Ciprian Florea
7,287 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.
World's Lowest-Mileage 1969 Dodge HEMI Daytona Sells for Record $1.4 Million
14 Jan 2023, 16:00 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1969 as a NASCAR-spec, more radical take on the Charger 500, the Dodge Daytona morphed into a rare and highly desirable classic in the 21st century. To the point where HEMI-powered examples have already surpassed the $1 million mark. ...
Plain-Looking 1964 Dodge Polara 500 Is Actually a Rare Sleeper With a Street Wedge V8
13 Jan 2023, 17:03 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1960 as the company's top-of-the-line full-size automobile, the Dodge Polara remained in production until 1973 (it was sold as a midsize between 1962-1964). But despite its relatively long time in showrooms, it's not the fir...
Pink 1970 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda Sells for Record Price at Auction
13 Jan 2023, 14:57 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Even though it was introduced a couple of weeks before the 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang, the Plymouth Barracuda doesn't get much recognition as America's first pony car. But that's not exactly surprising given that it wasn't as popular...
Toyota Revamps Iconic AE86 Classics With Hydrogen and Electric Power at TAS 2023
13 Jan 2023, 12:45 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Toyota's concept car lineup for the Tokyo Auto Salon 2023 revolves around the small yet cool GR Yaris, but the Japanese company also used the event to showcase a couple of intriguing Corolla AE86 classics powered by carbon-neutral drivetrains....
Fully Restored 1968 Ford Mustang Is a Rare Candy Apple Red Coupe With Cobra Jet Power
12 Jan 2023, 17:46 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to high-performance first-generation Ford Mustangs, people mostly remember the Shelby GT350 and GT500 that Carroll rolled out from 1965 to 1969. But Ford also built a few beefed-up pony cars on its own. Two of them rolled out the a...
Stack Injected 1964 Ford Galaxie Is Pure Eye Candy, Sounds Vicious
12 Jan 2023, 16:16 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1959 as a competitor to the Chevrolet Impala, the Galaxie was Ford's top-of-the-line full-size model until 1974. And much like its Chevy-badged rival, it was available in many body styles and spawned quite a few limited-edition v...
One-of-14 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350 Pre-Production Prototype Is a Stunning Survivor
12 Jan 2023, 13:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1964 as a rather mild pony car, the Ford Mustang needed only a few months to morph into a muscle car. It happened in 1965 thanks to Carroll Shelby, who gave the 'Stang the "Cobra" treatment by making it lighter and more...
5 Most Insane Cars Ever Designed by Carroll Shelby
11 Jan 2023, 17:14 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Born on January 11, 1923, Carroll Shelby would have turned 100 years old today. And it's the perfect opportunity to celebrate the man that built some of the coolest and most iconic performance cars out there. From the Shelby Cobra to the Do...
This Chevrolet K5 Blazer Is Actually a 700-Horsepower Corvette in Disguise
11 Jan 2023, 14:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Revived in 2019, the Chevrolet Blazer is now a somewhat stylish crossover that's more about urban practicality rather than ruggedness. But when Chevy first introduced the nameplate in 1969, it was all about no-nonsense, boxy looks, and off-roa...
1991 GMC Syclone Gets Professional Detailing, Looks Ready to Embarrass Ferraris Again
10 Jan 2023, 16:48 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / High-performance trucks are anything but unusual nowadays but things were quite different a few decades ago. Because carmakers didn't start taking fast haulers seriously until the 1990s. Sure, Dodge took the plunge much earlier with the Li&...
1968 Plymouth GTX 440 Six Barrel That Shouldn't Exist Is Quite Real and Awesome
10 Jan 2023, 13:54 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1967 as a more upscale alternative to the two-door Belvedere, the Plymouth GTX became known as "the gentleman's muscle car." It wasn't exactly luxurious, but it offered more convenience features than the regular mu...
The Infamous 1970 Dodge Challenger "Black Ghost" Meets 2023 Sibling at Kissimmee
9 Jan 2023, 17:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Hey, did you hear the big news? The infamous 1970 Dodge HEMI Challenger "Black Ghost" is back in the spotlight after spending a few good years in hiding. No, it didn't return to terrorize street racers again, but to find itself a new...
Hennessey Unveils Track-Focused Venom F5 Revolution, Costs $2.7 Million
9 Jan 2023, 15:31 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Back in August 2022, Hennessey unveiled the Venom F5 Roadster, the open-top version of its absurdly powerful supercar. Come 2023 and it seems that the Texas-based carmarker isn't yet done with the Venom F5. With the coupe version already sold ...
This Low-Mileage Lamborghini Countach Was Hidden for 30 Years in Venezuela
9 Jan 2023, 14:04 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The Lamborghini Countach is almost 50 years old as of 2023 and, fittingly enough, well-maintained examples are now worth more than $500K. And while the Countach is not among the classics we usually find in barns, some lesser-known examples have sta...
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Gets First Wash in Decades, Reveals Cool Patina
8 Jan 2023, 18:56 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / With 1955-to-1957 Chevrolet Bel Air prices crazy high nowadays, you'd be tempted to think that all Tri-Fives have been taken out of storage and prepped for the auction block. But no, many of them are still waiting for their chance to shine. Th...
Extremely Rare 1971 Mercury Cougar XR-7 Flexes a Performance Option We All Love
7 Jan 2023, 16:00 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In 1964, both Ford and the Plymouth introduced America's first pony cars only a couple of weeks apart. I am, of course, talking about the Mustang and the Barracuda, respectively. The former became an instant hit and sold more than a half-milli...
1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Sees Daylight After 45 Years, It's an Amazing Survivor
6 Jan 2023, 19:01 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Built from 1955 until 1957, the Chevrolet Tri-Five is one of the most iconic designs from the 1950s. It's also one of the most desirable nameplates among classic car enthusiasts, regardless of whether we're talking about all-original exam...
This Tiny Museum Is a Luxurious Trip Down Rolls-Royce Memory Lane
6 Jan 2023, 17:22 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Founded a whopping 117 years ago as of 2023, Rolls-Royce is, without a doubt, the most iconic manufacturer of luxury cars in the world. At least among the brands that still exist. So it's not surprising that many of its classic models are spen...
World's Most Extreme Vauxhall Chevette Is an All-Black Tribute to a Forgotten Race Car
6 Jan 2023, 14:29 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to classic Chevrolets, the Chevette isn't among the first nameplates that come to mind. In fact, it's pretty much at the bottom of the list in terms of popularity. Because it's a subcompact that was born out of the comp...
"Money Trap" Is a 1969 Ford Mustang With a 427 Side-Oiler and Hand-Painted Snakes
5 Jan 2023, 16:38 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The first-generation Ford Mustang is one of the coolest classic muscle cars out there, especially if we're talking about the medium- and big-block models of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Yup, that would be the mighty Cobra Jet and the Boss 4...