Muscle Car Mania -- Nostalgia May 2020

MAY 21, 2020

Muscle car mania Raw Power

Pure Speed

Which engine ruled the muscle-car era? The Ford Mustang Boss 429?

Chrysler’s 426 HEMI? Chevy’s Chevelle SS 396?

Or the Buick GSX 455?

Carroll Shelby’s Cobra combined a unique British design with big-block American horsepower to create one of the most iconic cars to hit the streets.

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Muscle Cars

comfort.

There’s no arguing that some he Ford Mustang. The Chev- of the early muscle cars built by Chevy, Ford, Pontiac and Chrysler rolet Chevelle. The Pontiac were beautiful machines, with GTO. Or, if you want to be diffisleek lines and a sense of purcult, the Olds 442. pose and style. That went away in Gearheads and muscle car enthusiasts can argue all day over the early 1970s, when muscle cars became oblong, smoother hunks which car from the 1960s and through the mid-1970s ruled the of metal that carried the appeal of a huge power plant under muscle car genre, but one thing is for certain: these cars redefined the hood but looked American style and culture, and ushered in an era where speed and raw power ruled – often at the expense of looks and

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like something made from PlayDoh. That’s not to say that the early- to mid-70s muscle cars didn’t have their appeal; they were powerful, performed well on the drag strip and were reasonably affordable. The look, though … for those of you who remember, it left a lot to be desired, particularly when compared to prior versions of the

Under the Hood

Introduction............................ ...........3-5 Muscle Cars on the Big Screen............. 6 Drag Racing...............................................7 The Mightiest Muscle Cars....................8-9 Tales from the Shop........................... 10-11 We Loved the Muscle.............................12 Red, White and Blue 442...................... 13 Driven to Destiny.......................... 14-15 The ‘Cruck’ of the Matter..........16-17 ‘Outlaw’ Roots...................... 18-19 ‘Hey Little Cobra’............ 20-21

same car.

But that’s a debate for another day; maybe it’s best to start from the beginning, and find out just what muscle cars are, how they came to be and the fact that, in the end, raw power ruled.

The birth of American Muscle While many point to Pontiac’s introduction of the GTO in 1964 with its 389 cubic inch engine as the start of the Muscle Car era, its roots can actually be traced to 1949 with the Oldsmobile Rocket 88.

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This vehicle showcased an Olds 303 V8 in a frame meant for a V6, thus producing more power in a car with less weight. The 303 produced 135 horsepower, which allowed the Rocket to win eight of the 10 NASCAR races in 1950.

The engine is credited with launching “the modern era of the high-performance V8.”

Chrysler, in 1955, introduced the C-300 with a 331 V8, producing 300 horsepower. Chrysler billed this as “America’s Most Powerful Car.” This was followed in 1956 by offerings from Studebaker (the Golden Hawk, with a Packard V8) and, in 1957, by the Rambler Rebel from American Motors Corporation. The Rebel was billed as America’s first “mid-sized car with an available

V8 engine,” a 327 V8 at 255 horsepower.

It went from 0-60 in 7.5 seconds, second in that measure only to the Chevy Corvette, which was a half-second faster.

Drag-racing influence Muscle cars grew in popularity through the early 1960s, as Ford, Chevy and Chrysler competed and created vehicles to rule the drag strip. Chevrolet offered its first SS package in 1961 for the Impala, which saw a 409 V8 produce 425 horsepower. The 1962 Dodge Dart, known as the “Max Wedge,” had a 6.8-liter V8 that produced 420 horsepower.

The 1963 Ford Galaxie “R-Rode” cars were built for drag racing, and were the first full-size stock car to run a 1/4 mile in less than 12 seconds.

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Ford in 1964 put its classic 427 engine in the Fairlane body, which resulted in the Ford Thunderbolt.

According to reports at the time, “the Thunderbolt was technically road legal, however it was considered unsuitable for driving to and from the (drag) strip, let alone on the street in everyday use.”

This early era also saw many Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth products (MOPAR) utilize the legendary 426 Hemi racing engine, one of America’s most dominant and powerful V8 engines.

It was in 1964 that Pontiac introduced the GTO, which was the brainchild of John DeLorean. The GTO started as a package for the

Pontiac Tempest, and its success quickly led General Motors to roll out new cars: the Oldsmobile 442, the Chevelle Super Sport and the Buick Gran Sport. These vehicles, paired with powerful engines, moved muscle cars away from the track and into mainstream America.

The reason for this: Muscle cars starting with the GTO became affordable, everyday driving machines that you could ferry the family around in by day and yet still pull up to a stop light that evening and leave the guy next to you in the dust.

The early success led the MOPAR brands, in particular, to really

tests the bounds of budget versus performance.

The Plymouth GTX, the Plymouth Road Runner and the Dodge Super Bee all were among the first budget muscle cars, and that was followed by the Plymouth Barracuda, which was the first modern muscle car based on a compact car body design.

Muscle Cars fade in the 1970s The nation’s push toward a cleaner environment (and other factors played a role in the end of the Muscle Car era. The 1970s saw passage of the Clean Air Act, rising fuel prices due to the oil crisis, and rising insurance costs – all of which led to the end of the

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Muscle Car era.

The genre has been seeing a surge in popularity over the past two decades, as many car manufacturers have introduced new, fuel-efficient throwback versions of the muscle car.

Ford’s Shelby Cobra GT350, many argue, is more of a muscle car than any of the prior Mustang versions. The Dodge Charger and Challenger, in their new incarnations, have been popular. Chevy also reintroduced the Camaro to wild acclaim.

The only question that remains is this: when are Ford, Chevy and Dodge going to move their muscle cars to the electric car era?

