Big Block Dream Cars

Today on muscle car, big block strip ready, tire roasting dream cars. Check out what a few grand in a trip to your local dealer could get you during the peak of the muscle car era.

Hey guys, welcome to muscle car. A blue collar buick here may be roadworthy but is a project ever really done? Of course not. Well, after driving it around for a while, we noticed a few things that can use some improvement

like this gauge cluster. It's been in here since we bought the car.

Whoa.

Hey man, check out what I got. Nice. You buying it or you just steal it. Well, it's not stealing if they leave the keys in it. No, man. I'm kidding. A buddy of mine's looking at buying it from a local car lot and he asked me to give it a once over. Nice 65 GTO Hearst edition. Don't see too many of these. Yeah, it's big block too. So, you know, it's right up my alley.

This thing looks a lot like it did sit on the showroom floor some 45 years ago, man. Can you imagine walking into a dealership when this thing was new. Tell you what that would have been. Cool, man. Detroit was turning out some serious iron. Back then

in the mid to late sixties, your choices for muscle car performance were virtually endless. Pontiac had pioneered the concept of a total muscle car package with the GTO back in 64 and Plymouth wanted a piece of that action.

So for 1967

they came out with a car built to be raced right off the showroom floor with a wink and a nod to its inspiration.

They called it

the GTX

before the GTX. If you walked into a Plymouth dealer, you could get a muscle car. He just had to know what options to pick out.

The GTX removed all that guess work

to boost interest. Richard Petty had already been racing one on the circuits breaking records, picking up 27 trophies along the way.

Plymouth started with its popular Belvedere model and gave it race cars looks by adding hood scoops, dual tail pipes and a pit stop style gas cap

inside. You got bucket seats and a beefy torque white transmission.

The heavy duty suspension was added, combining stiff and shocks and six leaf rear springs so it could handle tight turns with these to top it all off. They dropped in the brand new Super Commando engine

with 440 cubes of raw power

churning out 375 horses. This car was instantly transformed into a road rocket

Mopar

used a similar 440 in its big cars like the Chrysler Imperial,

but they made a few changes to up the power and torque by revising the camshaft and valve train and adding a free flow intake and exhaust. They were able to coax 100 more horsepower out of it.

The GTX only weighed in at around 3500 pounds,

meaning it got about one horsepower for every nine pounds. No wonder it's so fast.

The GTX only had one engine option available

the

hemi

but it would cost you an extra 564 bucks.

When you compare 0 to 60 times, the 440 was actually faster with seven seconds versus the hemi

7.4.

This was because the 440 reached its peak torque at 3200 RPM

while the

hemi it had to spin all the way up to 4000.

The

hemi did outrun the 440 on the quarter mile though 15 seconds to the 440 s 15.4

in 67. All belvedere including the GTX received some minor styling changes. The front grill now featured quad headlights and a more prominent center horizontal bar.

GTX though featured a red white and blue emblem in the center.

Both cars had a redesigned lower deck panel with a more fluid horizontal sweep

and featured a brushed metal

section.

This GTX has tricked out with some cool factory options like the bullet style turn signals on top of the benders

and boss vinyl upholstery and a floor console complete with a tag.

Despite its racing pedigree, Plymouth only managed to move about 2500 GTX in 67

it just had a hard

time competing against the more established names out there in the muscle car field style was probably also a factor.

GM and Ford were adding more curves to their cars which the customers loved while Plymouth lay stuck with the same straight body lines in angular styling.

But this uniqueness combined with low production numbers are what make it a highly sought after car today.

Yeah, good luck trying to get your hands on this one.

After the break. We've seen what Plymouth had to offer in the sixties. But what about Ford? Find out how this Mustang injected some venom into the competition.

The door shut. Nice and man, these gaps are perfect. Yeah, the trunk fits good too.

All right, Rick say it's 1969 and you've got a wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket. What dealership would you stop by? That's a tough one man. But I think I'd have to head down to the Ford dealership. It's hard to beat a Cobra jet.

Move over 409.

Let's move over 427.

Make room for 428 cubic inches of Ford Cobra.

