WELCOME TO THE MODERN MUSCLE CAR CORRAL

Special Modifications: This is the ‘winter beater’ so that my Chrysler 300C SRT8 can spend the cold months and rainy days in the garage. I bought it with the best intentions, leave it along and just drive it. That lasted 82 miles, at which point the warranty was out the window! The car currently makes 26 pounds of boost and although not what I would call ‘fast’ it certainly punches above its weight class and can hurt some feelings on a twisty road.

It features Ported and Polished Cylinder Heads with Mountune V1 camshafts, Mishimoto Intake with sealed box and snorkel inlet behind the grille Catted Down Pipe with Magnaflow Exhaust Full Mountune cold-side charge pipes with Intercooler Short Throw Shifter Urethane motor/trans inserts with aluminum rear mount support, Boomba brake cooling diffusers, PowerStop Rotors, pads and steel lines Eibach front/rear sway bars, Pierce Racing 6-point lower chassis brace, subframe connectors, front/rear strut tower braces, tunnel brace and rear torsion bar insert, Bilstein Comp B8+ struts/shocks with Mountune Progressive rate springs and urethane seats, 17×8 Sparco wheels. It makes over 300 lb/ft toque at the wheels so it is great from corner to corner and light to light. Now I need to find another winter car…

Special Modifications: I bought this car years ago and actually did six New England winters with it as a daily driver when it was in more ‘stock’ form. It has always been a great car and although a little on the heavy side still moves on down the road for a big land yacht (11.91 @ 117mph). It sits in the garage most days now as I got a little ‘winter beater’ (also featured in this category) to keep the SRT8 out of the snow. 🙂 I don’t see a whole lot of the first gen 300c SRT8s much anymore and love taking it to Cars and Coffee. It rides a little ‘firm’ but it is still my comfortable ‘Old Man Car’. 

It features a 405cid Gen III  Hemi based stroker 11.75:1 Ported and Polished cylinder heads with Manley valves, springs and retainers, SRT MaxPlus Camshaft, Melling Oil Pump, Eagle Crank and Rods with Mahle Pistons, Viking Transmission (NAG1) with 2800 Paramount Stall One Piece 4″ driveshaft from The Driveshaft Shop, WaveTrac mechanical LSD with DSS axles, ST Adjustable Swaybars with Eibach Coilovers, Front/Rear Strut Tower braces with weld-in subframe connectors 20×9 (front) and 20×10 (rear) flow formed wheels (-50 pounds in total over the stock pieces) Engine and Trans both tuned using HPTuners High Flow Cats with Pypes 3.5″ exhaust

Special Modifications: Ben Clymer grew up around cars, working on them from an early age before starting Ben Clymer’s The Body Shop in Southern California. While Ben Clymer has owned 6 different Corvette’s over the years, including a 63 split window, this was the first Corvette that Ben Clymer Jr. has owned. When GM formally announced in July of 2019 that after decades of talk, they would finally transition to the mid engine platform, both Ben Clymer and Ben Clymer Jr placed their deposits on the new upcoming C8 Corvettes and opted for Museum delivery in Bowling Green Kentucky. Due to the world wide reaction to Covid, production delays greatly impacted the Bowling Green assembly line and the initial delivery of late Spring 2020 turned into February 5^th 2021. Both Ben and son flew out to Bowling Green for the Museum tour and deliver (photo attached) and took a week to drive back across the country on a father and son road trip. From the Midwest Plains to the epic Rocky mountains, both were fortunate to experience breathtaking views along with favorable weather (albeit for a snow and Ice storm during the Oklahoma portion of the drive (Photo attached).