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Some of Hollywood’s Biggest Stars Were Cars A merican muscle has been a fixture in popular culture for decades. From appearances on television and the silver screen to songs written specifically to glorify the raw, unadulterated power of the 409, for example, the muscle car became part of life for America in the 1960s and early 1970s. Movies such as “Bullitt” with Steve McQueen to the slapstick humor that showcased some of America’s hottest rides in “Hollywood Knights” have showcased raw American power and symbolized a time when American exceptionalism was at its height, and the nation was booming with jobs and ingenuity.

Muscle cars allowed America to flex; these weren’t the sleek, futuristic European sports machines, or even the sports car design found in the Chevrolet Corvette.

Muscle cars defined a generation that was caught between the change of the 1960s and the continuation of what until then had been traditional American values.

Americans liked their cars big, they liked their cars fast, and they liked their cars loud. Hollywood took note and utilized the silver screen to showcase just how the muscle car had influenced culture.

According to the editors at In Good Taste, along with some of our own picks, here are five movies that popularized the American muscle cars on the big screen: “Bullitt,” 1968 – Senator Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross (Vic Tayback) with the help of testimony from the criminal’s hothead brother Johnny (Pat Renella), who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen). When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed. Frank Bullitt’s (Steve McQueen’s) car is a 1968 Ford Mustang 390 GT 2+2 Fastback. The bad guys drive a 1968 Dodge

Luke Duke, as they drove the “General Lee” – a 1969 Dodge Charger – in their fight against corruption in the fictional Hazzard County.

Each episode contained at least one ravine jump, multiple burnouts and showcased a car that had the doors welded shut – hence, the Duke boys Charger 440 Magnum.

“Smokey & The Bandit,” always had to vault into The Charger is just barely 1978 – This is one that the seats. faster than the Mustang, “Hollywood Knights,” should be on everybody’s with a 13.6-second quar1980 – This movie is delist. While Burt Reynolds’ ter-mile compared to the batable for such a list, but Pontiac Trans Am was Mustang’s 13.8-second. the fact remains that some a 1977 model, not the “John Wick,” 2014 – This oh-so-powerful 1973 mod- of the most iconic vehicles movie and its two sequels el, it still returned America, were showcased in this starring Keanu Reeves fea- at least for a short time, slapstick comedy. tures two of the baddest The cars featured in to an era where obnoxmuscle cars of all-time – a iously loud cars ruled and this film would make any 1969 Ford Mustang Mach authority (in this case, high-end collector drool: 1 and a 1970 Chevrolet a 1966 Shelby Cobra; a Sheriff Buford T. Justice, Chevelle SS. For much of 1961 Ford Galaxie Starlinplayed wonderfully by the younger generation, Jackie Gleason) was to be er; a 1957 Chevrolet 210; this marked their first a 1965 Chevrolet El Camisnubbed. exposure to muscle cars, “The Dukes of Hazzard,” no; 1965 Pontiac Le Mans; how they handled, their 1923 Ford Model T; 1940 1979-1985 – Who could speed and overall raw Ford coupe; and a 1953 ever forget these two power.

Ford F-100. good ol’ boys, Bo and

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Don’t Wait Until You See the Green Light Drag racing during the muscle car era

By MIKE MYER ’d done my burnout and pulled up toward the staging light as the track announcer was informing spectators of my name, where I lived and that I was in the right lane. In the left lane, I could hear, was someone whose name sounded strange, from a small town with which I was acquainted. I glanced over.

Beside me was a fellow I knew, but not by the name that I’d heard.

I knew why — he was a police chief, driving the town’s unmarked cruiser. You couldn’t tell it from any other car, until he placed the red light on the dashboard, flicked it on and came after you.

But there he and it were, and I was about to race them. He was slow on the starting lights.

I won, the only time in my life I’ve outrun a police chief in his cruiser — or tried to, for that matter.

We were at Eldora Dragstrip, just outside of Fairmont, in the midst of my short-lived drag racing career.

If you had a fast car — or even a slow one, in my case — ­the dragstrip was the place to be on a Saturday night. It was where you could find out just how fast your car — and you — were. It was the legal way to do that, at a time when virtually every community had places where informal drag races were staged illegally.

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Drag racing is simple: Two cars line up, wait for the signal to go, then the drivers try to beat each other to the finish line, a quarter-mile away. That was then.

Now, professional drag cars are so fast the distance is 1,000 feet, for safety purposes.

So much for simple. After humiliation in a few races, I learned there’s more to it.

Take the start: Between the two lanes at the starting line is a “Christmas tree,” so called because it has colored lights. At the top are two white ones, telling drivers when their front tires have broken a beam of line set (then) precisely 1,320 feet from another set of light beams at the end of the track.

Once both cars are staged, either an electronic timer or a human being triggers the countdown. For non-professional drivers like me, there were three to five yellow lights, timed to light up in sequence a half-second apart. Half a second after the last yellow light, the green light goes on and you launch.

Wait until you see the green light and, if you’re up against someone with any experience, you lose. Think about reaction time.

Smart drivers hit the gas when they see the last yellow light — or, in my case, between it and the

A dragster’s rear end is enveloped in flame during a burnout prior to a quarter-mile run. previous one. By the time you’ve Eldora, racing for three-foot-high trophies. I got one by winning reacted and your car is moving, you don’t leave the start line until my class. That meant that, with appropriate handicaps at the green is showing. starting lights to ensure the slowLeave too soon and you “red er cars could compete against light” — and lose automatically. the faster ones, we class winners Slam your foot to the floor would race for “king of the hill.” (or, with a manual transmission, Somehow that night, I couldn’t do that at let the clutch pedal lose. Up through the bracket I up suddenly), and you’ll probawent until, to my astonishment, I bly lose. While you’re sitting at the start line, burning rubber, you can wave goodbye to your opponent as he or she feathers the gas just right to actually get moving faster.

