The 60’s and 70’s were great time if you wanted a bit of unique muscle to cruise with or take to your local track. A handful of well known dealerships we know today, specialized in providing that muscle. Tasca Ford in East Providence, Rhode Island, Baldwin-Motion Chevrolet in Baldwin Long Island, New York, Yenko Chevrolet in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and Collier Motors in Pikeville, North Carolina are four of the powerhouse dealerships that Auto World’s latest ThunderJet release #3 (SC394) are featured in their Muscle Car Dealership series. It’s time to take a stroll across the car lots from the past and check out the cars in this release.
#1A 1970 Chevy Corvette – Monaco Orange-Black – Baldwin Motion
Joel Rosen and the Baldwin Motion dealership cranked out high performance Chevrolet models including the Corvette. Upgrade packages from Motion Industries were included within the Baldwin Corvette partnership. The most dominant of these packages offered were the SS (425 HP) and Phase III (500+ HP). These cars were so powerful in their performance envelope they came with a promise of guaranteed results regarding ¼ mile times and speed.
#1B 1970 Chevy Corvette – Tuxedo Black-White – Baldwin Motion
#2A 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 – Calypso Coral-Black – Tasca Ford
It’s a rarity in the American auto industry, when the factory takes up the lead from a dealership in the design of high performance offerings. But Ford saw what the Tasca dealership was creating with their cars and parts and reassembling cars and big block motors to create some of the Blue Oval’s best performance beasts. Tasca was one of the original backers of the 1964 Thunderbolt and helped many Ford privateers on the drag strips, building some of the fastest dealership supplied powerhouses, including the concept of the Cobrajet Mustangs from 1967 through the 70’s and were certain to be an influence on the Boss 302 and 429.
#2B 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 – Medium Gold-Black – Tasca Ford
#3A 1969 AMC AMX – Matador Red-Gold – Collier Motors
Collier Motors was a private car dealership specializing in AMC automobiles. When AMC started their collaboration and partially purchased by Renault, Collier Motors focused on the AMC historic line and became the source for all things AMC from Rebels to Javelins and AMXs and was a dealership frozen in time. The dealership has since “officially closed” but as of 2021 still has 40 plus AMC muscle cars and significant models that was considered restoration worthy.
#3B 1969 AMC AMX – Big Bad Green-Black – Collier Motors
#4A 1970 Chevy Nova – Sunflower Yellow-Black – Yenko Deuce
Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Don Yenko was doing his own thing with the Chevy’s COPO options. First with Corvairs, then Camaros, Vegas and Novas. This series includes the Nova Deuce, which Yenko produced in 1970. Yenko used the 350 C.I. smalll block that Chevy used in the Camaro Z-28 and LT1 Corvette, producing 360 horse power. There were 175 Yenko Deuce Novas built, with 11 cars confirmed as totaled and lost. Yenko never had the cars approved for the NHRA stock class and had to race under the higher performance Modified Production class where they were not on the same level as much stronger cars in that class. The Yenko Deuce Nova was equipped with custom body stripes, custom interior, Hurst shifter (auto or manual) a domed hood tachometer and custom wheels.
#4B 1970 Chevy Nova – Cortez Silver-Black – Yenko Deuce
Here’s the packaging for the 2023 Auto World ThunderJet Release #3 SC394 Muscle Car Dealerships.
Here are some additional angles to this newest release.
It was a golden age of high performance, dealer direct availability that was unequaled in the day. Every manufacturer has a few of these go getter, performance minded dealers and we got to see just how far their imaginations would carry the level of performance. The Auto World ThunderJet Release 3 (SC394) Muscle Car Dealerships will be available at your local hobby shops or your favorite webstore in August, 2023.