Favorite 60's-70's muscle car?
- Thread starter Miner69r
- Start date
Rey C.
Racing is life... anything else is just waiting.
Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
Perfect picture Rey except for the fact that fucking chick is in the way!
Thanks though....that's one hot car!!! :thumbsup:
Howso? I love old muscle cars, don't get me wrong, but in terms of pure performance newer cars are getting way more power for the same or less displacement, far better pickup due to traction control and suspension, way better braking, and above all, handling. Try to take a sharp corner in one of those old boats compared to a new performance car, you wouldn't stand a chance.
Rey C.
Racing is life... anything else is just waiting.
http://image.hotrod.com/f/10013096+w750+st0/113_0708_01_z+1967_vw_beetle+wheelie.jpg
67 VW Beetle
sorry!!
Alright, fellow! You go say 12 Hail Mary's and go rub a Holley 4bbl carburetor for 10 minutes! I'm trying to help you save your soul, here. :angels:
While vintage era "muscle cars" were generally heavier and are no GT match for todays cars. It must be noted vintage "muscle cars" were generally underrated in terms of hp for insurance purposes.
For example, I think the maximum rating of many Hemis was around 335 hp....but I don't think there was a street Hemi that produced less than 500 bhp.
The Morris Minor:
http://classic-car.y2u.co.uk/Photo_caq/Cl_Morris_Minor_Car_1.jpg
http://classic-car.y2u.co.uk/Photo_caq/Cl_Morris_Minor_Car_1.jpg
The Morris Minor series 2:
http://classic-car.y2u.co.uk/Photo_caq/Cl_Morris_Minor_Car_1.jpg
http://classic-car.y2u.co.uk/Photo_caq/Cl_Morris_Minor_Car_1.jpg
Rey C.
Racing is life... anything else is just waiting.
I can't remember who it was (Darrell Waltrip maybe) who once said, "the older I get, the faster I was."
You're right, it's not a fair comparison at all. We're talking about technology that was mainly developed in the late 50's and 60's - half a century ago. Brakes, suspension, transmissions, alloys, even fluids and tires, they're all so much more advanced now.
There is a company called Year One (along with several others probably) that will take an old muscle car body and set it down on a modern chassis, with all new suspension and brake components. You can make a respectable road race car out of some of these old muscle cars. A friend of mine did it with a 68 Charger. It can't hang with a modern C6 Corvette, or even a stock WRX STi, but it is a fun car that will handle and hold its own. But stock vs stock, there are a lot of modern sport compacts that will match or even beat some muscle cars. It's a different world. I remember taking turns on my Roadrunner and hearing the tires screaming. Hell, I thought I was doing something. I can take those same turns in my WRX (yeah, modified) 10mph faster and the tires don't even complain.
But in my mind, that Roadrunner was the fastest thing ever created... cause that's how I remember it. Nostalgia is a beautiful thing, ya know.
jasonk282
Banned
Ralph Nader led to march to destroying the muscle car. Many of these cars were running high 13's to mid 14's right off the show floor in quater miles, lets see a newer performace car thats not a mustang, caramo or corvett do this. these cars were low prices for the era. It would be equillvent to buying a chevy colbat today without paying for all aftermarket parts. Pluse you are comparing cars from 2 different era's and everything has been inhanced and improved upon. metal for sheet metal, drum breaks now we have cermanic breaks. Lap belts now we have 5-point harnest.
Just look at the clip from the fast and the furious to what American Muscle does. They have to you NITROS to beat the Charger.
This ii what a Muscle car is all about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBibPe_utu0
Just look at the clip from the fast and the furious to what American Muscle does. They have to you NITROS to beat the Charger.
This ii what a Muscle car is all about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBibPe_utu0
The only car I'm aware of Ralph Nader tackling was the Corvair with "Unsafe At Any Speed".
What did he do against "muscle cars" in general?
Rey C.
Racing is life... anything else is just waiting.
