mod@tech

We’ve recently featured several Pontiac LeMans Sports with the T41 Endura nose option, but the two model years feature several subtle differences that you may not notice. Let’s dig deeper!

Pontiac introduced the T41 Endura Styling Option for 1971. Initially available for the LeMans Sport (two-door, four-door, and convertible), it eventually was made available for station wagons as well. Why Pontiac did this is a mystery, as I imagine it could be seen as cannibalizing GTO sales. However, two things were going on at the time: Pontiac had new management in 1969, which changed the direction of the brand formerly led by John DeLorean, and the high-performance market was cratering. Offering the GTO’s image without the GTO’s baggage may have been seen as an opportunity, no different than “cosmetic supercars” that were beginning to appear.

In this recent Muscle Car Campy video, the 1971 Pontiac LeMans Sport convertible shown features the T41 nose, but it’s actually with a ’72 grille. The car was originally ordered with the T41 nose so the pedigree is there, but the insert and grille are from a year later. Let’s examine the differences.

For 1971, the grille goes to the edge, though the grille pattern was dependent on the model: GTOs had a cross-hatch pattern (with the Judge’s blacked out), while the LeMans had a tight eggcrate pattern. In addition, if the car is a LeMans Sport, it received louvers on the front fenders.

For 1972, the grille is inset, and it’s identical between the GTO and LeMans, aside from badging. Additionally, the front fenders feature air extractors for cars equipped with either the W62 GTO package (remember, it was no longer a model) or V-8 LeMans models ordered with T41 equipment.

Below is your key to comparing the 1971-72 grilles and front fenders (in ascending order). Click on each image to be taken to its respective ad on ClassicCars.com.

1971

1972

The white space between the Ram 1500 Warlock and 1500 Rebel off-road models is about to turn the color of mud with the arrival of the 2026 Ram 1500 BackCountry.

The BackCountry is based on the Ram 1500 Big Horn 4×4 Crew Cab with either the Level 1 or Level 2 Equipment Group. Level 1 includes power-folding heated mirrors, heated front seats, heated leather-wrapped steering wheel, power-adjustable pedals, second-row in-floor storage bins, and power-sliding rear window. Level 2 adds a seven-inch instrument cluster display, 12-inch Uconnect 5 touchscreen, Off-Road Info Pages, wireless charging pad, dual-zone climate control, power tailgate-release, nine-speaker audio system, and more.

BackCountry upgrades consist of a variety of cosmetic changes and off-road-focused hardware. On the outside, the BackCountry features front tow hooks, body-color grille surround and accents, Diamond Black Crystal Pearl-Coat bumpers and lower body, and Satin Black 18-inch aluminum wheels. A one-inch suspension lift, electronic locking/limited-slip rear diff, and 32-inch off-road tires work together to get the BackCountry where it needs to go. Skid plates protect the front underbody, power steering rack, transfer case, and fuel tank as it gets there.

Inside, there are vinyl bucket seats with printed mesh inserts, MOLLE storage panels on the front seatbacks, rubber floor mats, and Selec-Speed off‑road cruise control. Of course, special badges and emblems are also part of the package.

Don’t worry, Hemi-lovers — you can get the BackCountry with the Hurricane 3.0-liter twin-turbo I-6 or the mild-hybrid 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 eTorque. Either way you go, the truck will come with Ram’s 10-year/100,000-mile warranty.

Ram is currently accepting orders for the 1500 BackCountry. Opting for the BackCountry trim will add $2,995 to the price of a Big Horn, bringing the starting price of one with the Level 1 Equipment Group to $62,410.

The styling update of the 1969-70 Ford Mustang made a good design even better. The 1964-66 Mustang was an icon, and it maintained its character while growing larger with the 1967-68 models. With the introduction of the 1969 Mach 1 SportsRoof, the Mustang looked aggressive, exotic, and had an almost European GT flair. Today’s AutoHunter Spotlight is a 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1, the second year of Ford’s image pony car.

According to the VIN, this Mach 1 is powered by an M-code 351 Cleveland V8, which is backed by a three-speed FMX automatic transmission. The car has been color-changed from Lime Metallic to what the selling dealer is calling Candyapple Red. It is offered with a Deluxe Marti Report and a clear title.

