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Million-Dollar Muscle Cars: The Rarest and Most Collectible Cars of the Performance Era

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description:

About the book:
In the 1960s and 1970s American automakers produced millions of muscle cars: high-performance cars more adept at competition than transportation. The baby boom generation snapped up these cars and proceeded to use them as intended, drag and street racing the cars until there was nothing left of them.

No longer minimum-wage high schoolers, today’s boomers enjoy more disposable income than any generation in history. And many of them are spending that income on highly collectible muscle cars.
Because so few muscle cars survived the abuse of young drivers back in the day, muscle car prices have skyrocketed, with mundane muscle cars commanding six-figure prices and the most significant muscle cars surpassing the million-dollar mark.
 
Respected muscle car expert Colin Comer and top photographer David Newhardt tell the story of each of these rarest of rare cars in Million-Dollar Muscle Cars, the only book dedicated to these top-flight cars.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Big-Money Muscle
Section 1: Million-Dollar Cars
  Chapter One: 1970-1971 ‘Cuda & Challenger Hemi Convertibles
  Chapter Two: 1965 Shelby GT350 R Models
  Chapter Three: 1965 Hurst GeeTO Tiger
  Chapter Four: 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake
  Chapter Five: 1968 Camaro Z/28 Convertible
  Chapter Six: 1969 Trans Am Convertibles
  Chapter Seven: 1969 ZL1 Camaros
  Chapter Eight: 1971 Sox & Martin Stock Hemi ‘Cuda Car
Section 2: Six Figures and Rising
  Chapter Nine: 1965 Hurst Motor Trend GTO Riverside 500 Pace Car
  Chapter Ten: 1965-1966 Shelby GT350 Factory Drag Cars
  Chapter Eleven: 1968 Mr. Norm’s GSS 440 Dart
  Chapter Twelve: 1969 Yenko 427 Nova
  Chapter Thirteen: 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Hemi
  Chapter Fourteen: 1969-1971 Pontiac GTO Judge Round-Port Convertibles
  Chapter Fifteen: 1970 Chevelle L56 Convertible
Appendices
  Appendix A: Alternatives to Million-Dollar Muscle
  Appendix B: A Real-World Buyer’s Guide

Customer Reviews

 
Happy!
Reviewer: KMB (Centreville, VA), Date of review: February 22, 2010
Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

I bought this book for my boyfriend's father because he loves muscle cars, and he loved this book, it had all his favorites in it and he just really enjoyed reading about how the cars were made, how they came up with the models, etc. Great buy for a sports car lover!
Muscle Cars are a legendary historical illustrated look at the first baby boomers of street racing!
Reviewer: Peppercorn (sydney australia), Date of review: February 17, 2010
Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Million Dollar Muscle Cars is an illustrated look at the history of baby boomers the first cars they were fierce and fast for the street. This period was the 60's and 70's when cars were legends made to race as well as used for in the street. The rare models that survived this onslaught are rare collectables nostalgia in steel and rubber. Colin Comer is the world's expert muscle car dealer David Newhardt is one of the best automobile photographers today together they have created a book of legends that almost mythological in significance is nonetheless a true masterpiece of it,s time and era. This book retells the story of these cars from their rise in the 60's to their decline today and re-emergance as performance icons with immense historical significance for collectors.Now all together in their own separate page or section they stand alone in pride and coolness as marques of animals which have a signifigant place in history as collectible motor vehicles for driving in cruising or racing.
These cars were not for the faint of heart to buyers they were high-performance cars more adept at competition in racing than in transportation of going from one place to another. Baby boomers did just that in using these cars for drag and street racing, which were the initiators of a legend that continues today in racing which may sound shrouded in myth but is very much a reality to people who drive these cars that demand attention and respect like thoroughbred ponys on the loose in a grassfield. An informative book, with incredible illustrations and photography, that is to be owned and respected by any muscle car enthusiast,or driver of the vehicles which in the end are of course symbols of wild animals!

