Jay Leno's Garage Shows Off 1,000-HP 1975 Plymouth Duster: Video

Jay Leno's Garage spends some time with a custom 1975 Plymouth Duster

It's not every muscle car that can say it spawned a scholarship fund, but this 1975 Plymouth Duster can. Built by mechanic and racer Paul Annunziata, who once worked at the same car dealership Leno worked at as a child.

Annunziata recently died of lung cancer, but before he did, he offered to donate the car to Leno. Leno didn't want to just take it, so they arranged to donate the purchase price of the car as a scholarship fund to McPherson College, which offers four-year programs in automotive restoration and mechanics. Now the car resides in Leno's garage.

Check out the video for the rest of the story, but we'll leave you with this teaser: there's a 1,000-horsepower blown 426 cubic inch Hemi in this tubbed Duster. It's fast. And it sounds great.

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Keep Your 2012 Camaro ZL1, We'll Take This '68 Camaro Convertible: Video

When it comes to the pro touring scene, few car enthusiasts are on the fence. Critics say that pro touring modifications (like modern drivetrains, suspensions, brakes and conveniences) ruin potentially collectible cars, of which there is a finite and ever-decreasing supply.

Fans, on the other hand, point out that it’s nothing more than tuners have been doing for years, albeit with better parts. Do enough research and spend enough money on a build, and it is indeed possible to construct a vintage muscle car that excels in autocross competition.

We’ll admit to being fans of pro touring cars, as there’s nothing sadder than a fast car collecting dust in the garage since it’s “too valuable to drive.” That said, we’re absolutely smitten with Bob Hall’s pro touring 1968 Camaro convertible, the star of this week's episode of Big Muscle with Mike Musto.

Under the hood, the original 350 cubic inch V-8 was yanked out, replaced by a modern LSA V-8 from a wrecked Cadillac CTS-V. Hall kept the stock internals, but an overdrive pulley for the original supercharger and a custom tune were enough to boost output to 648 horsepower at the wheels. By anyone’s measure, that’s significant.

Under the car, suspension, driveline and brake components were upgraded to more modern specifications, resulting in a car equally adept at  dodging cones on an autocross course or rolling to the drive-thru for take out.

The inside is as impressive as the rest of the car, and blends old with new particularly well. Gauges are original, but are now wrapped in a carbon fiber housing. The center console is made of carbon fiber, too, and the billet steering wheel is an interesting mix of vintage and modern. Even the Recaro seats (complete with racing harnesses) don’t seem out of place.

We’d bet that a modern Camaro ZL1, with a mild tune to match the output of Hall’s Camaro, is quicker around a racetrack or down the quarter mile. That’s beside the point, since anyone with the price of admission can snap up a new ZL1. We know which one we’d rather park in our own garage, and it isn’t the 2012 model.

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Retrobuilt Introduces 1969 Shelby GT500CS Clone

If you have a lust for a classic Shelby Mustang convertible, but lack the large bank account generally necessary to purchase one, conversion specialist Retrobuilt may have the ideal solution for you.

Give them your 2005 and later Mustang convertible, hand them a check for the amount of work you want done and Retrobuilt will construct a replica of a 1969 Shelby GT500CS for you, down to the officially-licensed Shelby logos and badges.

Per Mustangs Daily, the basic package includes new fiberglass body panels, chrome trim, new HID headlights, Shelby-style taillights, vinyl striping and a Shelby wheel package. To give you an idea of how much work goes into the conversion, the doors are the only body panels left unchanged.

If you want more performance, Retrobuilt is happy to install a supercharger kit, rework your suspension for flatter cornering and upgrade your binders to a Baer braking system.

In our opinion, the late 1960s Shelby Mustangs weren’t among the most attractive ever penned, and the Retrobuilt kit seems to create some odd proportions on the newer Mustangplatform. Blame that on the difference in dimensions between the 1969 Mustang and the current car, not on Retrobuilt.

The car may not be to our tastes, but this much is certain: it’s not likely you’ll encounter another one at your local Cars and Coffee, which makes it worth the price of admission to some.

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1972 Corvette Shows Us How Burnouts Are Done: Video

Corvettes at Carlisle wouldn’t be complete without the annual tire-shredding burnout contest smoke-athon. This year’s event was no exception to the rule, and the top honors went to John Marshall and his “mildly modified” 1972 Corvette.

By “mildly modified,” we really mean “seriously overbuilt.” Big Al’s Toybox, the engine supplier, rates its 355 Chevy engine at 547 horsepower when equipped with the 671 supercharger, and prices for the engine start at $9,232, excluding delivery.

Marshall’s car is largely stock in most other regards, including a factory four-speed transmission and a factory rear end with the original 3.36 gearing. We’re not generally big fans of the C3 Corvette and its Stingray body style, but Marshall’s 1972 ‘Vette has an undeniable presence about it.

As Corvette Blogger so aptly points out, “when a man thanks his crew chief, you know he’s a serious contender.” Despite a failed first attempt, Marshall got his Corvette to hook up on the second try, producing an epic burnout that could probably be seen from space.

