Practically Used Homestead Wheels

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Most modern muscle cars are hand built from Pony Cars. Typical is Mark Tate's Mike Matheos-built '67 Camaro Z28 that won HOT ROD Magazine's '93 competition for the fastest street car in America. With a 570-cube engine, it did the quarter in 8.2 seconds and reached 166.29 mph. A car just a bit less Gonzo than Tate's is not prohibitively expensive to own and operate. It'll get you to work on time every day, then go to the drag-racing track and win trophies on weekends for $10,000 to $35,000. Straight-ahead performance, if not road-handling, is comparable to a $50,000 Dodge Viper or $250,000 Ferrari.

You may rather want to build a "sleeper"...a "raider"...a killer car under a deceptive exterior. A lady friend paid $150 for a square-edged little '66 AMC Rambler Rebel SST hardtop with a blown engine. She had it painted powder puff blue and installed an over-bored Chevy Small Block with a nitrous oxide horsepower-doubler on a beefedup drivetrain with 9'Ford rears and a bulletproof TH400 automatic transmission. The 2 1/4" dual exhaust is quiet, as befits a mild-mannered librarian; however, a pair of cutout valves (JC Whitney order #24XX162BR for $19.95 plus P&H) are welded in the pipes just ahead of the mufflers. When in the mood to play, the lady glides up to a light and stops beside some stud in a Viper, Talon, Spyder, or Laser, and bats her mantis eyes. The light changes and he pedals off as hard as he can. She floors the 400 Short Block ...drops nitro ...reaches semi-light-speed...and as she passes him, she opens the cutouts and unleashes 700 cu ft/min of unmuffled Motown thunder.

For Further Information:
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Publications

In a class by itself is Hemmings Motor News. $23/year or $6.00/sample issue, PO Box 100, Bennington VT 05201 or call 1-800-227-4373. "Marketplace" of the old-car hobby: 1000 pages of tiny print concentrating on pre-1970 cars, parts, and literature. Also publishes Special Interest Autos; each issue includes "driveReports" on several '20s to '60s auto models. $12.95 for six issues, $5.00 for a sample.

Old Cars Price Guide. 6 issues/year for $16.95 from Krause Pubs., 700 E. State St, Iola WI 54990. A 162-pp. magazine with old-car articles plus an exhaustive listing of most recent prices paid for early through mid'80s cars and light trucks. Where to learn that the '57 Desoto ragtop collecting dust in the barn is worth $38,000 if fxed up.

Old Car Ads

Following are three pulp magazines with photos of older vehicles plus ads from suppliers of NOS and used parts. Want a '50s hotrod, a Monster Truck, or a small tank? Deals On Wheels Car Magazine ($14.95); Truck, Race & Recreational Marketplace ($12.95); Specialty Car Marketplace ($12.95). Prices are for 12-issue subsc. from PO Box 205, Sioux Falls SD 57101.

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