Motion Performance Tales Of A Muscle Car Builder

Uncover the captivating history of the highest-performace cars in America, illustrated with beautiful photography. The American muscle car began not in the factories of the big three automakers, but in the garages and dealerships of a hot-rod subculture bent on making the hottest, highest-performance cars on the street. The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars catalogs these amazing cars, along with the builders who unleashed them on the American scene. From Michigan's Royal Pontiac dealership and the souped-up Royal Pontiac Bobcats they built and sold, to the new cars from such fabled names as Carroll Shelby, Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge, Nickey Chevrolet, Don Yenko, George Hurst, Baldwin-Motion, Calloway, SLP, and Steve Saleen. This gorgeously illustrated book chronicles the outstanding contribution of the tuner/builder to American automotive history through the amazing machines they created. From the oldest of these muscle tuners commanding top dollar at today's classic-car auctions, to the latest vehicles by Ford and Chrysler, with their SVT and SRT divisions, this book gives readers a full and fascinating look at American high-performance in its purest form.

“Get one before one gets you!” Motion Performance’s catchy sales pitch for builder Joel Rosen’s Phase III Specialty Muscle Cars sums up the escalating performance scene in the late 1960s. Special edition muscle cars were essential to keep pace. Joel and other independent car builders (such as Carroll Shelby, George Hurst, Dick Harrell, Mr. Norm, and Jim Wangers) did what the factories couldn’t do: take the muscle car and turn it into a tire-burning monster. Although the Pontiac GTO established the muscle car category in 1964, a host of corporate safety restrictions restrained factories from offering turn-key race cars off the showroom floor. Independent car builders enhanced appearance and amplified performance in an attempt to do what the manufacturers wouldn’t. Motion Performance issued a written guarantee: Phase III cars would run 11.5 at 120 mph down the quarter-mile! Some of the most iconic nameplates in automotive history were applied in this era with names that included Cheetah, Black Panther, Royal Bobcat, Super Hugger, Manta Ray, Super Snake, Deuce, Fast Track, and The Machine. How did manufacturers stealthily promote these special edition muscle cars as “halo cars” while pretending not to endorse them? What happened to these innovators when factories assimilated their ideas? It’s all covered inside. Muscle car historian Duncan Brown takes us through these special edition muscle cars, their creators, and the behind-the-scenes forces that shaped these wild beasts into legends that left a lasting legacy.

In Day One, automotive journalist Marty Schorr recalls life on the front line in the classic muscle car era, thrashing brand-new cars that would become collector vehicles. Most muscle-car books celebrate beautifully-restored vehicles surrounded by hard facts; Day One tells the real story from the point-of-view of one of the period’s most respected automotive journalists, Marty Schorr. For the first time in print, you’ll get a unique perspective on what it was like to actually drive, race, and otherwise thrash what are some of today's most valuable collector cars. CARS, the iconic magazine Marty wrote and edited didn't rely on industry advertising for revenue. Instead, the magazine made money the old fashioned way, from newsstand sales, leaving it able to be honest and frank in its coverage of high-performance street cars. CARS magazine reported on both Day stock and modified cars, cars the traditional magazines wouldn't touch, like the ultra-high-performance vehicles from companies like Baldwin-Motion, Yenko Chevrolet, Nickey Chevrolet, Royal Pontiac, and Tasca Ford. Prepare yourself for Day One to cover the most important cars of a given year, including: Pontiac’s 1962-1963 lightweight Super-Duty 421 street and Swiss Cheese models Chevrolet’s 1963 big-block 427 Mystery Motor and ZL-1 Impala. Ford 1963 ½ 427/425 Galaxie fastback The 1964 Ramchargers The first 426 Street Hemi Cotton-Owens prepared Hemi Coronet A 1966 Olds Twin-Engined (850 cubic inches) Grant Toronado, currently owned by Jay Leno A prototype 1966 Plymouth 426 Street Hemi Satellite One of two 427 SOHC Galaxies prototypes A ’67 Royal Bobcat GTO Plymouth’s original ’68 Hemi Road Runner Hurst-built Plymouth & Dodge 1968 Hemi-Darts and Hemi-Cudas

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Get the full history of the American muscle car in The All-American Muscle Car, from it's origin as an act of descent, to where it sits now.

The history of hot rodding and performance cars has been well chronicled through the years. Books and magazines have covered the cars, builders, pioneers, engineers, early racers, muscle cars, street racers, etc. Most take a nostalgic and fun look at the cars that many have loved their entire lives. Some even cover the lifestyle, the hobby as it involves people, and the effort, time, and commitment people put into it. It is more than just a hobby to most, and to many, a certain wave of nostalgia comes over them when remembering what the car scene was like "back in the day." The local speed shop is an important element of the nostalgic feeling that people have when fondly remembering their hot rodding youth. Speed shops were not just parts stores, they were a communal gathering place for car guys wanting to talk smart, bench race, and catch up on the local scene, as well as to solicit the expert advice from the owner or staff behind the counter. Here, longtime hot rodder and industry veteran Bob McClurg brings you the story of the era and the culture of speed shops as told through individual shop's histories and compelling vintage photography. He covers the birth of the industry, racing versus hot rodding, mail-order, and advertising wars. You learn about the performance boom of the 1960s and 1970s, lost speed shops as well as survivors, and a overview of the giant mail-order speed shops of today.

An entire volume dedicated to detailing and preserving the iconic muscle car dealerships of the 1960s and early 1970s, many whose doors are now closed. Text is supported with more than 350 historic photos and illustrations. Muscle car historian Duncan Brown revisits this glorious automotive era when Nickey 427 Camaros and supercharged Dodge Demons by Grand Spaulding Dodge terrorized the streets. Drag sponsored cars from Reynolds Buick, Yeakel Chrysler-Plymouth, and Mel Burns Ford informed buyers that if you came to their dealership, you too could have a screaming fast muscle car just like the ones you saw at the dragstrip. It was these dealerships that created the lasting muscle car legacy through their innovative advertising and over-the-top performance. The majority of these dealerships floundered, unable to re-attract the customers they had prior to the muscle car. Thankfully, a volume has been dedicated to preserving the history of those less fortunate and revisiting the past success of these Lost Muscle Car Dealerships.