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I drove a few corvettes courtesy of Raymond Motors when they used to trade in sports cars.
the amazing lazy performance of those cars was just delightful to use a word.
this was the late 70's early 80's and Ray's yard was full of V8 performance cars plus sportscars.
I actually bought an MGB from him , the opposite end of the spectrum.
Yeas indeed, some of those big block factory GM engines of the late sixties produced power & torque WELL in excess of their advertised figures.
Bob Jane bought out two ZLI Camaros powered by aluminium 427 engines. There was an orange car which Bob used for circuit racing & a blue car. Bob removed the engine from the blue car which car was subsequently used for drag racing & eventually destroyed, along with the tags.
However, when Bob's orange ZL1 Camaro was restored, Bob had a "correct" engine, because He still had the unused alloy block 427 engine removed from the blue car, unused for all those years!
I was recently reading an article about a '69 ZL1 427 Corvette Convertible, capable of mid 10s & 120+MPH down the 1/4!! (from the showroom floor)
Pickles.
Like the Chrysler Hemi 426. Chrysler never advertised the production option version, the "Street Hemi", as anything other than 425 horsepower. Popular opinion was that this was to soothe the insurance companies so that buyers could get insurance at any other than exorbitant rates. Dean Batchelor, Engineering Editor at Road & Track magazine, wrote that one did have to be all that expert with a slide rule to work out how much horsepower was required to get the performance figures that R&T observed on test. Somewhere a good bit more than 425 in the 600+ region.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pickles2
426 Hemi?...Do you remember the original "Vanishing Point" with Barry Newman?...One of my favorite Car movies, although obviously the Challengers used in the movie weren't real Hemis!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigbjorn
Pickles.
I owned a 1970 Dodge Challenger convertible with Hemi 426 and four speed. Got married in 1975 and sold it for $5,000 to buy fridge, washer, furniture etc. Rare car and now worth a fortune. Only a handful of convertibles built with 426 & four speed. It had been my Sunday play car. I had a full private use company car. I got it from a Sydney used car dealer who was glad to see the back of it. It had cost him his driver's licence. Needed 115 octane Avgas which is no longer available. Current owner runs it on 98 octane Premium with 20% benzol and ignition timing retarded a bit. Never before or since have I driven anything as fast. Standard convertible body with no added aerodynamic features so it got a bit loose and floaty over 130 mph.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pickles2
Yes!Quote:
Originally Posted by Pickles2
The Kowalski car was a 1970 Dodge R/T Challenger with a 440 6-pack wedge (RB) ;)
Awesome movie. According to some it's Mopar, or No Car... [tonguewink]
Here are a few photos of a new 2016 Camaro I spotted at the Little America Hotel in Cheyenne. It was outside one of the family units. I saw the ZL454 badges and went and got my camera. 454 not then available in Camaro. When I got back a woman about 35-40 was sitting outside the unit. I asked if it was their car and did she mind my photographing it. I mentioned it was the 454 badges that caught my eye and that I didn't think the option was still available. She told me they were the Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac dealers in somwhereforgotten, Iowa, and got a special build for their 10th anniversary.Attachment 153264Attachment 153265Attachment 153265Attachment 153266Attachment 153265Quote:
Originally Posted by shanegtr
UNREAL, UNREAL, UNREAL!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigbjorn
If it was a genuine factory hemi, it would be worth MILLIONS today.
I've owned some nice cars that I've sold which have since increased in value, but nothing that comes close to that!
Pickles.
Lol,....my son in law's a "Mopar Man", and that's what He says!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercguy
Loved the movie in the 70s when it was released, still do,...I've got the remake, but it doesn't compare to the original.
Pickles.
That is true, the manufactures were not lying about the horse power rating, they were not telling the whole truth. The HP figures were quoted at a lower RPM than what the true Peak HP was at a higher RPM.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigbjorn
A good mate of mine has a 71 Cuda with a 440 in it - that halls butt, can not imagine what it would be like with a BB Hemi in it.
