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.
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in Panther Pink Is a Hi-Impact, Big-Block Mystery
19 Jul 2023, 15:21 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / What's your favorite thing about late-1960s and early-1970s Mopar muscle cars? I'm guessing the 426 HEMI V8 is the most popular answer, and I totally get it. That big lump is both powerful and rare, not to mention sexy to look at. But I h...
1970 Plymouth Cuda in FY4 Gold Flexes a Rare and Controversial Feature
19 Jul 2023, 13:28 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced for the 1970 model year, the third-generation Plymouth Barracuda is one of the most desirable muscle cars from the golden era. All due to its decidedly aggressive appearance and optional big-block V8 power. Sure, the Barracuda was als...
Rare 1916 Federal Truck Spent 50 Years in a Barn, Engine Refuses To Die
19 Jul 2023, 10:34 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Unearthing classic cars that spent decades in barns is lovely, but it all gets even better when the vehicles in question fire up and run again. It doesn't happen very often, but it's incredibly satisfying. If you've seen one too many...
Richard Petty's 1965 Plymouth Barracuda A/FX Surfaces in a Junkyard, It's a Total Wreck
18 Jul 2023, 19:10 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Richard Petty is mainly known for his career as a NASCAR driver. And that's not surprising given the countless achievements he added to his name in 34 years on the oval track. With 200 career wins, seven Cup Series championships, and a record ...
1947 Nash Ambassador Gasser Hidden for 37 Years Flaunts Psychedelic Livery, SBC V8
18 Jul 2023, 10:47 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Largely forgotten now that Nash Motors is no longer around, the Ambassador was a pretty innovative rig back in the day. The brand's flagship model, the Ambassador, debuted in 1927 and remained in production until 1957. In the 1930s, the Ambass...
Volkswagen Beetle Barn Find Morphs Into Gorgeous Survivor After First Wash in 33 Years
17 Jul 2023, 14:47 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Built from 1938 to 2003, the original Volkswagen Beetle has a few incredible numbers to brag about. For starters, it was sold for a whopping 65 years without a significant redesign, a unique feat in the automotive industry. It was built in no fewer...
Big Farm Field Is Loaded With Rare Dodge and Plymouth Muscle Cars
17 Jul 2023, 12:07 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to rare Mopars, we usually think about HEMI-powered Dodges and Plymouths from the golden muscle car era. With some 8,500 cars built from 1966 to 1971, classic HEMI rigs are indeed rare, desirable, and expensive nowadays. But a Mopar d...
All Original and Unrestored 1969 Plymouth Barracuda Is the Perfect Time Capsule
15 Jul 2023, 11:06 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Most late-1960s muscle cars usually fall into two categories. We have unrestored examples that are in poor condition on one side and restored units with replacement parts on the other side. Some fall in between, but we rarely see unrestored survivo...
This 1965 Buick Riviera GS Is a Rare Museum Piece With Super Wildcat Power
14 Jul 2023, 16:34 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1962 as a stand-alone production model, the Riviera name can be traced back to 1949. That's when Buick used it on the two-door hardtop version of the Roadmaster. The term also appeared on Super, Special, and Century models in the...
Take a Closer Look at the "New" Mercedes SLR McLaren HDK, Limited to 12 Units
14 Jul 2023, 12:29 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Launched in 2003 as a tribute to the 300 SLR of the 1950s, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren remained in production all the way until 2010. The nameplate spawned six different iterations and a run of 2,157 units. But while production stopped in 2010...
The Wild Porsche Mission R Joins Real Racing 3, Update Also Includes Morgan Plus Six
14 Jul 2023, 09:08 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Remember when EA announced the successor to Real Racing 3 in 2021? Well, we haven't heard much about it since, but the current 10-year-old iteration is still running strong with monthly updates. The latest update will hit your mobile phone on ...
Long-Lost 1938 Chevrolet Bonneville Record Car Found in a Yard After 50 Years
13 Jul 2023, 14:55 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / A "barn find" is commonly described as a classic car that has been rediscovered after being stored for a long time. And more often than not, the vehicle's presence in the barn is known to the owner. Sometimes, however, barns and yard...
Lamborghini Unveils SC63 Hypercar, Will Compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
13 Jul 2023, 10:21 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When talking about Lamborghini race cars, we usually think about the GT3 class. Well, starting in 2024, Lamborghini will compete in the premier category of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The Italian company just unveiled the SC63 hypercar at...
2023 Goodwood FoS: Alpine Expands A110 Bespoke Program With Three New Liveries
12 Jul 2023, 14:08 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / First showcased in May 2023, the Alpine A290 Beta is one of the most anticipated concept car debuts at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed. But the French company is also introducing a trio of new liveries for the A110 sports car at the British eve...
Rare 1970 Olds Cutlass Pace Car Hits the Drag Strip, Races 1974 Chevrolet Corvette
12 Jul 2023, 11:52 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Pace cars were a big deal in the golden muscle car era. Not only because they set the pace at iconic races like the Indy 500 but also because many of them morphed into limited-edition production models. Some, like the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS, are ...
Maserati Unveils Ghibli 334 Ultima and Levante V8 Ultima, Ferrari-Developed V8 Getting Cut
12 Jul 2023, 10:33 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / As we learned earlier in 2023, Maserati will no longer offer its Ferrari-developed, twin-turbo V8 engine in 2024. The Italian has now confirmed once again that the long-running F136 lump is going into the history books with two special-edition mode...
Massive Mopar Collection Hidden From Civilization Is Packed With Rare Cars
11 Jul 2023, 14:22 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / While most derelict classic cars spend their retirement years in scrapyards, some of them are still with their owners. And I'm not talking about vehicles locked up in barns. Nope, some are stashed away in large crowds, hidden from civilization...
The 2023 Ferrari 296 GT3 Is Proof That Supercars Don't Need V8 Engines to Sound Cool
11 Jul 2023, 11:20 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In a world charging fast toward electrification, the days of V8 and V12 powerplants seem numbered. Including for high-profile supercar manufacturers like Ferrari and Lamborghini. We still have a few more years of V12 goodness to enjoy, but the pros...
Gorgeous 1969 Plymouth GTX Rocks Custom Paint and "Coyote Duster" 440
10 Jul 2023, 17:17 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced for the 1967 model year, the Plymouth GTX arrived as a fancied-up Belvedere in showrooms. And it was pretty much Plymouth's alternative to the Dodge Charger, which was still marketed as an upscale muscle car at the time. But the GTX...
Manny Khoshbin Buys 2023 Porsche 911 GTS America Edition, Takes It for a Joyride
9 Jul 2023, 12:32 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Last time we checked on Manny Khoshbin, he had taken delivery of his rare, one-of-12 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren HDK. Built by McLaren's MSO division, the HDK was parked next to his other nine SLRs. It's been just a week since we saw the HD...