This car is built from all new parts, at a much higher level of dimensional accuracy than anything that Ford built. And it has serious performance upgrades, like Wilwood Brakes, a supercharged Coyote crate engine, bigger wheels and tires, modern transmission, and so much more. This thing is built for fun and Jay puts it through its paces enough to know that this thing is a riot. And with over 700 horsepower on tap you can certainly have a lot of fun in this bad boy.

Let us know what you think as Jay gives us the full rundown.

The post Jay Leno’s Garage Car Feature: This 1968 Mustang GT 2+2 Fastback Cobra Jet Makes Over 700 Horsepower appeared first on BangShift.com.

In the heart of Hesperia, California, a rust-covered gem lay waiting to be transformed into a roaring street racing legend. Rodger of Ironworks Speed and Kustom had just acquired the skeleton of a 1967 Camaro – a blank canvas that held the promise of being something truly extraordinary. Little did he know that this Camaro would not only undergo a remarkable transformation but also bear the stamp of a long-time Fairway GM dealership owner, Greg Heinrich.

As the story goes, Rodger’s phone rang on the way home from his Hesperia acquisition. It was Greg Heinrich, a loyal client of Rodger’s, who couldn’t contain his curiosity about the newly acquired Camaro. Greg was known for his affinity for Summit white, a classic GM color, earning it the affectionate nickname “Heinrich White” among his peers. The conversation that ensued was a mix of excitement, vision, and humor, as Rodger playfully joked about Summit White’s alternative moniker.

20/20 Vision

The vision for the Camaro began to take shape at the SEMA Show, where the LT4 engine was unveiled. Without hesitation, the decision was made to order one, along with GM’s eye-catching “self-illuminating bowtie,” which had generated quite a buzz. With these new acquisitions in hand, the stage was set to create a street race car that embodied the essence of power, speed, and handling— a vehicle that could easily land you in jail if pushed to its limits.

Ironworks Speed and Kustom, known for its innovative automotive creations, stepped in to turn this vision into reality. They introduced several groundbreaking features that set this Camaro apart from the rest. Machined engine bay parts, interior panels, and an extensive use of 3D-printed components brought a touch of innovation to the project. Sean Smith’s contribution to the interior design, including a magnet base panel, was a game-changer in the customization of the car’s interior.

Guts ‘n Glory

The aesthetics of the Camaro were equally as impressive as its engineering. A set of 19″ Forgeline monoblock wheels were selected to give the car a modern and aggressive appearance. Meticulous work was done to ensure perfect wheel fitment and be able to fit a 305/30/19 Michelin tire in the front and massive 345/30/19 Michelin tire in the rear. 

Behind the Forgeline wheels are a set of Wilwood 14″ brakes with highlighter yellow calipers, reminiscent of Porsche Carrera design cues. These brakes compliment the wheels and suspension package.

Underneath its sleek exterior, this Camaro boasts Speedtech front and rear suspension, with a torque arm rear, and ridetech coilovers, ensuring a balance between comfort and high-performance handling. 

The LT4 engine makes 640HP and 630 lb-ft. of torque right out of the box. Backing the powerhouse is a T56 transmission which offers buttery smooth shifts and double overdrives. All those ponies travel through a Gear FX Ford 9″ differential while a Rick’s Fuel Tank feeds the beast.

Finishing Touches

The Camaro’s interior received special attention with carbon fiber Sparco seats, painted and recovered by Sid Chavers, showcasing a distinctive Houndstooth interior design. The interior is right at home on the car show circuit, but it’s all business. The seats are designed to hold you in place during cornering. 

Even something as simple as a door panel, Rodger went above and beyond. With help from Sean Smith, they created the first magnet base door panel. There’s no screws or janky clips holding the custom door panels on, it’s all done with magnets. 

Dakota Digital Gauges, fitted within a custom billet gauge cluster, provided the driver with essential information in style. A Vintage Air AC system provided some comfort in the midst of the speed and adrenaline.

The Camaro’s front grille was custom-made, and the lower front valance was extended, not only for a distinctive appearance but also to accommodate a larger diameter fog light. The body was sprayed in Henrich’s favorite PPG Summit white paint, ensuring the car’s appearance was as stunning as its performance.

This masterpiece made its debut at the Mobil 1 booth at SEMA 2017, where it garnered the attention of General Motors and earned a GM Design Award. The 1967 Camaro, a symbol of precision engineering and craftsmanship, was not just a vehicle; it was an embodiment of Greg Heinrich’s vision and Rodger’s dedication to turning a rusty shell into a white-hot street racing marvel.