The seller states that this Mustang Mach 1 has had what the seller is calling a ground-up restoration. Per the photographs, the exterior looks to suggest this Mustang is quite a nice driver. Other than a few paint flaws, I see no serious issues with the body. It is riding on great looking 15-inch Magnum 500 wheels clad with staggered-width BFGoodrich raised white letter radial tires. Can you appreciate how awesome these cars look from the side?

The interior of this ’70 Mach 1 has been changed from its original Medium Ivy Green to black vinyl upholstery with red highlights. The factory woodgrain trim looks great and adds warmth.

What lurks under the hood of this Mach 1 only makes this car cooler: a 11:1-compression 351 Cleveland V8 with a stated 300 horsepower. The engine looks mostly stock with the exception of the aluminum valve covers. A Shaker ram air system has been added, which is a welcome addition. The 351 Cleveland is one of my all-time favorite Ford engines, and they sound even better than the typical 289 and 302 small-blocks.

The underside of the car also looks to be in good shape per the photos provided. It looks as if there may have been some work on the floors during the restoration, but it looks like it was nicely executed. Nothing makes me concerned with the condition of this Mach 1.

To many enthusiasts, 1970 marked what may be considered the end of the classic Mustang, as the 1971-73 cars that followed became bigger and a bit softer. To me, this 1970 Mach 1 hits a sweet spot for the last of Ford’s fleet pony cars, especially with a 351 Cleveland under the hood.

If you find this to be as nice a car as I do, then clearly you have great taste! These are awesome cars to drive and are, in many ways, the pinnacle of classic Mustang development. Keep in mind that this Mach 1 is ripe for bidding at this very moment, so you had better make your bid now as the auction for this 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 ends on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 12:15 p.m. (PDT).

Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and a photo gallery

In recent years, we’ve seen some Japanese cars command strong prices in the marketplace. One of the cars that helped put the Acura brand on the map before the NSX existed was the Legend, and our Pick of the Day is a 1990 Acura Legend LS coupe listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Mount Prospect, Illinois.

“Final year for the first-generation Legend, highest trim level available,” the listing says.

Acura’s launch in 1986 marked a bold move. Essentially, the brand banked on the fact that consumers would pay a premium for a Honda-built car with added luxuries. At the onset, only two models, the four-cylinder Integra and the V-6 Legend, were offered. As it turns out, the marketplace did react warmly, and by the early 1990s, Acura had added the two-seat NSX sports car and the five-cylinder Vigor sedan to the model lineup.

Meanwhile, the Legend, initially available only as a sedan for the first year, was joined by a coupe variant in 1987. Acura gave the car a few special features for the final year of the first generation in 1990, including a unique hood, more standard equipment, a decklid spoiler for LS models, and one-year-only red/clear taillights as opposed to the previous red/amber versions.

That brings us to this lovely 55,000-mile specimen in Sirius White Pearl, owned by just one individual since new. It’s said to be a show-quality vehicle, minus the fact that it’s spent the last eight years in static storage on a lift. “Suitable for full or partial renovation, daily driver, collector, or show car,” the seller says. Speaking of shows, the car was on display at the Japanese Automotive Invitational in 2018 (if you look closely, you can actually see the nose of the car in the top left corner of that article’s lead image).

The interior was reupholstered in a two-tone black and white leather theme, and the audio system was modernized with a Kenwood head unit. The seller says that the original stereo is included with the sale for anyone wishing to reinstall it. The car’s 160-horsepower 2.7-liter V-6 is mated to a four-speed automatic transmission.

One of the most compelling things about this Legend isn’t the car itself — it’s the stash of documentation said to accompany it. Based on the photos in the listing, the seller has brochures, posters, manuals, advertisements, apparel, and even glassware.

The asking price for the package deal is $22,500 or best offer.

Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com

It’s officially spring! If you’re reading this latest installment of Car Connections as this is being published, that means you’ve probably taken a break from vigorously cleaning your home. Thank you for stopping by! As I always do in this series, I have the Random Word Generator give me three prompts that I then link to automobiles in various ways. Oddly enough, they all have a Texas connection. Yee-haw! This week’s words are tension, aid, and loop. How would you associate these words with cars? Tell us in the Comments section below.

