SC: If you were going to begin a personal musclecar project, what would you build and what would it consist of?
Kyle Tucker, Detroit Speed and Engineering:
Not only does our business design, manufacture, and develop new parts for musclecars everyday, we also build cars for customers. We are always trying to build the next best car for each customer. I am building a car for myself. It is a test car for the new parts we are developing, and everyone in the shop is allowed to go and run this car hard. It is a '68 Nova, and will have our newest parts on it for spring 2006. It will have a modified LS2 with a six-speed transmission and be running in primer at Road Atlanta in April. I can't wait.
Gary Penn, Hardcore Racing:
You'd have to loosen up the definition of musclecar, because I'd start with a C6 Corvette. The engine would be about 370 inches of Procharged Gen III built on the Warhawk block with ET Performance heads. Just for fun, it would get a 200 shot of Nitrous from NX, bringing total available horsepower to a streetable 1,200. The trusty THM 400 trans prepped by our friends at Hughes Performance would live out back. And the brakes would be.... well, big. Custom-fabbed mini tubs would allow for the required rubber. Of course, the A/C would work, and there'd be a killer system in the car with real-time navigation. A hidden rollcage would protect the occupants. Except for some flashy whoops, a snarly exhaust note, and a little touch of blower whine, she'd be sneaky enough to draw in unwitting would-be late-night challengers on Telegraph Road in Detroit. Oh yeah, the glovebox would be full of bail money!
Alan Johnson, Johnson's Hot Rod Shop:
I would build a mid-year Corvette Coupe. They are a great looking car to start with, lightweight, and don't need much in the terms of body mods. It would have a tube chassis with a rollcage, just in case; late-model Corvette C5 front and rear suspension because it very works well, is cheap, and lightweight; a reworked transaxle from Rockland Standard Gear. They are getting the C5 transaxle to live behind 1,000-plus-hp race cars, so street duty isn't a problem. It would also have high-end coilovers from Bilstein--you've got to have adjustability if you want the most of the chassis and suspension; the lightest, large-diameter brake setup available; power would be either a twin-turbo LS6 or LS7.
Chris Alston, Chassisworks:
I personally love late-'60s musclecars--'69 Camaro, '69 Mustang, '70 'Cuda--I would take anyone of these. The conventional wisdom is that you want what was popular when you were in high school; I graduated in 1970. The car would have to have a big-block with four- or five-speed manual transmission. I would put 16- or 17-inch wheels on it; 20s are too big for my taste. It would be a solid color, sort of plain-looking. Only people who are into old cars would notice it. I would drive it like I stole it, and carry bail money.
John Hotchkis, Hotchkis Performance:
I am slowly accumulating parts for a '69 Camaro project. Among the many project cars we have constructed, our '71 Camaro with the LS1 was my favorite. Very fast at the dragstrip and road course, comfortable on the road, this car was absolutely amazing to drive. I am looking forward to this new project -car challenge.
Bill Mitchell, World Products:
That list is long. But near the top would be a Smokey and the Bandit-looking '77 Trans Am slammed down on the ground with a new LS7X 454-inch small-block Chevy engine in front of a six-speed manual transmission. Make it handle as good as new a Vette, install GPS navigation, Bluetooth cell phone, and it will be just what the Bandit needed.
Glen Grozich, Billet Specialties:
I am focused on our product line right now, and would like to put 110 percent into that. Down the road I have a few projects from the '60s and '70s sitting around that I will get into.
Gary Heidt, Heidt's Hot Rod Shop:
If I were to build a musclecar for myself, it would have to be without question a new '69 Camaro, for many reasons. I had one in my formative years, and I still remember painting it, rebuilding the engine (myself), pulling the trans out in our unheated garage three times, only to find out that the reason that the clutch would not release was that the release fork was cracked at the ball pivot and was flexing instead of pressing on the clutch. There are many more stories, but there are not many more pages. I do, however, remember driving my friend's '69 396 Camaro, and will never forget the way it planted me in the seat, even with those bias-ply tires! I think of those cars as having exactly the correct proportions, and the absolutely perfect look. It would probably have a small-block, as I am a small-block guy, even though it should have a large-block, and it would of course have a T-10 four-speed. Sorry, no five- or six-speeds for me, I am old. I can end with one thought that I came to me this summer at one of our local cruise nights. A guy had an absolutely perfectly redone big-block '70 Chevelle. It was flawless from front to back. I told him that it was the best car there that night, and he thanked me. We agreed that they don't make them like this anymore. Then I said to him, "You know, anybody who says that new cars are cool never drove an old car." He then said, "Yeah, you are right."
Denny Terzich, ProRides:
We would probably build a '55 Chevy. I know what you are thinking--many were built, and we did a lot of them. People would say that is why not to build one, but that is the challenge we like. The car would be designed much like a modern sports car. The body would be sleek and smooth while keeping its classic look. Ours will be built for straight-line acceleration, max g-cornering, and stop-on-a-dime braking. Combining form and function would be the focus and the final product. Stay tuned!