A red 1968 Ford Galaxie like this one paid for There’s more to it the first washer and dryer. than that, including a was lined up for the final race. pre-staging burnout to warm A friend and his wife were in the rear tires so they don’t spin a the stands with my better half, much, but you get the idea. Go Connie. He told me later that as to the track thinking you just let it became clear I was about to her rip and you’re going to lose. win the $500 prize money, he I got reasonably good at it, shouted, “Cam and headers.” with a shelf full of trophies to That was enough to buy some prove it. There was one thing I high-performance parts for the hadn’t accomplished, however: car.

I hadn’t won a state championHe knew there would be no ship. cam and headers, he told me, So, one night in the early 1970s, I and the best drag racers when he heard Connie shout, in West Virginia were lined up at “Washer and dryer!”

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The Fastest Fastest of of them them all all The 1 — 1970 Buick GSX 455 Stage 1 The GSX was produced to compete head-to-head with the likes of the Pontiac GTO “Judge” and Oldsmobile 442 W30. Only 400 Stage 1 GSX’s were produced. The base Buick GS also offered the Stage 1 option, but was only available in subdued paint colors without any of the GSX upgrades.

2 — 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Ram Air The “Judge” package on the popular GTO “added Ram Air, dual side eyebrow stripes over the front and rear wheels, rear deck lid spoiler, Judge decals, and the removal of the beauty rings from the painted Rallye II wheels. There were three engine choices available including the Ram Air III 400 (366HP), Ram Air IV 400 (370HP), and 455 H/O (360HP) options.

3 — 1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPOIV COPO, which stands for Central Office Production Order, was a dealer ordering system that allowed fleet and municipal buyers to order special paint color options that weren’t available in regular production run vehicles. It also allowed for higher performance engine options to be ordered and installed where they weren’t normally available from the factory. ... The Camaro’s sole purpose was to dominate the NHRA Super Stock and NHRA/AHRA Pro Stock racing.

4 — 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, 440 Six Pack Crowned Motor Trend’s Car of the year in 1969, the Plymouth Road Runner climbed to power due to its strong performance, variety of options, sharp looks, and affordable price tag. Plymouth executives didn’t ignore drag racing and hit it head on with the midyear A12 option. It included all the performance mods a professional drag racer would want but made them available direct from the factory.

5 — 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS6 The Chevelle was Chevrolets’ midsized family model and the Super Sport option added a long list of high performance upgrades in the driveline and suspension that transformed it into a super car. The SS option also added styling upgrades including cowl hood, dual racing stripes, and hood pins. The LS6 454 cu.in. high compression engine produced a whopping 450HP—the highest advertised horsepower engine offered during the muscle car era.

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the 10 Mightiest of the Muscle Cars

According to Muscle Cars Illustrated

6 — 1970 Oldsmobile 442 W The legendary 1970 Oldsmobile 442 W30 was known as a refined high performance muscle car. 442 stood for 4-barrel carburetor, 4-speed, and dual exhaust. The W30 performance option added a 455 cu.in. V8, special “F” casting cylinder heads with larger intake and exhaust valves, higher flow port design, cast aluminum intake manifold, special camshaft with higher duration, and a specially tuned carburetor.

7 — 1970 Ford Torino Cobra, 429 Super Cobra Jet The 1970 Torino looks like it’s going fast while standing still. The baddest Torino Cobra you could buy was the 429 Super Cobra Jet with the “Drag Pack.” It featured a 429 cubic inch high compression engine with 4-bolt mains, solid lifter cam, extreme oil cooler, free flowing intake, Holley 780cfm carb, and free flowing exhaust. It was bigger and heavier than a Mustang but could certainly keep up with them.

8 — 1970 Plymouth Cuda, 426 Hemi The Hemi ‘Cuda featured dual 4-barrel carbs, dual quad intake manifold, heavy-duty radiator, 11-inch drum brakes, Shaker hood, 9.75-inch Dana rear end, and F60 tires on 15x7 Rallye wheels. The ‘Cuda model came standard with dual nonfunctional hood scoops, driving lamps on the front valence, red stripe grille, hood pins, “hockey stripe” decals on the rear quarter panels.

9 — 1969 Dodge Charger 500, 426 Hemi The 1969 Dodge Charger 500 was one the great ‘Aero Warriors’ engineered for NASCAR. To improve its aerodynamics, Dodge fitted the Charger 500 with a flush mounted rear window and a flush mounted grille with fixed headlights. However, it didn’t eliminate enough drag on super-speedway so Dodge’s engineers went back to the wind tunnel and developed the 1969 Dodge Daytona.

10 — 1973 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty While the deck was stacked against it with high insurance premiums, new NET horsepower ratings, reduced compression ratios, and the coming of unleaded gasoline, Pontiac engineers still delivered performance. In fact, the Trans Am SD-455 ended up being called ‘The last of fast cars by Pontiac’ by Car and Driver Magazine.

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Tales from the Shop

By JOHN McCABE grew up around gear heads.

Being raised in a family that owned auto parts stores – one of which included a full-service machine shop, the kind you simply don’t find today because it’s cheaper to replace an engine than rebuild it – meant that I was exposed from an early age to big blocks, small blocks, cams, cranks, valves and vats of sickly-sweet hot, inky-black liquid that would literally melt years’ worth of grease and gunk from an engine block in days.

