of options. The sad thing is- these people think their cars are worth a ton of money and they aren't. Their not collectible, their just weird. In the why in the hell would GM, Ford or Chrysler build such a thing, even if someone wanted to special order it kind of way??  Here's a few of my personal favorites that I've seen over the years. # 1. 1966 427 / Powerglide Corvette. Other than the fact that it is a 427 Stingray, this one is just freakin' weird. The performance is way less than a same-year 4-speed model and way less than a '68 and later TH400 model. Who in the hell wants a Rat-motored 'Vette with a "Powerslide?" No one. But the idiot that owns this thinks it's worth 100K like an L88 model!!! And he wonders why he hasn't got any offers on it!!!  # 2. 1967 "Turnpike Special" GTO. This car has a 2bbl 265 hp 400, a TH400, and 2.93:1 gears. In other words, it won't outrun my wifes V6 Honda Accord in a drag race!! The clown that owns it thinks it's "Special" because the retarded dealer that originally ordered it equipped it with a Hurst Dual / Gate shifter, ( On a 2bbl step-down car??) and A/C and Power windows!!  He wonders why he can't get the same money as people selling RAIII, 4-speed, 4.33:1 geared cars!! Because his is "RARE!!"  # 3. 1968 Firebird. Yes it's rare. No, no one wants it or thinks it's cool but you. This is a pristine 1968, six-cylinder OHC, 4-speed Firebird. They had a 4bbl carb and were rated at 215 hp. This clown can't understand why people won't pay MORE for this than they do for a 400, 4-speed RAII Convertible. After all it's more rare, right? There's less of them? Right?  # 4. 1972 SS Chevelle. This guy is perplexed that he can't sell his bench seat, column-shifted automatic,165 hp 2bbl carbed 350 model for the same money that people get for 454, 4-speed bucket seat / console models. Because his is "More Rare"-i.e. there's less of them. There's a reason for that!!! # 5 1972 Duster 340. This guy doesn't understand why his 3-speed stick Duster doesn't command WAY MORE money than a 4-speed or Torqueflite model in the same condition, 'cause it's RARE!!!  What's wrong with people?  Mastermind              

Cars that aren't "Factory Freaks"...Do the terms "Dealer Installed" or "Day Two" modifications ring a bell??

I talk to so many idiots that claim to own or that a friend or relative of theirs owns or used to own some "Moon Rock" of a car with options that never existed. When you point that out, they get spittingly hysterical and start hurling profanities and personal insults. I'm here to dispel these myths once and for all. Here's a list of cars that were NEVER FACTORY BUILT. Note-I didn't say they didn't exist-I said they were not built that way from the factory. # 1. Tri-Power 1967 GTO. When Pontiac discontinued the 3-2bbl 389 option-which had been a performance staple since 1959, enthusiasts and the buff magazines howled to the high heavens. All the components were available through dealership parts departments and the '65-66 setup would bolt up to the new for '67 400 V8s. Many dealers like Royal Pontiac would even install them if you wanted to pay extra. But there was never a factory built version. # 2. Ram Air V GTOs and Firebirds. Herb Adams and company were originally working on "Tunnel-Port" heads for the Trans-Am racing series. They knew Ford had one-( "Boss 302" ring a bell ) and they wanted to compete. They found that the little 303 incher actually made MORE power with the smaller,production RAIV heads. However, Adams and Arnie Beswick and some drag racers tried them on the larger 400 and 428 inch engines and were astounded by the results. They were now making power levels equal to the mighty 426 Hemi and 427 Chevy!! If they could get the bottom ends to hold up-they could even race them in NASCAR. When DeLorean left Pontiac to be upper GM management-his successor killed the racing program which had been kind of back-door anyway since 1963 and tolerated by DeLorean who was a gearhead at heart. Now the engineers had all these expensive one off parts-enough to build about 600 engines. Genius that he was-while the brass wrung their hands on what to do with them-Herb Adams suggested they sell them to the public. So you could buy a Ram Air V 400 through some dealer parts departments. Doug Nash, Arnie Beswick, and Royal Pontiac tech Milt Schornak had great success campainging RA V drag racers. Doug Nash even built single and dual quad intakes for the RA V. Royal Pontiac swapped one into a '69 Judge for a customer,and that car was featured in Hot Rod magazine-but their was never a factory built version. # 3. Non-Corvettes or Chevelles with L72 / L88 / LS6 427 and 454s. I'm not talking about Yenkos or COPO cars. There were many dealers who would put 427s and 454s into Camaros and Novas for a price. Since the 396 was an option on those cars-it was a bolt-in swap. The two most famous were Baldwin Chevrolet in New York who partnered with Joel Rosen and Motion Performance to create the famous Phase III Camaros that were guaranteed to run 10.60s in the 1/4!! These cars had pumped up LS6s,race-prepped M22 4-speeds or TH400s,4.88:1 gears with a Hone overdrive, traction bars, and many other features. They were definitely Jules' Wallet from Pulp Fiction. Rosen even built a few Phase III LS6 Firebirds for customers. The other was Nickey Chevrolet in Chicago. In 1973 Hot Rod did a road test on a Nickey Built L88 427 powered '73 Nova SS. It ran something like 11.88 in the 1/4. Further, the LS6 was sold as a crate engine through dealers until 1991. So it's very possible that someone could have an LS6 454 in a '72 Chevelle or '74 Camaro that they bought from a dealer. But there was never any factory versions. # 4. Non-Trans-Am Super Duty 455 Pontiacs. In very early 1973 sales literature the SD 455 was listed as an option in the LeMans,Grand Am and Gran Prix lines as well as the Firebird. CARS magazine even voted the '73 GTO "Performance Car of the Year". OOPS!!  However the SD455 had trouble passing emissions with the RAIV cam. It was swapped for the milder RAIII grind and horsepower was down-rated from 310 to 290. Then they trouble with the EGR valve function, and trouble with connecting rod failure. Finally, the engine was certified in the Firebird line only in March or April of 1973. That's why only 295 were sold-252 in Trans-Ams and another 43 in Formulas. Another 943 were sold in 1974 Trans-Ams. Parts were so scarce for them that in order to buy say a set of SD 455 heads or rods or pistons from a dealer you had to produce your registration or title with the VIN number of the car!! So no matter your wallet size-you couldn't even buy one over the counter. So any one who claims to have an SD 455 Gran Prix, etc is a liar. It's a 250hp "Station Wagon" 455. # 5. 1972 440 "Six Pack" Chargers and Road Runners. Same thing-the 440 / 6 option was listed in very early 1972 sales literature, with 9:1 compression and rated at 330 hp. Down substantially from the 10.3:1 and 385 hp rating of 1971. However, they had trouble passing the stiffer 1972 emissions standards and the option was scrapped, leaving the 280 hp 440 4bbl as the top option. Rumors persist that "10 or 12" "slipped out", but I have never seen one, or seen a window sticker or build sheet for one,and no magazine has ever verified one. However-Edelbrock sells the Manifold to this day,Holley still sells the carbs and Mopar Performance has always sold the throttle linkage and air cleaners. So it would have been very easy for someone to install one on a car,but again, there was never a factory built version to my knowledge. # 6. 5-speed Disco-Era Trans-Ams. In the late '70's the Mecham Brothers had great success with the "Macho T/A". Besides the pumped up engines you could get Recaro seats, Koni shocks and a "Doug Nash" 5 speed if you wanted. Former Pontiac engineer and "Father of the Trans-Am" Herb Adams teamed up with Cars and Concepts and offered the "Fire Am"-a hotted up Trans Am-and they also offered the Doug Nash 5-speed as an option. But there was never a factory built 5-speed T/A until 1983 when the T5 was put behind the 305 Chevys.  Hope this clears some things up. Mastermind      

