92 PHR Reader Projects

'66 GTO • Pat and Pam Miller • Henderson, NV Pat Miller and his wife have always loved muscle cars and often dreamed about owning and building their own. Pat's boss also felt that he needed to accomplish a dream, and helped put together the plan to blend old-school looks with new GTO technology. Now that's a good boss. The goal was to have a car that stayed true to vintage GTO good looks, but was also fast enough to beat Pat's brother's '65 Plymouth Belvedere II-and all those pesky Mustangs roaming the streets of Nevada. Beginning with a mostly stock, somewhat finished '66 GTO, Pat kept the heritage intact by tracking down the drivetrain out of a wrecked new GTO to drop it in. Doing all the work himself, it took five years to finish, but Pat tells us, "My wife and I now go get ice cream on nice summer nights without fear of coming up short at the light."

'65 Belvedere II • Mike Miller • Henderson, NV Restored and respectable with thin whitewalls and stock steelies is nice, but having worked half his life in a garage that drag raced their cars on the weekends, Mike Miller really wanted a car that was quick in a straight line-quicker than his brother's '66 GTO in particular. So far, he's already gotten the suspension in drag-ready shape and mini-tubbed the rear to fit fat tires that will make the most of the next phase. Currently, Mike's pulling together the parts he needs to put together a stroked 440 with aluminum heads and a roller cam, which he's hoping will put out well over 500hp. Meanwhile, between projects he and his wife take the Belvedere out at least weekly for a cruise.