Such an environment leads you to learn early on that grease under the fingernails is very hard to remove, even with an abrasive soap live Lava (many layers of skin have fallen to this particular green bar cleaner) or the lubricant-like consistency of Go-Jo, which literally made your hands and forearms so slick that grease slid off your skin.

Grease and grime under the fingernails and embedded in the cracks of one’s hands also meant a hard day’s work in a job that helped support many families.

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Spending considerable amounts of time at the shop on a fairly regular basis meant I also got to meet, talk to and learn from many middle-aged men who, even into the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, remained fascinated with the muscle car era. Their dedication and fascination with the Chevy SS 396, or the Oldsmobile 442, always intrigued me, and has led me to appreciate even more today just how unique and special muscle cars are to a certain segment of America.

As I got older I spent evenings, weekends and summers with my dad at the shop, and it was there that many colorful characters would congregate to shoot the bull, talk cars and, quite simply, be guys. The never-ending Ford vs. Chevy debate took place; I learned that the people who were Pontiac fans felt left-out because, after all, the GTO started the muscle car era but quickly received third-fiddle behind the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Chevelle; there also were endless opinions on just which engine produced the most horse-

power; and I also quickly realized that Oldsmobile fans, though few in number, were the most diehard of them all.

Many customers would enter the shop with a “come listen to this” as they ushered us outside and revved up their tricked-out Road Runner or Nova with the glasspack exhaust.

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stories from the drag strip at Eldora in Fairmont. Coffee flowed in abundance, and when groups of three or more got together, each story ended up being more outrageous than the last. I soaked in all of their accumulated wisdom, and recall fondly today many of their stories.

For me, it was always about the people, and their fascination with raw horsepower.

I’ll never forget “Julio,” the dash that they wanted They would pop the a retired West Virginia you to see. hood to show off the state trooper who would They would seek opinbright gleam of chrome drive for days to buy a ions on which camshaft on the Edelbrock Chrysler 350 engine.

In would give them more four-barrel carburetor and custom intake mani- performance, and wheth- the late 1980s he showed up at the shop late one fold. And inside the car, it er the “domed” piston was the Hurst shifter and head was better than the evening, backing into “flat-top.” They would tell the garage with a motor custom tachometer on

caked in mud in the bed of his truck. He had a big smile on his face as he explained that he had just returned from a three-day trip where he had dug the engine out from under a porch.

After a week in the vat and another week to bore the engine, refinish the heads and clean up the crank, Jose had himself a solid power plant that was ready to be reassembled and installed.

Then there was “Steve,” who loved putting V-8 muscle car motors in possibly the most ridiculous vehicles. He once brought a Chevy 350 to be refinished so he could drop it in an early 1980s Chevy Citation.

It was always interesting to listen to him talk about how much of the firewall he needed to remove, and how he would have to reinforce the suspension of his project cars to handle the extra weight.

You learned plenty about how ingenious people could be in making something that’s not supposed to work actually work when they put their mind to a task.

Another one I’ll never forget is “Tony.” He was a regular who loved his big-block Chevy 454, not for his car or even his pick-up truck, but instead for his speedboat that he ran regularly on Cheat Lake. As anyone who’s

ever owned a boat will tell you, there are only two times a man loves his boat — the day he buys it, and the day he sells it. But Tony ... well, what he loved wasto spend money on his boat, and particularly on the motor in his boat.

His goal, I recall, was to rattle the windows of the homes along the lake as he drove past.

And trust me when I say he spent the time and the money to make that happen.

There were hundreds of others interesting characters but for some strange reason, 30-plus years later, those three and their dedication to making things work stand out.

I suppose their stories will stick with me for years to come.

While I loved listening to the stories and working with my hands to help my dad rebuild an engine, I never got into the whole “big block” mentality. It just wasn’t my thing. But I still have access to a 30-over Chevy 350 block and a perfect set of “202” heads. I also have a pristine 351 Windsor block with a set of 351 Cleveland heads that would make for a sweet setup.

Now all I need is to find the right car and some free time to pursue this hobby.

Maybe one of these days …

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We Loved the Muscle, Not the Sophistication

By MIKE MYER fellow about our age had pulled into the lot at the service station where some of us hung out during the late 1960s.

He was driving a Plymouth GTX, a 1968 model, as I recall. It had the 440 cubic-inch powerplant.

“Turn it on,” we urged him. He hit the gas, popped the clutch and, in a cloud of burning rubber, the GTX got sideways on him. Before he could regain control, he had wrapped his pride and joy around a telephone pole. All without leaving the gas station lot.

Crazy, right?

But I think that’s why the old muscle cars were so lovable — more so than today’s fourwheeled marvels of engineering.

Cars today are much better in every way. They’re more reliable, more fuel efficient, cleaner for the environment — and faster.

Did you know there’s an electric car that will go through the quarter-mile, from a standing start, in 10.6 seconds? No car straight out of the showroom would do anywhere near that in the ‘60s.

But watch a video of the 10.6-second car. No doubt you can find one online (it’s a Tesla, of course). It leaves the starting line calmly, with no drama, then continues the performance. It’s smooth as silk. I suspect the owner point his car once, stepped on the throttle, then just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

Muscle cars of the ‘60s and early ‘70s were something else again. Hit the gas too hard and, like the GTX, your car would fill the air with smoke, lay black lines

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Generating some tire smoke while 1970 Chevelle SS. of rubber on the pavement, and start sideways. You had to work to limit the movement just to “fishtailing.”

That was the attraction of the muscle cars. They were loud, violent and difficult to control.

Does your 2020 Whatever fit that description? Of course not.

The driving public outgrew real muscle cars years ago.

