Dedicated to Preserving Classic American Car Culture
GENERAL MOTORS
Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, GMC, Cadillac, and Cheetah
FIREBIRD FASCINATION
January 22nd 2023
Article written by: @caitlovescars
It all started with a truck. A ‘96 K1500, to be exact. Putting a new motor in his ‘96 Chevy ignited a passion for cars within @1968.firebird that hasn’t faded since those first days in the garage at 14. With a motor swap under his belt, @1968.firebird turned his attention to a very special Pontiac set aside for him when he was only 12. A gift from his father, his ‘68 Firebird features a 400 ci engine. With a healthy powertrain, he and his father turned their attention to the interior. In April of 2022, the Firebird was back together and on the road.
“We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this car. It’s been a long journey, but I couldn’t be any happier.”
Swipe to the end to see before and after!
📸: @1968.firebird ✏️: @caitlovescars
‘63 IMPALA STREET FREAK
January 12th 2023
Some cars are customized in the same fashion time and time again. The ‘63-‘64 model Impala’s definitely come to mind, I mean, Low Rider culture would hardly exist without them. “But how did people customize them before LowRiders came to be?” Well let me show you…
The year is 1963, you’re average Joe with a job making a decent wage, but you’re not rich. The new ‘63 Z-11 Impala (with its 409 bored over to 427 and an all aluminum front clip) is absolutely tearing up the dragstrip! You want in on the action, so you buy a “slightly” more affordable 409cid big block car. What could you do to it to get closer to the drag strip warriors you saw on T.V!?!
Let’s ask @stickshiftallmotornotch since he’s the owner of this perfect period correct example! “It has a .050 over 409 with Manley H-Beam Rods and Race Tech pistons. I’m running a Crane Solid Roller Cam, full Crower valvetrain, and ported stock 690 heads for now (soon to be replaced with aluminum Bob Walla heads). Up top is a ported stock dual quad intake, with some worked over factory AFB carbs. It exhales through Stahl fenderwell headers. For stirring the gears you have a Centerforce clutch, a Quicktime scattershield, and an Autogear M22 4 speed with super case! A Hurst shifter makes sure you can hold on. Then an Inland Empire driveshaft runs into a Quick Performance fabricated 9 inch with nodular centersection, packed with 4.56 gears!! I tried to keep the car as period correct as I possibly could. It has been a wonderful father/son project, and is something I will never get rid of.”
📸: @stickshiftallmotornotch
‘59 BELAIR
January 12th 2023
In 1959, The Belair was moved from the top of the line to being a mid-range priced substitute to the higher end Impala.
However, that doesn’t mean they were any less luxurious for the new model year. Available with everything from a “Blue Flame” 235cid inline 6 to a 348cid Chevrolet V8, the Belair had something for everyone, and it showed with a whopping 447,100 units sold for 1959 (just 20,000 less than the Impala)!
This gorgeous ’59 is owned by @c10mulinix He is the proud second registered owner of the car! Swipe to the end to see the original owner and his original sales documents!
1970 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX
January 4th 2023
When I was about 13 years old, I remember pulling behind the Ford dealership in my town with my dad. Covered in mildew, there sat a 1970 Pontiac Grand Prix model J. It was unassuming white with a destroyed black vinyl top, and the most exciting thing about the car was the lack of rust and the red “428” badge on the trunk lid.
That 428 just happened to be beefed up to about 500 horsepower with a Ram Air 3 cam, squared and ported heads, aluminum pistons, forged crank, long tube headers, aluminum intake, an Edelbrock 750, and aluminized crossover exhaust. That bolted up to a TH400 with a shift kit and a BOP 8.5 inch ten bolt with aftermarket 1 3/4 inch sway bars; front and rear. It housed a 2:73 highway gear to really let you wind it out!
It had been there since ‘89, some fool stuffed a ‘68 428 from a wagon in it and made a circle track style build, and the owner of the dealership took it in on trade and refused to part with it. And there it would remain until August 17th of 2017, when after years of pestering I got the car for $3500! I was overjoyed, and even drove the beast home. I got every light working and every accessory cleaned up and functional, and despite the upgrades the car only had 64,000 original miles! It lived in my possession until Christmas Day of 2017, when after pulling out and working through the gears pretty hard it blew the trans and caught fire… we barely slipped out of the car as it blew the windows out, It was a total loss. In its last moments, I stepped in front of it to take the last photo you see here! (what you can’t see is the destroyed 16 year old crying before he faked this smile) Some day I’ll have another or something comparable, but until then, all I can do is enjoy writing about all the killer rides you guys have!!
SUPER-NOVA
January 31st 2023
Street racing is serious business, and you should always have a partner with you who you can trust. Who better to put your trust in than your son. Well that’s what @beachguy1961 did when he asked his son @zachypiff to be his wing man. Now after many successful runs, he spots for his son, in the same car he was tearing up the streets and strip in.
The car in question? A 1972 Chevrolet Nova that @beachguy1961 pulled out from under a pine tree 30 years ago, when he bought the car for $400! It’s a true SS car with a full interior. (minus radio) and it only had 40k miles on it. 5 years ago it became his sons.
Now it has a 385cid Small Block race engine, @beachguy1961 said his son will always have the best he can give him, and this is definitely quite the gift! This monster runs stock suspension on a slapper bar setup, it has a cage, a mini tub, and it’s still all steel except the hood and front bumper! The engine is worked up thanks to a 385" callies crank and rods set, custom diamond pistons, AFR heads, a bowtie intake (extensive porting), a belt drive setup, a Big solid roller cam, an 1100 cfm APD carb, 10" protouqure converter, a turbo 400 with a trans brake, and a built 9" rear-end.
Now @beachguy1961 has mor fun watching his son @zachypiff win in the car, and it’s clear to see why!