Ciprian Florea
7,142 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.
From Dusty Barn Find to Frog-Eyed Gem: Austin-Healey Sprite Gets First Wash in Decades
5 Apr 2024, 12:16 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The British have been making the finest sports cars out there since the early days of the automobile. Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Lotus are perhaps the most iconic brands, but Triumph, Caterham, and Austin-Healey also produced a few fine machines. ...
Perfectly Restored 1962 Chevrolet Biscayne Flaunts Bored and Stroked 409
4 Apr 2024, 15:25 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to Chevrolet full-size cars from the 1960s and 1970s, we usually think about the Impala and Caprice. They sold like hotcakes back in the day, and they're very popular nowadays as restored classics or restomods with extra bling an...
1963 Pontiac Catalina Looks Like a Rare 421 Super Duty, but There's a Catch
3 Apr 2024, 20:34 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When talking about Pontiac muscle cars, we usually think about the GTO. It's regarded as the vehicle that kickstarted the muscle car market. However, Pontiac built an even more exciting rig years before the GTO debuted for the 1964 model year....
1966 Pontiac LeMans Hits the Drag Strip, Bravely Takes On Nissan GT-R
3 Apr 2024, 14:16 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The Pontiac that spawned the iconic GTO, the LeMans arrived in 1961. And what many people don't know is that this nameplate started out as a compact car. The LeMans did not become a midsize rig until 1964, the very model year it became availab...
Finely Restored 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A Flexes Trans-Am Goodies and Rare 4-Speed
3 Apr 2024, 11:41 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The first-generation Dodge Challenger isn't the kind of vehicle you think about when talking race cars, but the E-body actually hit the race track. It happened in 1970 in the SCCA Trans-Am championship. Dodge joined the series in 1966, the ...
All-Original and Unrestored 1966 Dodge HEMI Charger Hides Bad News Under the Hood
2 Apr 2024, 16:25 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Unleashed for the 1966 model year, the first-generation Charger combined a sleek fastback body with a premium interior, giving it a unique place in the Dodge lineup. In addition, it was also available with Chrysler's most potent engines, inclu...
Holy-Grail 1963 Dodge 330 Is a Max Wedge Sleeper in Stunning Condition
2 Apr 2024, 14:07 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1962 as a trim level above the Dart, the Dodge 330 became the company's entry-level midsize car in 1963 and 1964. The nameplate was discontinued after only three model years, and it's a Mopar that not many people remember. N...
Abandoned, Mysterious Property Hides Big Stash of Classic Cars
2 Apr 2024, 10:21 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / We usually associate abandoned cars with junkyards and old barns. But millions of classic vehicles are still rotting in groups stashed away on properties hidden from the public eye. This abandoned mansion, for instance, has a few buildings packed w...
1968 Dodge Super Bee Saved From Junkyard Is a True HEMI in Sunfire Yellow
1 Apr 2024, 18:47 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1965, the street-spec 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) HEMI V8 engine found its way into 10,000 to 11,000 cars through 1971. It was offered in no fewer than 13 Dodge and Plymouth nameplates, and all of them are quite rare and highly desirab...
Bill Goldberg Takes Delivery of 2023 Dodge Challenger Demon 170, It's a One-of-One
1 Apr 2024, 11:51 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Bill Goldberg may be famous for his wrestling career, but he's also a muscle car enthusiast. He's also a big Mopar guy, owning both modern and classic rigs. And as of Mach 2024, Bill enjoys the fastest and most powerful muscle car on the ...
1952 Chevrolet Styleline Barn Survivor Emerges After 48 Years, Gets First Wash
31 Mar 2024, 18:44 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to Chevrolet cars built in the 1950s, we instantly think about the Tri-Five. It was a revolutionary design that saw the arrival of Chevy's first V8 in decades. It sold like hotcakes and overshadowed its post-WW2 predecessors. ...
The Most Powerful American Pickup Trucks, Ranked by Decade (1950-2024)
31 Mar 2024, 10:00 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Just like the passenger car, the pickup truck is more than 100 years old as of 2024. And in addition to having become more capable and reliable, the pickup truck is now significantly faster and more powerful than its early iterations. And nothing p...
Mysterious 1949 Buick Riviera Parked for Decades Claims Pre-Production Heritage
30 Mar 2024, 18:46 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Buick introduced the Riviera as a stand-alone model in late 1962, but the name can be traced back to 1949. That's when the company used it for the first time on a two-door pillarless hardtop version of the Roadmaster. It was the first mass-pro...
This One-of-55 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL Is a Super Rare Time Capsule
29 Mar 2024, 14:39 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / What is the greatest BMW ever built? Well, some say it's the E30-generation BMW M3. Others point to the 507 of the 1950s, a vehicle that nearly bankrupted the company. To me, it's the E9, the predecessor to the 6 Series. Produced from ...
The McCandless Mopar Collection Is Loaded With Rare Gems, HEMI Cars Included
29 Mar 2024, 13:13 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When it comes to collecting classic Mopars, most gearheads seem to focus on vehicles from the golden muscle car era. And that's totally understandable based on how desirable those rigs are. Well, the collection you're about to see here is...
1958 Pontiac Safari Abandoned in the Desert Morphs Into Stunning Restomod
28 Mar 2024, 18:55 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When talking about mid-1950s station wagons, we usually think about the Chevrolet Tri-Five. It's arguably the most iconic long-roofed hauler from the era. And the range-topping Bel Air Nomad version is a rare and highly desirable gem. But t...
Peugeot Unveils 2024 9X8 With Revised Aerodynamics and Rear Wing
28 Mar 2024, 14:12 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Unleashed in 2022, the Peugeot 9X8 marked the company's return to top-tier endurance racing after 11 years. Having completed its first full FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023, the 9X8 received significant changes for the 2024 season. ...
1958 Chevrolet Impala Has a Rare Option You Probably Never Knew Existed
28 Mar 2024, 12:37 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / One of Chevrolet's most iconic models, the Impala was born in 1958. Created as a special trim celebrating GM's 50th anniversary, the Impala slotted above the Bel Air, topping the company's full-size range. The nameplate sold 181,469 ...
Lot of Six Yellow Ford Pinto Wagons Shows People Will Collect Anything
27 Mar 2024, 22:11 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / If I were to have unlimited funds, I'd probably put together a collection of Plymouth Road Runners. One of each model year from 1968 through 1975. They'd look spectacular parked next to each other, but I wouldn't be the first guy to ...
Big Warehouse Is Packed With Iconic Muscle Cars, Rare 1970 Plymouth HEMI Cuda Included
27 Mar 2024, 15:22 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Discovering a classic car hidden in a barn is quite exciting, but it gets even better when someone stumbles into a big stash of vintage muscle cars. Especially when the said collection includes all NASCAR "aero warriors" and a 1970 Plymou...