Nowadays, we want charging ports for our cellphones, not Hurst 4-speed shifters. We want moonroofs, not tachometers

laying down some rubber from a mounted on our hoods. We want front-wheel drive for safety in the snow, not rear-wheel drive for fun in the turns. We want automatic transmissions with paddle shifters, not 4-speeds mated to clutches. We want reliability, as much luxury as we can afford, and security. We want computerized traction control to keep us out of trouble.

Back then, we liked cars that could scare us. My 1970 Chevelle SS396 was just the thing.

It had enough power that one

During the ‘60s and early ‘70s, it didn’t have to look good to be a hot car.

What mattered was what was under the hood.

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had to be careful in pulling away from a stop sign. Its 140-mph speedometer was not adequate.

You could burn $5 worth of rubber off your rear tires in one burnout. Remember, by the way, tires could be had for $20 back then.

Compared to some of the really good stuff, my SS was tame.

One day, while I was working with a group of older guys on a State Road crew, a friend pulled up in the ‘65 GTO he’d been improving. How did we like it?

“Doesn’t look like it has much power,” one of the older guys commented. Whereupon, my friend smoked his tires for about 20 feet. Backing up to us, he asked what we thought. The car had so much power that it hadn’t just left black marks on the highway — you could pick up pinches of still-hot, powderized rubber between thumb and forefinger.

“That’ll do,” the State Road worker told my friend.

Perhaps the old muscle cars, often with wild paint jobs (“Plum Crazy” was one color), had something to do with conspicuous consumption. In terms of material things, the ‘60s were a good time for many Americans — except, of course, for those who spent time in Southeast Asia.

Some of them, coming home, bought muscle cars — perhaps because they could be controlled, after a time when the vets couldn’t control much about their live.

It was a strange, out-of-control time in many ways. Maybe that’s why we loved strange, out-ofcontrol cars.

Focus On My Family

Red, White and Blue 442 Turned Heads

By Heather Ziegler

By HEATHER ZIEGLER t was the 1970s, the beginning of the end of the popularity of those beautiful machines we called “muscle cars.” At least that is my opinion as I have lived long enough to observe the auto industry’s idea of vehicle development.

I grew up in the age of baby boomers, when cars and trucks were made of steel and chrome and glass, not plastic and composite materials.

Open the door on any of the favorite muscle cars of the 1950s through 1970s, and you knew you were entering a solid machine built in the good old U.S. of A. My experience with the muscle cars began when I was barely a teen. It was when my older brother Herk drove one of the most sought-after vehicles of the time — the Chevrolet Corvette. He acquired the 1968 L-88 Corvette by trading a new MGB he was not happy with due to engine issues.

The convertible Corvette had one of the biggest engines that were made for racing as opposed to street driving. Although it became too impractical when he married, the same car today has been known to sell for $760,000 at auction. There were only 300 to 400 made by the manufacturer with that size engine. I was happy to just sit behind the wheel as he instructed

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Photo Provided

This 1966 Oldsmobile 442 sports a custom paint job as shown by its owners Heather and David Ziegler in 1973.

me on shifting gears.

Those early experiences provided me the basic training of driving a stick shift, a talent sorely lacking in the youth of today. The art of driving anything other than a vehicle with an automatic transmission is akin to asking a teen today to operate a rotary phone.

Anyway, by the early 1970s, I had been exposed to various vehicle transmissions via the expanse of muscle cars of the young men in our community.

Each of the muscle cars, trucks, vans and even motorcycles that graced the streets of the Ohio Valley brought their own personalities along with their drivers.

You could tell who was about to enter the Burger Chef or Elby’s parking lot by the roar of the engine about to turn the corner.

And those custom paint jobs and

modified motors turned heads, too. Whether it was the jacked up Dodge Charger, sleek Pontiac GTO or tricked-out Volkswagen Beetle, you knew who was coming down the street.

Motorcycles with exaggerated pipes — from the popular Sportster to the full-grown Harley — held their own place of popularity among the muscle car generation.

In 1973, I was looking down the aisle of matrimony. Taking me there was my future husband who recently purchased what would be our “family” car. No, it was not a station wagon (I rode in enough of those in my youth!).

It was a red, white and blue custom-painted 1966 Oldsmobile 442.

The 442 refers to a four-on-thefloor, four-speed transmission, four-barrel carburetor with dual

exhausts. And it had the sweetest sound as the transmission slid smoothly from first to second gear and so on.

It was a grand feeling to sit behind the wheel and feel the power of that man-made machine. It was an easy-riding vehicle despite its tendency to want to fly as opposed to having its wheels planted firmly on the ground.

At least that’s what I experienced while driving it to the laundromat or to Foodland.

That straight away on National Road between Washington Avenue and Wheeling Park just begged for me to open it up and hit fourth gear. For the record, I never got a speeding ticket in that vehicle.

Like any muscle car of the era, especially one that saw modifications, there were some problems.

The day of our 1974 wedding, the groom was under the vehicle repairing a leak of some sort. It was salvaged in time for the walk down the aisle.

When our wedding party left the church, there was a procession of muscle cars.

Our 442 led the way with groomsmen and guests driving several gorgeous Corvettes and other notable machines. It was a memorable day and time in the lives of people and cars.

As time and necessity said we should give up the 442, our style of vehicles ranged from green Ford pickups to the original tiny canary yellow Honda Civic.

But we will always have fond memories of that Oldsmobile 442.

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Driven To Destiny

By JENNIFER COMPSTON-STROUGH ndy Mistak was almost born in a Corvette, so it only seems natural for him to spend a great deal of time acquiring, restoring and selling classic cars.

