13 Legendary Classic Muscle Car Tuners and Dealerships

11. Fred Gibb Chevrolet

They opened the Fred Gibb Chevrolet dealership in 1948 in the rural Illinois town of La Harpe. For years, they sold regular cars and trucks to this small community 250 miles from Chicago. Fred Gibb didn’t intend to race or modify muscle cars. But when his employee bought a new Camaro Z28 and started racing successfully, Gibb realized there was potential in the performance market.

Gibb met Dick Harrell by chance. So, he started preparing race cars with the help of fellow Chevrolet performance dealers, as well as the factory itself. Gibb invested heavily in race cars and even bought 50 Chevy IIs from GM. He transformed them into racing cars, selling them to enthusiasts.

Apart from the numerous successful race cars he built, Gibb’s biggest achievement was when he persuaded Chevrolet to build 69 legendary COPO Camaros ZL1. He wanted to fit them with the mythical all-aluminum 427 V8. They built the cars as special orders, selling them through special, performance-oriented dealerships. However, Fred Gibb Chevrolet was the main dealership that sold most of the 69 Chevys they made.

12. Tasca Ford

Shelby had the biggest support from Ford, but he wasn’t the only one who built fast Fords ordinary customers couldn’t get. Bob Tasca established his business in 1953 and his Ford dealership soon became successful. It was even one of the major Ford partners on the East Coast. Bob Tasca was one of the first guys to fully understand the legendary “Win on Sunday and sell on Monday” mantra. He first started racing and sponsoring cars in his Bristol, Rhode Island area.

With Ford`s quest for racing success, management realized Tasca Ford could be a valuable partner. So, when the Ford Thunderbolt drag racer project started, Tasca Ford had an important place. Tasca also experimented with engine conversions and started offering 427 V8 kits for Mustangs and other Fords. Using his experience and know-how, Ford presented the 428 Cobra Jet Mustang in 1968.

Tasca helped develop the Boss 302 race car and the Boss 429 race engines. Since it was a big dealership that sold a lot of cars, Tasca was Shelby American’s main partner for the East Coast. Although Bob Tasca is gone now, the dealership is still active today and proud of their heritage.

13. Callaway Cars

Rives Callaway established Callaway Cars in 1977, long after the muscle car craze was over. At the time, those high horsepower performance machines were a thing of the past. He specialized in producing turbocharger kits for installation in European cars. His knowledge and expertise started the turbo era. This lined up perfectly with the times, so the company took off.

In the late 80’s, Callaway was already a well-known name in the car industry. He concentrated on building his own creations on regular models. Back then, the hottest U.S. car was the Corvette C4 with 245 HP. They may not seem like much, but in those days, it was a respectable number. Callaway developed a twin-turbo kit for the venerable Chevrolet V8.

In the end, the car produced mighty 345 HP, an increase of 100 HP over stock. Chevrolet was so impressed by the result, they included the Callaway conversion as a regular production order. So, customers could order the Callaway Corvette C4 from every dealership. To show the real potential of the twin-turbo C4, Callaway produced the legendary Sledgehammer Corvette. It was a highly modified, heavily turbocharged 1988 Corvette with 898 HP that could go over 250 mph.

These are the most famous, legendary classic muscle car tuners and dealerships. Luckily, many of these businesses still exist today.