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.
1956 GMC Fleet Option Truck Is a Rare Barn Find, Gets Revived After 50 Years
14 Jul 2022, 08:50 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1955, the Chevrolet Task Force replaced the Advance Design and made the transition to the iconic and long-lived C/K series. It's not a particularly desirable and expensive classic now, but it's sought-after by Chevy truck en...
Massive Collection Is Loaded With Rare, Low-Mileage Muscle Cars, All for Sale
13 Jul 2022, 16:39 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Collecting classic cars is a widespread hobby nowadays. And many of them are available to the public eye through either museums or YouTube vlogs like "Jay Leno's Garage." But there are far more collections that we're not aware o...
One-of-One 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Flexes Rare, Flashy Interior Option
13 Jul 2022, 13:43 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / 1969 was a big year for the Ford Mustang. Not only it received a significant facelift, but the pony also debuted three historically important models that year: the Mach 1, Boss 302, and the Boss 429. While the Mach 1 was more of an appearance pa...
Clark Gable's 1941 Cadillac Series 62 Is Unique in So Many Ways
13 Jul 2022, 11:26 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / One of Cadillac's most iconic nameplates, the Series 62 debuted in 1940, right before the U.S. joined WW2 and automobile production came to a halt. The nameplate returned in 1946 and remained in production for almost two decades, becoming one ...
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Barn Find Flexes Mysterious V8 and Four-Speed Manual
12 Jul 2022, 19:35 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Built in more than five million units over three years, the Chevrolet Tri-Five is anything but rare. But it's a highly desirable classic, especially in Bel Air and Nomad trim. However, many of them are still abandoned in junkyards and barns, w...
This Gigantic Diesel Engine Is 90 Years Old and Cranks Out 22,500 Horsepower
12 Jul 2022, 15:29 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Fans of diesel-powered pickup trucks may remember the 7.3-liter (444-cubic-inch) Powerstroke that Ford introduced in the 1990s. It's one of the largest oil burners ever fitted in a production model. However, it's nowhere near as big and p...
1959 Morris Minor Traveller Wagon Spent 40 Years in a Barn, Refuses to Die
12 Jul 2022, 12:41 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Built from 1948 to 1971 in more than 1.6 million units, the Morris Minor is an absolute legend in the United Kingdom. And while it's far from iconic on U.S. soil, some of these cute subcompacts have made it to North America over the years. Thi...
That Time Chrysler Built a Quirky Convertible Truck for Hollywood
12 Jul 2022, 11:07 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / As a car brand, Chrysler is mostly famous for the HEMI engine and vehicles like the Airflow, the 300 series, and the Town & Country. But while it offered a short list of SUVs and minivans in recent decades, Chrysler never built pickup trucks. E...
1-of-17 1969 Shelby Mustang GT500 Is a True Barn Find Survivor in Calypso Coral
11 Jul 2022, 20:09 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1967, the Shelby GT500 quickly became the ultimate Ford Mustang. And even though it was superseded by the KR (King of the Road) in 1968, it morphed into a rare and highly desirable collectible. Come 2022, and these muscle cars are ...
Abandoned Property Is Home to a Stash of Rare Cars Made by a Forgotten Automaker
11 Jul 2022, 15:54 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Loaded with derelict classic cars in need of a better life, junkyards are often depressing. But I think it gets even worse when the said vehicles were built by an automaker that was sent into the history books many decades ago. When it comes to ...
Abandoned 1971 Plymouth Duster Is Still Sassy in Green, Unexpected Surprise Under the Hood
11 Jul 2022, 13:36 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1969 as a fastback coupe version of the Valiant, the Plymouth Duster was discontinued only seven years later. But that short stint was enough to turn it into a desirable classic. Granted, the Duster is not as sought-after as other ...
1970 Dodge Super Bee Was Abandoned for 40 Years, Gets a Second Chance
11 Jul 2022, 10:57 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1968 as Dodge's low-priced competitor to the Plymouth Road Runner, the Super Bee remained in production for only four model years. But even though it was the brand's most affordable muscle car, it wasn't particularly po...
1970 Chevrolet Corvette Has Been Sitting for Too Long, Nice Surprise Under the Hood
10 Jul 2022, 20:17 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Built from 1967 to 1981, the third-generation Chevrolet Corvette entered the market during the golden muscle car era and retired after several model years in the Malaise era. As a result, early C3 models are now significantly more popular with coll...
Disgusting 1966 Mercury Montclair Barn Find Gets First Wash in 26 Years
10 Jul 2022, 13:23 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Barn-found classics usually come out into the light covered in thick layers of dust. And sometimes, you can't tell what hides underneath. This 1966 Mercury Montclair is one of those cars that's still in solid condition after decades in a ...
1958 Plymouth Savoy Barn Find Is No "Christine", Still Has a Mind of Its Own
8 Jul 2022, 20:16 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1954 as Plymouth's mid-level full-size car, the Savoy remained in production for only 10 years. And while it's nowhere near as iconic as the Belvedere, it shares the same design features that made the mid-to-late-1950s Plymo...
Rare 1970 Dodge Challenger With Mysterious V8 Spent Decades in a Junkyard, Gets Saved
8 Jul 2022, 14:28 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1970, the Dodge Challenger was a bit late to the muscle car party, yet it established itself as one of the hottest Mopars out there. And even though it was short-lived, being discontinued in 1974, the first-gen Challenger left a few h...
World's Rarest and Most Mysterious Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Hits the Track
8 Jul 2022, 11:34 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced for the 1997 FIA GT Championship, the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR went on to dominate the series for two consecutive years. A great achievement when running against the McLaren F1 GTR and the Porsche 911 GT1. But more importantly, the venture ...
Perfectly Restored 1969 Ford Cobra Has a Mysterious Past, Matching 428 Cobra Jet V8
7 Jul 2022, 14:46 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Used on a series of Mustangs produced from 1993 to 2004, a 428-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) high-performance engine (1968-1970), and a Mustang-based factory dragster, the Cobra is one of Ford's most iconic badges. But did you know that the company a...
This 1969 Volkswagen Super Bugger Is a Tiny RV With a Cute Face, Doesn't Come Cheap
6 Jul 2022, 20:07 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1938 and 1950, respectively, the Beetle and the Microbus are Volkswagen's most iconic nameplates. Built for many decades, they spawned more than 24 million units between them and helped VW establish itself as a global manufacture...
1961 Ford Galaxie Spent 24 Years in a Barn, 390 Big-Block V8 Comes Back to Life
6 Jul 2022, 17:12 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1959 as the range-topping model of the full-size Ford range, the Galaxie was redesigned for the 1960 model year. And while the second-gen version remained in production until 1964, a notable facelift changed the Galaxie's looks a...