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Patrick McCarthy

Recent Posts by Patrick McCarthy:

DIY Chevy Nova Rear Bumper Restoration

"Get used to my tail lights, because they're the only thing you'll be able to see in this race." This bit of friendly trash talk has been used in the muscle car community for as long as we can remember, but there's more truth to it than the joke implies. Whether it's in traffic or on the drag strip, the rear of your vehicle is often the first and last thing people see. So, it makes sense to keep it looking good. Knowing this, the guys at All Chevy Performance recently restored the bumper and tail panel on their '77 Nova project car with parts from Classic Industries.

Video: Jay Leno Drives a 1969 Mustang Boss 429

Homologation is a strange word, but one that's associated with some of the rarest and most impressive road cars ever built. In simplest terms, homologation cars are vehicles that were built to comply with specific rules for racing — most notably the rule that a certain number of "race-spec" cars must be built and sold to the general public before that car can be used for racing. In the late '60s, Ford wanted to put its new 429ci V8 engine into racecars, but NASCAR required them to put it into at least 500 road-going cars first. Thus the decision was made to shoehorn it into a Ford Mustang, and the Boss 429 was born.

Video: 90,000 Square Feet of Barn Find Heaven

Barn finds are an exciting prospect for any classic car enthusiast. Right now, there could be an all-original, nicely preserved classic car sitting under a layer of dust in a barn, shed, or garage. And if you're the first one to find it, you might be able to rescue and restore it without spending as much as you would during an auction or typical private-party sale. But what if you found a barn that didn't just contain one or two cars, and instead contained dozens? That's exactly what the team at Hagerty revealed in a recent video of a 90,000 square foot farm they referred to as "barn find heaven."

Video: 427 Camaro History - Yenko, Baldwin, Nickey, and More

Putting a big and powerful engine into a small car is a high-performance recipe that's been popular since the earliest days of the automobile. In the 1920s and '30s, racecar builders installed huge aircraft engines into their vehicles, and in the 1940s, hot rodders crammed flathead V8s into their stripped-down "T-buckets." By the late 1960s, the introduction of the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro launched a new era of performance cars. True to form, a handful of enthusiasts began searching for a way to equip them with the most potent engines available. This is how Yenko, Baldwin, Nickey, and others began equipping the first-gen Camaro with the 427ci big-block V8.

Hemmings' Retrospective Review: 1970 Dodge Charger 500 SE

"I guarantee you one thing: when I'm gone, he'll drive it. Drive the wheels off of it! That's what it's all about," said Basil Ford as he smiled at his grandson Sawyer. Basil is the owner of this stunning 1970 Dodge Charger 500 SE, which was recently reviewed by Mike Musto as part of Hemmings' TESTED video series. In this episode, Musto takes a closer look at the details of this almost completely stock muscle car and considers how it holds up more than 50 years after it rolled off a Dodge assembly line.

All Chevy Performance: How to Rewire a Second-Gen Camaro

Even for those of us who love to take on DIY restoration projects, there are certain tasks that can seem a little too daunting. Rewiring a car is one such project, since it's all too easy to get tangled up in a rat's nest of loose wires or frustrated while troubleshooting connections. Thankfully, companies such as American Autowire have simplified the process by providing complete wiring harness update kits for classic cars. In a recent issue of All Chevy Performance, the team shows how to rewire a second-gen 1971 Camaro, plus install lights and a new battery.

Video: TheCraig909's NASCAR Ford F-100 On the Streets with AutotopiaLA

"It's manual steering, manual brakes, manual transmission. This thing is a riot to drive. You're not texting and driving when you're driving this," said Craig Lopresti with a laugh. Craig, better known by his YouTube channel name TheCraig909, has owned this 1971 Ford F-100 since he was in high school. It started out as a project with his dad, but now it has transformed into a 500-horsepower tire-shredding machine powered by a NASCAR-inspired, carbureted Ford 302ci small block. In a recent episode with AutotopiaLA, Craig discusses the truck's modifications and takes it out on the streets of LA.

Pure Vision's NASCAR-Inspired, 472ci Hemi-Powered '68 Charger

The history of American muscle cars is closely intertwined with the history of another American car culture staple: NASCAR. Back in the late 1960s, cars like the Ford Torino, Mercury Cyclone, Plymouth Road Runner, and of course the Dodge Charger roared around the track in intense competitions. And as indicated by the old dealer axiom, "win on Sunday, sell on Monday," the cars that performed well also sold well to customers who were seeking high-performance street cars. This heritage inspired hot rod builder Steve Strope of Pure Vision Design to create this 1968 Charger with a 472ci Hemi V8 and some unique NASCAR-inspired elements.

"Grind National" - Hemmings' No-Holds-Barred Supercharged V8 Grand National

The Buick Regal is a favorite for many classic car enthusiasts, and its Grand National variant became a legend as a result of its intimidating appearance and high-performance turbocharged V6 engine. Some purists would say the turbo V6 is the heart and soul of the GN, but what happens when one of these cars is built from the ground up to go toe-to-toe with modern supercars? That's a question the Hemmings crew set out to answer as they built a supercharged-V8-powered Grand National for Grammy-award-winning rapper Killer Mike.

Jay Leno's Garage: LT4-Powered '57 Bel Air Restomod

"When you think of an American hot rod, you think of a '32 Ford with a Chevy motor. The second biggest hot rod is probably the Tri Five Chevy, the '55, '56, and '57, with the '57 being the one everybody lusted after the most," remarked Jay Leno in a recent episode of his show Jay Leno's Garage. He continued, "For guys of a certain age, like my age, this was the cool car to have. When I was in high school, these were 10 or 15 years old and you could get them at a reasonable price." In this episode, Leno rides with John Paul DeJoria in his '57 Bel Air powered by a 750-horsepower Lingenfelter LT4 V8.