COLLECTOR CARS: Rebuilding My Totally-Not-Collectible Mustang, Part 4

COLLECTOR CARS: Rebuilding My Totally-Not-Collectible Mustang, Part 4

  Stephen Cox Blog is Presented by Sopwith Motorsports Television Productions The steering system on a base model 1980 Ford Mustang is not exactly track ready. Light and numb, it offers little road feel and an overly wide lock-to-lock ratio. Increasing the size and width of the original 13-inch tires actually makes the steering worse, not better. Honestly, driving this combination just isn’t much fun. The installation of a 400 horsepower Windsor small block, 15-inch Anson Slot wheels and a new Dynomax Super Turbo dual exhaust tempts the driver to push the car beyond the reasonable safety limits of its original Read More

This Is The Best Buy in Muscle Cars Right Now

This Is The Best Buy in Muscle Cars Right Now

Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance A sharp 1970 Chevelle LS6 can set you back $75,000 or more. Same for a Boss 302 Mustang. A 1969 Plymouth GTX 4-speed can run over $40,000, which is still not affordable for many car enthusiasts. You don’t even want to know what freshly restored Dodge Daytona would cost. The plain fact is that most fast sports cars from the peak of the muscle car era remain beyond the reach of the average working man. But there is one exception. What if you could buy a name brand muscle car from the Read More

COLLECTOR CARS: 1974 International Pickup vs 1975 Ford F150

COLLECTOR CARS: 1974 International Pickup vs 1975 Ford F150

Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance It’s no secret that vintage pickup trucks are the latest rage in collectible vehicles. They are inexpensive to restore, utterly reliable, born with a lengthy shelf life and they are enormously popular right now. If a collectible truck is on your wish list, here’s what you should know about two of the mainstay trucks from the 1970s. 1974 International Pickup When I began racing dirt tracks in the late 1980s, my father’s ¾ ton, red-and-white International 200 pickup with a Comanche 345 V8 served as our hauler. Frankly, it was better at Read More

PLYMOUTH SUPERBIRD: The Car That Richard Petty Built

PLYMOUTH SUPERBIRD: The Car That Richard Petty Built

Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance It has been claimed that Plymouth’s legendary winged muscle car, the 1970 Superbird, was the brainchild of NASCAR champion Richard Petty. The rumor has been around for decades but I’ve never found anyone with first-hand knowledge who could absolutely confirm or deny that the car’s origins truly began with The King of Stock Car Racing. But opportunity knocked two weeks ago when Petty was in attendance at the Mecum auction in Kissimmee, Florida, which I co-host for NBCSN. I found him relaxing backstage late in the show and hollered, “Hey, King!” Although Read More

MECUM ANAHEIM and the Man I Never Expected to Meet

MECUM ANAHEIM and the Man I Never Expected to Meet

November 23, 2016
Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
 
 
“Do you remember me?” the strange man asked insistently. “Your show gave me something to live for. I've been waiting for this all year. You told me to come back, and I want you to know I made it.”
 
We were halfway through NBCSN's live coverage of the Mecum collector car auction in Anaheim last Friday when a middle aged man walked up to me with tears in his eyes. “Do you remember me? Do you?” Honestly, no, I didn't. But as he told his story it began to come back to me.