Hemmings Muscle Machines March 2022

“Someday, the current ever-escalating horsepower war will have to peak…” Even though our focus here centers primarily on classic muscle cars, I’ve really been enjoying the steady stream of modern performers coming from American automakers in recent years. After living through the dark days of the mid-’70s and early ’80s, Detroit’s current crop of hot V-8 models is beyond what we ever could have dreamed of, back when Chrysler had all but abandoned rear-wheel drive and we were excited about Camaros and Mustangs breaking the 200-hp “ceiling.” In those days, today’s Hellcat wouldn’t have sounded feasible in any reality — not even 1970’s. Yet, even as the Hellcat is very real and while Dodge seems willing to build as many as consumers will order, 1970 has been looming in my mind for…

HELLCAT: DEAD BY 2024 MAKING WAY FOR DODGE’S NEW EMUSCLE PROGRAM IN 2024 If you have the itch to get your mitts on a new Hellcat-powered anything, the clock is officially ticking: Dodge will cease production of the Hellcat engine to coincide with the end of the 2023 model year. With the ’22s on sale for about half a year as of this magazine’s cover date, that gives you a little more than 12 months to grab a 700-plus-horsepower Dodge. It’s not going away because it’s stopped selling. Rather, the company is transitioning to an all-electric future that’s coming sooner rather than later. The original Hellcat engine, rated at 707 horsepower, debuted in SRT Charger and SRT Challenger models in 2015. The supercharged 6.2-liter has since appeared in the Durango (for 2021 only),…

“My letter to you is one that tells a story you’ve probably heard hundreds of times. Back in the day I had my eye on a black 1968 Hemi Road Runner. After a few years, I was able to buy it, saying to myself I would never sell it. But, of course, a year later I had to let it go. Skip forward about 38 years, and I found a black 1968 Road Runner hardtop with a 383 and a four-speed. It looked just like the one I had before, but minus the Hemi. Over the next nine years, I did a body-on restoration, taking it back to stock except for the aftermarket Hurst shifter. These days, in the summer months I meet up with the guys that hung out at…

MIDWESTERN MEMORIES I really enjoyed reading the “Finding America” article ( HMM #218) as it brought back many memories! I was a resident of Princeton, Illinois, until the ripe old age of five. Our family then moved to Northern Minnesota in 1952, to the mining town of Virginia, but I have a cousin who still lives in Princeton. I grew to enjoy everything about cars. My father worked for the local Ford dealer as a parts man, and I spent countless hours in the showroom looking at the new Ford models every year. The early standouts were the 1955 Thunderbird, the 1957 Skyliner, and the 1961 Starliner. My first car, which I purchased from my grandmother, was a 1950 Ford with the 239-cu.in. flathead V-8. My first new car was a 1968…

TO SIMPLY STATE THAT PERU, ILLINOIS, RESIDENT Bill Sherman is a “gearhead” does little justice to the vast performance talent the self-confessed farm boy possesses. His mechanical prowess was earned early, starting in his teenage years. “The whole thing started off in the Fifties,” Bill explains. “My father was into motorcycles, and cars to a lesser extent. His interests wore off on me and when I was 15, I built my first car. It was a 1934 Ford coupe, and I installed a bored-and-stroked flathead V-8, all done on the family farm in an old dirt-floor shed. The Ford wasn’t a show car, but I sure had a lot of fun in it. I belonged to a local car club; they broke their age rules and allowed me to join. Believe…

My wife and I have been married 58 years and she’s put up with all my shenanigans, including this one. This is a true Pontiac, even though it’s not the original engine. The whole idea was to give it a modern yet period-correct look and performance. I didn’t want to open the hood and see an LS engine; I didn’t want to look at the body and see chrome shaved off. We did relocate the battery and administered a lot of subtle touches that you won’t see unless you spend a lot of time with the car. I’ve since toyed with the idea of putting in a five-speed, but I don’t drive the car a lot. I want to keep it pristine, but you can’t do that if you drive…