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Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition Hits Final Estimated Range of 418 Kilometres Vancouver to Host 2022 FIA Formula E World Championship Car Race

Ford recently announced that the Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition has completed certification and range labelling process and has achieved the EPA-estimated range of 418 kilometres, which is a significant increase over the estimated 375 kilometres the regular model has. The Mach-E GT Performance Edition provides 634 lb-ft. of torque and an impressive 0-100 km/h time of just 3.7 seconds. It will feature Pirelli summer tires and a MagnaRide damping system which will both work together and provide excellent handling and control in addition to the amazing acceleration. The starting MSRP of the 2021 Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition is $82,995. The City of Vancouver is officially set to host an ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race next year after Vancouver city council voted unanimously in support of a multi-day event that will include a conference on climate change and sustainability. The event is set

to take place over the 2022 Canada Day July long weekend and will be set in the East False Creek neighbourhood of downtown on part of the former site of the Molson Indy events which took place from 1990 to 2004. The event is reportedly expected to provide Vancouver with a major boost in its economy by providing $80 million in value and also bringing thousands of jobs to the city.

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Volume 19, Issue No. 4 August / September 2021

Second Class Mailing Agreement #40050183

Publisher: Dean Washington dean@rpmcanada.ca

Associate Publisher: David Symons david@rpmcanada.ca

Managing Editor Jordan Allan jordan@rpmcanada.ca

Distribution Manager: Brenda Washington brenda@rpmcanada.ca

Copy Editor: Gerry Frechette gerryf@rpmcanada.ca

Advertising Sales: Elaine Fontaine elaine@rpmcanada.ca

Contributing Writers / Photographers: Jordan Allan John Gunnell Cam Hutchins

Muscle Car Plus Magazine is published six times per year by RPM Media Inc.

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After a year off due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the Langley Good Times Cruise-In is set to return Saturday September 11th in downtown Al dergrove in the Township of Langley, in what is one of the largest such shows in North America and right in the heart of the collector car area of B.C. As always, several charities are the recipients of the funds raised through the show that will also include great food, prizes and much more. For more information please go to www.langleycruise-in.com

EG Auctions Red Deer Fall Finale Collector Car & Memorabilia Auction

EG Auctions is proud to announce they will be running their 14th annual Fall Finale Collector Car & Memorabilia Auction in Red Deer, Alberta at Westerner Park September 10-12. On Friday, viewing doors will be open at 3pm with the auction beginning at 5pm while Saturday sees doors open at 8am and the auction beginning at 9am. Finally, Sunday sees doors open at 9am with the auction beginning at 10am. There will be over 200 collector cars and 100 pieces of no reserve memorabilia on the block and the event will also see special guests WWE Superstar Bret “Hitman” Hart and Mike Hall and Avery Shoaf of Rust Valley Restorers make appearances as well. For more information please go to www.egauctions.com

24th Annual BC Classic & Custom Car Show

WE’RE BACK! BC’s longest running indoor custom car show returns to the Abbotsford Tradex for a special event October 15-17 for three days of ‘Cars, Stars & Guitars! Presented by Johnston Meier Insurance Agencies, University Of The Fraser Valley and Stone’s Speed Shop, the 24th annual BC Classic & Custom Car Show will feature hundreds of muscle cars, hot rods and customs including ‘The Anvil’, JF Customs Ridler Great 8 award winning ’64 Acadian. Meet celebrity ‘car stars’ Mike Hall, Avery Shoaf and Connor Hall from the hit TV Series Rust Valley Restorers and also be sure to check out the pro-street burnout contest with driver’s competing for a share of the $2,500 cash prize! Vehicle entry and commercial vendor applications are welcome. For more information please visit www.bccustomcarshow.com.

Lots of Joy

Les Murguly’s Hemi-powered 1970 Plymouth Cuda

When most young fellows are playing with Hot Wheels and BMX Bikes, Surrey’s Les Murguly was busy dreaming about the day he would be able rip around the neighbourhood in a crazy wild 1970 Cuda.