Some Forgotten one or two year wonders from the '70's that might be cool...

There's a lot of cars that only had a model year or two for whatever reason, but some of them can be great bargains today. Some of these from the '70's are largely overlooked, but are great performers. # 1. 1973-75 Pontiac Grand Am. Based on the "A" body LeMans chassis these were touted to have the performance of a Trans Am and the luxury of a Gran Prix. Unfortuneately-luxury buyers bought GPs and performance buyers bought T/As. However-their a great deal if you can find one, front disc brakes, wrist-thick front and rear sway bars, and 400 cubes standard with 455 optional. And any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Chevelle fit these cars. # 2. 1972-73 Mercury Montego GT. Based on the Ford Torino platform these fastback coupes are great looking-David Pearson won a  bunch of Nascar races in one. Most will have 351C motivation, but there are a few 429 models. Dynamite if you can find one. # 3. 1974-76 AMC Matador coupe. These swoopy fastbacks had moderate success in Nascar-and most had 360 or 401 cubes under the hood. Not as sexy as a Javelin, but way cheaper. # 4. 1974 Pontiac GTO. Based on the "X" body Ventura-these are often called the best Nova ever built. Front disc brakes, front and rear sway bars, a Trans-Am style "Shaker" hood scoop and a 350 Pontiac backed by a 4-speed or a TH350. A 400 or 455 is a bolt-in swap. 7,058 were built, so there's some around. #5. 1975 Plymouth Road Runner. Plymouth put a "Beep-Beep" horn and Road Runner emblems on a 2 dr Sport Fury. 318 models are dogs, but the 400 versions can be made to really run. Rougly 6,000 were built, and Mopar Freaks snub them like the plague so you should be able to buy one cheap. Mastermind

The history of the Nova....A "Star" is born.....