The post Greg Heinrich’s 1967 Camaro: A Speed Demon in White appeared first on BangShift.com.

Check it out.

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Automotive royalty with an additional connection to the King of rock and roll? it can only be the McLaren M1A.

The post This McLaren M1A Is One Of The Sexiest Sports Cars In History. It’s Also Got Plenty Of Nasty! Jay Leno’s Garage Feature appeared first on BangShift.com.

Buy it for $1500!

Video Description:

I’ve been on the lookout for a clean third gen Camaro for a some time and this one came up on Facebook Marketplace and seemed like a good deal. I made the deal and brought it home. Allegedly it was some undercover car out east aquired as part of a sting and only had 34k miles on it but had been sitting for years and needed a fuel pump to run again. Let’s find out if that’s the case and get this Camaro back on the road. If you’d like to own the car as shown in this video it can be yours for $1,500 USD. As always, thanks for watching!

The post Another Bargain or Bust Facebook Camaro?!? Low Mileage 1986 Z28 Tuned Port Injection! Will It Run?!? appeared first on BangShift.com.

When you’re used to rebuilding piles of rust from the ground up, restoring a car that doesn’t need major repairs is a walk in the park. For Rodger Lee of Ironworks Speed and Kustom, that’s what happened with the ‘68 Camaro you see here. 

Greg Heinrich brought him this car, much as you see it here. Faded paint with surface rust – patina. The car was bone stock. But Greg didn’t want to make it perfect, he wanted it to stay patina. He wanted a car that could be a daily driver, parked wherever, and never have to worry about scratching the paint. 

Ironworks Takes the Wheel

Rodger, known for his craftsmanship at Ironworks Speed and Kustom, took charge of the 7-month build. The vision was clear – a car that wouldn’t demand an appointment to drive but would seamlessly become a part of everyday life. He wanted to infuse the Camaro with a spirit that transcended the ordinary.

Rodger started by removing the only rust on the car; the floor pans. With a new floor pan installed, the body was already done! Next in line were the suspension and drivetrain, where the Ironworks team worked their magic. Speedtech Performance Extreme subframe in the front, Torque arm rear suspension in the back, Fox coilovers, and Hyperco springs – each component carefully chosen for their performance, reliability, and comfort. 

Powering the Crusty Camaro is a 430 HP LS3 engine with Ultimate Headers, providing plenty of reliable power for Crusty. Sitting behind the LS3 is a Bowler blue-printed T56 transmission which sends power to the Gear FX 9″ rear end.

Putting all the power to the ground are Michelin 295/35/19’s at all four corners so Greg can rotate the tires like a true daily driver. The tires wrap around a set of Forgeline wheels, which cover up the 13” Wilwood brakes at each corner. 

On the inside, Greg wanted to keep things even more simple. The interior was restored to stock at first. After sliding off the stock seats a few times he had Rodger upgrade the seats to a set of Recaro seats with houndstooth inserts to keep him firmly planted while a set of Dakota Digital gauges provides accurate readouts. 

A Journey of Reliability

The Crusty Camaro became a testament to Ironworks’ commitment to reliability. This wasn’t just a car; it was a communal vehicle, loaned out to friends and even served as a student driver car. A true road warrior, it covered 8,000 miles and conquered three Goodguys Road Tours, solidifying its status as the hop-in-and-go car that Greg wanted. 

The post Car Feature: The Crusty Camaro 1.0. Near Perfection, Patina And All. appeared first on BangShift.com.

Thanks to the team at AutoTopiaLA, you are going to get a real look at this cool build. We dig this car, and hope the owner beats on it like it was built for.

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Anyone that knows me knows I’m a massive fan of Chris Ashton and his builds from Ruffian Cars. This is the 3rd build we’ve shot with Chris and truly one of the most exceptional purpose built vehicles I’ve ever experienced. Full race chassis, powered by a Shelby 526 cubic inch FE engine with a dogbox transmission and every single inch of this build is to have a semi streetable fully capable big track car so sit back and enjoy the ride.

The post AutotopiaLA Car Feature: Bitchin 700HP Big Block ’64 Ford Galaxie from Ruffian Cars. Beast Mode Engaged! appeared first on BangShift.com.