When is a Cuda not a Cuda? In 1970, after an extensive overhaul, the new-for-1970 Plymouth Barracuda was released with a small base engine of only 198 cu. in. along with the more luxurious Gran Coupe. But although similar on the outside, the Cuda had the bigger, more aggressive engines, starting at 340 all the way up to the mighty 426 Hemi with dual four-barrel carbs. Chrysler was building a better “Mustang” or pony

car, cars which followed the idea of being smaller than the outright “muscle cars” and not having four-door versions of themselves.

The original Barracuda came out in 1964 as a souped up version of the Valiant, and then a stand alone 1967-1969 version that was still based on the Valiant platform, but with quite different body work. Still, the Valiant was offered as a four-door, and the Dodge dealers did not have a Dodge version Barracuda to sell. For 1970, Chrysler remedied this, by offering a new sister car of the Cuda for Dodge to sell, the Challenger.

The cars were moved from the Valiant’s A Platform to the existing B platform of the large, but very cool Charger and GTX, muscle car versions of those staid family cars, Belvedere and Coronet, which were offered as four-door sedans and station wagons. This newfor-1970 car, referred to as the E-Body, took the existing Chrysler B platform, shortened it and widened it, and offered it as a two door and convertible, and Chrysler figured they would sell a ton of new cars.

The widening of the Challenger and Cuda was key to allow Chrysler to sell the big block engines that were all the rage. “Were” all the rage, is the key part of that statement. Cars are designed well in advance of when they will hit the market, and the market had definitely cooled on the desire for big blocks. Whether it was safety and insurance premiums that are to blame, or just insurance companies’ eagerness to avoid covering these rolling claim generators. The biggest of the big blocks, the 426 Hemi and the 440, did not sell well.

Although we see Hemi Cudas at almost every cruise night, the mighty dual-quad 426 Hemi was incredibly rare in 1970 and 1971. For 1970, the Plymouth Barracuda sold only 289 backed by fourspeed transmissions and 377 with automatics. The Challenger sold slightly less at 191 backed by automatics and 169 four-speeds, with only nine of these cars with either tranny, being convertible. The 440 did much better in the Challenger but still only 4,600 or so were built and it came in four-barrel or three two-barrel versions.

The Cuda sold a measly 2,770 440 cu. in. engines with the two types of carburetor set-ups which reflects the over-all ratio of big blocks sold as Cudas, which sold approximately half as many cars as the Challenger did in 1970. For the 1970 model year, almost 49,000 Cudas, and the smaller engine Barracudas were sold, while the Challenger sold pretty near 77,000 cars. The cars sold better in 1971, but in 1970, Ford sold 190,000 Mustangs, but dropped a massive amount and sold less than 150,000 in 1971. But the Mustang slogged on, for better or for worse, until today, and Chrysler killed the E-body after 1974.

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Which leads us to this Hemi-powered 1970 Cuda monster that owner Les Murguly tries to kill all summer long. 5,000 rpm clutch dumps are his way of saving the line lock for a rainy day. Murguly grew up in South Surrey and remembers a certain owner of a High Performance parts outlet, George Duda with a grey 1970 Cuda, and then it was grey and red and the young Murguly just loved it. Duda was constantly flogging his 440 Cuda on city streets near where Murguly grew up, even popping the front wheels in the air, and a younger Murguly grew up wanting to do the same. To be fair, Murguly was young, and probably Mr Duda was driving the posted speed limits at all times and the car just looked fast... of course, yeah that’s it!

Murguly learned all he knew about driving on the streets in Mopar muscle from Mr. Duda, and Murguly drove a 1969 440 four-speed Roadrunner to high school, and for the last two months, it was a full-time open-header car!

A sheet metal worker by trade, Murguly knew where his skills lie, and knew he needed help to create his vision of the ultimate street Cuda. Visiting the shop where his boss has his toys built, Murguly knew B&N Hot Rods in Maple Ridge were up to the task. Murguly wanted a really great street car that would be comfortable on long drives, look incredibly cool and do burnouts at the drop of a clutch.