People may think of the '60's as freewheeling-Musclecars,Beach Party movies, sex drugs and rock-n-roll. But even in the early '60's-long before Toyota, Datsun, and Subaru came ashore-the automakers were trying to cover every niche-and their was a market for compact cars that got good gas mileage. The Ford Falcon and the Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart were all top sellers in 1960 and 61, and all 3 were compact sedans with fuel-efficient 6-cylinder engines. Chevrolet wanted a piece of this market. The Chevy II Nova as it was initially called was introduced in 1962. Powertrain options included a 153 cubic inch 4-cylinder, and a 194 inch six-cylinder. Not may 4-cylinder versions were sold; and they aren't collectible. The six-cylinder models were the most popular. Because of it's light weight-about 2,700 lbs-hot rodders began swapping in small-block Chevy V8s and discovered that Novas made fierce drag racers. My cousin had a '63 Nova in high school with a 283 V8 ( bored out to 301 and pumped up ) and a 4-speed that was a rocket. He showed his taillights to many a GTO, Road Runner and Mustang. In 1964 the old "Stovebolt" 194 inch six was replaced with more modern and more powerful 230 inch version. The 195 hp and 220 hp 283 V8 became a factory option. Transmission choices were 3 and 4-speed manuals, and the two-speed Powerglide automatic. In 1965 the 275 hp 327 V8 was offered as well-giving the lightweight Nova GTO like performance, at least in a drag race.  For 1966 the body was changed becoming slightly larger, and the interiors more luxurious. The vaunted L79 350 hp 327 V8 from the Corvette was offered in the Nova SS-making it a genuine muscle car. 1967 models were basically identical. For 1968 the car was completely re-designed and this platform would last, with minor changes, through 1974. Although the 4 and six cylinder engines were still available-it was the V8 models that were the most popular. The 283 was replaced with a 307 inch version, and a new 350 inch V8 was introduced. Since the Nova shared the same basic subframe as the Camaro / Firebird, for the first time the 396 Big-Block was offered in the Nova for the first time. These cars were terrors on the street. In 1969 the 4-cylinder option breathed its last. A new 3-speed TH350 automatic replaced the two-speed powerglide behind most six-cylinder and V8 models. In 1970, Chevrolet briefly considered offering the mighty LS6 450 hp 454 in the Camaro and Nova as well as the Chevelle. Since the 396 was already an option-it would have been a no-brainer bolt in. An LS6 454 Nova? Guess what-the Hemi 'Cuda and Boss 429 Mustang would have had a new "Boss". As we know, the brass changed their mind and the mighty LS6 was only offered in the Chevelle line. 1971-72 brought no real changes except that compression ratios were lowered to run on low-lead gas, and the 396 was dropped. A 350 V8 was now the largest engine you could get. It didn't seem to hurt, as 1972 was a record sales year, as was 1974. Other GM divisions got Nova clones. In 1971 Pontiac introduced the Ventura II which was available with the 250 inch Chevy six, or a 350 inch Pontiac V8.  In 1973 5 mph bumpers debuted, and a hatchback model was offered as well. 1973 also introduced the Olds Omega and the Buick Apollo, which were Novas with minor trim differences and either 250 inch Chevy sixes or 350 inch Buick and Olds V8s. All the names of the X-bodys spelled out NOVA. ( Nova, Omega, Ventura, Apollo. I don't know if that's a coincidence or not. ) In 1975 the body was changed again and this would be the last one that would soldier on until 1979. A new 305 inch V8 was introduced in 1976, that had nothing in common with the old 307 that had been discontinued in 1973. ( The 307 was a 283 block with a 327 crank. 3.87x3.25 inch bore and stroke. The 305 was 3.74x3.48 using a 350 crank. The engineers were thinking the longer stroke would give the little motor more low-end torque. They were wrong, we all learned through the '80's and '90's- that a 350 has way more power,and the 305 doesn't really get any better mileage. ) Although the 250 inch straight six was still available,the 231 inch Buick built V6 was also an option, as was the 350 Chevy. Sales were dropping badly, as this was clearly a car with out a market. Musclecar buyers were buying Pontiac Trans-Ams and Z/28 Camaros in record numbers. The downsized G-bodies- Malibu, Monte Carlo, Cutlass, Gran Prix outsold the X-bodies by a wide margin to people who wanted mid-size sedans. Economy buyers were buying imports like Toyotas and Datsuns in record numbers. In reality-these last X bodies were pretty bad. They had ugly styling, they had no power, and they got crappy gas mileage. Gee, who wouldn't want that?  In 1980 the front-drive X-bodies were introduced. Today Novas have almost a "Cult" following among the gearhead crowd-especially the '68-72 models ( pre-5mph bumpers). If you want one-the '68-79 models make great hot rods. The engine bays will swallow any GM engine-( a 455 Pontiac Ventura is a great sleeper ) and any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Camaro or Firebird fit these cars so their easy to set uo for drag racing or autocrossing. Sadly-it will not pass this way again-a car that's economical, fast, fun and cheap. Mastermind          

Happy 50th Birthday to the Mighty Mustang......

