Gran Turismo Creator Picks 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 40 For New Game

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 40 - Image courtesy of Eckert's Rod

For the past 10 years at the SEMA show, Sony, together with the people behind Gran Turismo, has picked a winning design that eventually appears as a playable car in its next version of the popular Gran Turismo video game. This year the winner was this 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 40 hot rod, which was created by David Eckert and his team at Eckert’s Rod & Custom.

One of the judges of the unique Gran Turismo award is the game’s creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, a self-confessed gearhead who even enters the odd Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race. He chose Eckert’s hot rod over other notable cars such as the 500-horsepower VW Beetle by APR and 650-horsepower Ford Mustang GT by Mothers, Autosport Dynamics and RTR.

Speaking at the SEMA show, which took place last week, Yamauchi said, “We continue to be blown away by the quality of the vehicles that are submitted and are excited to add 1969 Ford Mach 40 to our list of distinguished winners and to the Gran Turismo franchise.”

Originally a 1969 Mach 1, Eckert’s custom Mustang took a total of three years to build. The goal behind the project was to transform the Mach 1 into a mid-engine supercar, so using parts from both a ’69 Mach 1 and a ’06 Ford GT, the 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 40 was born.

Power comes from a supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 that was designed to be flex-fuel capable. Output ranges from 600 to 850 horsepower, adjustable via a dial inside the car. One strange element is the car’s suspension, which was borrowed from a C6 Corvette.

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Black Air, The Story Of Buick’s Grand National And GNX: Video

Twenty-five years ago today, the last Buick Grand National came off a General Motors assembly line in Pontiac, Michigan. The event also marked the closing of GM’s oldest plant, and despite the fact that dozens of workers were about to lose their jobs just two weeks before Christmas, the vibe was anything but negative.

It was almost as if the workers involved in building the last Grand National knew they’d be a part of something bigger, and that the final car off the line was more than just another automobile. Now, two and a half decades later, a newly-released documentary called Black Air tells the fascinating story of the car and the mystique surrounding it.

To be clear, “mystique” is not a word we’d often use in association with Buick, but the Grand National was more than just another grocert-getter. Originally conceived as a way to lure younger buyers into Buick showrooms, the designers of the Grand National soon realized that performance was paramount over style.

In other words, a stripe package and chrome wheels wouldn’t be enough to sell cars, though that’s what Buick brought to market in 1982. No Grand Nationals were built in 1983, but the car returned in its beloved black and sinister form in 1984, and it almost immediately began raising eyebrows in the performance car world.

Thanks to a turbocharged 3.8-liter V-6 that cranked out as much as 245 horsepower and 355 pound feet of torque, the Grand National soon proved capable of embarrassing  cars costing significantly more money and adorned with far more prestigious badges.

In 1986, Car and Driver showed that the Buick was faster from 0-60 mph (4.9 seconds) than the Lamborghini Countach (5.1 seconds), the Ferrari Testarossa (5.0 seconds) and even the Ferrari 288 GTO (5.1 seconds). It also beat Porsche’s 928S (5.7 seconds) and 944 Turbo (6.0 seconds).

Despite these impressive credentials, the Grand National was something of an orphan, ignored by both Buick owners and sports car aficionados. Either in spite of this or because of it, Grand National collectors are among the most extreme in the automotive world; after all, Buick may someday resurrect the nameplate, but there will only be one true Buick Grand National.

For its final year, Buick even built a higher-performance variant called the GNX, which boasted performance and handling improvement over base models. Thanks to a larger turbocharger and other modifications, the GNX put out a conservatively-rated 276 horsepower and 360 pound-feet of torque, which made it capable of 0-60 mph runs in a truly impressive 4.7 seconds.

Black Air goes on sale today, and it’s a must-have DVD for any fan of American performance or muscle cars. You won’t find it in stores, so head on over to the GN Movie website to order up your own copy.

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Big Muscle Drives A Blown Cadillac DeVille Drop-Top: Video

If you’ve never had the pleasure of driving a mid-1960s Cadillac Coupe DeVille, do whatever is necessary to get yourself behind the wheel of one. It’s not that the cars were strong performers, it’s more that they had a ride quality unlike anything else on the road, before or since.

Drive one, and you’ll long for the crisp steering response of a early-1980s Buick LeSabre, with blown shocks and bad tie rod ends. You’ll never again complain about fuel economy in a modern automobile, either, since a 1960’s Cadillac can make even a  Camaro ZL1 seem like a fuel-sipping economy car.

