delta1
  • delta1
  • Herf-A-Holic Topic Starter
3 years ago
we who have a buncha years under our belts fondly remember the heyday of the American Muscle Cars...mid 60's to early '70's...cars with big and noisy V8's, like the Mustangs, Chevelles, GTOs, Camaros, Barracudas, Dusters, Chargers, Challengers, Firebirds, Cutlasses and Road Runners...among several others


My memories seem to have amplified the performance of these classic beasts. I fondly and hazily "remember" 0-60 times of about 5.5 seconds and 1/4 mile times of about 13.8 seconds produced by my 1970 Road Runner with a 383 V-8. I always thought it was the fastest car I ever owned.


I came across some numbers from the muscle car era, and discovered my memories were influenced by the herbs we smoked back in our high school and college days. According to the Automoblie Catalog, the '70 Road Runner with a factory 383 C.I. V8 ran 0-60mph in 6.2 seconds and 1/4 mile in 14.7 seconds...times that were derided as run by "slugs" back in the day.

Heck, I have a 2009 Mazdaspeed3 with a 2.3 Turbo. It is rated by that same publication as running 0-60mph in 5.9 seconds and can do a 1/4 mile in 14.2 seconds. This modern "sporty" economy car with an engine about 1/3 the size of the '70 Road Runner would leave that 50 year old muscle car "slug" in the dust.

I'm thinking that my memories were fogged by the performance of those muscle cars that had bigger engines, with more horsepower and had been modified for the track. And the back seat wrestling matches...

And you can't beat the deep throated sound of a big V-8 in full growl rocketing down the strip!

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DrafterX
3 years ago
Wish I still had my Camaro, Firebird & Fairlane.. 😞
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Sunoverbeach
3 years ago
I've come across similar articles. Basically a modern minivan could take out a lot of the fastest muscle from back then.

The coolness disparity though, can not be measured with current available technology
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Palama
3 years ago
I still have Seller's Remorse over selling my fixed-up '68 Road Runner to my older brother to pay off a debt I owed him. But, the rose-colored rearview mirror lookback is just that, nostalgia at its finest. While I did LOVE the sound of the motor, the franking Gs created when you pedal'd to the metal, the smell of burned rubber and gasoline, and all those things that made muscle cars "better" in our youthful minds, I don't think I would want one today unless I hit the MegaBuck$ in Vegas and had more money than sense. But, iffin' I did, it would be retro-mod'd with EFI, 4-wheel disk brakes, ABS, A/C, power windows and lower gearing (3:73 instead of 3:91) and of course, stored in a secured facility.

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KingoftheCove
3 years ago
Not muscle cars, but…

i had a 65 Mustang, convertible.
Had the straight-6, 3 speed with a 200, that produced a whopping 120hp.
It was a dog. Not quite a POS, but close.
Leaky roof, noisy drive train, crappy stick shift that you had to hold in place in 2nd gear, etc

I later owned a 68 Barracuda coupe, with the slant-6, 225 automatic.
I LOVED that car. Ultra reliable, decent mpg, plenty of power, handled nice…
Should have never sold it, but was offered almost $2000 more than I paid for it……..and I just had my first child……so…
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tonygraz
3 years ago
Loved my '69 Ford Torino Cobra. Got it special order with a 4 speed and 390 gears. Could beat just about everything else on the road, but it was hard to get past gas stations. 4-6 MPG.
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MACS
3 years ago
Judging the super cars of yesterday by today's standards... don't fit, does it?

Times change. Technology changes. People change. 🌫

Edit: Speaking of technology changes... SUSPENSION! Those cars were great in a straight line. Giant bag of buttholes in a corner.
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Gene363
3 years ago
Some good comments.

I always liked cars that could corner or off-road vehicles.

The first time I drove a car with a decent fuel injection system I never wanted another carbonator. No pumping the accelerator to get it running, no cold stalling, flooding, or the smell of raw gasoline.

The final epiphany was the change from a 1980 Corvette to a 1993 Corvette. No carbonation, excellent fuel mileage, excellent power, was relatively quiet, road very smoothly on carbon fiber springs, and cornered like it was glued to the road.
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deadeyedick
3 years ago
[quote=MACS]Judging the super cars of yesterday by today's standards... don't fit, does it?


Yup. Try judging them next to the pre-V8 cars of just 10-12 years earlier. They were hot and each had their own style. Today they all look the same and even the modern V8's sound like like a can full of rocks instead of that rumble they had.

When the GTO hit the market I was driving VW bug and wishing I could afford gas for it. As far as ownership goes I missed the era completely.

Since then, I have owned a '69 Chevelle SS 396 (350hp) , '41 Ford truck hot rod (355HP), and currently a '65 Corvette coupe (350 HP). Of course most any modern car can have more HP and drivability but they will soon be surpassed by electrics.

We are actually in a modern era of muscle cars that will soon end. You can go out today and buy a car that comes with anywhere from 700 to over 1000 HP and is capable of daily driver manners.