2014 Marks 50 years of Mustangs. The Mustang debuted on April 19th 1964 and set the auto world on it's ear. From an engineering and marketing standpoint it was genius. It was based on the humble compact Falcon platform, but had a sexy body and a good looking interior. Standard power was a 170 inch straight six, with a 200 inch six optional, but the fun ones were the 289 V8 models. Since the car was light ( about 2,800 lbs) the little V8s could make them really haul. Especially the High-Performance, solid-lifter, 271 hp version. It sold like hotcakes and was an unprecedented hit. In 1965 a fastback version was also introduced, and Carroll Shelby ( Father of the 289 and 427 Cobra ) tricked some up with suspension tuning, Tri-Y headers, and an aluminum intake and 715 cfm Holley carb which drastically increased performance over the awful, 470 cfm Autolite 4100 4bbls that stockers had. The "Ponycar" was born. Other automakers scrambled to build a Mustang fighter. GM countered with the Camaro and Firebird, but not until 1967. Chrysler-with less of a budget, had delay after delay and the E-bodies-The "Cuda and Challenger wern't introduced until 1969 as '70 models. GM's counterpunch, however was almost deadly. The Z/28 Camaro-which was specifically designed to win the Trans-Am Championship-which Ford had done in '65 and '66-to make the 305 inch limit used a 283 crank in a 327 block to create a high-revving beast. It also used Corvette heads, and a hot solid lifter cam, 11:1 compression and a 780 Holley on an aluminum intake. Advertised horsepower was 290,but the buff magazines put the output at at least 350 for production versions, and 450 for race versions. Plus-you could also get the 396 Big-Block in a Camaro, and 400 inch Pontiac in a Firebird. Even the hot-rodded Shelby GT350-with a 289 V8-had little chance in a drag race on the street or track against a big 396 or 400 inch Camaro or Firebird. Ford lazily-dropped the "Truck Motor" 390 into the Mustang-but they handled badly and weren't good performers. It's a well known fact that when filming the classic "Bullitt" chase-early on-Steve McQueen was furious- the 440 Charger piloted by Bill Hickman would leave the 390 Mustang so bad that they couldn't even film it. Stunt coordinators Carey Loftin and Max Balchowsky hopped up one of the Mustangs with a Mallory Distributor, headers, and an Edelbrock intake and Holley carb. At that point-the Charger could still out run it-but McQueen and sometime drivers Bud Elkins and Loftin could stay close enough to film it!!  Mark Donohue and Roger Penske wont the Trans-Am Championship in 1968 with a Camaro. Ford countered with a vengenance. The "Boss 302" had 4-bolt mains, a steel crank, forged rods and pistons,11:1 compression, a hot solid-lifter cam, and "Tunnel Port" heads-that had ports and valves the size of a big-block Chevy. It didn't have much bottom end torque, but from 3,000 rpm on up it was a rocket. ( That's why they were only available with a 4-speed and 3.90:1 or 4.30:1 gears! ) The SCCA said they had to sell 500 units to the public to race them. 1,603 were sold in 1969 and another 7,113 in 1970. Obviously these are highly prized today. Racing success was fine, but in the late '60's and early '70's you also needed "Street Cred". To combat the 396 and 400 inch Camaros and Firebirds, and the 383 and 440 inch Mopars-Ford dropped the "Police Interceptor" 428 big block into the Mustang. The 428 Mach 1s were rockets. They could give a 426 Hemi Road Runner a run for the money the driver would not soon forget.  The "Boss 429" also debuted this year. Ford was trying to homologate the engine for NASCAR. Same rule-you had to sell at least 500 to the public to race them. Ironically-the cars raced in NASCAR weren't Mustangs but Torinos and Mercury Cyclones. The Mustang got longer,lower and wider in 1971-but very few had the mighty 429-95% of them had 302s or 351Cs. Which was weird-because in 1970 GM lifted their 400 inch limit on intermediates, and Chrysler never had one. So how was a 351 inch Mustang-even the vaunted "Boss 351" ( of which only 1,806 were built ) going to compete with a 454 inch Chevelle, 455 inch Pontiac Trans-Am, a 401 inch AMC Javelin, or a 383, 426 Hemi or 440 inch Dodge Challenger or Plymouth Barracuda? It's like the Blue oval boys just gave up on Performance. The 351C soldiered on until 1973-but then Ford really stepped on their Dick. In 1974 the Pinto based "Mustang II" was introduced with 2.3 liter 4 cylinder engine and the 2.8 liter V6 out of the German Capri optional. Like with "New Coke"-the public was not amused. They dropped in a 302 V8 in '75-but it had a 2bbl carb and wheezed out 140 hp. In 1979 the famous "Fox" platform debuted-but they didn't get a real performance model until 1983-when the 302 got tube headers, and aluminum manifold, a 600 Holley carb and a new 5-speed transmission. Through the '80's until 1993-the "5.0" was King Kong". They were both faster and several thousand dollars cheaper than Z/28 Camaros and Trans-Am Firebirds-that were so invincible in the late '70's. 1994 Brought the body that would last until 2004. 1996 brought the 4.6 liter "Mod Motor" which the current "5.0" and 5.4s are based on. 2005 brought a '60's style body back and sales skyrocketed, even the V6 models outselling the V8s. "Bullitt" "Boss 302" and other special editions came in the years 2006-2010 when the body was slightly changed. The GT with 412 hp for under 30 grand, is still a screaming bargain. You don't have to take shit from little boys in rice rockets or yuppies in BMW M3s. The new 2015 version was featured in the action flick "Need for Speed".  Long live the Mustang!! Mastermind    

How about some '60's and '70's Trans Am racer tributes?.....

