Author Archive: Bryan McTaggart
Not A Cop: This Drift-Ready Crown Victoria Looks Rowdy!
“Sleeper” is one of those words that gets thrown around in the gearhead world too much. It’s like saying that something is “cool”, even if you’re saying it so that...
Unhinged: It’s Time For An Adventure!
I’m in a text group with two friends that I graduated high school with. I met one in 1990 and excepting a seven-year gap when I moved away during childhood, have been friends since. The other I...
The Charger, Part 10: Power Tour Killed The 360. But Fate Stepped In…
June 11th, 2024. That’s the day that the 360 in the ’76 Charger failed. You could’ve boiled an egg on my head, I was so pissed off. I had been thrashing on the car for half a year...
Unhinged: Power Tour 2024, From The Eyes Of A First-Timer
I remember seeing the call-out in Hot Rod magazine: how would you like to take your street machine, 4×4, whatever you’ve got that’s cool, and join the magazine staff on a trip from...
The Charger, Part 9: Shoving A Tremec TKX Where It Truly Belongs
Every six months, it seems, it’s time to provide an update to you, the BangShift reader, on the status of my ’76 Dodge Charger. Let’s be honest: in the entire duration of my...
Rough Project: Pole Barn Garage’s Budget-Savvy $2,250 Grand Prix Rebuild!
You may remember my “Rough Start” posts from a while back. The basic sentiment was that for $5,000, you could find an interesting, worthy project that would run, drive and had the...
Draggin’ Ass: Can This Squarebody Tow Truck Live Once More?
At the corner of Hancock Avenue and Fillmore Street in Colorado Springs, there used to be a Conoco gas station of the old-school variety: four pumps and a service center that would do oil changes,...
Morning Symphony: Banging Gears In A Stick-Shifted Ford LTD II
The Ford LTD II was a strange duck. It only ran for three years (1977-1979), was effectively a 1972 Ford Torino with razor-lined styling and a park bench for a front bumper, and had all of...
Rough Start: This Festiva Is A Cute Li’l Farm Truck!
I’ll be honest with you, readers: I was dreading looking for a Rough Start vehicle of any kind. It’s been a minute since I really went dredging for a cheap-car candidate, and for good...
Still Stomping: Can Tony’s Mark VIII Throw Down 500 Horsepower On The Dyno?
The last generation of the Ford Thunderbird, Mercury Cougar and Lincoln Mark VIII are, in my eyes, the most underrated, unassuming and unused cars on the market. There’s all sorts of options...
Desktop Build: A Detailed Build Of A ’77 Dodge Warlock Model Kit
How long has it been since you put a model kit together? We’re talking paint, cement, the whole nine yards. My last one I built in 2017, the MPC “Fuzz Duster” 1980 Plymouth Volaré...
Not Muscle: This Basic Dodge Coronet Comes Back To Life
Yes, wild and hairy cars were built between 1964 and roughly 1972. Wild colors, nuclear option engine choices, exhaust notes that could make the dead perk up and take notice…they existed. You...