So it goes.
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tonygraz
3 years ago
You just reminded me that I also had a GTO - blue with white interior. Blew up 2 motors in that one. Never met a Pontiac that didn't blow an engine or tranny.
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DrafterX
3 years ago

You just reminded me that I also had a GTO - blue with white interior. Blew 2 trannys in that one. Never met a tranny that I didn't blow.

tonygraz wrote:




freak... 😟
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Mr. Jones
3 years ago
Had a 69' /350/ orange /4 speed shift Camaro w" 2 white stripes hood and trunk w/ air fin on trunk...for 4 yrs..
Shoulda kept it.
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Palama
3 years ago

[quote=MACS]Judging the super cars of yesterday by today's standards... don't fit, does it?


Yup. Try judging them next to the pre-V8 cars of just 10-12 years earlier. They were hot and each had their own style. Today they all look the same and even the modern V8's sound like like a can full of rocks instead of that rumble they had.

When the GTO hit the market I was driving VW bug and wishing I could afford gas for it. As far as ownership goes I missed the era completely.

Since then, I have owned a '69 Chevelle SS 396 (350hp) , '41 Ford truck hot rod (355HP), and currently a '65 Corvette coupe (350 HP). Of course most any modern car can have more HP and drivability but they will soon be surpassed by electrics.

We are actually in a modern era of muscle cars that will soon end. You can go out today and buy a car that comes with anywhere from 700 to over 1000 HP and is capable of daily driver manners.

So it goes.

deadeyedick wrote:



Rose-colored look back has me missing some of the people I used to hang out with during my RR days. Whenever someone was doing something to their car, we’d gather in his garage, lend a hand, sometimes good, sometimes unneeded “advice”, and in general, just hang. Granted, I didn’t necessarily care for everyone but there were a few that became good friends long after we sold our cars.

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Gene363
3 years ago

You just reminded me that I also had a GTO - blue with white interior. Blew up 2 motors in that one. Never met a Pontiac that didn't blow an engine or tranny.

tonygraz wrote:



😂
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BuckyB93
3 years ago
This brings me back to my childhood. Growing up, a neighbor family about 3 houses down lived couple grease monkeys. Lars and Glen Gustufsson, (no lie, I couldn't couldn't invent a more Nordic name). They towered over 6 feet in stature.

They would buy cars at auction and fix them up and flip them. Doing the mechanical work, body work and painting all in their garage. I remember them doing a Mustang, Chevelle, Firebird (Smokey and the Bandit), Duster, Camaro... among others. Also in the neighborhood was a guy, Carl, that made a living on rebuilding carburetors.

If anyone in the neighborhood that had car problems... just call the Gustufssons and/or Carl. Pay for the parts and a case of beer for labor.

It was fun growing up with some grease monkeys as neghibors.
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tonygraz
3 years ago
Bucky, I have a Gustavson neighbor down the street. Also my little town now has an electric bike store with a showroom downtown.
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deadeyedick
3 years ago

This brings me back to my childhood. Growing up, a neighbor family about 3 houses down lived couple grease monkeys. Lars and Glen Gustufsson, (no lie, I couldn't couldn't invent a more Nordic name). They towered over 6 feet in stature.

They would buy cars at auction and fix them up and flip them. Doing the mechanical work, body work and painting all in their garage. I remember them doing a Mustang, Chevelle, Firebird (Smokey and the Bandit), Duster, Camaro... among others. Also in the neighborhood was a guy, Carl, that made a living on rebuilding carburetors.

If anyone in the neighborhood that had car problems... just call the Gustufssons and/or Carl. Pay for the parts and a case of beer for labor.

It was fun growing up with some grease monkeys as neghibors.

BuckyB93 wrote:



Reminds me of three brothers I went to grade school and high school with. Harold, Darrell and Larry Christopherson. All were big, mean and red headed and would fight with anybody they could find. Iffn they couldn't find anybody they fought each other constantly. Their father worked for the railroad and was killed on the job in some sort of accident when they were young and at age 18 they each were given a large inheritance.

Larry, my age, took his money and immediately bought a funny car, one of the first in Arizona. He ran it for a couple of years in Az and the Southern California tracks. At that time I was part of a rat trap '55 Chevy gasser team (driver mainly) and we raced at Beeline Dragway near Phoenix. He went totally broke within a few years. Haven't heard from them since about 1970s.
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BuckyB93
3 years ago
Christopherson you say? Wonder if they are related to me in some sort of broken branch of the family tree. Most people can't figure out how to spell my last name without some guidance.

Are you sure Larry and Darrell don't have another brother named Darrell?

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BuckyB93
3 years ago
NINE! teen.
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MACS
3 years ago
My friend from HS... Mike Tamaro... got a 1970 Pontiac Grand Prix from his grandma. Dark blue, white interior. I have no idea what engine it had, but it was a fkn chick magnet.

But the memory I have is sitting across from a church after work one night... in the parking lot, smokin' a doobie... cop comes up and knocks on the window. Mike's bag is sitting on the console. Mine is tucked into my undies where it should be.

Cop dumps Mike's bag on the ground, rubs it in with his foot, and tells us to GTFO before he changes his mind.

Moral of the story... keep your weed in your pants, dumbass.
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