The Way It Was (really!)

[Jamie6.5]

And in 1974-5-6, at the height "gas crisis," all of those muscle cars could be had CHEAP!
If a person had had a spare $20K and a warehouse then, they'd be sittin' pretty now.

When I think of all of them I passed up back in the day,.....
Shot myself in the foot, I did.

 

[mjn]

Make no mistake.. I'm a big muscle car lover... Bowties in particular, but some of the comments in this thread make it obvious that many of you have not kept up with the times..

While todays "ricer's" and German car tuners don't have the sound I like, there is no disputing their ability to put out some SERIOUS power.

Examples;

1.) Daughters fiance' just sold his 06 Honda S2000. The car weighed less than 2900 lbs, and put out 420 HP at the wheels. Not the crank... to the ground. All stock internals.. Daily driven. That sucker was a handful.

2.) Now he has a BMW 135i 6speed with nothing more than a "chip" (for now) 385 HP and monster torque.. makes you steer (can you say sideways?) merely rolling into it in third gear... tires smokin like crazy.

3.) Some of our techs are big into tuners..(VW/Audi store) One of 'em had a MkIV GTI that made just short of 550 HP. Out of a 2.0L 4 cyl.

4.) There is a Tuner company here in town called Kaisen Speed (look 'em up). They have spent the last few years specializing in making Honda's go fast. They are really, really good at it. The Civic they built is either #1 or #2 in the nation. Again.. a 4 cyl making somewhere north of 1100 HP.

All I'm sayin is, when you pull up to a stop light in your bad to the bone 70 Charger R/T 426 Hemi, with 425 HP/490 lbs torque rollin on 14" 70's.... weighing in at 3600+ lbs... and there's one of them "ricer" cars next to ya....

Don't be suprised if all you see are tail lights.

 

[jbett98]

There was a 71 Cuda parked under an old barn lean to, out in the country near Boring, OR.
It was across the road from a friend of mines house, and every time I stopped by, I would mention that I should go over and make a cash offer on it.
It was only visible from my friends house, so anybody driving along the road couldn't see it.
One day last year I noticed that all of the berry vines were cut down and the car was gone.
Oh well, I probably would have killed myself driving it to fast.

 

[mjn]

There was a 71 Cuda parked under an old barn lean to, out in the country near Boring, OR.
It was across the road from a friend of mines house, and every time I stopped by, I would mention that I should go over and make a cash offer on it.
It was only visible from my friends house, so anybody driving along the road couldn't see it.
One day last year I noticed that all of the berry vines were cut down and the car was gone.
Oh well, I probably would have killed myself driving it to fast.

Don't you hate it when you procrastinate like that... and end up missing what could have been a deal?

Been there, done that.

I remember a certain 356 in Madras, Ore....... and a big block 69 convertible Vette (4 speed!) in Grangeville, Idaho..... Dang...

 

[MarkAd]

You guys , pleas excuse me, I have to go change my shorts

 

[68fastback]

All I'm sayin is, when you pull up to a stop light in your bad to the bone 70 Charger R/T 426 Hemi, with 425 HP/490 lbs torque rollin on 14" 70's.... weighing in at 3600+ lbs... and there's one of them "ricer" cars next to ya....

Don't be suprised if all you see are tail lights.

Ever watch Street Outlaws? Theres no "ricer cars" that can compete, even a 1500hp AWD couldn't match built american muscle.

 

[Swedish K]

At least not with drum brakes, over boosted power steering, and no feel for the road at triple digits.

They've probably never spun the rims inside the tires either.

OR gapped points with a matchbook.

Back in 95 I was planning on doing at least the west coast leg of Mustangs across America trip and the 67 was running a bit rough so I picked up a fresh rebuilt distributor and got it dialed in. All was well until we were rolling down the grapevine towards LA and it started running lousy. Stopped at In N Out and did the matchbook gap trick - all was well the rest of the way into LA. decided to see some friends while I was there and everything was good - on the return trip north I kept having the same problem - eventually had to stop every 10 miles or so to reset the gap with a trusty match book. I thought the points were slipping originally until I noticed that the rotor was carving into the cap - They forgot to put the upper bushing in when they rebuilt the distributor so the pressure of the points was pushing the shaft away. After that I put a petronix electronic ignition conversion into it which was great for about a year and a half until the unit died and stranded me in the middle of nowhere. I am still running electronic ignition but I now keep a set of points and condenser along with a match book in the trunk just in case...