Tension: I wouldn’t say my dad scares easily, but everyone has his or her moments. He had one when I took him and his girlfriend wheeling in a 2016 Land Rover Range Rover HSE Td6 at the Hidden Falls Adventure Park in Marble Falls. Dad was riding shotgun as I went over a stretch of terrain at an angle that gave him what must’ve seemed like an entire windowful of the ground below. I could hear the tension in his voice as I continued to climb. He either was terrified of us landing on his side of the vehicle, what would happen to my career if we did, or both. Fortunately, he was not in need of new underwear after we leveled out.

Aid: Almost seven years ago, I drove a 2019 Ford Expedition MAX Limited back from the Texas Auto Writers Association’s Auto Roundup in Denton. The optional Stealth Edition package added a continuously controlled damping (CCD) suspension, black hood lettering and exterior accents, red interior stitching, and black-painted 22-inch aluminum wheels. About two hours outside of Austin, I ran over something small, and I knew immediately that it was going to cause a problem. Sure enough, the tire pressure monitoring system showed me that I had lost all the air in my rear driver-side tire. Luckily, I was able to pull off the highway to a safe area that was still visible to passing drivers. I removed the onboard tire iron, lowered the spare (which was only 18 inches in diameter), and began loosening the lug nuts of the bum wheel. Soon after I started, a truck rolled up. The driver happened to be a heavy equipment mechanic who saw I had a flat and wanted to help. I didn’t need his assistance because I could’ve changed the tire myself, but he was eager to lend a hand and he had an impact wrench, which saved me a lot of time. I discovered the true kindness of strangers — and we both discovered just how much elbow grease it takes to lift a 22-inch wheel/tire combo.

Loop: Back when I lived in Austin, I would often take performance cars on a loop that ran from my place just outside the city limits to the curvy roads of the Texas Hill Country and back. It was during one of those runs that I fell in love with the 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI. It was an attractive hot hatch with great handling, a snappy seven-speed automatic, and a 2.0-liter turbo I-4 with 228 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. All those characteristics made the GTI responsive and, most importantly, fun. The more I drove it, the more I loved it.

Cadillac was the brand I’d most associate with hearses when I was a kid. Later, RWD Lincoln Town Cars appeared on my radar. Today, without the proliferation of large sedans, we end up having goofy-looking SUVs to serve this purpose.

But that’s an American-centric point of view. How about in other countries? Several years ago, I caught a glimpse while visiting a cemetery outside Buenos Aires.

My elderly mom is preparing to visit family, so I will be accompanying her to Argentina. We’re planning on visiting the cemetery, which reminded me of this hearse I saw almost three years ago. This cemetery also has a place in my automotive history — more on that below.

The hearse pictured above is a coachbuilt Renault Fluence, a vehicle that was produced for 2010-15, though it was produced in other parts of the world through 2020; in Argentina, it appears production ended in 2019. The Fluence was available only as a four-door sedan, so the coachbuilders did not have a “break” to depend on.

The cemetery is called La Tablada Israelite Cemetery and features over 150,000 graves; the people in some of them were part of my life when I was much younger. Many years ago — I’ll guess 40  — I recall seeing a trashed DeSoto Diplomat somewhere on the outside perimeter of the burial grounds. I later learned that this was a special export car and not the usual DeSoto we’d find in the U.S.

The other car I witnessed, perhaps around the same time, was owned by an employee: a c.1960 Ford Taunus 17 M (sometimes identified as “P3”). I caught sight of this car for the first time while visiting Peru in second grade, so I was intrigued because it had the Euro headlights that made me wonder, “Why don’t we have that in the United States?” This one (which may be the last one I’ve seen in person) was covered in bondo and perhaps worse. I was somewhat amazed that a car hanging by a thread was legal to drive. Of course, I remember taking a peek to see those magnificent headlights.

The Taunus was among the first cars to feature headlights that were not round. This may explain why I also like the Citroen Ami 8 (the Ami 6 is a bit more hideous) and some versions of the Maserati 5000 GT.

Thanks to the rate of attrition, I know my car-sightings will be slim during this trip, but I’ll use my Spidey Senses to find something automotively interesting and report back.