When Dan Vance was just 17 years old, a flicker of red and chrome caught his eye as he passed a used-car lot. The car was a 1970 Ford Torino GT convertible, and he knew he had to have it. "I fell in love with the shape of the car, and the rest is history," he says.

The blue car you see here is not that car he bought in 1978, but a real Torino GT convertible, born with a 351 V8. The 351 provided good acceleration, but it can't compete with what resides between the shock towers currently. Underneath the quivering shaker hood you'll find a big-block Ford 429 that has been stroked to a whopping 555 cubic inches (or about 9.1 liters).