Gas prices killed the muscle car era more than anything else. When gas shot up, you couldn't give these cars away. Car companies don't continue to build what they can't sell. Even Shelby Cobras were going for just a few thousand in the mid 70's. Insurance didn't help either. A younger guy, working on a farm or at a fast food restaurant couldn't afford to put gas in a muscle car and insure it.
jasonk282
Banned
The automotive safety lobby led by Ralph Nader decried offering powerful cars for public sale, particularly when targeted at young buyers: the power of many muscle cars underlined their marginal brakes, handling, and tire adhesion.
the gas is a pain in the ass indeed, but The only think I could see a comparrison today with be full size trucks and large SUV's. As far as saftey if they had the innovation we have today these cars as just a safe as a M1 Abrams tank.
1) 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T
http://www.walldesk.net/pdp/1024/13/03/1950-1970/1970-Dodge-Challenger-Hemi.jpg
2) 1969 Chevy Camaro SS
http://www.1969chevroletcamaro.org/images/1969_camaro_for_sale.jpg
3) 1967 Pontiac GTO
http://forum.avtoindex.com/foto/data/media/63/Pontiac_GTO_1967_30.jpg
http://www.walldesk.net/pdp/1024/13/03/1950-1970/1970-Dodge-Challenger-Hemi.jpg
2) 1969 Chevy Camaro SS
http://www.1969chevroletcamaro.org/images/1969_camaro_for_sale.jpg
3) 1967 Pontiac GTO
http://forum.avtoindex.com/foto/data/media/63/Pontiac_GTO_1967_30.jpg
Having come of age in the early to mid 70s I owned a few muscle cars and knew people that owned almost all of the ones I didn't that have been listed.
Don't be so surprised facetious we didn't know we were running out of gas or about climate change yet lol. I used to get Sunoco 260 for 50 cents a gallon.That was the only gas my favorite car that I had would run on.That was a 70 1/2 Z-28 which had 11 to 1 pistons.But it was a tweaked turbo 400 not 4 speed version.
All around that car was my favorite it was fast as hell but got decent mileage (long as you weren't always punching it).
I knew someone who had a real nice 1970 AAR cuda that had the 340 six pack.That was fast as heck too.The big block cars were nice but you always have to keep in mind the bigger the car the more horsepower required.
And I have to say as awesome as Hemi engines were the price of the hemi option was prohibitive(like an extra $800 on top of a $3400 price tag).Plus the engine was not really good at all for daily driving.They would foul plugs fast in stop and go driving etc.
But if I was going to say what car from then I wish I had then (one that I actually never even knew of then or saw) it would be what was refered to as "Copo" Camaro from 1969.It was a totally unmarked camaro (No SS,Z-28 etc badges).They were 427 engined cars and with no badges would have fooled a lot of people at stop lights lol.Pics and description here.
http://www.cartersclassicmusclecars.com/Camaro/camaro.htm
Also another real nice package was the 68-70 Chevy nova which you could get eithier a real strong small block in or even the 396 and 427 big block.But really the small block cars were better all around.
And I need to say that there were big differences in engines of the same size even.As in if you bought a 1969 Chevelle you had the choice of 3 different 396 engines.325hp,350hp or the 375 Hp one.So not all Chevelles were equal or as muscular as each other.
Quick story about someone I knew.He was in Vietnam in the army and was due to come home in 1970.He ordered new car while in nam.It was suppose to be an SS Nova with a 350 in powder blue.So he gets home goes to the Chevy dealer in town to pick up his car.They give him the keys tell him its out back.He goes and looks and sees nothing resembling what he ordered. Goes back in dealer and they go out with him and point to a fire engine red one with a 396 in it.It was a 350 horse version so guy in nam go at least part of order right in a way.
And I have to mention the GTO's that people I knew had,they were some real bad fast cars too.
Don't be so surprised facetious we didn't know we were running out of gas or about climate change yet lol. I used to get Sunoco 260 for 50 cents a gallon.That was the only gas my favorite car that I had would run on.That was a 70 1/2 Z-28 which had 11 to 1 pistons.But it was a tweaked turbo 400 not 4 speed version.
All around that car was my favorite it was fast as hell but got decent mileage (long as you weren't always punching it).
I knew someone who had a real nice 1970 AAR cuda that had the 340 six pack.That was fast as heck too.The big block cars were nice but you always have to keep in mind the bigger the car the more horsepower required.
And I have to say as awesome as Hemi engines were the price of the hemi option was prohibitive(like an extra $800 on top of a $3400 price tag).Plus the engine was not really good at all for daily driving.They would foul plugs fast in stop and go driving etc.
