By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It was built as a turn-key show car, and it’s got 3 miles on the 454 big block. The custom-fabbed nose is “held in place with 24K gold plated Dzus fasteners”…yeah, those must make it go faster, right. Perhaps more remarkably, it’s entirely street legal and functional, right down to working windshield-wash nozzles and other everyday creature comforts that seem a little out of place on such an uber-built trailer queen. Yep, and the seller is calling it an ISCA show car and wants 100 grand for it. Check out the auction on eBay!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Last week I was over at Group 2 Motorsports filming another installment in the Quaker State video series, and this crazy vintage Grand Prix car just happened to be up on the rack for an alignment and balance. It’s got a 3-liter Ferrari boxer V-12 that’s good for about 400 hp at–get this–11,000 rpm. It’s owned by John Goodman Racing, and it ran at Monaco back in the early 70′s. The crappy cell phone pics don’t do it justice, but you can see a few more below the jump.

Continue reading "Grand Prix Racer At Group 2 Motorsports" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Mike is well into parting out his Grand Prix. It was his daily driver and a project car he’d put a ton of detailed work into, and I’m not entirely sure why it’s now going to rest in pieces, but I guess that’s the way it goes sometimes. See some lovely photos of the car intact on page 8, and its grisly dismemberment on page 9. Wow.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I love NASCAR-branded 90′s GM’s. There’s just something so authentically redneck about them. Which makes it even more impressive when you find one that’s not totally thrashed. This Poncho seems to be the concept car for the Richard Petty 50th Anniversary Edition, and is being sold by Canepa, the boutique builder involved in the car’s design.  It claims to have only 1776 miles on the the 300hp supercharged 3.8. Check out the auction on eBay!

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

More sub-$10k two-doors, you say? Sure. How about this 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix, offered for $5,999 out of Appleton, Wisconsin? From the seller’s description:

Solid car with power windows, hidden Headlights & air conditioning. Neat old car that runs good with Awesome interior. Body needs a little work but the car can move with its 400 cubic inch engine and 350 horsepower.

More at Hemmings

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Welcome to the year end wrap-up of the Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot. If you recall, this series was all about uncovering obscure makes, and redefining what a Muscle Car could be. We have discovered that Muscle originated during the 1950s, blossomed during the 1960s, and continued on through the 70s and 80s in a somewhat de-tuned state only to find a re-birth we are enjoying today. My focus was not to highlight the already established Muscle Cars like the Chevelle SS, the Pontiac GTO, or the Hemi Chryslers, but to find hidden gems that you may not have known about.

So during this week, it is now up to you, the Car Domain reader, to vote on your favorites. There will be specific categories, like today’s example, the 1980′s, when Muscle Re-emerged. In the end, sometime after the New Years Holiday, there will be one car crowned as your favorite Obscure Muscle Car, and park it in the Parking Lot, with a few CarDomain Members rides highlighted.

So what are your favorite Obscure Muscle Cars from the Regan Era?
- The 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2, an Aerodynamic Coupe produced to dominate the NASCAR high speed tracks.
- The 1983-84 Ford LTD LX, a Mustang 5.0 with four doors!
- The 1984-86 Ford Mustang SVO, a new wave performance car
- The 1984-88 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, with a screaming four cylinder Turbocharged engine.
- The 1984-90 Lincoln Mark VII LSC, the return of the Hot Rod Lincoln!
- The 1986 Buick LeSabre Grand National, the OTHER, somewhat tamer Grand National.

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Welcome to the year end wrap-up of the Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot. If you recall, this series was all about uncovering obscure makes, and redefining what a Muscle Car could be. We have discovered that Muscle originated during the 1950s, blossomed during the 1960s, and continued on through the 70s and 80s in a somewhat de-tuned state only to find a re-birth we are enjoying today. My focus was not to highlight the already established Muscle Cars like the Chevelle SS, the Pontiac GTO, or the Hemi Chryslers, but to find hidden gems that you may not have known about.

So during this week, it is now up to you, the Car Domain reader, to vote on your favorites. There will be specific categories, like today’s example, the 1960′s Unknowns. In the end, sometime after the New Years Holiday, there will be one car crowned as your favorite Obscure Muscle Car, and park it in the Parking Lot, with a few CarDomain Members rides highlighted.

So, what is your favorite little known Muscle Car from the period dominated by muscle cars?
- The 1962-1963 Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire, Americas first Turbocharged V8!
- The 1963 Studebaker R2 Super Lark, and the R2 Super Hawk, both with Supercharged V8s!
- The AMC Rambler Marlin, predecessor to the great Javelin and AMX models.
- The 1968 – 70 Oldsmobile Toronado W-34, the first Front Wheel Drive Muscle Car!
- The Ford Galaxie 500 7 Litre, from 1966 – 67, Big Power in a full sized car!
- The 1963 to 1965 Buick Riviera. Classically proportioned Muscle, that was also luxurious!
- The 1968 Dodge Dart GTS 440; a very rare compact Muscle Car.
- The 1965 Chrysler 300-L; The Bankers Hot Rod!
- The Turbocharged Corvair, an unusual choice, and the second Turbocharged American Car.
- The Beaumont SD, and mix of Chevrolet and Pontiac for our Canadian Neighbors.
- The 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7-G; A tribute model for Dan Gurney.
- The 1969 AMC Hurst S/CRambler, an outrageous Rambler, in an eye searing color scheme.
- The 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix; Different Body, the year before the Mid Sized Grand Prix debuted.
- The Studebaker Avanti – Ahead of its time, too little to save Studebaker.

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to have fun while doing so. The Pontiac Grand Prix made it’s debut in 1962 as basically a re-styled Catalina. It was built as a full size, two door hardtop, than blended performance and luxury into a tasteful package. The full-size Catalina-based Grand Prix did very well through the 1960s, and is often credited with the move towards minimal exterior trim seen during this period, and the Grand Prix had a much stronger performance image than its competitors, as it was available with the full range of Pontiac Power, from the 303 HP 389, to the Tri-Carbed 389 HO producing almost 350 HP. The Grand Prix kept pace with the full size Pontiac, but it was rapidly losing sales to other personal luxury cars. The low point is the subject of this edition, with a one year only styling. Introducing the 1968 full size Pontiac Grand Prix. Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: The 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix" »

By Brett Powers

audiobahnv8sho

As you may know I recently bought a ’98 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP for $800. I left the car mostly stock for a long while, but the idea of having a little supercharger whine finlly got the best of me.

I recently went to a swap meet nearby and picked up a Spectre cone filter for $5. Soon after returning home, I decided it was time to play a little with the GTP. I removed the stock airbox and hose clamped the filter for the time being until I can build my own cold air intake. Soon after getting all of this complete, I took the car for a drive and discovered the biggest holdup on my car was the stock airbox—it wasn’t getting the proper amount of air to enjoy all of the possibilities! The car had gone from “ho hum” to “yahoo!” with only five dollars!

Now that the temperature has risen and the snow is long gone, I will be looking to do much more work on my vehicles, and look forward to doing many more things to the GTP. Hopefully it will all be done on the cheap, modding the car correctly and keeping the car running safely the entire time. How about you? Have you ever made a modification on the cheap? What was it and what did you do?

By Brett Powers

audiobahnv8sho

Have you ever owned a car you hated so much you’d drive anything just to get rid of it? After being stuck with a Cadillac Catera that I hated from the moment I bought it, I decided I’d rather drive a beater car than suffer at the wheel of this Euro-Caddy wannabe. I came upon a deal I just couldn’t pass up–it may not be pretty but it sure is functional.

Continue reading "What Was Your Best Beater Bargain?" »