Johnny Hunkins

Moreno Valley

Editor of Popular Hot Rodding magazine, muscle car enthusiast, guitarist/songwriter, Grooveyard Records recording artist, photographer, cigar lover.

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Articles

Hot Rods & Helos 2025: Huntington Beach Car Show Coverage

3 weeks ago | hotrod.com | Johnny Hunkins

The first-ever Hot Rods & Helos hit Huntington Beach, California with an eclectic mix of helicopters and hot rods while supporting vital police charities.
Craziest Car Show Ever?!

1 month ago | hotrod.com | Johnny Hunkins

Huntington Beach, California is combining hot rods with helicopters in a pure genius play for anybody with a hardcore gearhead attitude. The folks who brought us the ultimate car guy’s lifeline during Covid—Los Angeles’s series of Quarantine Cruises—are at it again with a new event called Hot Rods ’N Helos. While car shows that combine fly-ins are nothing new, these events hew almost exclusively to exotics and supercars.
1970 Dodge Challenger With Hemi Engine and 4-Speed R/T Is a Day-2 Street Machine

Dec 9, 2024 | hotrod.com | Johnny Hunkins

Since 1977, Don Bone’s drivable dream has bucked fads and fashions to stay the course as a reliable street machine. It’s a rare breed of hot-rodder that stays the course over the years and decades. He sticks to his guns as fashions come and go. The world ebbs and flows around him, yet he is always comfortable in his own skin.
Forgeline Announces Carbon-Fiber Dodge Drag Pack Lineup

Oct 30, 2024 | motortrend.com | Johnny Hunkins

Forgeline collaborates with Lacks Enterprises to build two all-new Drag Pack wheel designs for the Demon 170 and Widebody Dodge. The 2023 Dodge Demon 170 was a first for many things, and among those was the option to order a set of wheels with carbon-fiber barrels. These super-lightweight wheels are one of the many secret weapons the Demon 170 possesses and the reduction in rotating mass with carbon-fiber barrels pays massive dividends in a car this powerful.
Get as Much as 850 HP From Any LS V-8 Engine

Oct 29, 2024 | motortrend.com | Johnny Hunkins

Edelbrock and Comp have packaged their TVS2300 blower with an LST camshaft package for major hijinks on a budget!Blower kits have been helping regular Joes keep up with high-priced exotics and supercars for decades but a recent twist on that program by Edelbrock and Comp under the FAST label has driven the stakes even higher. By combining Edelbrock’s TVS2300 supercharger kit with Comp’s LST (Low Shock Technology) camshaft package, the door for even higher power numbers has opened in a big way.
QA1’s 9-Inch Rearend and Four-Link Suspension for Camaro, Firebird, and Nova

Oct 29, 2024 | motortrend.com | Johnny Hunkins

Deal bundling isn’t just for burger joints and insurance companies. QA1’s 9-inch rearend/4-link combos are good news for GM F- and X-bodies! Roll up to any fast-food joint drive-thru and order just a hamburger. There’s a 10 out of 10 chance they’ll ask you if you want the combo meal. And why not? Are you going to order a Quarter Pounder—scratch that—a Big Mac, then go across the street and order Burger King fries, then off to the next corner and get a side of coleslaw and a Pepsi from KFC?
QA1 Addresses Long-Needed Suspension Fix for Third-Gen Camaro and Firebird

Oct 27, 2024 | motortrend.com | Johnny Hunkins

Johnny Hunkins, born 1963, grew up mainly in Greensboro, NC. Attended Southeast Guilford High School (Greensboro) and graduated in 1981. Received a BFA degree in Art with a concentration in Design from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G) in 1985. The son of a music teacher and a music composer, began playing guitar at age 6, meanwhile harbored companion interests in muscle cars, model car building, NASCAR racing, and drag racing.
BluePrint Offers Plug-and-Play Engine and Transmission Combos

Oct 24, 2024 | motortrend.com | Johnny Hunkins

Johnny Hunkins, born 1963, grew up mainly in Greensboro, NC. Attended Southeast Guilford High School (Greensboro) and graduated in 1981. Received a BFA degree in Art with a concentration in Design from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G) in 1985. The son of a music teacher and a music composer, began playing guitar at age 6, meanwhile harbored companion interests in muscle cars, model car building, NASCAR racing, and drag racing.
Heart and Soul: Patina’d 1967 Plymouth Barracuda Shows the Way Forward for Mopar Suspension

Oct 17, 2024 | motortrend.com | Johnny Hunkins

In the sea of classic Mopars that inhabited the Holley Moparty show this past September, what stuck out like a sore thumb was a pale Sunfire Yellow 1967 Plymouth Barracuda with that rare magnetic draw of a perfect stance. Big tires and wheels are nothing new on hot rods, but in practice, getting things just right is more often a strikeout than a bases-loaded home run.
1970 Oldsmobile 442 W-30 Cutlass: Case Study for a Dead Muscle Car Brand

Oct 1, 2024 | motortrend.com | Johnny Hunkins

Mopar restoration expert Mike Mancini knows what it’s like for fans of defunct car companies. Here’s how he turned back the clock on a storied Oldsmobile. There are car guys, and then there are car guys. You can tell the difference because the former rarely cares about anything outside of his or her own brand—and these days the typical fan comfort level shrinks even further to a specific model and year.