Flashback to 1982 - there was a lingering recession that had engulfed the U.S. economy and cars were shrinking faster than the money in most people's wallets.  If horsepower had taken a fall in the 1970s, by 1982 it was taken down to a still lower notch.  The norm by 1982 was 120 - 140 horsepower V8s.  With this in mind it seems a great paradox that 1982 would also be a time when the seeds were beginning to be sown for a new horsepower war. 

Ford had literally destroyed the Mustang in the 1970s, the same way it destroyed the Thunderbird in the late 1960s.  Ford

Think the current retro styling trend is a recent phenomenon?  Think again.  Believe it or not, Oldsmobile was first on the block to implement retro styling and they did it with great success more than 40 years ago.  For the 1966 model year Oldsmobile released one of the most stylish cars it ever produced, a 2-door sporty luxury car called the Toronado.  It had futuristic styling with retro cues of the 1936 - 1937 Cord 810/812.  The Toronado's popup headlights, front grille with horizontal slots, aerodynamic wheel covers, and fender humps over all four wheel wel

When the 1964 Pontiac GTO hit the market, Dodge was paying close attention, for it was not about to be left out of this new emerging muscle car market.  Powerful V8 engines had been available since the 1950s in some Dodge cars, the legendary Hemi and Wedge based V8s had given Dodge customers plenty of punch.  The difficulty Dodge had by the early 1960s was that it only had boring boxy car bodies to place these engines into.  There was a reason Jan and Dean had a little old lady driving a super-stock Dodge in their 1964 "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" song since most Dodge cars

On the TV show Monk, the lead character Adrian Monk is a private detective with more phobias and odd quirks than most people could ever imagine.  He's actually pretty dysfunctional as a person, his pretty assistant or shall we say full-time baby sitter Natalie, helps him through his fits and quirks.  However Adrian Monk has one great talent - he can solve any murder case no matter how complicated or how little clues are available.  He's an unsung hero, a behind-the-scenes kind of guy who always gets the job done with perfection.  He never gets credit for his unsurpassed c