Ciprian Florea
7,286 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.
Forget About the Max Wedge, This 1964 Dodge Polara Packs a Blown HEMI
28 Sep 2023, 14:50 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Built from 1960 to 1973, the Dodge Polara isn't usually associated with high performance despite sharing some engines with golden-era muscle cars. It was the company's top-of-the-line full-size car for most of its showroom life, except fo...
This Perfectly Restored 1957 Chevy Bel Air Is What All Barn Finds Hope To Become
28 Sep 2023, 11:06 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1955, the Chevrolet Tri-Five remained in production for only three years. It became an instant hit, moved almost five million examples, and is now regarded as a design iconic of the 1950s. Chevrolet offered the Tri-Five in three tr...
Pink Panther 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Is a Cute Mopar With a Big-Block Punch
27 Sep 2023, 15:15 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In 1964, Ford and Plymouth established the pony car segment with the Mustang and Barracuda. Chevrolet jumped on the bandwagon with the Camaro in 1966. Dodge, on the other hand, did not join the market until 1969. That's when it introduced the ...
Triple Green 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 Comes With Two Engines, Stunning Looks
27 Sep 2023, 13:10 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, nothing beats an SS 454 LS6. A one-year wonder, this muscle car was equipped with one of Chevrolet's greatest big-block V8 engines, the 454-cubic-inch (7.4-liter) LS6. Rated at 450 horsepower, it t...
1970 Plymouth HEMI 'Cuda Convertible Is a Plum Crazy Gem With a Handful of Secrets
26 Sep 2023, 16:18 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Add a "HEMI" badge next to any Mopar from the golden muscle car era, and you get a super rare classic. Regardless of model year and whether we're talking about a Dodge or a Plymouth. But while hardtops are scarce, convertibles are ev...
Super Rare 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle LS6 Emerges at Yard Sale With Psychedelic Stripes
26 Sep 2023, 14:08 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1963 in response to the downsized fourth-generation Ford Fairlane, the Chevelle quickly became one of Chevrolet's best-selling nameplates. In 1970, the Chevelle moved a whopping 635,558 units, including the Monte Carlo luxury cou...
This 1970 Dodge Charger R/T Is a Rare 440–6 Gem With an Unusual Color Combo
26 Sep 2023, 12:30 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1966 as a sleek fastback with a premium interior, the Dodge Charger was the least popular B-body during its first year in showrooms. The nameplate moved only 37,344 units, a small fraction of the Coronet's quarter-million deliver...
All-Original 1965 Shelby GT350 Sells for $522,500, Sets Record for Non-R Cars
25 Sep 2023, 09:54 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / With only 572 units built, the 1965 Shelby GT350 is not only the first-year iteration of the beefed-up Mustang but also one of the most expensive Fords ever auctioned. This particular model, an all-original pony car, changed hands for $522,500, inc...
Take a Closer Look at the One-of-None 1970 Plymouth "Paint Chip" 'Cuda
24 Sep 2023, 16:56 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Looking to spice things up in the muscle car segment, Chrysler introduced the E-body platform in 1969. It was used for the third-generation Plymouth Barracuda and the first-gen Dodge Challenger. At the same time, Chrysler also launched the High Imp...
1969 Ford Mustang SCJ Begs for Total Restoration, Bad News Under the Hood
23 Sep 2023, 19:56 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / 1969 was a great year for American muscle cars. Chevrolet had the Corvette, Chevelle, and Camaro, while Dodge sold the Charger, Super Bee, and Coronet. Plymouth had three cool rigs in showrooms: the Barracuda, GTX, and Road Runner. Ford was offerin...
1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator Found in a Field Is a Super Rare Boss 302
23 Sep 2023, 12:21 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The pony car segment emerged in 1964 when Plymouth and Ford introduced the Barracuda and Mustang only a few weeks apart. In late 1966, Chevrolet jumped on the bandwagon with the Camaro. And just one day after Chevy launched its pony car, Mercury un...
This 1953 Airfloat Navigator Is an Affordable Vintage Camper With a Stylish Interior
22 Sep 2023, 13:10 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Established by Omar Suttles in the 1930s, Airfloat is one of the oldest names in the history of American camper manufacturing. But it's also one of the most overlooked, which isn't all that surprising given that it competed against Airstr...
Once a Battered Movie Star, This 1970 Dodge HEMI Challenger Is Now a Museum-Grade Gem
22 Sep 2023, 10:28 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / What's your favorite movie car? Are you into Batmobiles, or do you prefer production vehicles like Steve McQueen's 1968 Ford Mustang from "Bullit?" How about an unassuming Mopar like the white 1970 Dodge Challenger used in "...
Rare 1970 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda Hides an Unexpected Surprise Inside the Cabin
21 Sep 2023, 20:04 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1964, two weeks before the Ford Mustang, the Barracuda was Plymouth's entry into the then-emerging pony car market. But as the years passed, Chrysler moved the nameplate deeper into muscle car territory. In 1970, the third-genera...
This 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Is a Japan-Spec Cobra Jet Survivor in Fabulous Condition
21 Sep 2023, 13:49 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1969, the Mach 1 was one of no fewer than six performance-oriented Ford Mustangs that year. And despite sitting alongside Boss and Shelby models in dealerships, it became a massive hit, moving more than 70,000 units. The Mach 1's...
Family-Owned, All-Original 1957 Chevrolet 150 Parked for 40 Years Roars Back to Life
21 Sep 2023, 11:54 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1955, the Chevrolet Tri-Five became an instant hit, selling almost five million units over three model years. What made it so popular? "What didn't?" is a far more accurate question because the Tri-Five had it all. I...
Triple-Black 1970 Dodge Challenger Convertible Hides a Nasty Surprise Under the Hood
20 Sep 2023, 20:22 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced for the 1970 model year, the Dodge Challenger debuted with a bang and moved almost 77,000 examples in the United States. This figure makes it a somewhat common classic, but specific versions are rare. The HEMI is arguably the scarcest...
1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk Barn Find With Rare V8 Comes Back to Life After 50 Years
20 Sep 2023, 13:11 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In July 2023, I told you about an awesome 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk that emerged from a barn after several decades. A rare Packard-powered wonder, the two-door hardtop was surprisingly original and unmolested. Well, a little more than two months ...
This 1968 Plymouth HEMI GTX Convertible Is a 1-of-1 Gem With Racing History
20 Sep 2023, 11:09 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Early muscle cars made their way into dealerships in the early 1960s as affordable performance cars. However, it didn't take long for more premium automakers like Oldsmobile, Buick, and Mercury to jump on the bandwagon. To counter this movemen...
Hear the Sauber-Mercedes C9 Flex Its Le Mans-Winning Twin-Turbo V8
19 Sep 2023, 15:14 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Some say the 1950s and 1960s were the golden decades of motorsport. And I can't argue with that because the said period is loaded with massive achievements in both Formula One and endurance racing. But when it comes to sports car racing, I thi...