Ciprian Florea
7,560 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.
Classic Mopar Perfection: Plum Crazy 1970 Dodge Charger Rocks Rare Hemi Setup
24 Nov 2024, 21:41 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Originally introduced as a premium-trimmed fastback, the Dodge Charger was redesigned into a more traditional muscle car in 1968. The makeover brought nearly 100,000 customers into showrooms, a massive increase compared to the 15,788 units sold in ...
This 1-of-1 1964 Ford F-100 427 Is the Factory Drag Truck You Never Knew Existed
24 Nov 2024, 18:45 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In 1964, Ford introduced the Thunderbolt, one of the greatest factory drag racers ever created. Essentially a midsize Fairlane stuffed with the 427-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) V8 offered in full-size cars, the Thunderbolt dominated the 1964 NHRA Wintern...
1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Parked for 60 Years Is a True Survivor With One Flaw
24 Nov 2024, 12:00 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / 1955 was a big year for Chevrolet. It introduced the Tri-Five series and rolled out its first V8 engine in decades. The combo proved successful, and the Tri-Five sold nearly five million examples through 1957. The lineup included various body st...
1966 Dodge Polara With Unusual Badge Is a Bench-Seat Sleeper With a Big-Block Surprise
23 Nov 2024, 15:14 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1960 as a full-size car, the Dodge Polara was re-assigned to intermediate duty in 1962. That's when the nameplate entered the horsepower wars thanks to the iconic Max Wedge engine. In 1965, however, Dodge decided to return the Po...
Unassuming 1955 Chevrolet Townsman Wagon Hides a Nasty Surprise Under the Hood
22 Nov 2024, 17:29 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced for the 1955 model year, the Chevrolet Tri-Five became one of the best-selling vehicles of its time. Produced for three years, the Tri-Five moved nearly five million units. What made it so popular? For starters, the Tri-Five was a loo...
Survivor 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Is Amazingly Original
22 Nov 2024, 15:26 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in April 1964, the Ford Mustang was an instant hit. By 1968, the pony car had already moved over two million units. But sales had been slowing down for a couple of years. Following a 1966 model year with more than 600,000 examples sold, ...
Unrestored 1970 Dodge Challenger Parked for 30 Years Is a Rare R/T SE Six-Pack Gem
21 Nov 2024, 16:43 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to iconic classic cars, the restored ones are arguably the most glamorous. It's downright spectacular for a 50-year-old automobile to look like it just rolled off the assembly line. However, highly original unrestored survivors a...
1967 Pontiac GTO Has It All: Four-Speed, Hood Tach, Stunning Color
21 Nov 2024, 13:36 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced for the 1964 model year, the Pontiac GTO kickstarted the muscle car market. Sure, muscle cars weren't exactly new in 1964, but the Tempest-based model helped popularize high-performance midsize cars and prompted other automakers to ...
One-Owner 1953 Studebaker Commander Parked for Decades Begs for Second Chance
20 Nov 2024, 21:58 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Originally introduced in 1927, the Commander was one of Studebaker's longest-running nameplates. Discontinued in 1935, it returned in 1937 and disappeared again in 1942. The company revived the name from 1947 to 1958 and from 1964 to 1966. ...
Real-Deal 1968 Plymouth Barracuda B029 Flaunts Fiberglass Front Clip, Hemi V8
20 Nov 2024, 15:41 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1964, the Plymouth Barracuda didn't get the iconic 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) Hemi V8 until the third-generation model arrived for the 1970 model year. However, this statement is true only if we consider the Street Hemi powerplan...
Rare 1967 Dodge Dart GT 273 HiPo Doesn't Need a Hemi To Shine
20 Nov 2024, 13:56 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When talking about Dodge vehicles from the golden muscle car era, we usually think about B-body rigs like the Coronet, Charger, and Super Bee. And that makes sense because these cars had the proper looks and oomph. But I think the A-body Dart is a ...
Stunning 1971 Plymouth Cudas Show Off Rare Features, High-Impact Colors
19 Nov 2024, 16:14 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1970 with a sportier design, a brand-new platform, and optional high-compression V8 engines, the third-generation Plymouth Barracuda sold nearly 49,000 units in its first year on the market. The party didn't last long, though. Th...
1969 Plymouth Road Runner Barn Find Fires Up and Takes First Drive in 25 Years
19 Nov 2024, 13:45 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to classic cars, it's quite satisfying to see a 1960s vehicle emerge from long-term storage. But it all becomes even better when the rig is revived and finds its way back on the road. This 1969 Plymouth Road Runner is one of the ...
1955 Hudson Hornet Is a True Survivor With a Legendary Engine Under the Hood
18 Nov 2024, 20:08 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Ah, the Hudson Hornet. The legendary NASCAR racer turned "Cars" franchise character. Or, as I like to call it, the forgotten six-cylinder muscle car. Because even though it wrote a few important history pages back in the day, the Hornet i...
Barn Find Gold: Real 1970 Plymouth Hemi Superbird Gets Second Chance After 40 Years
18 Nov 2024, 16:13 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Developed to defeat the Ford Torino Talladega on high-speed NASCAR oval tracks, the Dodge Charger Daytona emerged in 1969. To homologate the car for NASCAR, Dodge was required to produce a street-legal version. The run included 503 units. One year ...
Survivor 1970 Plymouth Superbird Flaunts One-of-None Paint Job
18 Nov 2024, 14:18 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / In 1969, Dodge took the muscle car market by storm with the Charger Daytona. Created for NASCAR, the radical Daytona hit showrooms with the same tall rear wing and pointy nose cone as the race car. NASCAR's homologation rules sent a strange-lo...
Unrestored Sleeper: 1967 Chevrolet Impala Parked for Decades Emerges With Rare Z24 Option
17 Nov 2024, 18:16 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to classic Chevrolet Impalas, I'm a 1958-to-1961 type of guy. The 1959 version is my favorite by far. However, I will never be able to say no to an Impala from the golden muscle car era. While I'm not a fan of their designs,...
Neglected Morris Minor 1000 Gets First Wash in 42 Years, Owner Bursts Into Tears
16 Nov 2024, 18:41 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / As much as I love 1950s American land yachts and 1960s muscle cars, I also have a soft spot for some British classics. And I'm not talking about Aston Martins and Jaguars. I like tiny rigs like the Mini Cooper (especially the Clubman) and the ...
Rare 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS Convertible Hopes You Won't Look Under the Hood
15 Nov 2024, 22:14 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced for the 1967 model year, the Chevrolet Camaro hit the pony car market more than two years after the Ford Mustang. And not surprisingly, it lagged behind its rival in the sales department. Still, the first-gen Camaro was in high demand an...
Gorgeous 1966 Dodge Coronet Took 20 Years To Restore, Rocks 426 Hemi
15 Nov 2024, 15:28 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Originally a full-size car, the Coronet was discontinued in 1959, only to return six years later as a midsize vehicle. The intermediate Coronet is famous for having spawned muscle cars like the Charger and Super Bee, but it was also caught in the h...