A Must Read!
Reviewer: Jorge L. Acevedo (Waldorf, Maryland United States), Date of review: June 13, 2009
Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

If you are a Muscle Car(1960's - 1970's)enthusiast, this book is absolutely a MUST READ. The information compiled in this book and the photographs are OUTSTANDING. The Best Book I have read on this subject.
Thank you Mr. Colin Comer and Mr. David Newhardt for putting together such a GREAT book. Well worth the price!
One of the Three Best Rare Muscle Car Books
Reviewer: P. Jarosz (Gulf Coast, Texas), Date of review: April 26, 2009
Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Finally! A muscle car book that focuses on rarity and includes the 'Holy Grail' - the one-of-one convertible '68 Camaro Z-28 made for GM honcho Pete Estes. Also another ultra-rarity: the '67 Shelby GT-500 Super Snake (one-of-three built with the 427 side-oiler and the only one with the special striping and name). Also included is the one-of-eight convertible '69 Trans Am (one just hit the Mecum auction block on 5/22/10 and the bidding got up to $1.1M but it didn't hit the reserve).

As expected, the book includes two ultra-desirable Mopars: the convertible '70-71 Hemi Cuda's and Challengers. I was a bit surprised to see no mention of the '67 & '70 Hemi Coronet R/T convertible since only 2 were made each of those years. Same for a '69 Hemi-powered Daytona Charger or '70 Plymouth Superbird.

For GM fans, the book includes a Yenko Nova (~30 built) which is typically overshadowed by Don Yenko's Camaros & Chevelles even though he called his Nova "a beast, almost lethal, a car that they should not have produced" since it had a 425+hp 427 in a car lighter than a Corvette. The book also includes info on two other very rare & desirable convertibles: the 1-of-17 convertible '71 GTO Judge (one just sold for a bargain $246K at the Mecum auction on 5/22/10) and the convertible '70 Chevelle LS-6 454 (20 made).

I was surprised to see no mention of the '69 ZL-1 427 Corvettes (only 2 made) which would easily bring in well over a million bucks since they are very well-known and immensely desirable (one of the two used to be part of the Otis Chandler collection but you can see it on the internet if you search on Kevin Suydam's collection). It also didn't include the L-88 Corvettes. A 1967 convertible, which was the 1st of 20 L-88's built, sold for $1.25M at the Mecum auction on 8/14/10. Although they wouldn't bring in $1MM, how about the Baldwin Motion cars, the '67 Camaro Black Panther, the convertible '67 Camaro Cherokee, or the one-and-only '70 Trans Am with the ultra-rare L85 488 cubic inch aluminum block Ram Air V engine dyno'd at 530hp (which surprisingly failed to achieve the reserve price at the Mecum auction on 10/3/09)?

For Ford fans, I was surprised that there was no mention of the aero-wars prototype 1970 Torino King Cobra (only 3 made - 1 w/Boss 429, 1 w/429 SCJ, & 1 w/429CJ). That car had some seriously interesting history. Or how about the one-of-one Shelbys: '68 Shelby Green Hornet, '68 Shelby Black Hornet, and the convertible '67 Shelby GT500 that was a test car that should have been destroyed but was somehow snuck out and saved (just sold on 5/15/09 at the Mecum auction for $825k). Also, how about the Twister Special '70 Mustang Mach I's & Twister Special Torino Cobras? For Mercury fans, the 1969 Boss 429 Cougars (only 2 made).

A good companion book would be "American Muscle" which highlights much of the Otis Chandler collection and covers a few of the gaps in this book. Another excellent book on rare muscle cars is "American Muscle Supercars: Ultimate Street Performance from Shelby, Baldwin-Motion, Mr. Norm and Other Legendary Tuners."
Great Fathers Day Gift!
Reviewer: Mary (Minn.), Date of review: May 22, 2008
Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars
Bought this book for my dad for fathers day, he has a collection of muscle car books a mile wide, and this is the first one i found that he does not have (usually he gets a Barnes and Noble Gift Card for Fathers day). For anyone with an interest in muscle cars, you will surely enjoy!