You will get noticed in the Cadillac, since anything in motion with the size and mass of a shopping plaza tends to draw stares. If your Cadillac is a Coupe De Ville convertible with a giant blower poking through the hood, “under-the-radar” is simply not an option.

Big Muscle host Mike Musto came across this particular 1964 Cadillac at a car show in Alameda, California, and we’d be the first to admit it’s hard to just pass by. Owned by Ron Dean, the car makes 650 horsepower from its force-fed, 468 cubic-inch V-8 engine, and there’s nothing leisurely about that.

The rest of the Dean’s car is equally subtle, from the ghost flames in the paint, to the suspension drop and the side-exit exhausts. Musto calls it a giant carnival ride, and the only thing we can think of to add to that is a “giant comfortable carnival ride.”

We’ve driven enough vintage Coupe DeVilles to know that they’re not our cup of meat, but we think Dean is onto something here. If we lived in the shadow of the Pacific Ocean and had the time, money and garage space to build a cruiser, we’d likely be calling Mr. Dean for some build advice.

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Big Muscle Drives Its Host's Mopars: Videos

Big Muscle host Mike Musto knows a thing or two about cars and driving. He’s an NASA instructor, he’s run events like Bullrun and One Lap of America and he’s been a Mopar muscle car guy for longer than we’ve known him.

In other words, he practices what he preaches. Musto has a rather full garage these days, since his pair of vintage Dodge Chargers (a 1968 and a 1969 Charger Daytona replica) share space with a Chevy Caprice Wagon camera car (affectionally known as Moby Dick) and a Ford Mustang GT.

As anyone who’s ever filmed a car review will tell you, it’s almost impossible to review a car you own and have built from the ground up. There’s too many details and too many stories to cover, and what starts out as a ten minute video soon evolves into a three-hour extravaganza that no one will watch.

Fans of Big Muscle have asked Musto to show off his Chargers since season one, so the host did the only prudent thing: he tossed the keys to other Drive channel hosts so they could review the cars for him.

J.F. Musial, the brains behind Drive, gets a stint behind the wheel of “Mr. Angrier,” the Daytona replica built to be the most impressive (and possibly only) Charger Daytona pro-tourer in the world. In case you can’t tell from the video, the car is massive, and “sinister” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Under the hood lurks a 471 cubic-inch V-8, rated at some 515 horsepower. Though the suspension and brakes have been updated to modern standards, Musial describes the car’s initial turn in with a guttural “aaaauuugh,” to which we’d agree. As for the Playboy Mansion story, it’s 100-percent valid, as we’ve seen the (uncensored) pictures.

It’s ironic that cleanliness-obsessed Larry Kosilla was chosen to drive “Mr. Angry,” Musto’s 1968 Charger and the starting point of his muscle car career. We’ve done road trips with Musto, so we can tell you from experience that keeping the car clean, inside and out, is not a high priority.

The Charger is semi-famous for its appearance in Bullrun, and Musto has campaigned the car in One Lap of America, too. The takeaway from this is that classic muscle cars are a blast to drive on short trips, but they quickly lose their charm on week-long, high-speed, cross-country events.

We take Mike’s closing advise to heart as well. Life is too short to be a brand loyalist, and we love anything that delivers entertainment value behind the wheel.

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Like The 2013 Ford Shelby GT500? Here’s Your Chance To Win One

Custom 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 to be awarded in the Hagerty Fantasy Bid drawing - image: Speed

In stock form, the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang cranks out an impressive 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque, will reportedly top out at 200 miles per hour and can be purchased by anyone with the $54,995 price of admission.

That makes it a performance bargain by anyone’s standards, but it also glosses over one important fact: for many enthusiasts, $55,000 is more money than they can afford to spend on four-wheeled amusement. Speed feels your pain, as does Ford, so the two companies are teaming up to award on lucky winner a customized 2013 Shelby GT500.

“Murdered out” doesn’t begin to sum up the car’s exterior, which is black on black on black. Gloss black paint is trimmed with flat black stripes, smoked lights, tinted windows and matte black wheels.

The car gets custom exterior trim parts from Ice Nine, RTR, and 3D Carbon, and proudly sports Hagerty Fantasy Bid badging. The interior is reworked, too, sporting custom black leather and suede upholstery with carbon fiber stripes and blue stitching.

Under the hood, the supercharged 5.8-liter V-8 gets mods that include stainless headers, high-flow catalytic converters, a Borla exhaust and an Ice Nine intake. We suspect that there are some ECU tweaks, too, since claimed output is now “over” 800 horsepower.