Since returning home, both cars have not lived in the garage as Ben Clymer’s Torch Red C8 already has well over 10,000 miles and Ben Jr.’s now is at 32,000 miles as of October 5^th. Both Clymers also participated in the Ron Fellows Corvette Drivers School in Nevada where the instructors coach students on exploring the full 1.3 g-force capabilities of a stock C8 with the Z51 package. Further icing on the cake is the fact that while technology has greatly moved on, the C8s still have the nostalgia of being the last pushrod V8s available to Corvette enthusiasts. Further, Chevrolet made the C8 a vehicle where the bulk of maintenance could be done by the owner. From oil changes to transmission filter changes (photo attached), much of the schedule maintenance does not require a special trip to the dealership, making the C8 an every day super car.

Special Modifications: Ben Clymer grew up around cars, working on them from an early age before starting Ben Clymer’s The Body Shop in Southern California. While Ben Clymer has owned 6 different Corvette’s over the years, including a 63 split window, this was the first Corvette that Ben Clymer Jr. has owned. When GM formally announced in July of 2019 that after decades of talk, they would finally transition to the mid engine platform, both Ben Clymer and Ben Clymer Jr placed their deposits on the new upcoming C8 Corvettes and opted for Museum delivery in Bowling Green Kentucky. Due to the world wide reaction to Covid, production delays greatly impacted the Bowling Green assembly line and the initial delivery of late Spring 2020 turned into February 5^th 2021. Both Ben and son flew out to Bowling Green for the Museum tour and deliver (photo attached) and took a week to drive back across the country on a father and son road trip. From the Midwest Plains to the epic Rocky mountains, both were fortunate to experience breathtaking views along with favorable weather (albeit for a snow and Ice storm during the Oklahoma portion of the drive (Photo attached).

Since returning home, both cars have not lived in the garage as Ben Clymer’s Torch Red C8 already has well over 10,000 miles and Ben Jr.’s now is at 32,000 miles as of October 5^th. Both Clymers also participated in the Ron Fellows Corvette Drivers School in Nevada where the instructors coach students on exploring the full 1.3 g-force capabilities of a stock C8 with the Z51 package. Further icing on the cake is the fact that while technology has greatly moved on, the C8s still have the nostalgia of being the last pushrod V8s available to Corvette enthusiasts. Further, Chevrolet made the C8 a vehicle where the bulk of maintenance could be done by the owner. From oil changes to transmission filter changes (photo attached), much of the schedule maintenance does not require a special trip to the dealership, making the C8 an every day super car.

Special Modifications:

This Dodge Charger puts some muscle into the daily commute. It has a JLT Oil Catch Can, Petty Strut Brace, Carven Exhaust Tips, Rear Diffuser, Diode Dynamics LED smoked side marker lamps. This is my daily driver. At 500hp it is fun and enjoyable. Was looking for a Mustang GT350 at the time but test drove this car and was sold. The car has all the ADAS technology, has a very comfortable ride and aggressive looks. Car was never on my radar till I drove it. I have about 6500 miles on it but still smile every time I get in it!

Special Modifications: Rear Window Louvers, Shelby-style stripes, tinted windows & removable front license plate bracket. 

A stock California Special Mustang usually referred to as a GT/CS. The color is Velocity Blue with Ebony interior highlighted with red stitching. Engine is a 5.0 Coyote with 460 horsepower transferred to a paddle & floor shifted 10 speed automatic transmission. Owner installed rear window louvers & Shelby-style striping. Ford introduced the California Special model in 1968 and has developed a devoted following. A very comfortable driving and handling Mustang.

Special Modifications: All stock….all day….right down to the Ford Mo Co air filter and wipers

Found this Thunderbird five or six years ago in Las Vegas while at SEMA. It’s a vehicle my wife has been asking for our entire married life. Bet $20 on the roulette wheel to win the money to transport home. I lost, of course, and drove it home. Almost a 1600-mile drive back to Chicago. Not one problem. I knew I found a great car! Outside some mechanical maintenance items, the only thing I have had to do is replace the back-window section of the convertible top. Some new sneakers are on the list in 2021 but I plan on owning this vehicle for a very long time.