Sal Solarzano, Total Cost Involved:
My hot rod project is a '66 Nova. It will have an LS1, an LS6-based 427 small-block with a supercharger, and a 4L60-E-style overdrive transmission; Total Cost Involved ultimate performance suspension packages front and rear with coilover shocks; Wilwood 13-inch front and 12-inch rear drilled slotted disc brakes; a 9-inch Ford rear with 4.56 gears 31-spline axles; and a Track-Lok Posi. It's gonna roll on 18- and 20-inch wheels. P.S. No big sound system; I want to hear the engine/blower.
George Ullrich, Speed-O-Motive:
I always hear my customers say they want to build the car they couldn't afford when they were kids. However, as I've gotten older, ride and handling have become more important. The later C5 Corvettes are pretty inexpensive, yet offer both great handling and ride quality. The LS1 can now be easily modified, which I would upgrade with an ATI Procharger, Dart heads and stroke it out to a 383.
Jeanette Ladina, Flaming River:
Our '68 Camaro and '57 Chevy are favorites, and they will continue to be both R&D vehicles and corporate image pieces to go with our line of street rods and our '54 Chevy pickup. In the future, I would have to say it will most likely be a '70s or early-'80s vehicle, in-line with my earlier comment about the next emerging market.
Brent Vandervort, Fat Man Fabrications:
My personal dream project already exists. I hope this won't sound like a sales pitch for my car and my parts, but I have been privileged to live my dream. My '68 Mustang convertible is from the year that my dad got involved in a Ford store, so it fulfills that 17-again fantasy. My high school parking lot (class of '71) was full of Mustangs and Camaros. If my dad had sold Chevys, it might as well have been a Camaro that stayed in my head. Both my daughters drove it to high school and their proms when it was restored (interestingly enough, they both say Dad ruined their car). We put all-new suspension on front and rear, using the car as a proof of design prototype. I purposely did nothing that would make the car impossible to restore, or too radical for many to appreciate. The engine was kept pretty conservative, since I personally have come to value reliability and lack of fussiness in a drivetrain. The car was built very clean, with many styling changes so subtle that only the well-informed even notice them. I don't know how to say it in a more masculine way, but it's kind of like a woman with enough good taste to put on just enough makeup so that she looks like she didn't need any. And enough good taste to not desire attention so much as to look like a fool. I tried to use colors and details that I think Ford would have used were they building that car today. Yep, I like them subtle, trick, and able to be driven hard without becoming high maintenance. But that's just me, and I still appreciate every effort from low buck to jewelry. For me it comes down to a car that fulfills YOUR fantasy, not someone else's for the sake of feeding your ego with the attention it gets. I LIKE ROCK CHIPS!!!
Craig Morrison, Art Morrison Enterprises:
Outside of our GT55 project, which I think fits the bill as the ultimate high-performance streetcar, we are trying to better it! Art and I are in the process of building a '60 Corvette. While not a true "musclecar," it definitely is an answer for the above questions. The Corvette features one of our GT Sport Corvette chassis with C5 front suspension and triangulated four-bar rear suspension, 15:1 power rack-and-pinion steering and adjustable Strange Engineering shocks on all four corners. Power will be from an all aluminum 427-inch Bill Mitchell SBC (making 550 hp and weighing in at 435 pounds) with a Wilson Manifolds fuel injection system and FAST electronics. A McLeod aluminum flywheel, dual disc clutch, and Rockland Standard T56 transmission will transfer the power to the rearend. Wilwood brakes (six-piston front and four-piston rear) will handle the braking duties and the rolling stock will consist of Boyd Coddington wheels and BFG G-Force KD tires. Basically, the car is going to be a big kid's go-kart that will be fast, stick around corners, and unbelievably fun to drive.
Phillip Gerber, The Roadster Shop:
If we were going to build our own...well actually, we are! Not to let the cat entirely out of the bag, the Roadster Shop has a '70 Challenger Convertible in the makings and the first thing to go is the uni-body construction. Plans for more musclecar chassis are on their way, too.
Bret Voelkel, Air Ride Technologies:
I love all brands, and currently have more Chevys than anything, but the sexiest body style ever has got to be the '69 Mustang. I want to build a '69 Boss 429 Mustang clone. An all-aluminum 496ci Boss 429 engine with a turbo, EFI and intercooler, a six-speed automatic transmission with a paddle shifter, four-wheel independent air suspension with computer-optimized shock valving, and auto leveling. Oh, yeah...it will be all-wheel drive, as well. The reproduction aluminum body will be metal finished, and will ride on carbon fiber wheels. Target weight would be less than 2,500 pounds.