Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

WHEN IT comes to muscle cars, Buick doesn’t get the credit it should. Detroit’s ground-pounders, born in a turbulent and distant decade, were all about the small-d democratization of power—the cheaper the better. Buick was about 10 percent spendier than the best-selling Chevys, Pontiacs, Plymouths, and Fords that locked horns nightly at any given green traffic light, and for whatever reasons sold in far fewer numbers. So, the idea of a Buick isn’t always what pops to mind when the collective American hive-mind hears the term “muscle car.” This is both dumb and wrong. If anything, Buick did it first: for 1936, the year Buick boss Harlow Curtice dropped the massive Limited/Roadmasters’ 130-horse straight-8 into the smaller Special-sized chassis and called it Century, he created the big-car-engine-in-a-midsize-body muscle car formula…

HEMMINGS AUCTIONS IS OUR LIVE, ONLINE AUCTION site staffed by customer service professionals ready to help bidders and sellers with any questions. A wide variety of classic and specialty vehicles from all eras are up for bid. Auctions run for one or two weeks, and qualified bidders place their bids electronically. Once a vehicle is accepted into the auction, the seller pays only a $99.95 listing fee. The winning bidder is responsible for a 5-percent fee on all completed auctions. The following are examples of auctions that transpired during the months leading up to press time. If you have question s, comments or suggestions, email the Hemmings Auctions team directly: auctions@hemmings.com. 1973 PLYMOUTH ’CUDA RESERVE: $35,000SELLING PRICE: $44,100 RECENT MARKET RANGE: $48,000-$69,000 With the big-block ’Cuda relegated to the past…

PRODUCTION LINE The Mustang celebrated its 60th anniversary back in April — not that you’d have known for the scant notice it received in both the mainstream and enthusiast press — but Ford rarely passes up the opportunity to tout the anniversary of its long-lived pony car, even if it usually involves little more than special paint and badging. Ford’s announcement of the imminent Mustang 60th Anniversary Package, then, will come as little surprise. The 60th Anniversary Package is available in three colors: Wimbledon White, Race Red, or Vapor Blue (which looks awfully grey in person, but what do we know?). The rocker stripes, said to have their stylistic roots in an available ’65 stripe option, but spelling out “60 Years” in lieu of “Mustang” or “GT” or something equally…

STOCK THERE’S LITTLE DOUBT that the 1968-’70 Dodge Charger and the 1970-’74 Plymouth Barracuda are among the high-water models of the entire muscle car era. Each offered unparalleled styling and performance which, if not entirely recognized in the moment, has been proven in the decades that followed. As you’ll soon understand, the pair featured here are pinnacles of those pinnacles, and little short of amazing in their similarities. To be certain, nobody is likely to mistake a ’70 Charger for a ’71 ’Cuda, so when we speak of the similarity between our two feature cars, it’s in the colors and drivetrain options of these corporate cousins. Of course, the Charger was based on the B-body Mopar, which included Belvedere/Satellite/Road Runner, Coronet/Super Bee, and others. While technically being an intermediate-sized model,…

AUCTION ACTION RM SOTHEBY’S may not be the first destination you think of when you consider where to get your high-performance American car fix; you’re unlikely to find a 4-4-2 or a Torino at this highest of high-end auction houses. But while exotic European machines form the bulk of the run list, there is still plenty of American power for performance enthusiasts of all stripes. Held in the ritzy Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, cars at RM Sotheby’s Arizona auction are largely concours quality and seriously premium stuff (though there are notable exceptions), with pricing appropriate to the quality. Rather than the cattle-rattle you’ll find elsewhere during the weekend, the auctioneer politely asks for additional bids, in the conversational British style. The ambience is one of serious yet low-key money,…

Letter of the Month: Is This the Silver Age? Thank you for the great article about modern horsepower leaders (“Modern Love,” HMM #250). I truly believe that we are living at the end of the second age (the silver age maybe?) of muscle cars. More horsepower, better quality, and economy, and of course, warranties. The first era had many selections across the Big Four, but recently our choices have been much narrower. However, with 50 years of technological improvements, we’ve seen 250+ hp turbocharged four-cylinders and naturally-aspirated six-cylinders with over 300 hp. The 1970s version of me wouldn’t have believed it possible! Will the advent of electric cars herald the third stage? Stay tuned, right? I’ve driven and owned a very long list of American muscle during both the Golden…

FORD’s advertising campaign to push the newly minted Maverick model keyed in on the car’s economy and family workhorse capabilities once the compact hit the dealership floors back in the summer of ’69. It was a timely plan, as Ford needed a replacement for the aging Falcon, but it also needed something to combat the influx of gas-sipping imports that were pouring into the country from all points abroad, many of which were quite inexpensive. Dearborn’s plan paid off in spades. In the early ’70s, the ability to offer a new car for under $2,000 was a challenging goal for American automakers at a time when the VW Beetle had a base price of $1,799. The Maverick, though small and fairly Spartan in its initial form, seemed like a more…

ON LOCATION WHEN YOU LIVE in the Northeast, and you like vintage cars, the coming of spring is a highly anticipated time of year. That’s when the cool cars can come back out, the windows can be rolled down, and maybe, if you’re so fortunate, the top can be retracted for warm-weather cruising. For us in Vermont, the wait always seems particularly drawn out, so our tradition of kicking off the season with our Musclepalooza event over Memorial Day weekend has long been a well-attended highlight. But what if we could get things rolling a little earlier? What if we headed south just a little bit? That was one of the thoughts behind our revamped Musclepalooza event series, which launched this spring in Pennsylvania at Maple Grove Raceway in April.…

PALM BEACH POWER Barrett-Jackson wrapped its annual Palm Beach auction with 614 vehicles changing hands for $45.7 million. Among those to sell at the no-reserve auction was a 1964 Dodge Polara 330 lightweight drag car with factory Hemi power. The engine was correctly date-coded and featured the factory “Race Hemi” compression ratio of 12.5:1 and a pair of Holley 4160 four-barrel carburetors mounted on a cross-ram intake manifold, all backed up by a TorqueFlite automatic transmission. The lightweight option code included aluminum front fenders, doors, bumpers, and hood, as well as special lightweight glass by Corning. Inside, the drag car had a minimalized interior with basic vinyl bucket seats, no rear seats, and no radio. Raced by “Mr. Norm” Kraus himself, the fully documented Super Stock drag car had his…