Mistak and his family own Belmont Classic Cars, located at 41834 Stenger Road in Belmont. The dealership opened in 2017 after years of personal classic car collecting by Andy and his wife, Dana, both of whom inherited their love for the vehicles from their fathers. Andy’s dad was a “huge Corvette fan,” according to the company website, while Dana’s father shared his love of Mustangs with her, setting up an iconic Chevy vs.

Ford debate.

Mistak said he wasn’t sure why his dad decided to take his mom to the hospital in a Corvette when she went into labor with him, but they barely made it to their destination on time.

“From there, I’ve tinkered on old cars ever since,” he said.

He also credited a local business owner, Vic Goff, with teaching him a great deal about automotive repairs. Goff owned and operated a service station in Belmont. The business closed several years ago and Goff and his wife, Sondy, have since converted the building to a home that they still occupy.

“Vic Goff helped me a lot growing up,” Mistak said. “I spent a lot of time in his garage when it was open.”

Mistak “kind of got away” from working on cars after he graduated high school and went to work. He got into Motocross racing for a while, but he gave that up when he and Dana started their family. They are the

love of classic cars leads to new business for Belmont family

A

parents of three grown sons, and each plays some role in their classic car business.

As his family grew, Mistak got back into restoring classic cars.

He started by finding, buying, restoring and reselling a Corvette. As time went on, his hobby expanded and he began to move “probably more cars than I should,” and decided to start an official business, launching Belmont Classic Cars with about 10 cars available for sale online.

Things picked up quickly from there, and business is still booming. Mistak said even

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in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, BCC sold five cars over a span of eight days.

The real challenge now, he noted, is keeping the business stocked with inventory. He often travels locally and throughout the country seeking vehicles to restore and resell. He said the South is a “good hunting ground.”

“We try to buy cars that are ready to go or close to it,” he said. “If I find something that is highly desirable, we will restore the Continued on next page

interior and I farm out the paint work. Sometimes we do a bit of customization.”

Mistak prefers to sell cars that are “close to the way they came out of the factory.”

Speaking of desirable, Mistak has one car in his inventory that is a rare find indeed. It is the 10th Corvette that was made in 1954 — the second year of manufacture. During the Corvette’s first year, 1953, only 300 were built. So, according to this vehicle’s VIN number, it is the 310th Corvette ever made. And it still has its original paint, top and interior.

Mistak also has a 1967 Corvette that he has no intention of parting with. After he had heard about it being for sale locally over a period of three or four years, he finally decided to go take a look at the car.

“I knew when I walked into that lady’s garage that car was going home with me,” he said.

That Corvette 427 has a 435 horsepower engine and only 26,000 original miles on it.

Mistak said as soon as he got it home, he started getting phone calls from a collector in New York who offered to pay quite a bit more than he had invested.

Mistak decided, though, that he wanted to keep the car. He has since had it painted but kept the original interior. He said he has only put about 12 more miles on it since he acquired it for his collection.

Running the business, though, isn’t just about buying and selling classic cars. Mistak said it’s marker - takes people back to a also about nostalgia. Even the simpler time. shop’s logo - in a shield shape “There’s too much information reminiscent of an interstate

that flows today,” said Mistak, who turns 50 this month and left his job with Murray Energy Corp. in April 2019 to focus on the auto dealership and the family’s cattle farm.

Mistak said the shop is filled with items from the past, not just with classic cars. He said visitors can “look for at least an hour” at items on display at the dealership, including old soda machines, pedal cars, advertising signs featuring neon and more.

Some pieces are original and in untouched condition, others have been restored, and still others are reproductions.

“We get tons of people who come in who just want to look,” Mistak said. “They can share stories (about cars they remember) for three or four hours. It’s just a good time listening to them.”

Each family member plays a role in the business. In addition

to Andy and Dana’s efforts to stock and run the shop, their oldest son, Drew, takes photos of the vehicles in the inventory when he is in town.

Middle son Devon shoots videos for the business, which goes hand-in-hand with his work in marketing in North Carolina.

Trey, the youngest of the three brothers, handles website and Facebook development for the shop.

Each son also has a classic car of his own.

“They definitely have an appreciation for them,” their dad said.

Mistak added that he is always looking for classic vehicles to add to the store’s inventory. To learn more about the business or to send a message about a classic car you might want to sell, visit the shop’s website at belmontclassiccars.com.

Supplement to THE INTELLIGENCER and NEWS-REGISTER - Wheeling, W.Va. - Thursday, May 21, 2020 - 15

On the Road With “Cruck” Still a Classic Today

By MIKE JONES hen my wife was little, a Chevrolet El Camino came rolling down her street while she and her father were unloading groceries from the family car.

Wide-eyed and wondrous about this strange-looking car that had a truck bed instead of a trunk, she eagerly asked her dad what it was that had just driven through their neighborhood.

“That’s the most useless car ever made,” her dad quipped as he picked up a couple of grocery bags and walked to their house.

Years later, I let out a hearty laugh the first time I heard this story told, even though I harbored a secret at the time. To me, the Chevy El Camino is the coolest classic muscle car - or should I say “cruck?” - to ever roll off the assembly line.

My love of the “cruck” came the first time I saw one while visiting family in South Carolina.

Understandably, they’re more prevalent in the south with mild winters and no road salt to tear up the underbody.

My uncle had a 1981 El Camino Conquista edition with a black body and silver trim on the roof and side skirts. The way the contrasting black and silver colors streaked down the roof around the beveled rear glass and into the bed immediately

W

EL CAMINO CAMINO EL

caught my attention. It looked so sleek and, well, weird.

It was already a “classic car” by the time I first saw it in the early 2000s.

But I soon became fascinated with the style of vehicle that had long past its heyday when Chevrolet retired the brand in 1987.