 

[jbett98]

And what's that rice burner gonna be worth in a couple of years?

 

[deen_ad]

The true HP of the 427 L-88 and 426 Hemi were way under rated for insurance reasons. They were both in to the 500 HP range.

So was the '68 396 Chevy that I shoehorned into my '67 Camaro. NHRA factored that one to 450 but even that wasn't enough. 11.99 @ 126 through the mufflers and street tires.

 

[deen_ad]

Ever watch Street Outlaws? Theres no "ricer cars" that can compete, even a 1500hp AWD couldn't match built american muscle.

Have you seen the mile standing start? A Camaro and Mustang went over 200 mph in around 22 seconds. The third fastest was a rice burner and it also was over 200 mph and 22.46 seconds.


Deen
NRA Life Member, Benefactor Level
Defender of Freedom Award
NRA Recruiter
Second Amendment Foundation Member
Washington Arms Collectors Member
Arms Collectors of SW Washington Member

"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one and don't have it, you'll probably never need one again!"

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Try those listed modern cars against my baby.. 600 HP/torque and all race/track gear under the hood/skin

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

There are some fast rice burners out there. I had a 91 mitsu eclipse GSX (2.0L turbo, AWD) with a big turbo and supporting mods
that was pretty quick but keeping it running well was a pain. Early 90's electronics don't like other devices correcting what they think the car is getting in terms of fuel & air.
I went back to American (well...eh, canadian), and got a 98 Camaro z28. My dream car is a '69 Camaro like I helped my dad build in my high-school years but those are out of my price range. It does pretty well for a little 346ci, 446hp at the wheels. 500rwhp is doable with some better heads and a bigger cam but I am more into going around corners, and wanted a pretty fast street car.
It's funny, pre-1994 when OBDII diagnostics came out all the magazines reported it was the end of performance since you could no longer "chip" you car. Little did they know it wouldn't take any time at all for modern "tuners" and horsepower junkies to hack the ECU's of newer cars & trucks to unlock virtually every aspect of the engine. Probably similar to what happened when guys in the 60's started rejetting their carbs and going to high output distributors to compliment their big solid lifter cams. As long as the American desire for excess of speed is alive, smart people will continue to thwart manufactuer's & government's requirements. Just think, if it wasn't for federal laws against it, every AR would have a 3 or 4 position selector switch.
My dream car continues to be either a 1st gen 427 Camaro or 2nd gen vette, or a 66 Shelby 427 cobra (or kit car that'll hang with or beat the real deal...with a chevy motor )
I try not to discriminate against American/imports, I appreciate all fast cars and the enthusiasm that goes into creating them.

 

[Redcap]

Try those listed modern cars against my baby.. 600 HP/torque and all race/track gear under the hood/skin

View attachment 77519

Or against my ratty smallblock '71 Demon.

 

[Father of four]

If a person has the money they can turn just about anything into a rocket.

I love the 60s muscle cars and I admit I'd take quite a few of those new rice-burners as well.

 

[Father of four]

You guys should take a look at this guys show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Hv_jRQMv8

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Novas were the honda civic of that era, and ugly to boot. I even liked the Gremlins better

It's the yellow car and back then was a joke

 

[Father of four]

One for Blitz...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vVXezFglQk

 

[Blitzkrieg]

One of my faves

 

[Father of four]

This is what I want!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avnHfwYGN20

 

[Blitzkrieg]

One for Blitz...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vVXezFglQk

That's my baby, coments spot on except mine's show quality (Do NOT show her) and has power assist steering and power brakes. You can die as fast in this machine as on a fast bike. That was a great expose