Popular Hot Rodding's "Project Talledega"-a 1975 Chevelle Laguna done up like Darrell Waltrip's mid-70's NASCAR racer is wildly popular among readers and many other mags have featured similar cars-a '73 Charger done like Richard Petty's most famous racer,an '84 T-Bird done like Bill Elliott's Championship car to name a couple. The NASCAR theme is cool, but what I think would be even cooler is Trans-Am tribute cars. Here's 4 that I think would be way cool and could be built cheaply. # 1. 1967-68 Mercury Cougar. I love this bodystyle-more than any Mustang. I'd go with radiused and flared fenderwells, Minilite wheels and fat tires all around. The good thing is-suspension and brake upgrades that fit a same-year Mustang will fit these cars-so you have a good selection of springs, shocks, sway bars etc-You could make it really handle. I'd go with some Corbeau or Recaro seats. For power I'd build a "Mock Boss" 302. or 351. Edelbrock and Trick Flow make Cleveland style aluminum heads that bolt up to Windsor blocks, and they make a special "E-Boss" Performer RPM manifold that works with this combo. You could use a 347 or 392 stroker kit and make some SERIOUS hp. Back it with a T10 4-speed or a Tremec 5-speed, and paint it like Bud Moore's racer. Mustangs are a dime a dozen-but you rarely see a badass Cougar. # 2. 1967-69 Pontiac Firebird. I'd go with radiused and flared fenders,some 16X8 or 17X9 American Racing Torq-Thrusts with 245/50ZR16 or 275/40ZR17 tires. Their's great suspension parts availability so handling would be superb. Power-wise-you could go two ways. One-you could build a snarling 400 or 455 Pontiac, or you could use a monster 383 or 427 small-block Chevy. Before you start screaming blasphemy remember that the 303 Pontiacs were mega-expensive, and unreliable,and only Milt Minter and Jerry Titus had them-through back-door factory backing by Herb Adams that was ok'd by Delorean. Since some Canadian Firebirds had Chevy engines from the factory-the SCCA allowed privateer Firebird racers to run 302 Chevys because they were cheaper and more plentiful. So a Chevy engine would be as realistic a "tribute" as a Pontiac. And of course it would have to be white with a blue stripes or blue with white stripes. Again-you see a lot of Nasty Camaros of this vintage but not many Firebirds. # 3. 1971-74 AMC Javelin. You have to go with Minilite wheels, side-exit exhaust, and a red,white and blue paint job-just like Mark Donohue's 1972 Championship car. Since they were used in Jeep Grand Wagoneers until 1992-AMC 360 V8's are plentiful in junkyards, and Edelbrock offers performance aluminum heads and intakes, you could build a potent, super-cool street fighter. # 4. 1967-69 Dodge Dart. Since the E-bodys didn't debut until 1970-a lot of guys raced Valiants and Darts in the Trans Am series in the '60's. The cars are very light-so even a 318 V8 would have good performance. Or you could go with a 360 or a 360 based 408 stroker with aluminum "Magnum" heads and a hot roller cam. You see Darts done like drag cars all the time but not in T/A style. I think any of these would be unique, low-budget, cool project. Any one else have similar ideas? Mastermind  

It's your car....Build the Damn thing the way you want it...Not how it "should" be....

I talk to so many people that are so worried about maximizing the value of the car when they sell it, that I wonder why they even bought it in the first place. Because-restoring a musclecar is not usually a profitable endeavor. I have literally seen people paint a car a color they can't stand-"Because that's what it was originally". Why? If you buy a yellow car with black or white interior, and you hate yellow, then paint it red or blue or black or silver or whatever color you want!!. The same goes for adding or subtracting options. If you don't like the looks of a Vynil top-then remove it. If you want 3-2bbls on your '66 GTO or '70 Super Bee and can afford to buy the manifold, carbs,linkage etc-then put it on!! The car will run better, and probably be worth more even though it's not "original". If you want "Snowflake" wheels on your T/A instead of Rally II's-what's stopping you? You can buy them from Year One in the original 15X8 size, and 17X9 if you want to upgrade to modern, ZR-rated tires. If you have '70 Challenger-and can afford 15 grand for a Mopar Performance 426 Crate Hemi-then go for it! Why would you use a 383-"Because that's the way it left the factory". Trust me-if you later decided to sell the car-the Hemi engine will bring much bigger bucks than the numbers-matching 383!!  Do your '69 GTO like a "Judge" if you want. And guess what? a Carousel Red Judge "tribute" will bring more money than a "correct" Verduro Green GTO!!!  Ditto for small accessories-get rid of the the thin, standard steering wheel and put a brawny "Formula" ( Trans Am ) wheel on your Firebird or a "Tuff" wheel on your Charger. Add a rear spoiler to your Camaro, Firebird, Mustang, Javelin etc. Put bucket seats in your Chevelle if you want-no one's going to gripe and wish you had the original bench in there. Put front disc brakes on a car that had 4-wheel drums. Your not "compromising" the value. Do your '69 Camaro like a Yenko, or your '71 Charger like a Super Bee, or your '77 Trans Am like a "Macho T/A". Phoenix Graphics has the decals and stencils. As long as you don't try to pass it off as original what's the harm?  You'll enjoy the car more, and if you ever do sell it-you'll get the financial benefit of the "cool" factor even if it's not "Just as it left the factory".  It's your car-do what you want. Mastermind

How to get the most bang for your restoration bucks......Weigh the cost vs the benefit!!!