Marshall’s Corvette is a copy of a model he built as a 14-year-old boy, and we’ve got to give him recognition for sticking with his dream. His car was also described by Corvette Blogger as the “loudest V-8 we’ve ever heard,” which is an accomplishment worthy of recognition in itself.

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Shelby's 'Green Hornet' Mustang To Cross The Block In Scottsdale

Shelby's 'Green Hornet' Mustang - image courtesy of Barrett-Jackson

While there is no shortage of rare and desirable Mustangs affiliated with Carroll Shelby, it’s hard to top a car that’s one of one, especially when the saved-from-the-crusher car was never intended to be more than a Ford design study.

Inspired by the success of the “California Special” Mustang, Ford tasked its design team with styling a similar version of the Mustang for national sales. Called the GT/Sport Coupe, two prototypes were built, including a Lime Gold notchback with an Ivy Gold interior, a 390 cubic-inch V-8 and an automatic transmission.

The car, with a VIN ending in 104288, made the rounds at auto shows, but Ford opted not to pursue the GT/Sport Coupe program. Instead of being sent to the crusher, VIN 104288 was shipped to Shelby American to be used as an engineering prototype called the EXP 500. Thanks to its conspicuous paint scheme, the car was quickly dubbed “The Green Hornet.”

Shelby’s chief engineer, Fred Goodell, used The Green Hornet as a rolling testbed for component development. When it was time to send the car to the scrapyard, Goodell’s love for VIN 104288 prevented him from doing so, and the car quietly fell off the radar of collectors, who believed that it had met a grisly fate under the crushing weight of a hydraulic press.

Now restored back to its original glory, Craig Jackson calls car a “significant piece of Ford, Shelby and muscle car history,” that was “so ahead of its time.” Come January of 2013, you’ll have a chance to park The Green Hornet in your own garage, as it will be sold to the highest bidder at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction.

No pre-auction estimate is given, but we suspect it will take a truckload of cash to acquire a Mustang so intimately associated with Carroll Shelby, Fred Goodell and muscle car history.

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More Details Leaked On The Upcoming SRT Barracudaa

Dodge challenger barracuda concept motorauthority 004

While it’s pretty clear that Chrysler will launch an updated version of the Barracuda under the SRT brand for the 2015 model year, there appears to be some doubt on whether or not such a model will coexist with the current Dodge Challenger.

Just a few weeks back we presented the argument for keeping both in the product line, but the latest update from Car and Driver seems to indicate that the Barracuda will replace the Challenger. The decision likely won’t be based on sales, but rather on meeting ever-tightening CAFE requirements.

While we don’t know what the new Barracuda will look like, expect it to be comparable in size to the current Ford Mustang (which is reportedly shrinking with the 2015 redesign). Compared to the current Challenger, the Barracude will lose an estimated six inches of wheelbase and some eight inches in overall length.

Expect a narrower track, too, by a reported two inches, with front suspension evolving from control arms to struts and rear suspension getting new multilink geometry. Helping with both performance and fuel economy, the Barracuda is expected to be nearly 300 pounds lighter than the current Challenger.

Base models will see engine downsizing, too. Expect the least-expensive Barracudas to come to market with the 2.4-liter four-cylinder used in the Dart, possibly with forced induction. There may be no V-6 option, with the range-topping cars getting either the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 or the 6.4-liter Hemi V-8.

It’s unlikely that both engines will be offered, as is the case with the current Challenger. If SRT is picking one or the other, expect to see the 6.4-liter Hemi as the range-topping option.

Pricing remains a mystery, but the Challenger has a reputation for being the most expensive of the current muscle cars. If SRT wants to move Barracudas in quantity, we’d expect pricing to fall more in line with offerings from Ford and Chevy.

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Rare 1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Heads To Auction

1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda convertible - image: Barrett-Jackson

Only 11 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda convertibles were ever built, making them
among therarest and most desirable of Mopar muscle cars.
Among Hemi ‘Cuda convertibles, it doesn’t get any more exclusive than one
of one built, like the 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda convertible seen here.

The only 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda convertible sprayed in “Plum Crazy”
(and one of two originally built for export to Canada) will cross the
block at Barrett-Jackson’supcoming Scottsdale auction, as part of
its exclusive “Salon Collection” of premium automobiles.

The car in question comes with the 426-cubic-inch Hemi V-8 engine,
dual four-barrel carburetors, the 727 automatic transmission, the
Super Track Pak option and a power convertible top.

While the car is pristine today, it was just five days away from being sold
for scrap when it was discovered by Hemi ‘Cuda specialist Harold Sullivan
 on New Year’s Eve 2001. Reported stolen some 30 years earlier, the car
was found tangled in underbrush and nearly beyond saving.

A two year restoration project, undertaken by Cummins Restoration and
 Ted Mazurek, followed. Once completed, the car was appraised and
 authenticated by Mopar expert Galen Govier, and it later went on to win
 top honors at the 2005 Meadowbrook Concours d’Elegance.

It’s not clear if the car is a numbers-matching example, but given its sad
history our guess is that it’s not. Still, the car in any form is highly desirable,
 and likely to command top dollar when it crosses the block on January 19, 2013.

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