American

In 2007, these cars would have cost nearly twice as much, but they are still priced above five years ago. Hemi magic still outweighs Daytona’s rarity It’s a long time since any Dodge Daytona or Plymouth Superbird raced on the high banks in NASCAR competition, but they routinely fly across auction blocks these days. There’s…

It’s quite possible the Z16 was the first Chevrolet product to be powered by the legendary big-block, beating its counterparts by a few weeks The early success of other GM division big-block cars pushed Chevrolet to pump up the power in its 1965 Chevelle in a big way, stuffing the smallish mid-sized mainstay with the…

Even at $253,000, this car is still less than half the price of some Packard V12 Cabriolets {vsig}2009-7_2340{/vsig} This 1934 Auburn 1250 Salon Cabriolet was driven by James Cagney in the 1930s film “The Mayor of Hell.” It was restored over 20 years ago, and it’s been certified by the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club, which…

3187 was a well-restored, correct car. Most 427 Cobras have been heavily modified or re-skinned after drivers ran out of talent {vsig}2009-6_2329{/vsig} Only 291 Shelby 427 Cobras were ever sold in America for street use, of which 31 were S/C (“Semi Competition”) cars. About one-fourth of all street cars were later converted for competition duty,…

Thunderbolts were designed for high-profile Factory Experimental and Super Stock classes; Galaxie Lightweights targeted regional Stock-class competition {vsig}2009-5_2319{/vsig} In March 1963, General Motors dropped a bombshell by banning factory support of auto racing. Ironically, just one month later, Ford Vice President Lee Iacocca issued a press release that read, in part: “Our attitude is based…

Chysler’s financial crises of the early 1950s couldn’t stop the string of Virgil Exner’s Ghia concept cars {vsig}2009-4_2307{/vsig} In 1953, Dodge unveiled its first concept car, the Firearrow, a sleek out-of-this-world roadster that provided a glimpse of what everyone’s new automobile would look like in just a few years. While this stylish open-top car looked…

Imagine if an unknown Van Gogh was discovered on eBay. In the musclecar community, the discovery of this Super Duty is no less stunning {vsig}2009-3_2280{/vsig} By the late 1950s, the horsepower race was on, and stock-bodied racing was the perfect place for Detroit to display its latest engineering feats. Pontiac was the car to beat,…

To those not familiar with the documented, dealer-converted supercar market, $446,250 would appear to be a staggering amount for a lowly Camaro {vsig}2009-2_2279{/vsig} Nickey Chevrolet of Chicago was one of the largest Chevy dealers in America and had big plans for Chevrolet’s new pony car in 1967. Working with legendary Chevrolet engine builder Bill Thomas…

Duesenberg expert Randy Ema affirms that cars like this, with original major components-chassis, body, engine-are at the top of the scale Duesenberg Automobiles was plucked from the post-World War I recession by Errett Cord, the savior of Auburn. By 1927, he was looking to build a more prestigious car and bought the innovative but struggling…

This is the only Oldsmobile to have been recognized by the Classic Car Club of America as a Full Classic   {vsig}2008-12_2256{/vsig} There was a time when neither Ford nor Chevrolet were America’s leading automobile producers. You have to go back to the dawn of the auto industry, but from 1903 to 1905, Oldsmobile was…