COUNTING BACKWARD FROM 200

IN THE FALL OF 2003, The Matrix franchise was pulling big numbers at the box office, Nelly and P. Diddy were blowing up the airwaves, gas was around $1.60 per gallon (and falling), and a new specialty car magazine hit newsstands and mailboxes. Hemmings Muscle Machines, our first title dedicated exclusively to “American performance cars, regardless whether they were powered by four, six, eight, ten, or even 12 cylinders,” debuted with the October 2003 issue, which