At this time, he was scouring the internet looking for the perfect candidate for his Dr. Frankenstein-like quest for power. He did not start with a pristine Big Block car, but found a clapped out race car in Penticton in 2015 that fit the bill. It had one seat, a running 440 and no interior, and it was perfect. Starting life as a 318 cu. in. Barracuda, this little E-Body had no idea it would one day become the ultimate “E” Ticket ride, to coin an old reference to the best rides at Disneyland, back in the day.

B&N Hot Rods got the car in 2015 and started cutting it up to create Murguly’s vision. The 440 was just not going to cut it in Murguly’s mind, so he knew of a friend in the interior with a brand new “World Products Hemi” block and brand new hemi heads and pistons. This friend figured he was not going to build the Hemi, so was willing to trade Murguly’s 440 for the parts he had. Murguly never even took the block and parts home and went straight to Jim Richmond at Richmond Engines to have his big-powered, naturally-aspirated 528 cu. in. Hemi built. The engine is impressive to look at and has a beautiful set of Hemi emblazoned valve covers on it. The mill is no slouch and will churn out 739 horsepower and 690 pound-feet of torque all day long, or as long as the tires hold up. Murguly refers to his overtime earnings as “Cuda Backs” that he uses to pay for his long list of parts he researched and bought for this project. To protect the big mill, a PRC (Performance Rod and Custom) radiator is used along with dual 13-in. fans with gambler neck.

The rear suspension was cut out, along with the frame connectors put in by the drag racer. An Art Morrison triangulated four-link suspension with coil overs and a Fab 9 Dutchman braced differential with 31 spline

axles and 3:90 gears were installed. The crew at B&N Hot Rods built all the needed pieces that would be welded together to form a frame for the car. The front suspension is a Magnum Force Racing Tubular K crossmember with Viking two-way adjustable coil overs just like in back. No more torsion bars for this Mopar!

The crew at Art Morrison were sure that there was no way a rear seat was possible with the rear end set up and the massive tubs used in Murguly’s Cuda. But they underestimated the crew at B&N Hot Rods and after

making some of their own parts to replace the Morrison supplied pieces, there is a back seat, of sorts. A piece of aluminum is mounted above the rear suspension and a bit of foam is glued to it and covered in leather. So there is a back seat, and if you play your cards right, you will never have to sit back there. The front buckets were found online as new pro touring seats but were cut and modified to better suit Murguly’s vision.

The tubs are big enough to handle 20x15 tires when they are available, but for now, Murguly runs 20x13-in. Michelin Super Sport Pilot tires on VX3C Concave Series Forgeline three-piece wheels, 19x8.5-in. on the front. The centre barrel of the rear rims are all that have to be changed to accommodate the larger rear tires. The stopping is handled by 14-in. Wilwood brakes, with six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers.

A built Mopar four-speed transmission was not up to the task and was out of the car five times until the long two-year wait was over, and a new Passon five-speed tranny was sourced From “Gears and Rears” in Langley. The A-855 five-speed transmission from Passon Performance in rural Pennsylvania, is an exact replacement for the normal four-speed found in Mopars. Of course, Murguly’s modified floorpan did not require the smaller size of the Passon, but it is good to know the Passon A-855 uses 356 T6 aluminum alloy cases, heat treated for strength, and all gears and mainshaft are made of Aircraft Quality 9310 alloy steel, and will bolt right into place without modification. The weak link to all this greatness is always the clutch, but steps have been taken to lessen this problem by using a McLeod RXT Street Twin Clutch, or putting a big spike on the clutch pedal so Murguly starts to take care of it.

The 3-in. exhaust system was handmade and tig welded by B&N Hot Rods and has to be twisted and turned to fit up over the rear axle, and was coated by Doug at Kool Coat. Improving the look of the car also saw a new tucked-up roll pan at the rear, and the rear flush-mounted bumper that tucks in tight had to be rebuilt again using three bumpers to make one flush-mounted bumper. The same process went into the front bumper.