Power

Ford wasn't just messing around in 69 when they made this beast

and just a hair over 10,000 mustangs had this 335 horse, 440 ft pound torque monster dropped under the hood. Less than 6000 of them were four speeds and only 100 and 54 came in winter blue and only 36 of those had white terriers.

As a matter of fact, there were only two cars made exactly like this one and both of those twins sold out of the same dealership in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Mark Marcus is the proud owner of this beauty. He picked it up in 99. Since then, it's taken her all over the country to car shows and MC A events,

this beautifully restored Mustang has taken top honors in both the driven and trailer at MC Concourse events.

Now that's no small feat considering that there are 700 points that these cars are judged on.

Obvious points are paint and body line

along with consistent BS.

But these cars can get dog points for things as simple as a sticker out of place and to take the gold, a maximum of only 21 points can get missed.

It's no wonder that Carlyle picked this car to be the face of the All Ford nationals brochure.

Now, Ford may have only claimed 335 horsepower to keep insurance rates down.

But guys in the know will tell you the horsepower numbers are closer to the 440 mark

and one good push on the gas pedal can even turn back time.

It's like nothing else. It takes you back. I mean, if you were young when you first got in a car like that, it takes you straight back to those days.

A set of 325 gears in the track lock makes sure that all that power is hit in the pavement. And this set of 15 inch wheels wrapped in poly glass tires is definitely responsible for at least a couple of black marks on the road

style points are in no short supply. Either classic Mustang body lines, a fast back top with rear window. Louvers and a spoiler out back are just the start

side, scoops along with head lamps in the front grill are a dead giveaway that you're looking at 69

winter blue paint and a black and gold stripe are touched off with plenty of mock. One badging

up front. A flat black hood is held down with a set of pins. But the icing on the cake, this functional shaker hood scoop

inside the white interior is just as clean as the day it left the factory and the paneling engages. Well, they're in the same condition.

Now winning gold from the MC A says a lot for any car but with a set of

pipes and dual resonators, the big block will do all the talking and any big block owner will tell you size matters.

Don't let anybody tell you it doesn't.

Now, if you happen to see a shaker hood scoop on a 69 mustang fast back,

you better watch your step

mach ones might be known for their rally days, but a 428 Cobra will deal a deadly bite to just about anything that picks a fight with it off the line

kick that four speed in the neutral and cruised for a little bit. Muscle car will be right back.

No, man, since we've been dreaming about what it would have been like to hit a car dealership some 40 something years ago.

Kinda got me thinking about what a real American phenomenon. Muscle cars were. Yeah, you got that right.

And there was one automaker that wasn't shy at all about showing off their patriotism.

Muscle cars have always been a symbol of America's rebellious spirit. And to drive that point home, the folks at AMC love to wrap their cars in the good old red, white and blue

in October 1969 they rolled out their latest patriotic pavement pounder, a slick mid size car with plenty of fireworks under the hood.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the machine,

took their ordinary rebel and souped it up with a Borg Warner T 10 4 speed pulling a set of 354 gears,

extra stiff rear springs and anti sway bar, front and rear gave a great handling on the road.

But the real story was under the hood.

A 390 V8 pumping out 340 horse.

This was the same engine used in the AM X but it got 15 more horses. Thanks to its free breathing design with a ram

air scoop, combined with a free flow intake, dog leg heads and low restriction exhaust made it one of the best breathing engines AMC ever offered. It's also the most powerful in AMC history.

Mount attack helped to keep track of all that power

tires were E 60 by 15 polys

wrapped around specially designed steel wheels.

Machines were also unique from a standard rebel in that they used a grill from a 68 model.

I have wanted a machine ever since I was 14 years old.

I wound up buying that first car for 100 and 50 bucks. I I actually took delivery of it on my 16th birthday. This particular car my brother found for me. He knew that I've loved machines for a long time. So he called me and

asked me if I was interest in it.

I told him absolutely. I was interested in it and I spent about five years doing a ground up restoration on it.

The 1st 1000 or so machines only came in this red, white and blue scheme.

After that, you could get one in any factory color, but all that flashy style ended once you climbed inside,

it looks like a taxicab.

The Spartan interior only came in black and gauges. Well, they were nothing special, high back bucket seats with the tri

color armrest were the only amenities.

