From the monthly archives:

March 2010

1964 Pontiac GTO: 348 hp

I didn’t know C/D’s Rich Ceppos as a fuzzy-cheeked teen-ager, but I’m sure he was a stroke. Anyway, he conned his mother into getting a GTO so he’d have the right car to take trolling for tootsies. Some of the best times of his life were in that car, squealing its tires and frothing its [...]

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1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS454: 450 hp

GM finally overcame all its inhibitions in 1970 and allowed its largest-displacement engines to be installed in intermediate cars. The most uninhibited of all was the Chevelle SS454, option LS6, rated at a nice, round 450 horsepower. The LS6 was a heavy-duty 454 with four-bolt mains, big-port heads, solid lifters, an 11.0:1 compression ratio, and [...]

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1969 Plymouth Road Runner/Dodge Super Bee: 390 hp

Dodge had the most memorable name on this one – 440 Six Pack – inspired by the three  two-barrel carbs. Although a three-card 440 was listed in Chrysler’s lineup through 1972, this first year was by far the strongest. It was a limited run of special cars to gain legality in an NHRA class, but [...]

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1969 Ford Cobra/Mercury Cyclone CJ: 335 hp

Fords in the sixties were winners in NASCAR and competitive in some drag classes, but on the street they were stones. Unlike Chevys – which always managed to have port sizes, cam timing, carburetion, and exhaust capacity matched and working together to produce more than you’d expect – Fords had impressive specs but accomplished less [...]

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American Made 3D Auto Parts Mechanical Component 3D Scanner + Printer

Amazing American technology 3d scanner scans automotive and mechanical parts Inkjet type thermal jet printer prints plastic components off to hop for testing Full size intact components actually assembled by printer intact and working First Nations Voice – Home Wpg Auto Winnipeg Jewish Review Vancouver BC Auto Trader Winnipeg News Online Furnasman One Hour Heating [...]

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1968-1969 Chevy II Nova SS396: 375 hp

In late spring of 1968, I eased out of the GM Tech Center in a sweetheart of a Chevy II: a four-speed, bright red with a black vinyl top. Except for the chrome 396 badge on the front fenders, it could have passed for a vestal virgin. But all eyes homed in on those badges, [...]

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1966-1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396: 375 hp

Chevrolet was always in the fast-car business, so there were plenty of SS396 Chevelles. Most of them were nice, docile cars with torquey big blocks that could put your license in points trouble in just one night of exuberance. Then there was the L78. The L78 engine had a heavy-duty block with four-bolt mains, big-port [...]

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Canadian Auto Industry : New business model, new union model too

A quote in a news story yesterday appeared to reveal that the Canadian Auto Workers boss gets it and will agree to slash labor costs by 25% so Chrysler LLC can survive. “We’re going to get it done,” Ken Lewenza, president of the holdout, the Canadian Auto Workers, told Bloomberg April 21 in an interview. [...]

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