The car is a street rod so there is no roll bar, but there is Vintage Air, cooling and heating, power steering, a Barracuda “Tuff Wheel” with Rim Blow and a Barracuda Centre Cap on an Ididit steering column, NuRelic power windows and lots of engine sounds. The car has cup holders in the console alongside the carbon fibre handle factory pistol grip. There The interior was done by Michelle at Inside Edge and Carl from Revive Upholstery at Inside Edge’s shop. Seven Italian leather hides have never looked better. The carpets are German square weave with Custom Cuda logos by Michelle, who also created the suede headliner. There are also factory-looking seat belts with aircraft buckles. The crazy stereo was installed in the custom console by Vic at Audiolines in Burnaby and is based on a JVC stereo that has the massive task of being heard over the engine.

The car got painted in a two-tone paint job but was changed by Travis Brown at STR in Maple Ridge with a fade from grey on top to black at the bottom, and the hockey stick Hemi stripe is painted in Red Candy on both sides of the car. It won best paint at the big April Tradex car show and then test driving it to sort it out, they got rear ended and did lots of damage before even driving it five miles. The car left the shop at 3 pm on the 2017 May long weekend and was back at 6:15 pm after being hit by a Dually Pickup.

The Cuda was back inside B&N Hot Rods for the whole summer of 2017 into 2018. It was decided that they might as well pull the engine, and changed the colour to body colour grey from black. This time was also spent finding two more rear bumpers to cut up to add to the bumper ends that were salvaged off the destroyed rear end of the car. On the good side, the rear suspension was not damaged and the rear end of the car got all newly found or fabricated sheet metal. The aluminum shroud in the engine compartment was also fabricated post-accident.

For the past couple of years, the car has brought lots of joy to the Murguly household. A new garage has been built out back, and in there sits a sweet 1968 Hemi Charger awaiting the Murguly treatment. The Cuda has won lots of shows and brings lots of joy to all who see it and hear it. But that joy cannot be matched by the joy that the tire store guys, Michelin employees, and the guys employed full time to pick away at rubber trees, feel! They have an important job to do, to make sure there is always enough rubber out back for Murguly to paint the world black, two stripes at a time!!!!

Look But Don’t Sell

2020 Ford GT Coupe

Story and photos by John Gunnell

How would you like to spend $609,489 for a great-looking muscle car and then find out you couldn’t sell it if someone offered you double that? That’s the case with the 2020 Ford GT. It’s guaranteed to be a very unique and rare car, because it will only be sold to a limited number of people. The buyers must verify to Ford that they will not re-sell the car for 24 months. Ford maintains a continued security interest for those two years and buyers authorize Ford and its dealers to note liens on the title documents for that period of time. The idea behind this is to avoid price speculation in the collector’s marketplace.

Production of the Gen II Ford GT began in 2017 and will continue only through 2022. Each Ford GT is hand-assembled by Multimatic, Inc., in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Worldwide production of 2020 models was estimated to be between 221 and 235 cars. That’s on top of the 141 made in 2017; 200 made in 2018; and 250 made in 2019. Plans are to make 250 in 2021 and the same number in 2022, which will be the final year of production. Twenty-five percent of GT production goes to European buyers. Few Fords capture the imagination and dominate the racetrack quite like the GT, which is called a “hyper muscle car.” Its arresting design is enticingly futuristic and functionally aerodynamic. Its austere interior puts the focus on driving, with seats fixed in position and most controls mounted on the steering wheel. Its original mid-mounted twin-turbo V6 makes 660 hp and 550 lb-ft of torque. The power is sent to the rear wheels

via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. The engine’s thrilling soundtrack is accompanied by neck-snapping acceleration and otherworldly handling. The GT is built for the track—not the street. However, the sixfigure Ford is surprisingly docile in everyday situations. While only a select few may ever own one, its existence has enthralled enthusiasts.

