Emily Chen
Bay Area engineer with a deep focus on vintage Japanese and European performance cars. Approaches classic car research and restoration with an analytical eye.
Emily Chen spent over a decade in technical roles in the Bay Area before her passion for vintage import cars took over an increasingly large part of her life. She brings an engineer's discipline to everything she does with classic cars — documenting restorations methodically, researching period specifications, and understanding the mechanical logic behind decades-old engineering decisions.
Her main interests are first-generation Datsun Z cars, early air-cooled Porsche 911s, the BMW E30, and the Toyota 2000GT. She's spent years embedded in the communities around these cars — learning from marque specialists, sourcing rare components, and developing the kind of hands-on knowledge that only comes from time with the cars themselves. Her writing reflects that same analytical approach: focused on what the data and the hardware actually tell you, rather than received wisdom.
Her current garage holds a 1972 Datsun 240Z in active restoration and a 1989 BMW M3 that she drives daily.
Magazine Articles by Emily Chen
1970 SS 454 Showdown: Monte Carlo vs Chevelle
1963 Galaxie 427 vs Impala 409: Big-Block Showdown
The 455 Under the Boat-Tail's Long Hood
Targa Freedom: The 914's Removable Roof
The T/A Engine and the Race Version It Homologated
The Engines of the 1967 to 1969 Barracuda
The 390 in the Flair Bird
The 1961 Impala SS 409: The First Hot Impala
914 vs 912: The Sibling Rivalry
The 340 Six Pack: The T/A's Special Small-Block
The 1968 Barracuda 340: The Sweet Spot
The Tri-Power 348: The 1958 Impala's Big Gun
The Hemi GTX
Karmann's Role in Building the 914
The 1970 Cuda in Period Road Tests
The 440 Six Pack: Three Two-Barrels of Fury
The 383 Magnum: The Standard R/T Engine as Legend
Mid-Engine Genius: The 914 Layout
The AAR Cuda: Trans-Am Racing on the Street
The 283 V8: One Horsepower Per Cubic Inch
European Coachbuilding: Figoni, Saoutchik, Pininfarina
The 440 Six Barrel Superbird
The 390 FE V8 in the Bullet Bird