The best part is that the winner of the car will be chosen at random during Speed’s coverage of the 2013 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction. To enter into the Shelby GT500 drawing, you just need to sign up for Hagerty’s Fantasy Bid contest (which you can do at this website on January 14), then submit a bid when one of the Fantasy Bid cars is shown on Speed.

The winner will be chosen at random from all of the Fantasy Bids received. If you know a thing or two about collector car values, the Hagerty Fantasy Bid game can also net you prizes like a 60-inch Samsung LED TV, a Microsoft Surface tablet and a Sony PlayStation 3.

It doesn’t cost anything to enter, so why not throw your hat in the ring?

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Rare 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda For Sale, Complete With Story

1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda, for sale on JamesList - image: RK Motors via JamesList

Perhaps due to the low volume built and even-smaller surviving population,Plymouth Hemi ‘Cudas are among the most valuable and sought-after cars from the muscle car era. Finding one in mint condition is a rare occurrence,and even less-than-pristine examples will price well into the six-figure range.

Hagerty’s Price Guide currently puts the value of a Condition One 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda at $340,000, while a Condition Four car still rates a value of $205,000, As impressive as those numbers sound, the car’s value range in 2007 was between $1.2 million and $890,000, which gives an idea of how far the market has dropped in six years.

Up for sale on JamesList is a 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda with a semi-celebrity owner and a long list of factory options, including the Light Package, the Dana 60 Super Track Rear End, front and rear spoilers, the Rallye instrument cluster, tinted windows, an AM/FM/Cassette audio system with dual rear speakers and the rear-window louvers.

Most impressive of all, however, is the fact that the car’s racked up just 2,010 miles on the odometer in its 42-year life, and remains all-original as far as we can tell. Sure, the original owner embellished the paint scheme with his own personal “skull and ace of spades” motif, but that’s largely been corrected by a recent refresh.

Who was the mysterious original owner? Zachary Taylor Reynolds, heir to the Reynolds’ tobacco fortune and a bon vivant with plenty of ties to the rich and famous. Reynolds, as the story goes, preferred fast cars and motorcycles to more mundane passions, such as business and finance.

Though ultimately disowned by his father (along with his three brothers), Reynolds had already amassed a sizable trust fund wealth upon his discharge from the United States Navy.

Rather than wasting it on stocks, bonds and precious metals, Reynolds had the foresight to invest in muscle cars, like the Hemi ‘Cuda for sale here, through RK Motors in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Zach Reynolds’ passion extended to flying, too, and in 1969 he earned a national aerobatics championship. Ten years later, after retiring from competitive flying, his love of airplanes would prove to be his undoing: Reynolds was killed in a plane crash in 1979.

Is the car worth the $1,999,990 being asked by RK Motors? We suppose that depends upon your perspective; on the one hand, that’s nearly six times the current Condition One price, but the car is truly one of a kind with a documented history.

If you're in the market to put what may be the best surviving example into your collection, the price is what the price is, assuming your due diligence verifies all the claims on the car's history.

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The U.S. Postal Service Offers 'Muscle Cars Forever'

If you’re a fan of muscle cars, with straight 40-weight in his veins and more horsepower in his garage than most villages in Europe, chances are good you don’t spend a lot of time hanging around the Post Office, waiting for the release of a new series of stamps.

In fact, based on its declining revenues, very few people hang around the Post Office these days, or even use its services. That’s why we’re bringing you news of a new series of “America on the Move” stamps, called “Muscle Cars Forever.”

The limited-edition “Forever” stamps (meaning that you can use them to mail a first class letter, as long as there’s still a Postal Service) go on sale tomorrow, February 22, and honor the tire-smoking glory of the 1966 Pontiac GTO, the 1967 Shelby GT-500, the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, the 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda and the 1970 Chevelle SS.

Collectors can also buy uncut press sheets, first day covers, a set of five digital color postmarks and a ceremony program, too, all via the USPS website. Though the Postal Service has offered poster-sized artwork in the past, it doesn’t sound like prints of the Muscle Car series will be produced or marketed.

The Muscle Cars Forever series joins two other car-themed collections, “50s Sporty Cars” (released in 2005) and “50s Fins and Chrome” (released in 2008) in the “America on the Move” series.

While we can’t predict if the USPS-issued Hemi ‘Cuda will ever appreciate as much as the Plymouth-minted version, one thing is certain: the Postal Service ‘Cuda is the only one our bank accounts can handle.

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