Hemmings Muscle Machines

“That fairly obvious diagnosis and cure lef› the teen me feeling like some sort of engine whisperer…” From an early age, I was interested in learning how various things worked, and naturally that curiosity was often focused on cars. Even before I was done with elementary school, I tried to get my hands on books that showed how the various systems of a car functioned and pestered my father to further explain the things I couldn’t quite grasp from the printed word. Magazines came a little later, though still before I’d reached junior high. The urge to spin wrenches led me to tinker with bicycles and then minibikes, until finally I was able to get my hands on an actual car. The real goal, of course, was to have a car of…

BRUTE IN A SUIT DRIVEN: 2022 CADILLAC CT5V BLACKWING Cadillac’s 2022 CT5-V Blackwing is as track-ready as any street-legal, leather-lined, five-passenger sedan can be. Consider: There’s a supercharged, all-aluminum 6.2-liter (376-cu.in.) V-8 rated at 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of torque under the hood. Both values are Cadillac records from an engine that, as any work of art should be, has been autographed by its builder. (Thank you, Kathy Walker.) A 1.7-liter four-lobe Eaton blower helps deliver instant response and gives a baseline hum to the eight-piece rhythm section beneath. Titanium intake valves are stuffed into Rotocast A356T6 aluminum heads to better handle heat. There’s a standard, cooled six-speed Tremec gearbox (with selectable rev-matched downshifting) that feels mechanically precise, with eagerly short throws. The no-lift-shift feature means you can keep the gas matted…

HEMIS BEWARE Mr. Moody’s 1968 Barracuda (“Reborn to Race,” HMM #221) is a sleeper. Looks “stock as a stove,” but my whiz-bang power-speed calculator tells a different tale. Rhett’s blast down Maryland International Speedway at 11.76 seconds at 116 mph shows that ya don’t wanna mess with this ’Cuda. I calculate 371 rear-wheel horsepower and 412 hp at the flywheel, if the car weights 3,400 pounds with driver. Nice car and great build! Hemis beware! Wayne Wolfe Atlanta, Georgia REAL MUSCLE “I’d buy that for a dollar!” is one of the best stories I’ve ever read in HMM (February 2022, #222). Sometimes I’ve been disappointed with an issue because no real muscle machines are covered. I’ve thought about not reupping my subscription, but then an issue like this arrives and it takes my 77…

“I enjoyed the article on the ’70 Cyclone 429 SCJ (“The Muscle Mercury,” HMM #221). I had a ’70 Torino 429 CJ with P/S, P/B, A/C, and C6 automatic. My father ordered the car new from Metz Ford in Farmington, Illinois, in March of 1970. He had always been a Galaxie 500 man with 390 four-barrel engines in a ’61, ’64, and ’67. He really liked the new Torino body and told me he wanted the biggest engine he could get with A/C and an automatic. Being 15 years old, and well-informed with the car magazines, I said, “Dad, I can fix you up.” It reminds me of Jay Leno’s father letting him pick the engine in their new 1966 Galaxie. Ours was red with a laser stripe and the shaker…

IS IT BOASTING IF YOU CAN BACK IT UP? “We think so much of our Phase III Supercars that we guarantee they will turn at least 120 mph in 11.50 seconds or better with an M/P-approved driver on an AHRA or NHRA-sanctioned drag strip. Phase III Supercars are completely streetable, reliable machines that will run these times off the street.” – Joel Rosen, Baldwin-Motion In an era of regular 14- and occasional 13-second quarter-miles on traction-averse street tires eager to boil into smoke at the first sign of excessive torque, the promise of 11.50s — or your money back! — must have seemed simultaneously within reach (it’s a Chevy, after all) yet utterly unobtainable (it cost how much?). Where Baldwin-Motion separated itself from the likes of other dealers peddling COPO models…

ENGINE Block type...............Chevrolet Mark IV “big-block” OHV V-8; cast-iron block and heads Displacement..........................................................................................................427-cu.in. Bore x stroke.....................................................................................................4.25 x 3.76 in Compressionratio..............................................................................................................11:1 Horsepower@rpm............................................................................................425 @ 5,600 Torque @ rpm............................................................................................460 lb-ft @ 4,500 Valvetrain........................................................................1.5:1 rocker arms, hydraulic lifters Camshaft ...........................GM .520 lift intake and exhaust, 114-degree lobe separation, 242 degrees duration at .050 lift Mainbearings...................................................................................................................Five Lubrication......................................................................................Fullpressure,gear-type Electrical............................................................................................................................12-V Exhaust..... Dual exhausts with headers, collectors with blockoff plates, and sidepipes Originalengine.......................................................................................................396-cu.in. TRANSMISSION Type...................................................GM Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 three-speed automatic Ratios.......................................... 1st/ 2.48:1 … 2nd/ 1.48:1 … 3rd/ 1.00:1 … Reverse/2.07:1 DIFFERENTIAL Type.....................................GM 12-bolt (8.875-inch ring gear), Positraction, limited-slip Ratio.................................................................................................................................3.73:1 STEERING Type................................................................Saginaw recirculating ball nut, power assist Ratio.................................................................................................................................17.5:1 Turns,lock-to-lock.............................................................................................................2.9 Turningcircle...................................................................................................................42 ft BRAKES Type..........................................................................................Hydraulic, with power assist Front: 10.94-in solid discs Rear: 9.5 x 2-in drums SUSPENSION Front.....................................Independent with ball joints, upper and lower control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar, hydraulic tube shocks Rear................................................Linked Salisbury axle with control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar, air shocks with helper air bags WHEELS & TIRES Wheels...................................................................................American Racing Torq-Thrust Front: 14 x 6 Rear: 15 x 8.5 Tires............................................................................Diamondback reproduction…