While the final version of the “Elkies” looked like a Frankenstein experiment with a Chevy Malibu gone awry, middle generations in the late 1960s and early 70s were full-blown muscle cars with a truck bed that hauled

more than just cargo.

But before all that, the El Camino — which means “the road” in Spanish — began as an answer to Ford’s increasingly popular Ranchero.

The blue oval gang released the Ranchero in 1957 using the chassis from its station wagon line, and it immediately caught the attention of a hybrid crowd that didn’t want a huge pickup truck, but still yearned for the versatility for outdoor labor.

Two years later, Chevrolet answered the call with its own

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version.

Both brands came straight out of a late-1950s greaser movie with their intricate headlamps and huge, swooping fins stretched to the rear of the bed.

Sales for the El Camino, however, were stuck in neutral and Chevrolet discontinued the brand in 1960 after just two years on the market.

Ford continued along with moderate success, prompting Chevrolet to reintroduce its version in 1964.

Continued on next page

This time, though, rather than targeting suburban families who couldn’t fit all of their kids in just the front bench seat, these new “crucks” would ride the muscle car wave into the late 1960s and became a hit for young drivers with newly-minted licenses.

Big, souped-up V-8 engines coupled with the Super Sport badging and a Chevelle nose made the El Camino an instant classic when the third generation rolled out to consumers in the late 1960s.

Ford followed along with variations that moved

it from a Fairlane-styled body to the sporty Torino.

At its muscle car peak in 1971, General Motors launched a clone version of the El Camino from its GMC truck brand, calling it the Sprint.

But the muscle car era effectively ended that year when new federal emission controls and fuel mileage recommendations designed to improve the environment sapped power and performance from brand new hot rods.

General Motors produced the most El Caminos and Sprints with its

all-new design released in 1973, selling nearly 72,000 between the two styles. But production steadily declined over the final 15 years for General Motors until a little more than 16,000 El Caminos and GMC’s Caballero -— the replacement for the Sprint — were sold their final year in 1987.

Ford pulled the plug on the Ranchero nearly a decade sooner in 1979.

The El Camino nearly made a comeback when rumors persisted in the late 2000s that General Motors planned to launch a new version under the

Pontiac nameplate. But that option evaporated when GM announced in 2008 it would dissolve the Pontiac brand as the Great Recession took its toll on manufacturing giants.

By then, my uncle in South Carolina had sold his 1981 El Camino, which briefly assuaged my hunger for an “Elkie” of my own. A couple years later, though, he bought a 1972 El Camino with an engine that rumbled and snarled behind the SS badge on the grill. Since then, he’s bought a couple more — one of which is a “parts

car” for the others — and he still tinkers with them on the weekends.

That helped to reinvigorate my love of the “cruck” and has sent me on my own quest for my dream classic car: a black and silver 1987 El Camino Conquista edition.

So hopefully some day soon, I’ll be rolling down the street as people snap their heads around to give me bewildered looks.

They may think the El Camino is ugly and useless, but I’ll feel like I’m driving the coolest classic car ever made.

Supplement to THE INTELLIGENCER and NEWS-REGISTER - Wheeling, W.Va. - Thursday, March 19, 2020 - 17

OUTLAW ROOTS NASCAR’s

By MIKE JONES tock car racing was born out of moonshine bootleggers outrunning officers of the law on country roads in Appalachia.

When you type “Junior Johnson” into Google, the first word that appears next to his name in the search bar is “moonshine.”

The wily, silver-haired driver who eventually turned into a championship car owner cut his teeth by running shine as a teen in eastern North Carolina for his bootlegging father.

While he was never arrested while making those moonshining runs, he eventually was charged by federal authorities while working at his father’s still in 1956.

He served nearly a year in a federal prison in Chillicothe, Ohio.

However, Johnson was pardoned by President Ronald Reagan three decades later.

Johnson, who died in December at age 88, honed the skills he learned on those mountain roads in North Carolina to become arguably the greatest NASCAR driver never to win a championship.

And he did it all legally on sanctioned tracks in the newly-formed National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

NASCAR began as an outlet for many moonshiners and car

Muscle Car ‘Aero Wars’ Helped Lead to Popularity

S

In this Feb. 18, 1979, file photo, Bobby Allison, left, stands over Cale Yarborough after a collision between Yarborough and Bobby’s brother Donnie on the last lap of the Daytona 500 auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Donnie was leading the race until the collision with Yarborough. The 1979 race was instrumental in broadening NASCAR’s southern roots. Forty years later, it still resonates as one of the most important days in NASCAR history. enthusiasts like Johnson who wanted to test their mechanical and driving skills against the best in the Deep South. Big Bill France Sr. organized a ragtag group of drivers and promoters in late December 1947 at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona

Beach, Fla., overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Just two months later, they held their first official race Feb. 15, 1948 streaking down Daytona Beach’s pristine sandy shores and making a hairpin left turn to head back on the smooth pave-

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ment of State Route A1A. Red Byron won that first race.

Over the next decade, NASCAR bounced around short tracks — both dirt and paved — in the southeast.

Continued on next page

The construction of the famed Daytona International Speedway with its impossibly high-banked corners on both sides of the 2.5-mile track brought a new era of speed to racing in 1959.

With bigger and faster tracks like Daytona and the even meaner Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, drivers could really test their cars and courage.

While moonshiners helped to launch stock car racing, the muscle car era of the 1960s and early 70s is what really revved NASCAR’s engine and made it an American icon.

The car wars took off in the 1960s when manufacturers quickly realized that success in motorsports could translate into dollars at the dealership.

“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” became a popular catch phrase.

