Ciprian Florea
7,283 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough horsepower." - Mark Donohue
You'll never catch him drooling over the latest supercar but he could spend hours talking about why he loves 1940s windshield visors, Mopars, and Studebakers. Naturally, most of his stories are about barn finds and rare classics.
He can give you several reasons why speed and power are more about motorsport than silly street wandering, and Can-Am machinery tops his ridiculously fast all-time favorite car list. He claims he could die happy after a Rattlesnake Raceway ride in a Chaparral and a cup of coffee with Jim Hall on the other side of the table.
Before landing on these pages, Ciprian's work has been published on outlets like TopSpeed, AmericanMuscle, and ThisWeekInMotors.
1957 Pontiac Star Chief Neglected for Years Has a Tri-Power Surprise Under the Hood
4 Jul 2024, 20:37 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / 1955 was a big year for Chevrolet, which introduced the Tri-Five. Available in three trim levels and various body styles, the full-size car sold like hotcakes. The range-topping Bel Air was also highly popular. Drivers who wanted more pizzazz could...
1963 Imperial LeBaron Pampered for 61 Years Is All-Original and Unrestored
4 Jul 2024, 12:37 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / First introduced in 1931 and sporting the name of a prominent coachbuilder owned by Briggs Manufacturing Company, the LeBaron took many shapes and sizes. Part of the Chrysler Imperial lineup until its discontinuation in 1941, the LeBaron returned i...
Man Buys 1967 Ford Mustang Parked for 40 Years, Finds Out It's a Super Rare Gem
4 Jul 2024, 11:11 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Some derelict classic cars, be they junkyard or barn finds, are like books you shouldn't judge by their cover. What may look like a rust bucket that's not worth restoring may be a super rare gem with a one-digit production number. The 196...
1969 Plymouth Road Runner Claims One-of-10 HEMI Heritage, But There's a Catch
3 Jul 2024, 20:05 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1968 as the company's entry-level muscle car, the Plymouth Road Runner sold more than 44,000 units in its first year on the market. Sales took off in 1969 when 81,105 customers took a Road Runner home. 1969 turned out to be th...
Massive Barn Hidden From Civilization Is Packed With Super Rare Cars Worth Millions
3 Jul 2024, 13:57 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Some say the golden age of barn finds is already behind us. And that's because super-rare and highly valuable classics (think million-dollar Bugattis and Ferraris) no longer pop up from sheds and abandoned properties. But you're about to ...
1973 Dodge Challenger Wants a New Home, Will Reward You With Numbers-Matching V8
2 Jul 2024, 13:13 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1964, the Plymouth Barracuda got a major redesign in 1967. Three years later, the company debuted the third-generation model on the brand-new E-body platform. The latter also prompted Dodge to develop a brand-new muscle car, the Chall...
Not a Mercury: This 1960 Meteor Ranch Wagon Is a Rare Grocery-Getter Built in Canada
2 Jul 2024, 11:05 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In 1961, Mercury introduced the Meteor as an entry-level full-size counterpart to the Ford Fairlane. One year later, the Meteor joined the newly created midsize car market. The vehicle was discontinued in 1963 after only three years on the market, ...
2020 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo Race Car Offered at No Reserve, Spare Parts Not Included
1 Jul 2024, 20:48 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Have you ever dreamed about owning a fully-fledged Ferrari race car? If the answer is yes, then it's time to act because a 2020 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo is being auctioned off at no reserve. Campaigned in the Ferrari Challenge North Americ...
Classic Car Expert Reveals the 5 Most Overpriced Mopar Parts
1 Jul 2024, 14:28 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Restoring a classic car can get quite expensive if the said vehicle is in very poor condition. But there are a few ways to save big bucks when getting spare parts. Keeping an eye out for overpriced components is one of them. The folks at Rocket ...
Mysterious 1956 Chevrolet Nomad Emerges With More Questions Than Answers
30 Jun 2024, 18:44 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Produced from 1955 to 1957, the Chevrolet Tri-Five was among the most popular vehicles of its era. Offered in three trim packages and several body styles, the nameplate moved a whopping five million units over three model years. But not all version...
1970 Plymouth Superbird Is a HEMI Trickster, Shows Off Tiny Surprise on the Dash
30 Jun 2024, 12:57 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In 1969, Dodge took the muscle car segment by storm with the Charger Daytona. Fitted with a quirky nose cone and a massive rear wing, the Daytona found its way into showrooms for homologation purposes. In 1970, Plymouth unleashed its own version of...
This 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Is a One-Year Gem With a Rare Feature
29 Jun 2024, 19:00 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Produced from 1968 through 1975 (before it became a package on a compact), the Plymouth Road Runner spent four years in the golden muscle car era. Plymouth sold nearly 176,000 units from 1968 to 1971, so the Road Runner is quite the common performa...
Lotus Carlton Abandoned for 30 Years Is an Unlikely Yard Find
29 Jun 2024, 13:57 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Formed in 1952, Lotus quickly became famous for its lightweight sports cars and reliable Formula One rigs. Lotus won seven constructors' championships between 1963 and 1978 and gave us iconic vehicles like the Seven, Elan, and Esprit. Come ...
1971 Plymouth Cuda Neglected for Decades Doesn't Need a HEMI To Be Rare
28 Jun 2024, 16:13 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Redesigned for the 1970 model year, the third-gen Plymouth Barracuda ditched its Valiant origins and adopted the new E-body platform. The makeover brought nearly 49,000 buyers into showrooms, but the pony car's success was short-lived. The fol...
1963 Pontiac Catalina Packs a Nasty Surprise Under the Hood, It's Rarer Than Hen's Teeth
28 Jun 2024, 13:55 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1950 as a trim level on the Chieftain, the Catalina became a stand-alone nameplate for the 1959 model year. Produced until 1981, it was Pontiac's bread-and-butter full-size car for many years. With 3.7 million units sold, it was ...
1969 Plymouth HEMI Road Runner Looks Stunning in B5 Blue, Numbers Match
28 Jun 2024, 11:36 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Having already introduced a couple of fancied-up versions of the Belvedere in 1965 and 1967 (the Satellite and the GTX), Plymouth concluded it also needed a dedicated muscle car with an affordable sticker. It filled that gap with the Road Runner fo...
This Rare 1955 President Speedster Was Studebaker's Answer to the Ford Thunderbird
27 Jun 2024, 20:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1956, the Studebaker Golden Hawk is widely regarded as the company's first personal luxury car. It was aimed at the Ford Thunderbird, which arrived in 1955 to kickstart the new segment. However, Studebaker actually offered a pers...
Low-Mileage 1970 Dodge HEMI Challenger Parked for 49 Years Is a $500K Time Capsule
27 Jun 2024, 13:29 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to 1970 Dodge Challengers, many say it doesn't get better than a HEMI-powered R/T in pristine condition. Well, it can get much better if the Mopar in question is a low-mileage and unrestored time capsule. Like the HEMI Orange exa...
Barn Find Hunter Unearths Super Rare 1966 Ford F-100 Sleeping Bear Dunesmobile
27 Jun 2024, 11:30 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Classic Ford F-Series pickup trucks are quite desirable nowadays, but they're not rare or very valuable. In fact, most of these rigs are turned into restomods rather than restored to original specifications. Well, there's one fourth-gener...
One-of-None 1969 Plymouth Road Runner Flexes Pink Paint, Unexpected V8 Under the Hood
26 Jun 2024, 20:25 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it redesigned the Belvedere midsize for the 1965 model year, Plymouth decided it needed a more exclusive muscle car with premium features. The Satellite was born. Two years later, the company took things up a notch with the GTX. Sporting an ev...