Project "Heavy Metal"......Redux.......

Someone reminded me that back in the '90's Car Craft had a project car called Project "Heavy Metal." It was a 1965 Impala with a fuel-injected 502 inch Rat motor, trick suspension, and 4-wheel disc brakes. The car was actually stolen and never recovered, sadly. This person suggested I do a similar project-but not a Chevy. I gave it some thought, and came up with a few viable ideas. # 1. 1965-68 Pontiac Catalina or Gran Prix. I personally think the '65-66 Pontiacs, with their Dodge Chargerish "Coke Bottle" flanks and semi-fastback roofline are one of the best looking cars GM ever put out. The '67-68 models arent quite as sexy-but the fastback body is still cool, and the GP's have hidden headlights. ( Ray Liotta drove a '68 Gran Prix in "Goodfellas" ) Plus, the bulletproof  TH400 was standard all years, and the standard engines were 389 and 400 cubes. The optional ones were 421 and 428 cubes. Later "Big Car" front disc brakes ( although some 67-68 models may have them stock ) can be adapted easily, and in these years Pontiac built a lot of ambulances and hearses. I mention this-because these commercial vehicles had huge front and rear sway bars. If you can find one in a boneyard. On the upside-any aftermarket suspension or brake upgrades that fit an Impala will also fit these cars. And there are a miilion ways to build power into a Pontiac V8. # 2. 1966-69 Buick Riviera. These cars had the sexy, fastback body of the Olds Toronado-but are still rear-wheel drive. And I think the Riviera's styling was actually cleaner. I'm going to blaspheme a little here-there's not a lot of speed equipment available for Buicks. However; I have both a 428 Pontiac and a 455 Olds in my garage. There is a TON of speed equipment-( aftermarket aluminum heads, cams, intakes, etc ) for Pontiac and Olds engines and either one would bolt right up to the BOP TH400. ( Chevys have a different bellhousing bolt-pattern.) I see one Jet-Black or Palladium Silver with 17 inch torque-thrusts. # 4. 1967-71 Ford Thunderbird. The '67-69 models have hidden headlights and cool styling. They also have 390, 428, or 429 cubes under the hood. The '70-71 models have swoopy, Nascar-inspired styling and 429 cubes under the hood. Which means that a 460 based 514 stroker would bolt right in. You could do anything from "Pro Street" to "Pro Touring". Cool. Mastermind