But if I was going to say what car from then I wish I had then (one that I actually never even knew of then or saw) it would be what was refered to as "Copo" Camaro from 1969.It was a totally unmarked camaro (No SS,Z-28 etc badges).They were 427 engined cars and with no badges would have fooled a lot of people at stop lights lol.Pics and description here.
http://www.cartersclassicmusclecars.com/Camaro/camaro.htm
Also another real nice package was the 68-70 Chevy nova which you could get eithier a real strong small block in or even the 396 and 427 big block.But really the small block cars were better all around.
And I need to say that there were big differences in engines of the same size even.As in if you bought a 1969 Chevelle you had the choice of 3 different 396 engines.325hp,350hp or the 375 Hp one.So not all Chevelles were equal or as muscular as each other.
Quick story about someone I knew.He was in Vietnam in the army and was due to come home in 1970.He ordered new car while in nam.It was suppose to be an SS Nova with a 350 in powder blue.So he gets home goes to the Chevy dealer in town to pick up his car.They give him the keys tell him its out back.He goes and looks and sees nothing resembling what he ordered. Goes back in dealer and they go out with him and point to a fire engine red one with a 396 in it.It was a 350 horse version so guy in nam go at least part of order right in a way.
And I have to mention the GTO's that people I knew had,they were some real bad fast cars too.
One thing I have noticed is that more modern cars have their listed hp at RPMs that are near the red line. If you look at a lot of the old muscle cars they seemed to have a listed hp rating almost just above what they idle at. I bet if you cranked some of those engines revs up that were listed at 300-350 hp a lot of them would really pull in more like 500-700 hp.
While there are cars that had better racing performance, even back then, when you consider everything they are still better (As long as you don't consider gas mileage anyhow.) Sure there were Ferraris and other cars, even contemporary ones, that could probably outperform them..but look at their price tags. All those old muscle cars most normal people could actually afford back then. You could use them as your everyday car and drive them to work. You could use them to tow things around. Go see how willing some modern day performance car person is willing to tow his heavy boat around with it all the time. They were durable and you didn't have to constantly fear about the engine or transmission giving out. The better ones had good non-assisted handling. They were relatively easy to modify yourself. They were relatively easy to fix yourself. You didn't need thousands of dollars in diagnostic equipment to tell if something was wrong with it. You could also drive down the street and live if you got in an accident. I know if I had to have a regular street accident with either an old muscle car or some light weight performance car of today which one I would rather be in. I know which one would be easier and less costly to fix if they were both still made. They also didn't have countless electronic gadgets or computerized stuff in them to go wrong. Their biggest problem was that a lot of them ended up being rust buckets despite the lengths some people went through to keep them from rusting.
Rey C.
Racing is life... anything else is just waiting.
I know the stock STI runs 13's in the quarter. I haven't looked up the new Evo, but it and the WRX/STI are about the same performance wise, so I'd say it'll do it too. And there's probably others.
But like you said, these are cars from very different eras. And people also need to remember how completely terrible and awful the 80's were for the American car industry (cars in general, IMO). The "all new" C4 Corvette that came out as an '84 model (skipping '83) had just over 200 horsepower. The car, overall, was a vast improvement over previous generations. But it didn't have the guts to pull a wet string out of a cat's butt. That's how bad it sucked from the 70's muscle to the 80's/early 90's - then we started getting these crazy electronics and alloys from F1 and rally racing. And things are pretty good now.
I just try to appreciate the brute force of the 70's without matching it against the high tech speed punchers of today.
But if I could find a vintage Hemi Superbird or Daytona Charger for Gisele to pose with, hell, I might pay for the shoot myself. Her fine as hell, round little butt... that big wing... that sloped nose (the car, I mean - although her nose is nice too)... Oh man, I think I'm having a moment here, fellows. Excuse me for a second. :rubbel:
jasonk282
Banned
Although they the STI and WRX make there Hp in the high 5-6rpm range where as a mscle car is arounf 2-3rpm, they are pure tourque
I agree with you. My first car that I drove was a 1990 pontiac 6000 LE and i only got it cause my dad bought a 95 nissan sentra, that he hated, and traded it in a year later. I think it had like 80Hp. There are really only 3 cars that I liked from the 80's. Knight Rider, General Lee and the A-team GMC Van.
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