ProRide’s Project X-Box is taking longer than planned according to ProRide’s Denny Terzich, but good progress is still being made. The homage to PHR’s own Project X is still on pace to be revealed at the 2013 SEMA Show in Las Vegas this fall, and will feature many cool design elements. One of the coolest things is the Art Morrison chassis with a modular rear suspension that can be changed between a four-link and a three-link—one for drag racing and the other for road racing. The AME chassis should make X-Box a terror on both the quarter mile and the road course—a first for a Pro Touring car. (Speaking of Art Morrison, congratulations to the AME crew for building chassis number 1,000!) X-Box will get a 1,200hp pump-gas LS powerplant. In the profile photo you can see the wedge-cut roofline and rear brake cooling duct. More details to come!

On May 7, 2013, Jack Reacher hops into a 1970 Chevelle for an exhilarating car chase on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand from Paramount Pictures. Tom Cruise plays the lead character, Jack Reacher, performing all the stunt-driving himself. The film was adapted from best-selling author Lee Child's wildly popular series of novels, Jack Reacher.

Eastwood's Pottstown, PA, retail store is reveling a grand reopening celebration set to fire off on April 19th - 28th. During the event, Eastwood is hosting free hands-on training classes covering topics such as welding and automotive refinishing. All visitors to the retail store who bring out their collector vehicle during the grand reopening celebration will receive a free gift and exclusive discounts.

This year marks the 110th anniversary for Buick; the company leaves behind a trail of quality cars and is currently cursing towards an even brighter future. Throughout its 11 generation history, Buick has sold more than 43 million cars - that's the equivalent of every vehicle sold in the United States over the past three years.

With its chrome-topped tail fins and chrome hood rockets, the '57 Chevy rolled off General Motors' assembly lines as a classic from the factory. Surprisingly enough, the '57 Chevy Bel Air is among the most sought after cars in America - for car thieves. In 2012 alone, forty-two '57 Chevys were stolen; a total of 23,250 Bel Airs have been stolen from 1958 through 2012.

We heard a new term the other day. It's called a "Facebook Vacation." It's when people take a break from living on the Internet, and step outside into the bright light of day. Put your sunglasses on people, because you are about to go on a Facebook Vacation, and this one can actually net you free swag, like a full set of custom gauges from the Auto Meter Custom Shop, or a full set of Mickey Thompson ultra high-performance Street Comp tires.

Suspension Breakthrough:

RideTech & Goodguys Team Up For '69 Camaro Build

Each year, we hold our annual photo contest where readers send in their best shots of their muscle machinery. We publish the best ones in our January readers' rides issue, but there are always a few extra special entries that are accompanied by lovely ladies. Rather than throw them in the mix with the rest, we pull them off to the side and save them for later.

A few years ago, GM tried an experiment with a customer focus group using a new car they were just about to release to the public. A lot was riding on the car’s outcome, and they wanted to know what potential buyers would think about it. They divided a randomly chosen focus group into two sets. The baseline or “normal” group got to test the car with GM badging, while the experimental test group got the same car, but with the logo of a well-known Japanese maker attached. Now mind you, this was not their only focus clinic; the car was years in the making, and the styling and feature set had been tested repeatedly over nearly two years, ultimately with much success. This final test would be different—it would measure the psychological predisposition toward the brand.

Replacement Calipers:

LS Engines:

The search is on for competitors in the 2013 Popular Hot Rodding magazine Muscle Car Of The Year competition.

Right Click here and "Save As" download the PDF version of the 2012 Popular Hot Rodding Holiday Gift Guide

1969 Pontiac Firebird

This month marks a propitious date: It’s the first of what we hope to be many more annual Popular Hot Rodding Muscle Car of the Year competitions. For MCOTY, we invited the most capable street-legal Pro Touring muscle car performers we could find, and tested them all on the same day in three grueling tests. The cars ranged from full-on track-prepped, to spit-shine show cars. All of them, however, are equipped with maximum-effort suspensions, chassis, brakes, and powertrains.

I’ve been wanting to pull off a cool weekend resto story like this month’s ’68 Valiant for a long time. For starters, you’ve got to find the right car. We could only afford something inexpensive, which means not a ’69 Camaro or Chevelle. That alone puts fear into the management types, who like to see popular makes and models on the cover of every issue. When I found the ’68 Valiant on this month’s cover, it was a stretch, but it passed muster in the long run because it was cheap, it had the potential to be cool, it ran, it didn’t have a lot of road rash, and the paint looked all there, albeit faded.

’70-72 Chevelle:

October 24, 2012 is going to go down in automotive history as the first time the world got a glimpse of the fifth generation of the Chevy small-block. Automotive journalists gathered at the GM Tech Center in Warren, MI today to view the new power source, ask questions, and take photos. The verdict was unanimous: the Gen V is the best one yet! For this one, the Chevy guys reached into the storied past of the Corvette, and revived the "LT1" moniker once again to denote the new engine, and it will appear in the 2014 Corvette, which will debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this coming January. Until then, this is our best window into what the C7 Corvette will be like.

Budget GM Brakes:

Those of a certain age will remember the iconic Life cereal ad where two brothers—not wanting to try something new—pushed the bowl in front of their youngest brother. Little Mikey had no preconceptions about what would taste good or bad, so he dug in, and liked it. What the commercial never showed us was whether or not the two older brothers actually ate a bowl of Life after seeing their younger sibling gobble it down. The main thing the ad agency left us with is the hope that you’d like it if you tried it.

Performance Braking:

Have you ever had a favorite song that was so overplayed on the radio, you ended up not liking it so much? Or even hating it? We may be heading that direction with LS engine swaps, but it’s not like the situation can be helped. Anyone with a brain would want the most power in the lightest package at the lowest price with the best overall aftermarket support. Need an engine that makes stupid amounts of power? Get an LS. Want something affordable from the salvage yard? Get an LS. Want something that’s guaranteed to fit your engine compartment? Get an LS. Want something that’s light as a feather that can single-handedly solve any balance or handling issue you’ve got? Get an LS. Want an engine that’s got literally an entire universe of aftermarket support? Get an LS. LS engines are so hot right now, our brothers at Car Craft even have a book out that’s totally dedicated to doing LS swaps. If the LS is your bag, grab a copy before they’re gone.

’68-74 Nova