People get caught up restoring cars and reading the buff magazines and often it causes them to spend thousands of dollars that they don't have to. One thing you have to realize is a lot of the advice given on engine building or car building is for an all-out race car. For a street machine / daily driver or a show car that only gets the occasional "Stoplight Gran Prix" or weekend trip to the drags-a lot of the "Gotta Haves" are completely unnecessary. For example many Chevrolet enthusiasts cite an article ran by Hot Rod magazine back in the '80's where they asked Smokey Yunick how to build a small-block Chevy to be COMPETITIVE in NASCAR WINSTON CUP RACING!! Basically-how would he build an engine to win Daytona?!!  So when he said that you "had" to have a 4-bolt main block, a forged steel crank,forged pistons, screw-in studs in the heads, etc-he was right-IF you are building an engine that has to turn 7,800 rpm for 500 miles at Daytona!!  Because of the backlash of this article-Smokey himself published another clarifying that. He said-if you were building a street engine-or even a circle-track "Hobby Stock" or "Street Stock" engine-that you'd race on a 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile track-where the main event is 50 laps-basically 12.5 or 25 miles-that two-bolt main blocks were fine. As were cast cranks, as long as revs didn't go over 6,500. He said cast pistons were fine for this type of use as long as you weren't running nitrous. He also said what I've said-that in 40 years-he'd seen rocker arms break, he'd seen pushrods break, he'd seen timing chains jump-but even with pressed in studs in a street engine or this type of racing-he'd NEVER seen a stud pull out of a head. He was pissed because it looked like the magazine was laying down the law-like Moses with Tablets from the mountain-if you didn't spend 10 grand-you had shit for a motor. People get caught up in that shit all the time. I hate to be cynical and harp on the same point-but magazines have to push their advertisers products, and again- a lot of their recommendations are for all out racers. For example-why does every single magazine project car have to have a custom-built Currie 9 inch Ford rearend?  I've said it before- and I'll say it again-I have NEVER in 40 years seen anyone break a Chrysler 8 3/4 rear, under ANY circumstances. I've never seen anyone break a GM 12 bolt, or for that matter- a GM 10 bolt. I have owned 400, 4-speed '70's T/A's and popped the clutch at 4,000 rpm incessantly and powershifted until I broke a shifter rod-but I didn't break the rear end. I know "5.0" Mustang racers that are running 10s with wrinkelwall slicks and have never broken the 8.8 rear. Because that 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch on the ring gear makes SO much difference in reliabilty?  Puhleeeze. The same goes for transmissions. I have seen C4s stand up to 500 hp blown 302s and 351Ws. I have seen TH350s behind 500 hp 455 Pontiacs. The "Weak" BW T5 that was used in millions of Camaros, Firebirds and Mustangs in the '80's and '90s?  Again-I know "5.0" Mustang racers that are running 12s or 11s with nitrous and have never blown this "weak" tranny. A friend put a Stompin' 385 hp 350 in his '83 Camaro and it lasted 13 months-with him going to the drags every other weekend and putting 30 hard passes a month on it. If it had been a daily driver or if he'd been less of a maniac-it would have lated several years. I know Buick Grand National racers that are running 11s-with 200R4s. So the crap that you "Gotta Have" a TH400, or a C6, or a 727 automatic, or a Muncie or Richmond 4 or 5-speed rated for 500 lbs of torque is bullshit. A BW T10 supposedly has a 375 lb ft torque rating. Yet Hayden Proffit and Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins had them in their fire-breathing 421 Pontiac and 409 Chevy racers in the early '60s and they held up fine-behind big-blocks producing 500 plus lbs ft of torque, and having the clutch dropped at 3,500-4,000 rpm with slicks!!  Remember the biggest and best and latest thing is not always the best. I work in Subaru dealership. Everyone knows about the blisteringly fast WRXs. However-my own experience and Car and Driver road tests will bear this out-the 5-speed, 265hp base model is faster to 60 mph than the much more expensive, 6-speed 305 hp STI model!!!  The difference is in the gearing. In the quest for more speed-the engineers thought the lower gearing would do it. However-they didn't have faith in their own product. The Turbo boxer engine actually has some good torque-especially above 3 grand-and hot-rodding it-if you shift out of low at 6,500 rpm you'll hit 2nd about 4,800-right in the thick of the boost. And you'll hit 60 while still in 2nd. With the stiffer gearing of the STI you have to shift to third-twice instead of once. So the base model does 0-60 in like 5.2 seconds, and the STI does it in like 5.4. That's 2 car lengths in a drag race-and although the STI may pass you by 80 or 90 and certainly before the end of the 1/4-your "Street Cred" with the young guys that buy and drive these cars is hurt. If it gets out that the base model thats seven grand cheaper is also quicker to 60-that's going to hurt sales. Any how-think hard before you spend big bucks on a "Gotta Have." Mastermind      

You don't HAVE to do it the way the magazines do it.....

