Oksana
@fruitjuice
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Mecum Report: 2017–2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 | 650 HP
In the past two years (2023 and 2024), Mecum has sold 10 unmolested, low-mileage Chevy Camaro ZL1 coupes. All of these most powerful muscle cars were the most recent Camaro platform dating back to the 2017 model year, and of the group that qualified, all were in the 2017-to-2020 model year range. To qualify for our informal price survey for used V-8 muscle cars, these all had fewer than 20K miles on the odometer, they had zero modifications performed, and none of them were 1LEs, convertibles, or special editions—in other words, it’s what you would look for if shopping the used-car front lines at a reputable Chevy dealership.
Average auction price: $59,070
Power output: 650 hp 0 reply
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2025 Corvette ZR1 | 1,064 HP
It may seem a bit disingenuous to call the newest car in the Corvette stable one of the most powerful muscle cars; with a base price that’s estimated to start around $150K (and a realistic out-the-door dealership price cresting $200K) the 2025 Corvette ZR1 is well out of reach for anybody other than a millionaire. Nevertheless, it should be considered an aspirational muscle car. Its 1,064 rated horsepower comes via the second twin of the Gemini flat-plane-crankshaft 5.5-liter V-8 family, the LT7. This makes it the highest-horsepower car on our list. Though it shares its basic layout and block with the Z06’s LT6, it’s an all-new engine, and the engine is only the start. Release of the ZR1 is still months out, but we already know some very cool factoids: Torque peaks at 828 lb-ft (6,000 rpm), the tips of the twin turbos spin up to 1.7 times the speed of sound and can withstand up to 1,900 degrees F,
Base price: around $150,000
Power output: 1,064 hp 0 reply
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2025 Mustang GTD | 815 HP
As good as the groundbreaking Mustang GTD is, we’re somewhat ambivalent about including it in any list of V-8 muscle cars, though it does fit our admittedly looser criteria. With an approximate base price of around $300,000, the cost of entry for the 815-hp supercar would give anyone pause, but the fact that you must be invited by Ford to buy one means that even if you win the Powerball lottery, well, you still may be out of luck. Still, the GTD is at heart one of the most powerful muscle cars, even if only in shape and name. Its supercharged 5.2-liter Predator V-8, eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transaxle
Base price: around $300,000
Power output: 815 hp 0 reply
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2025 Corvette Z06 | 670 HP
For about twice the cost of a base Corvette Stingray you can have what the MotorTrend staff calls the best American sports car ever made. Yes, it’s lightweight, and yes, it sticks like glue, but the thing you care about most as a hot-rodder is its 670-hp, flat-plane-crank, 8,600-rpm-redline, 5.5-liter LT6 V-8. It is a modern marvel and the only car you can get one in is the 2025 Corvette Z06. Just understand that a highest-horsepower car like the Z06 is going to cost well over the car’s official starting MSRP of $112,100. (The average Mecum hammer price of low-mileage C8 Z06s is somewhere north of $150,000 and there appears to be plenty of inventory in the pipeline.) Some of the Z06’s mind-bending stats include lateral acceleration of 1.10 g, 60–0 mph in 99 feet, 0–60 acceleration of 2.6 seconds, and a quarter-mile elapsed time of 10.6 seconds at a whopping 131 mph.
Base price: $112,100
Power output: 670 hp 0 reply
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2025 Corvette Stingray | 490 HP
For decades, going all the way back to Zora Arkus-Duntov’s involvement, we’ve had to recount the forlorn hope of the Y-platform’s engineers that a mid-engine Corvette would eventually become one of the most powerful muscle cars. If you can forgive its origami-on-acid styling, the base 2025 Corvette Stingray has some impressive stats: a 6.2-liter V-8 with 490 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque, a 0–60 acceleration time of around 3 seconds, and a base price of around $68,300, making it one of the best deals in V-8 muscle cars. HOT ROD editor John McGann proclaimed it the best hot rod he’s ever driven, and that makes sense, considering it exceeds anything from the classic muscle car era and at a price a lot of guys and gals can still afford.
Base price: $68,300
Power output: 490 hp 0 reply
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@fruitjuice 2017 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty
Technically, this is a Chevy Camaro SS that the folks at the Florida-based Trans Am Worldwide completely overhauled. It gets a custom fabricated front and rear fascia, glass T-tops and, of course, a hood scoop with a screaming chicken emblazoned on the hood. Under that poultry, nothing is stock. An LSX mill is dropped in, and a Whipple supercharger, and custom headers and exhaust, mated to a six-speed from Hurst. All in, the powertrain is good for 1,000 horsepower and the builders had a hard time getting it to stay on the dyno, estimating there’s more than 700 lb-ft of twist at the tires. The cost? More than $150,000, excluding the cost of the donor Chevy. 0 reply
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@fruitjuice 1966 Chevy Biscayne
Don’t sleep on the cheapest full size Bow Tie; it’s no slouch. By ditching all the fancy things, like power seats, power windows, and cheaper carpeting and seats, the Biscayne saved a little weight. It also had incredible tick-box options, including a 427 L72 V8, which also saw the suspension upgraded with beefier springs, shocks, and roll bars. Or the even better F41 suspension option, which added an even thicker front roll bar, and one in the back. Without hood scoops or any outward indicators of these enhancements, few knew what you were packing until you left them in the dust off the line. 0 reply
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1967 Mercury Cougar GT
Meet Mercury’s most successful launch, the Cougar, with 150,000 built in 1967. Among those, 12,000 were gussied up to the GT trim level. Hiding behind those rotating headlamps is a 390 cubic-inch Marauder GT V-8, good for 320 hp. An upgraded suspension, larger brakes, wheels, and tires, as well as a less-restrictive exhaust, helped translate all that oomph to the road. 0 reply
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