Ford squeezed even more horsepower from the GT’s twin-turbo V6 for 2020. The rise from 647 ponies to 660 was accompanied by a fatter torque curve, re calibrated engine management and revised pistons and coils. The Blue Oval’s halo car also got firmer damper settings, improved engine cooling and a titanium exhaust system that’s claimed to make even more pronounced sounds. Other changes included a couple of fresh appearance packages. There was an updated Gulf Racing livery option to celebrate the company’s 1969 Le Mans win. It could be paired with carbon-fibre wheels.

Standard features of the Ford GT include its structural carbon fibre passenger shell, body panels and active aero elements; the mid-mounted 3.5-litre Ecoboost V6 GTDI engine; a 7-speed dual-clutch-automated manual transmission; front and rear independent suspension with variable ride height and selectable drive modes; and Brembo carbon ceramic brakes. The featured car also has the Re-Entry Theme ($30,000) that applies whiteleather to the dashboard and seats. Its options include Extended Colour Palette Paint 2-835390F red ($30,000); Frozen White overtop painted stripes ($12,500); 20-in. Satin Diamond Silver Forged Aluminum Wheels ($2,500). Brembo brake calipers ($1,250); Painted Shadow Black Lower Body Trim (included); Titanium lug nuts ($1,250); a Leather-wrapped steering wheel ($250) and six-point Harness Anchors ($2,500).

The engine is located under this hatch.

Ultra-modern Ford contrasts with some of the classics at The Automobile Gallery.

Unlike the supercharged V8 in previous GTs, the 2020 version is equipped with a twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V-6 that is similar to the one found in the Ford F-150 Raptor. Pumping out 660 hp and 550 lb-ft of torque, the V6 is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. While the last version had fewer ponies, it launched the rear-wheel-drive GT to 60 mph in just 3.0 sec. and through the quarter-mile in 10.8 sec. at 134 mph.

Piloting the GT is surprisingly easy. The car feels light and agile. Despite its performance potential, the ride isn’t as punishing as you’d expect; the suspension doesn’t get choppy

With all the cool of a McQueen and the finesse of a fighter jet, the 2020 Ford GT honoured the legacy of the Ford GT40.

over minor bumps, but it still transmits harsh impacts to the cabin. Its all-out top speed is 218 mph. Yet, it gets 22.8 miles per US gallon in the city and 19.8 miles per US gallon on the highway.

Titanium exhausts from Akrapovic were standard for the 2020 Ford GT. The exhaust system featured an expert’s signature craftsmanship with a deeply resonant, unmistakable sound. Much of the 2020 Ford GT’s advancements resulted from Ford’s continuous technological innovation, as was especially evident in the GT’s 3.5-litre V6. “Ford GT continues to be the pinnacle of Ford performance,” said Ed Krenz, Ford Performance chief program engineer. “GT is always the ultimate expression of Ford racing innovation. As we know from the ‘66 Le Mans winner through today, that means constantly raising our game for In addition to more horsepower compared to 2017-19 GTs, the 2020’s EcoBoost engine features a broader torque band and revised engine calibration, plus mechanical upgrades that included gallery-cooled pistons and higher-energy ignition coils, thanks to lessons learned from the limited-edition, track-only GT Mk II.

Additional engine cooling and airflow updates included new buttress air ducts designed to increase air flow by 50 percent, while larger intercoolers kept air temperatures cooler, preserving peak power for the most strenuous, high-temperature sessions at the track. Suspension damping was increased in track mode to further enhance handling and body control, particularly for those high-speed transient sections of closed-course circuits.

William “Red” Lewis paid $609,489 for this car on Feb. 18, 2020. That included a tariff of $12,890 that was paid on the same date. At the time of the purchase of this car from Broadway Ford Hyundai at 1010 S. Military Ave., Green Bay, Wis. the delivery date of the vehicle was estimated to be Aug. 31, 2020. The car was subsequently delivered to Mr. Lewis in late 2020, shortly before his passing on Jan. 7, 2021.

The car is currently on display at the Automobile Gallery in Green Bay. The car cannot be sold until late 2022, at which time its value could be lower, the same or higher than it is today. Prices for GTs in recent sales have been trending lower despite international promotion of these sales. There is definitely a limited pool of potential buyers for Ford GTs at prices above the factory list price.