In the last post I talked about how people go overboard on a resto-replacing stuff that doesn't need to be replaced and driving the cost way up. If you want to do a frame-off resto and can afford it and want basically a brand-new old car when your done-go ahead, no ones saying don't do it. But for the rest of the population that don't have a 100 grand to put into a project-95% of us-here's some more tips to keep the price down while still building a quality car. # 1. Don't rebuild or replace a part that doesn't need to be rebuilt or replaced. This should be a no-brainer-but I've seen people pull a perfectly running engine that had good compression, good oil pressure,didn't smoke, didn't use or leak a drop of oil, and ran like a champ, and then tear it down, have it line-bored, the crank turned .010 over, the rods resized,and replace every internal part. Why? "I wanted more power" they say. Ok-what's wrong with adding headers or an Edelbrock intake and maybe even a cam? You don't have to overhaul the whole engine to get more hp out of it. If the engine ran fine before-why would it not run fine with a new carb and intake? Or even a set of aftermarket heads?  And if you are rebuilding an engine with a lot of miles on it-not every block needs to be bored. I've seen engines with 150,000 miles on them and the cylinder walls looked great. And the crank looked great-not every crank needs to be turned. Some may need polishing or minor cleanup, but often you can just replace the rings and bearings. ( Make sure you mark the pistons and put them back in the hole they came out of.) The other thing they do-if they do rebuild the engine-they do the tranny too. Why? Especially if you have a TH400, a C6, a 727 Torqueflite-etc-their bulletproof in bone-stock trim. And if it was working fine behind the old engine, it will work fine behind the new one. Add a shift kit or higher stall converter if you want-but there's a couple grand you don't need to spend. Ditto for sticks-if your Muncie Rock-Crusher, or BW T10, or Ford Top-Loader, or A833 Chrysler 4-speed worked fine behind your old engine, it will work fine behind the new one. I'd replace the clutch disc and pressure plate while the engine was out,and maybe send the shifter to Hurst to be freshened up-but if the tranny shifted fine and didn't leak oil-leave it alone. The same goes for rear ends. Honestly-outside of someone with a 600 hp engine,wrinklewall slicks bolted to the rims, and 5 grand converter with a trans brake-when have you ever seen anyone break a Mopar 8 3/4 rear or a Ford 9 inch? For that matter-when have you seen someone break a GM 10 bolt-or a Ford 8" or 8.8"?  If it's not leaking the fluid and not making noise-and the posi works good-Leave it Alone!!  Why spend $2,500 bucks on new gears,axles, bearings etc-that you don't need, and won't need for 100,000 more miles if you change the fluid once in a while??!!  Brakes are squeaking? Fine-replace the pads and turn the rotors-just like you would in your 2005 Chevy work truck. Why do you need to replace the calipers, the hoses, the master cylinder, the booster,and everything else-that wasn't leaking and worked fine?? Need lower ball joints? Do em and an alignment-but why replace the entire front end if the only thing that has slop in it is the lower ball joints?  See what I'm saying?  Fix what's wrong, but don't replace every nut and bolt on the car whether it needs it or not-which is what the magazines do with their project cars. But they have a basically unlimited budget-and they have to showcase their advertisers products to stay in business. They can put $60,000 into a small-block Nova. You don't need to. Mastermind      

How NOT to lose your ass on a Musclecar project.....