And these manufacturers went to great lengths to best each other by poaching drivers or teams to use their nameplates, or by fudging their street versions to make them faster on the track.

And nothing epitomized that need for speed than the “aero wars” of 1969 and 1970.

Ford fired the first volley in 1969 with the Torino Talladega that had a rounded snout and “fastback” trunk. Its sister company, Mercury, produced its own version with the Cyclone II, which won the 1969 Daytona 500.

Chrysler countered later that spring with the Dodge Charger Daytona. With its nose

Cale Yarborough (21) drives side-by-side with Lee Roy Yarbrough, both in Mercurys, as they enter the third turn with three laps left in the Daytona 500 NASCAR auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 25, 1968.

SCAR’s most iconic and sought Yarborough, Allison, and his sharpened like a bullet and a brother, Bobby, was captured giant wing on the trunk, the car after classic cars available. live on television for the nation It was also the beginning of dominated the field in its stock to see the emotional side of the end of the muscle car era car debut during the inaugural the sport. It’s considered by as strict emission rules began Talladega race in 1969. In fact, many as the most important to choke performance. the Dodge Charger Daytona event in NASCAR history, and NASCAR remained a regionwas the first car in NASCAR paved the way for the sport’s al sport for most of the 1970s history to record a 200-mph popularity. until it exploded in popularity lap when Buddy Baker did it at Over the past five decades with the running of the 1979 Talladega in March 1970. since the muscle car era, NADaytona 500.

The success of the DaytoSCAR reached new heights and CBS broadcast the race na prompted Dodge’s sister became a national sport. live and in its entirety for the division at Plymouth to roll out But the cars became mostly first time ever, and a massive the Road Runner Superbird in blizzard on the East Coast kept forgettable during that time as 1970. manufacturers decided to propeople inside to watch from The designs were so sucmote four-door family sedans green to checkered flags. cessful, in fact, that NASCAR They were treated to an icon- rather than sporty coupes. banned the winged vehicles However, with the recent ic finish when Cale Yarborough before the 1971 season after entries of the Chevy Camaro and Donnie Allison smashed its competitors complained that the cars weren’t being sold into each other on the final lap, and Ford Mustang to NASCAR, crashing in Turn 3 before either maybe a new era has begun for in mass quantities to the pubAmerican stock car racing to could reach the finish line. lic. Due to their limited street return to its muscle car roots — As Richard Petty took the production, the Daytona and without the moonshine. checkered flag, a fight among Superbird are some of NA-

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‘Hey Little Cobra’ T

he Shelby Cobra. Is it a muscle car? Yes and no. Is it a sports car?

Yes and no. Is it fast as all-be?

Unequivocally, yes.

Carroll Shelby, an international race car driver who drove the fastest and most expensive cars of the 1950s and early ‘60s — these were the Ferraris, Maseratis, Aston Martins and Jaguars — decided in the early 1960s to come up with a car that took the handling and looks of the top European racing machines and add to it good, old-fashioned, dependable American V-8 horsepower.

What he came up with remains a thing of legend, and one of the most expensive cars on the antique sellers’ market: the Shelby Cobra.

According to the Shelby website, “Shelby’s idea became reality when he learned that AC Cars in Great Britain lost the engine supplier for their Bristol sports car.

Shelby contacted AC Cars and told them his idea.

They were enthusiastic and told him to reach

back out when he had an engine manufacturer lined up.

Shelby proposed his sports car to Ford Motor Co., (which) liked the idea of offering a sports car that would go head-to-head with the Chevrolet Corvette.

Carroll, always the racer, explained his ambition

to race Cobras against Corvettes in the USA and against Ferrari in Europe.

He wanted to win the World Manufacturer’s GT Championship that had been the sole property of Ferrari since its inception.”

Shelby American came along in 1962, and the first Cobras were

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Song-Worthy Shelby Packed A Big Bite

equipped with the Ford 260 and then the Ford 289 engines.

This setup became very successful for both Ford and Shelby, winning races across the globe against some of the world’s fastest models.

According to carrollshelby.com, “The Cobras dominated Corvettes in

North America, winning races coast to coast. ...

“On July 4, 1965, the Cobra (in roadster and coupe form) won the World Manufacturers’ GT Championship, as the team soundly defeated Ferrari.

Continued on next page

Shelby American is the only American vehicle manufacturer to win the prestigious championship, before or since.”

Shelby also worked with Ford starting in the mid-1960s to upgrade the performance of the Mustang.

The first Shelby Mustang, the 1965 Shelby GT350, reached a top speed of 130 mph.

According to CJ Pony Parts, “the 1965 GT350 was equipped with a 289CID K-Code engine, which churned out 306 horsepower, a full 35 hp more than it would have been able to produce prior to modifications. The GT350R bumped it up to 360 horsepower, an absurd number for the time, especially when coupled with the car’s

light body.”

The GT350 models continued in 1966, but that year the Mustang name was dropped.

The 1967 Shelby GT350 was the featured car in the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds.” That car, known as “Elanor,” is considered the top performer among the 1960s-era GT350s. The Shelby GT350 was produced through 1969.

The model saw a resurgence in the late 2000s with the Shelby GT500, Shelby himself worked with Ford to redesign the model for the modern era.

That has continued today, as Ford has the 2020 Shelby GT500, which is among the most powerful Mustangs ever built, with more than 700 horsepower.

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Phone: 740-325-1120 • Fax: 740-325-1743 • 3050 Guernsey Street, Suite B, Bellaire, OH 43906 • www.valleyrehabcenterbellaire.com 22 - Supplement to THE INTELLIGENCER and NEWS-REGISTER - Wheeling, W.Va. - Thursday, March 19, 2020

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