The Rebel Machine was amc's further attempt to attract young buyers into the showroom.

Originally, it was going to be a more menacing black car with black wheels, but A MC decided to go with a more eye catching look similar to its scrambler from the previous year

like that car. It was designed as a limited edition and only two

1003 126 were sold. This is one of about 500 still around

the rebel line ended up getting scrapped in 1971 and replaced by the Matador.

You could order the machine option on that car but the engine was downgraded and only about 50 people chose the package. Just one is known to exist today

among collectors, the 70 rebel machine is considered to be one of the finest cars AMC ever produced.

It's a car we can all agree deserves a salute

coming up. You've seen the rest but is this one the best?

You be the judge.

You're watching Muscle car for a DVD copy of this episode. Just go to power block tv.com and order your copy for just 595 plus shipping and handling. Start your own muscle car collection delivered right to your door from the power block.

Yeah, Mo Par Ford and A MC all had something to offer the guy looking to blow his buddy's doors off. I think we're forgetting somebody. Oh, yeah. Now we're talking about where I would have been headed with my Cash. General Motors man. They had everything, the 442, the L 88 the GSX man. The list goes on and on. Don't forget about the GT OS. Oh, yeah. And the one that ruled all of those was the judge

order in the court. Muscle car fans

all rides for the honorable GTO judge

the verdicts in and this goats guilty of outrageous style and disturbing the peace.

This numbers matching 1970 judge really knows how to lay down the law

with its 400 cubic inch Ram

E

3 V8.

This engine could produce 366 horsepower at 16 over the standard GT.

It features

deport heads, hydraulic cam shaft, free flowing exhaust manifolds and a Rochester quadrajet four barrel car.

The ram air intake can be opened with a knob under the dash to suck in more air and boost power

keeping track of all that power was easy with the hood mounted.

Bill Stovall

isn't afraid to drop the hammer

or should I say gavel on this judge?

It takes a few years off my life with a bit younger. That's how it makes

you feel. Judges also came with a heavy duty suspension which included coil springs, front and rear, a thicker front and a roll bar, four length in the rear and stiffer shocks.

The judge made its debut in 1969 a much different car than originally planned. The engineers of Pontiac had been working on a budget version of the GT

to compete with Plymouth road runner was called the Et short for elapsed time and had a 350 engine.

But that project got mixed when Pontiac's division head, John DeLorean refused to have anything smaller than a 400 in the GTO.

What they ended up with was a pricier version of the GTO with a lot more flash and a little extra power

DeLorean

named it the judge based on a skit from the hit show. Laugh in,

in 1970 the judge got a bit of a face lift. The long tricolor stripe down the side was now two eyebrows over each wheel.

The judge logo was moved behind the front tire and onto the rear deck lid.

Black caps on the wheel hubs were changed to red by March of 1970

up front. The concealed headlight option was axed and the girl got a blacked out treatment

in the rear. The huge air foil no longer curved down at both ends but was flat all the way across

and the exhaust was altered to two dual tail

pipes.

Now, the car didn't look this good when Bill found it almost 20 years ago,

the front fenders were basically jumped. It underwent a total rotisserie restoration and the result was a car that won a gold award in the concourse class at the 2006 GTO Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky, people are used to all judges being orange, but that's not true. And then when you tell somebody, you got a blue judge,

pink and orange stripes and I really think you've gone over, but with

only 3797 judges were built in 1970

about 3000 less than the previous year. Thanks to rising insurance costs, interest in muscle cars was beginning to wane. And the last judge was produced in January of 1971. Only about 11,000 total were produced in that three year span. And that makes these cars highly sought after today.

It's easy to see why

ladies and gentlemen

courts adjourned

more than four decades of passage. You could walk into a dealership and buy a brand new judge or GS. But thanks to a lot of hard working enthusiasts, you can still relive the good old days in cars like this. This one's really better than new. So I'm gonna tell that buddy of mine. If he doesn't snatch it up, I'm gonna buy it for myself. No joke. If you're heading back down to the lot, I'm coming with you. It may just have that 68 charger. I've been looking for,

I would bring you guys along, but I'm not because we're out of time. So until next time we're out of here.