Ciprian Florea
7,285 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.
Jay Leno Drives the 1964 McLaren M1A, the Company's First-Ever Sports Prototype
27 Feb 2024, 11:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / McLaren didn't release its first production road car until 1992 (the F1), but its legacy goes back to 1963. That's when Bruce McLaren founded his racing outfit. The New Zealander started building his own race cars the following year. M...
Stunning 1955 Chevrolet Nomad Hides a Nice Surprise Under the Hood
26 Feb 2024, 21:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Launched for the 1955 model year, the Chevrolet Tri-Five was an instant hit. The company sold a whopping 1.77 million units, a 54% increase over the 1954 full-size and a US sales record. About 45% of these units were top-tier Bel Air models. The...
Forgotten 1973 Dodge Charger Comes out of Storage, It's a Rare Mr. Norm's Car
26 Feb 2024, 14:24 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1966, the Charger quickly became Dodge's bread-and-butter muscle car. Redesigned for the second time in 1971, the Charger carried over into 1972 without its high-compression big-block V8 engines. Chrysler discontinued the 440 Six...
1969 Dodge Charger R/T Garage Find Gets Satisfying First Wash in 18 Years
26 Feb 2024, 11:35 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Remember the 1969 Dodge Charger R/T I showed you about a week ago? It had emerged from a garage after nearly two decades. Well, the Mopar just got a much-deserved cleaning, the first since it was parked. Documented by YouTube's "Auto A...
First-Year 1964 Pontiac GTO Packs Rare Tri-Power Setup Under Marimba Red Hood
25 Feb 2024, 21:24 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In October 1960, Pontiac joined the emerging compact car market with the Tempest. In 1963, however, the company had a change of heart and re-assigned the nameplate to midsize duty. The shift also included the Le Mans trim package, which spawned the...
Fully Restored 1970 Dodge Coronet Has Two Features That Make It Super Rare
25 Feb 2024, 13:16 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1949 as a top-of-the-line full-size model, the Dodge Coronet was among the company's first post-WWII designs. The nameplate was relegated to entry-level duty in 1955 and remained in production through 1959. Dodge revived the badg...
1968 Ford Mustang Gets First Wash in 18 Years, Becomes Surprise Graduation Gift
24 Feb 2024, 20:57 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Seeing classic cars coming out of storage after many years is a great thing to witness. But it gets even better when the said vehicles are in great shape. And seeing them getting cleaned up and running again makes it all perfect. Yup, it's tim...
This 1966 AMC Rambler Marlin Is a Fabulous Survivor With Original Paint
24 Feb 2024, 19:20 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Established in 1954 by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson, American Motors Corporation (AMC) became America's fourth largest automaker. The company survived for only 34 years until it was purchased by Chrysler in 1988. But even though it...
Pink 1955 Studebaker President Abandoned for 30 Years Runs, Drives, and Needs a New Home
23 Feb 2024, 21:36 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / While it's not the most iconic Studebaker ever produced, the President was an important nameplate for the company. The President debuted in 1926 to replace the Big Six, the firm's premium model. It was one of the finest American automobil...
1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Sounds Vicious up the Goodwood Hill
23 Feb 2024, 18:53 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Established in 1966, the Trans-Am Series attracted ten automakers in its inaugural season and became a highly popular competition. While European carmakers usually contested the "Under 2 liter" class, the "Over 2 liter" category...
1968 Dodge Charger Is Dressed To Impress, Flexes Rare Color
23 Feb 2024, 15:46 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When talking about golden-era Mopars, we usually think about HEMI-powered Dodges and Plymouths in High-Impact colors. And that's not surprising because these cars are both eye-catching and powerful. And based on the current market trends, they...
1968 Dodge Charger Parked for 44 Years Is All Original and Numbers-Matching
22 Feb 2024, 20:26 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / With 96,100 units sold, the 1968 Dodge Charger is anything but rare. However, unrestored examples that are still in one piece more than 50 years since they left the factory are tough to find. The Dark Green Poly example you see here is a fully-fled...
Perfectly Restored 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda Shines in B5 Blue/White Combo
22 Feb 2024, 16:34 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to early third-generation Plymouth Barracudas, it's the early HEMI 'Cuda rigs that take the spotlight. And the reasons are pretty simple: the 426 HEMI is Chrysler's most iconic engine and these cars are rare and highly ...
First-Year 1966 Dodge Charger Looks Stunning in Bright Red
22 Feb 2024, 14:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1968, the second-generation Dodge Charger appears to be the most popular iteration of the nameplate nowadays. And that's not surprising. This version looks far more aggressive than its predecessor and quickly morphed into one of ...
1970 Plymouth GTX Raced for 51 Years Still Rocks Original Limelight Paint, Mystery V8
21 Feb 2024, 15:32 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Having original paint on a 50-year-old car is definitely a deal-breaker if you're into pristine paint jobs. However, it's a plus on the classic car collectors' market, especially if the said vehicle is rare. But have you ever seen a ...
One-Owner 1981 Chevrolet Impala Hides a Controversial Surprise Under the Hood
20 Feb 2024, 16:25 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1958, the highly popular Chevrolet Impala remained in continuous production until 1985. The sixth-generation version, which debuted in 1977, marked the end of the line until Chevy revived the nameplate in 1994. But that's not ...
All-Original and Unrestored 1972 Plymouth Barracuda Is an Incredible Garage Find
20 Feb 2024, 15:05 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced for the 1970 model year, the third-generation Plymouth Barracuda was a massive departure from its predecessors. Built on the brand-new E-body platform, it gained a more aggressive design, and Chrysler's high-compression big-block V8...
1957 Dodge Texan Survivor Is a Super-Rare Find, Takes First Drive in Years
20 Feb 2024, 13:20 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / With the economy in full swing after World War II, both manufacturers and car buyers embraced the "bigger is better" philosophy in the 1950s. Full-size vehicles were selling like hotcakes, and automakers were looking for ways to get even ...
This 1973 Plymouth Road Runner Is One of the Last High-Impact Mopars Ever Built
19 Feb 2024, 20:31 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The jury is still out on when the golden muscle car era came to an end, but to most Mopar enthusiasts, it happened in 1971. That was the final year for Chrysler's high-compression big-block V8 engines, which included the iconic 440-cubic-inch ...
1969 Dodge Charger R/T Garage Find Flaunts Triple-Green Suit, Stripe-Delete Option
19 Feb 2024, 14:34 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1966, the Dodge Charger moved 37,344 units in its first year in showrooms. The following year, however, sales slumped to just 15,788 examples. This prompted Dodge to redesign the Charger, giving it a sportier look and a more mundane i...