It was the urban legend to top them all, the one every car guy wants to be true: Dude straps a jet engine to his Impala and goes for the ride of his life, which, of course, ends with his death.

Even though it dates back to the 1960′s, according to rumor-debunking website Snopes.com, it was the first big Internet-fueled urban legend, spread across the world in 1995 by then-novel e-mails with subjects like “Darwin Award Winner.”

Of course, there’s no such thing as the Darwin Awards. But now, finally, there is a JATO-powered Impala. The genius of race car driver Paul Stender, he of jet-powered port-o-potty and 350-mph school bus fame, this ’67 Impala was conceived with the best intentions: Make the legend come true. And yes, we know the subject was covered in the very first pilot episode of Mythbusters, but they didn’t use the right rocket, did they?

Click past the jump to see video of the rocket-powered beater Chevy.

Continue reading Paul Stender returns with cruise missile-powered Impala

Paul Stender returns with cruise missile-powered Impala originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we think Woodward Dream Cruise, thoughts of muscle cars and golden oldies pass between our ears. But while we’re all about the painstakingly restored classics, there is always a little room in our hearts for anything emanating from the land of misfit rides.

Whether you’re talking about Elvis himself, a murdered out Dodge Grand Caravan, a perfectly restored Merkur XR4Ti (who does that?) or a run of-the-mill Pontiac Grand Prix emblazoned with airbrush artwork from the band Kiss, Dream Cruise 2011 featured more than its fair share of automotive oddities. We even saw a Gremlin, and it was still running! And the Ford Thunderbird with the ill-conceived aero kit? You may want to skip that one.

We can go on all day, but you’re better off if you simply click on our image gallery of the strange sights from the 2011 Woodward Dream Cruise.

Showcasing the strange sights of the Woodward Dream Cruise originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If the muscle car era started in 1964, only to be reinvigorated in the last decade or so, we need a tidy way to label all those memorable cars that came before or don’t have the massive cubic inch engines needed to qualify for the muscle category. We’ll just call ‘em classics.

In the gallery after the break, you’ll see a smattering of old Fords, some turned lovingly into hot rods, along with old Cadillacs, Corvairs and convertibles. There’s the scattered Studebaker and even a few surprises… like The Most Interesting Man in the World.

We’ve gone ahead and labeled our classics gallery to the best of our abilities, but a few of these could be off by a year or two and some are pretty much identifiable due to their extreme modifications. No matter, each one is a certified classic – we hope you enjoy the gallery, and we’ll see you next year in Woodward!

Classic American cars collect to Cruise originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let there be no doubt: Classic American muscle cars are the bread and butter of the Woodward Dream Cruise. And why not? These machines hearken back to a time when horsepower was king, nameplates like Mustang, Camaro, GTO and Charger first started rolling off the tongue and Detroit was at the forefront of the automotive world.

That said, we’ve noticed an interesting trend over the last several years. Modern muscle is making up a more significant portion of the festivities than ever before, a fact we can surely attribute to the rise in quality and performance of today’s crop of high-horsepower offerings. Naturally, you’ll see plenty of Detroit muscle from the 1960s straight on through today in this gallery from the 2011 Woodward Dream Cruise.

We’d like to take a moment to explain our definition of muscle cars. We’re mostly cutting Detroit’s history into two segments: classics and muscle, using 1964, the inaugural year of the seminal Pontiac GTO, as the dividing line. Two seats, four seats or five; two doors or four; modern or vintage – these are the cars that place straight-line performance above all else… and we love ‘em for it.

We went ahead and labeled each vehicle, but if we’re off by a year or two on some of them, we apologize in advance to all you hardcore muscle car enthusiasts out there… With all that in mind, enjoy the gallery!

Woodward 2011: Muscle cars light the fires at the Dream Cruise originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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