I've talked to a lot of people lately who say they've lost a ton of money on musclecar projects and it makes them hesitant to do another. One guy had $35,000 in a Road Runner that he sold for $21,000 because he needed the money to buy a house and no one offered him anywhere near what he had in it. Another guy had $25,000 in a Camaro that he sold for $15,000-he'd max'd his credit cards building the car and then his wife had a medical emergency and couldn't work for a while and the car had to go to pay bills. And again-he took the highest offer he got out of desperation but it was still a huge loss. The reasons they've lost money vary-but it all comes down to three things-I'll list them and then address them one by one. # 1. They picked the wrong type of car to do. # 2. They took on a project that was beyond their mechanical capabilities. # 3. They went way overboard replacing everything whether it needed to be replaced or not. # 1. The wrong type of car. How do you pick the "wrong" type of car you ask? There's several different ways this happens and I'll explain each one and how to avoid it. #1-They pick an ultra-rare, premium model that's missing some key components. Three easy examples-a Hemi powered Chrysler vehicle missing the Hemi engine, or a Boss 302 or Boss 429 Mustang missing the "Boss" engines. The cost of trying to find an engine and all the correct parts to finish a project like this is so prohibitive-that even if you had Donald Trump's bank account-from a financial standpoint you'd be better off just finding a complete car and buying that. # 2. This is almost as bad-even if the car is basically all there-they pick something so obscure that any parts are going to be obscenely expensive and almost impossible to find. Things in this category would include 427 Thunderbolt Fairlanes, 426 Hemi Darts, 421 SD Pontiacs ( with the aluminum front end!! ) Charger Daytonas and Road Runner Superbirds, 429 Mercury Cyclones,Shelby GT500s, Two-seat AMX Javelins,Studebaker Avantis or R3 Challengers-you get the drift. Yes, the cars are worth a lot when their done, but they cost a lot to refinish-way more than a lesser model. # 3. They picked the wrong brand. Like it or not, Chevys are by far the easiest to restore because the parts are readily available and are way cheaper than they are for anything else. Because of the popularity of the GTO and Trans-Am, ( and parts intechangeability with Camaros and Chevelles, and Impalas ) Pontiacs are a close second on the list of being cheap and easy to restore. If you have a Ford or Mopar, it's going to cost substantially more to build than a Chevy or Pontiac, period. And if your building a Buick or an Oldsmobile or an AMC offering, their going to cost way more than a Ford or a Chrysler. I'm not saying this in a "Chevy rules, and everything else sucks" way. I'm just stating an irrefutable fact-restoring a '70 Buick Skylark GSX is going to cost double what it will to do a '70 SS Chevelle. A '68 Cougar will cost you more to restore than a '68 Camaro. A Duster 340 will cost more to do than a Nova SS 350.  Live with it.  # 2. Taking on a project beyond your ability. This is 90% of the populations major goof. A car with major rust issues or one missing the engine and transmission, or one that needs major bodywork is not a deal no matter how low the price is. Especially if you are not a bodyman or mechanic by trade-your better off spending more money initially and just starting with a better car. Most professional restoration shops charge $100 per hour or more. It's awful easy to rack up a 10 or 20 thousand dollar bill on something that needs a lot of work. If your not a guy who can pull and rebuild an engine and transmission in your own garage with your own two hands and own tools, be very careful. Even if you found a completely done car-sans engine and tranny-your in for a HUGE expense. Here's why. 1st off-even if you don't care about matching numbers and plan to buy a badass crate motor-that's 5 to 10 grand depending on how radical you get-and then you have to pay a shop to install it. And that decreases the cars value at sale time-not having the original engine. God help you if your trying to go numbers matching. Where are you going to find a 327 Chevy with 1962 date codes to put in the Impala SS that you "stole?" Or a 1969 Date coded 440 for that engineless Super Bee you got such a "great" deal on? Then you have to chase down all the tin and brackets, and have someone professionally rebuild it for you. And that "Six-Pack" setup you "GOTTA HAVE"-yes Edelbrock sells the manifold, Holley sells the carbs, and Mopar Performance sells the throttle linkage and air cleaner, but by the time you buy all that-your out $2,500 for just the induction system. Hmm....Maybe you can live with "just" a 4bbl??  # 3. Going overboard on the restoration. Here's what bites everyone in the ass. Apparantly-these people never heard the saying "If it's not broken, don't fix it." I had a friend who did this on a Charger he was restoring. The car needed paint and a vynil top and the front seats re-done. Otherwise it was remarkably well preserved. He went shithouse crazy. Even though the car ran like a scalded cat, had good compression, didn't smoke and didn't use or leak oil, he pulled the engine and had it rebuilt. He replaced the radiator even though the car wasn't overheating, and the radiator wasn't leaking. He replaced the power steering pump even though the one on the car wasn't leaking, wasn't making any noise and worked perfectly. He replaced the alternator and starter even though the car started every time you turned the key and the battery was always charged. Even though the car had good brakes and stopped like a dream-no squeaking or pedal vibrations, no leaks anywhere in the system-he replaced the rotors,pads, calipers,hoses,drums,shoes,wheel cylinders and hardware, and the master cylinder and booster!! He replaced every nut and bolt whether it needed it or not. Why??? This drove the cost of his resto WAY up, didn't bring extra money at sale time. He ended up having almost 50 grand in the car-( a 383 model, not a Hemi!! ) and he was crushed when he sold it for $30,000. If he'd listened to me and just did the cosmetic work he'd have had less than 15 grand in it including the purchase price and he'd have been happy as a clam driving it and showing it, and when he sold it-he may have only got 15 or 20 grand for it, but he'd have broke even or made a little instead of taking a $20,000 bath!!  That unnecessary new radiator, alternator, starter, brake system, etc didn't bring him any more value. I just sold my Hurst / Olds. It needed a new vynil top and the swivel buckets recovered and a new coat of paint. Otherwise it was in great shape, it was legally registered and I drove it and raced it often. It ran like a scalded cat with the Chevy crate motor in it, and it wouldn't take much to put the Olds engine and tranny back in it if you wanted to. The guy went over it with a fine-tooth comb, nit-picking every little thing-( I had Center Lines on it instead of the original wheels, and the white knob on the Hurst shifter wasn't the original one ). We agreed on a price and he drove away. He emails me a week later and says-"I've the got the body off the frame,the frame's on the rotisserire being cleaned and powder-coated, and I'm having the body stripped to bare metal." The Olds engine and tranny are being re-built." I'll send you pictures as we go."  1st off-I don't give a shit what he does with the car-I sold it because I didn't want it anymore. But what gets me-If he was going to do a frame-off resto and replace every single nut and bolt-why did he fly across the country and search the galaxy for a two-owner remarkably well-maintined, rust-free Nevada car,pay a premium price for it, and the cost to ship it back to the midwest?!!!  He could have bought a beater one for way less and started with that? By the time he's done he's going to have 30 grand in it-and even pristine-a '73 H/O 442 depending on equipment only brings about 12-18K at the Barrett-Jackson auction. They just don't bring the money that the '68-72 models do. If he's going to keep the car forever-who cares-he did it his way. But if he ever trys to sell it-he's never going to re-coup his investment. Anyhow-remember "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  Hope this helps out. Mastermind