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Showing posts from December, 2014

1969 Dodge Charger 426 Muscle Car / Specs and History

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The 1969 Dodge Charger was a popular muscle car that, like many, was packed with power during the last years before federal emission regulations put a damper on horsepower. Many consider the Dodge Charger a response to the fastback fad started by the Mustang and the Barracuda. Muscle cars came in many shapes and sizes and the Charger was one of the most popular.  69 Dodge Charger 426 The First Dodge Charger and the Muscle Car Era of the 60's The first Dodge Charger appeared on the scene with the 1964 model year. The car came with a 426 cubic inch Wedge engine .  The Max Wedge was a race-only version of the 426 Wedge engine offered from the factory.  Chrysler's 426 Wedge engine served as their performance engine until the the 426 Hemi was introduced. Dodge muscle cars made a name for themselves at drag strips across America. Chargers showed well at the NASCAR super speedways and had good performances on the street.  The 1960's represented a great decade for Detroit auto

1958 MGA Le Mans

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The car featured in this article is a 1958 MGA Le Mans . The MGA dates back to 1951 . The MGA was a replacement for the MG TF 1500 Midget and there was significant restyling. The MGA is a sports car built by the MG-division of the British Motor Corporation from 1955-1962 . Customized 58 MGA Le Mans A Car Needing a Redesign  MG's Syd Enever , head designer at MG, did a redesign by penning an aerodynamic body on  the MG TF for the 24 Hours of Le Mans . The MG TF body harked back to the era of the early 1930's. After the 1951 Le Mans the redesign project however was put on hold until 1955. British Motor Corporation was in a quandary over the fact that the Austin-Healey 100 ( from BMC) came out as a modern looking sports car. Management didn't feel the need to produce two new sports cars so they continued to build the MG TD. The decision proved wrong in as much as the TD sales figures declined significantly forcing management to reverse it's decision. The problem

A 1949 Anglia Custom Racer

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Ford Motor Company brought out the Anglia model in late 1939 . This was a car designed and produced by Ford in the United Kingdom. The Ford Anglia was an economical vehicle with few appointments. It was an automobile that was meant for the low cost end of the market. The Anglia was a model that was the basis for other models and lasted for some twenty years. All Anglia's were styled with a two door, four seater saloon body that was usually if not always finished in the Ford black paint. The car featured in this article is a 1949 Anglia Custom Racer . It's often been stated that every Ford Anglia imported into the U.S. ended up as a hot rod. There's some truth to this however we also have seen a few non racers. The small automobile without all the bells and whistles and very light weight is really ideal to modify into a dragster. It was 1948 that Ford began importing the Anglia's into the U.S.and Canada. Though Anglia production technically ceased in 1

A Beautifully Built Blown 355 Cubic Inch Ford T-Bucket

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The 1923 Ford T-Bucket featured in this article is one mean machine. The T-Bucket is a very modified Model T . In fact, it is so modified you may not recognize it as a Model T. You typically will not see an engine cowl on a T-Bucket and the radiator will be from a Model T . The windshield is typically vertical which resembles the same as on an original Model T. 1923 Ford T-Bucket Ford stopped building their Model T's in 1927. Most of the T-Buckets you see today at auto shows and swap meets are fiberglass replicas . In fact, by the 1950's it was hard to find a suitable original steel body Model T to modify. Attention Getting Street Rods Many of the Ford T-Buckets you see today are essentially show cars and there are some functioning as street rods as well. There is no doubt that anywhere this 1923 T-Bucket goes it will receive plenty of attention. Each of these T-Buckets are highly customized so you'll see a great amount of creativity in the bucket interior, engine of cou

A 1970 Muscle Car / Pontiac GTO

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The Pontiac GTO is a special automobile.It is recognized by most as being America's first muscle car in 1964. This was a time when muscle cars were full size vehicles. In fact, GM at the time had a rule in place that barred any intermediate car from having an engine larger than 330 cubic inches. One way around this difficulty as far as GM engineers and sales were concerned was make their 389 engine an option on the midsize Tempest . They called that option package GTO . Our understanding is that the letters GTO reportedly stand for  “ Gran Turismo Omologato “. This means that with the GTO designation the car is eligible to be entered in races like the LeMans and stock car races. The GTO distinction is important because it refers to the automobile's eligibility to run in such events. This translation leaves little doubt that the Pontiac GTO was meant to be a racing machine. At the same time of course the stock GTO needed to be a street car as well. While the Pontiac GTO w

A 1968 Chevy Nova Muscle Car

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The Chevy Nova became a muscle car for those enthusiasts on a budget. The 1968 Chevrolet Nova featured in this article is a light weight automobile that was actually built alongside the Chevy Camaro. The 1968 Chevy Nova came with a factory standard 350 V8 with 295 horsepower and with an optional Chevrolet 396 V8 big block . Lots of power in a relatively small, lightweight car. 68 Chevy II / Nova The Third Generation Chevy Nova The 1968 Chevrolet Nova represented the first of the third generation Nova's.By this time the Nova was much changed from what was first offered in 1962 as an economical compact. In 1968 the Chevy Nova was formally named the Chevy II Nova. That changed however lasted only one year and the name would be dropped in 1969.The Nova SS, a separate series, continued to be marketed as late as 1976 although because of new federal regulations was not the powerful machine seen during the late 1960's. The new 1971/72  federal regulations affected all of the late 60