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.
This Stunning 1960 Pontiac Bonneville Will Make You Forget About the Chevrolet Impala
2 Nov 2022, 14:43 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1958, the Chevrolet Impala sold almost 200,000 examples in its first year on the market. Accounting for 15% of Chevrolet production that year, the Impala helped the company regain the number one production spot in America. Deliveri...
Ford Transit Digital Nomad Camper Brings Motorhome-like Awesomeness to SEMA
2 Nov 2022, 11:38 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The Ford Transit van may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of off-road-capable campers, but there are quite a few cool aftermarket conversions out there. John Pangilinan joined in on the fun with the Digital Nomad, which...
2023 Ford Maverick Gets the ST Treatment at SEMA but It's Not What You Think
2 Nov 2022, 10:22 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In production since 2021, the Ford Maverick has been a massive success. Light, versatile, and affordable, the Maverick proved that the U.S. market was finally ready for a compact pickup truck. But now that the Maverick is a common sight on publi...
1972 AMC Javelin Is a Fancy Pierre Cardin Edition With a Nasty Surprise Under the Hood
1 Nov 2022, 18:54 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Built from 1967 to 1974, the AMC Javelin is an almost forgotten pony car from the golden era. But that's not to say that it wasn't as hot as the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, or Dodge Challenger. Introduced as a replacement for the R...
Abandoned Peugeot 205 GTi Sleeping Under a Tarp Begs for Total Restoration
31 Oct 2022, 18:48 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When talking about barn finds, we usually think about American classics of the full-size or muscle car variety. But there are just as many European vehicles waiting to be saved around the world. The hot hatchback you see here is one of them. I&#...
1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Drag Races 1978 Chevrolet Corvette, Someone Gets Walked
31 Oct 2022, 15:17 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Do you what's better than seeing restored muscle cars paraded at classic car shows? Seeing them race against each other for quarter-mile glory. Yup, you guessed it, it's time for yet another duel of the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race (PS...
1971 Plymouth HEMI Road Runner NASCAR Found on a Field, Has Been Missing for Decades
31 Oct 2022, 11:33 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Finding derelict classic cars on a field is nothing too spectacular nowadays. There are millions of cars rotting away in the open and most of them are nothing to write home about in terms of desirability. But from time to time, barn find explorers ...
1964 Ford Thunderbolt "HEMI Hunter" Needs a New Home and Costs a Fortune
30 Oct 2022, 20:09 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to muscle cars from the golden era, it's the late 1960s and early 1970s models that usually get all the attention. But Detroit made some insanely cool cars earlier than that. I'm talking about the road-legal dragsters that c...
Unofficial 2023 GMC Sportback Is the Luxury Sedan We'll Never Get
30 Oct 2022, 19:00 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Established in 1911 as the General Motors Truck Company, GMC has produced pickup trucks, heavy-duty haulers, SUVs, buses, and vans for more than 100 years. Beginning in 1920, GMC and Chevrolet vehicles became largely similar, but as the decades ...
Citroen 2CV "Dölüggs" Is a Custom Mini Truck Hauling a Camper Built From Scratch
30 Oct 2022, 14:50 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Built from 1948 all the way to 1990, the Citroen 2CV is almost as iconic as the Volkswagen Beetle. And just like its German counterpart, it was offered in a variety of body styles. The hatchback variant, known as a four-door saloon, is arguably ...
1951 Mercury Truck Parked for 50 Years Roars Back to Life Just in Time for Halloween
29 Oct 2022, 16:20 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Discontinued in 2011, Mercury is mostly remembered for cars like the Cougar, Marauder, Montclair, and Grand Marquis. But Ford's medium-priced brand also built pickup trucks for a couple of decades. Not only almost forgotten, but these haulers ...
World's Roughest 1969 Dodge Charger Spent Decades in the Woods and It Still Runs
29 Oct 2022, 12:16 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Seeing a classic car wasting away in a barn is sad but that's actually a pretty good fate compared to a vehicle that spent decades outside, because it takes only a few years of exposure to the elements to turn a lovely classic into a rust buck...
1964 Plymouth Belvedere Spent 30 Years in the Bushes, Poly V8 Refuses To Die
28 Oct 2022, 17:37 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Produced from 1954 to 1970, the Belvedere is one of Plymouth's most iconic nameplates. Introduced as a full-size car, the Belvedere was downsized to intermediate duty in 1962. And that's when things became a lot more interesting. Now I...
Alex Van Halen's 1955 Chevy Bel Air Is a Modern Take on the Infamous Black Widow
28 Oct 2022, 15:21 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Eddie Van Halen, arguably one of the greatest guitar players in rock history, left behind an impressive car collection when he passed away in 2020. But he wasn't the only classic car enthusiast in the band. His brother, Alex Van Halen, is also...
1969 Mercury Cougar 428 SCJ Drag Pak Is Luxury Muscle Car Royalty, Also Unique
28 Oct 2022, 13:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to FoMoCo muscle cars from the golden era, we usually think about the Mustang. And it makes sense because the first-gen pony spawned a long list of awesome machines, including the Shelby GT500, the Boss 429, and the Cobra Jet. But For...
1951 Chevrolet Styleline Owned and Driven by Steve McQueen Pops Up for Sale
27 Oct 2022, 20:59 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Steve McQueen is mostly remembered for man-handling a green 1968 Ford Mustang in "Bullitt," but he drove and owned far more spectacular cars. The list includes a couple of first-gen Porsche 911s and a pair of very expensive Ferraris: a 19...
1966 Dodge Charger HEMI 4-Speed Is a Numbers-Matching Gem, 426 V8 Still Roars
27 Oct 2022, 19:20 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Chrysler built quite a few iconic engines in almost 100 years of existence, but none is as celebrated as the 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) HEMI. The naturally aspirated V8 was produced for only a few years, but it left a big mark on the golden muscle ...
1966 Dodge Charger Camper Is the Vintage Muscle Motorhome You Never Knew Existed
27 Oct 2022, 16:20 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / If you're into vintage RVs, you probably heard of the GMC Motorhome or the Winnebago Chieftain. Because, let's face it, they're both as iconic as they get. But did you know that someone was crazy enough to turn a 1966 Dodge Charger i...
Barn-Found 1968 Plymouth Barracuda Is Now a Stunner With a Big Surprise Under the Hood
27 Oct 2022, 14:10 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Seeing classic cars come out of long-term storage is one of the greatest automotive things out there. However, not all barn finds morph into Concours-winning rigs. Some aren't valuable enough to restore so they end up as parts cars. This 1968 ...
2023 Ferrari Le Mans Hypercar Spotted Testing at Monza Ahead of Official Unveiling
26 Oct 2022, 15:07 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / It's been more than two years since Ferrari announced its return to prototype endurance racing and its race-spec hypercar is finally around the corner. Spotted testing at Fiorano and Portimao earlier in 2022, the yet unnamed racer was caught s...