Can you imagine the lawsuits, firings, and gallons of Maalox that would be chugged by the executives of any publishing company if someone dared run such a cool and fun story these days? We’re not above anyone else. We’re sure the low rent legal representation we have would throw bricks through our windows as well. Look, magazines can’t hardly even give anything away anymore with all the legal mumbo jumbo involved, so teaching someone how to build a literal and we mean LITERAL go kart to drive down the highway with can’t even be breathed of let alone tried.

What’s even cooler than the fact that Mechanix Illustrated published the story in the first place is that they continued selling the plans for the kart for years in their own magazine. There are little line ads in magazines we have up into the middle 1960s selling the plans, in fact here’s a genius one showing the kart getting “gassed up” at a filling station with the driver clutching a trophy he just “won” at a kart race. This was a real thing that happened, people.

Before you yell at us for being a bunch of wuss-bags, please understand that we’re not mocking or shirking this idea. We think it is absolutely frigging awesome hope that 1,000 people around the country built these karts. It is just another reminder of how our society has changed so much since these days of widespread mechanical acumen, hands-on curiosity, a do-it yourself culture, and a need for people to use their brain to create things that moved and made noise, and scared old ladies. The highway kart is a freaking death trap. It has a pair of band style rear brakes, two “headlights” mounted 24″ off the ground to meet the minimum standard, and an engine that makes something like 3-4hp but it was a death trap a person willing to build and drive it could own. It wasn’t “illegal” because some parent group protested and wrote letters to their state representative and there wasn’t a personal injury attorney at the wait on every corner in America to suck a company dry for their own benefit. (I am not accosting all lawyers here, just the ones who defend the indefensible for a mega-bucks payday). I’m certain if someone was killed on a go kart they built from magazine plans today there would be a national outcry. It would be everywhere. If someone died one one of these things on a street or highway in ’62 there would be a knock at the door and a policeman would say something like this, “Yes, ma’am I am sorry to report that your idiot husband was run over by a Buick full of nuns while sitting at a stop light in his street legal go kart. Here’s the bill for having to squeegee the street for two hours.”

This is a fantastic moment in time that we literally cannot replicate now. We can point you to the original story and plans but we’d never be able to produce such a story today, nor would any state in the union look at that thing and hand you a set of license plates. Between the gas tank which is a little bomb between your shoulder blades and the fact that it is A GO KART, even the states of Michigan and Louisiana which seem to allow anything would balk at this. We do love it, though.

Check out the photos below from the original 1962 Mechanix Illustrated story and below them there is a link to the full story as scanned by someone and posted to the web. 

HERE’S THE LINK TO THE FULL STORY ON THE MECHANIX ILLUSTRATED HIGHWAY KART

The post Mechanix Illustrated’s 1962 Highway Kart Is Nuts And They Encouraged You To Build It And Drive It On The Street! appeared first on BangShift.com.

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Finally caught up with Jason at HotRod Garage to photograph the amazing Split Window 63 Corvette they debuted this year for a couple of magazines.

I’m in no way a Corvette Fan Boy, but I can’t stop myself from loving this one built by HotRod Garage.

I really would have loved to spend more time with it, but I had to knock this out fast, and head to Nebraska before it got colder than 20 degrees.

Hope you can enjoy the coolness of this car from this short video, and Jason doing a quick walk through……….Thanks for watching hope you enjoy.

The post Is This The Best Corvette of 2023? – John Jackson Spent Some Quality “Tulsa Time” with the Hot Rod Garage 1963 Split Window appeared first on BangShift.com.

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Introducing the LUMBERghini! This is a Chevrolet Berretta and Pontiac Fiero grafted together and covered in wood. Yes. WOOD. It’s been sitting for a number of years.. so a guys going to try fire it back up, and attempt to drive 300 miles home!

The post Derek Bought A LAMBORGHINI Made Of WOOD! Will It RUN AND DRIVE 300 Miles Home After Many Years Of Sitting? appeared first on BangShift.com.

This is one cool project, and the car itself is surely something special to look at. Check it out and let us know what you think. I dig it.

Video Description:

Semon E. “Bunkie” Knudsen took over as general manager. At just 43 years old, he was the youngest division head in GM history up to that point. Knudsen got Pontiac’s reinvention going by overseeing its entrance into NASCAR and NHRA competition. He also shook up its engineering division and brought in some fresh faces, including an engineer by the name of John Z. DeLorean. In a few short years, the brand went from an unfashionable marque to one that was on the rise. How would it follow this up? With a low-cost 2-seat sports car.

The post The Greatest Pontiac Never Made? This Epic Machine Never Saw The Light Of Day But Was Something Truly Special appeared first on BangShift.com.