I never fail to be amused when I see all the attention that old "muscle cars", including Corvettes, get in today's world. It's real obvious when one sees the prices that folks pay for these cars at various auctions and private sales. Folks lament the fact that the "golden age" of performance has long-passed. So, it seems, acquiring one of these old cars gives one a chance to re-live this "golden age". This includes folks who were around then, but couldn't afford one of the cars at the time, folks who did own one but sold it years ago for a variety of reasons, and folks too young to have experienced the "golden age of performance" and looking to "buy a ticket" to what it was like.
Some time ago, I was in a bookstore and I was browsing through a book on muscle cars. Included in this book were actual road tests from magazine articles published when the cars were new. One that quickly got my attention was a road test in a popular car magazine of a 1968 Chevelle SS with L-78. As I've mentioned previously, I factory-ordered one of these cars brand new and recall it pretty well. My 68 Chevelle SS with L-78/M-22 would represent an "iconic" muscle car today. I recall it as being fast, but very trouble-prone. About 8 MPG was the absolute best that it ever got. How shocked I was to see that the original road test of a similar car published in the magazine showed the best 1/4 mile ET of 15.5 seconds!
I was going through a copy of a very famous issue of Car Life Magazine with a cover date of July, 1969. This edition is the one that included road tests of 1969 Corvettes with every engine and transmission offered for the 1969 model year. I was a Car Life subscriber back then (I felt sorry for some kid selling magazine subscriptions and subscribed in about 1967 or 68) and I've saved this one edition of the magazine. In fact, it's still got the check marks I placed in it when I was deciding what options to select for my then soon-to-be-ordered 1969. Anyway, here are the 1/4 mile ET's found in this edition for each Corvette:
300 hp with THM-400/3.08:1 axle----16.1 seconds
L-46 with CR 4 speed/4.11:1 axle----14.55 seconds
LT-1 (dealer modified L-46) with CR 4 speed/3.70:1 axle----14.44 seconds
L-36 with WR 4 speed/3.08:1 axle-----15.02 seconds
L-68 with THM-400/3.08:1 axle------14.70 seconds
L-71 with CR 4 speed/4.11:1 axle----13.94 seconds
L-71/L-89 with THM-400/3.36:1 axle-----14.58 seconds
L-88 with THM-400/3.36:1 axle ratio-----14.10 seconds
Just by coincidence, in the same issue there were tests of some other "muscle cars" including a Mustang Boss 429 (these things now make 67 Corvette big blocks look cheap at auctions), 1968 Hurst/Olds 455, and a 1969 Dodge 440 "six pack".
Here's how they did in the 1/4 mile:
Mustang Boss 429 with 4 speed and 3.91:1 axle----14.09 seconds
Hurst/Olds with THM-400 and 3.42:1 axle ratio-----14.1 seconds
Dodge 440 "six pack" with Torqueflite and 4.10:1 axle----13.8 seconds.
Look at performance numbers for modern day cars in any current-day automotive magazine. You'll find that there are MANY cars that best the above numbers. Of course, 1/4 mile times are just one measure of performance. However, you'll find that by just about any measure, the modern day cars will do better, sometimes WAY better.
For example, I once saw 2 road tests of 2004-2005 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP's like my daily driver. One test showed a 1/4 mile ET of 14.9 seconds and the other 15.0 seconds. So, this means that, as tested in completely stock configuration (generally, the configuration so-revered by just about everyone on this discussion board), my Grand Prix is faster than my 1968 Chevelle SS 396 L-78/M-22. Plus, the Grand Prix gets 20 MPG compared to my Chevelle's 8 MPG.
I saw a Ford Mustang GT in a recent magazine road test. It turned a 1/4 mile time of 13.7 seconds. That makes it faster than ANY of the above "muscle cars" , including all of the 1969 Corvettes.
So, the way I see it, the "golden age of performance" is NOW, NOT THEN!
Of course, we all love the old cars for their "character" and "charm". I'm right at the top of that list. I'd rather drive my 1969 than any other modern car I can think of. But, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that they were the "fastest, best performing cars ever built". These old cars are ANTIQUES, pure-and-simple.
Some time ago, I was in a bookstore and I was browsing through a book on muscle cars. Included in this book were actual road tests from magazine articles published when the cars were new. One that quickly got my attention was a road test in a popular car magazine of a 1968 Chevelle SS with L-78. As I've mentioned previously, I factory-ordered one of these cars brand new and recall it pretty well. My 68 Chevelle SS with L-78/M-22 would represent an "iconic" muscle car today. I recall it as being fast, but very trouble-prone. About 8 MPG was the absolute best that it ever got. How shocked I was to see that the original road test of a similar car published in the magazine showed the best 1/4 mile ET of 15.5 seconds!
I was going through a copy of a very famous issue of Car Life Magazine with a cover date of July, 1969. This edition is the one that included road tests of 1969 Corvettes with every engine and transmission offered for the 1969 model year. I was a Car Life subscriber back then (I felt sorry for some kid selling magazine subscriptions and subscribed in about 1967 or 68) and I've saved this one edition of the magazine. In fact, it's still got the check marks I placed in it when I was deciding what options to select for my then soon-to-be-ordered 1969. Anyway, here are the 1/4 mile ET's found in this edition for each Corvette:
300 hp with THM-400/3.08:1 axle----16.1 seconds
L-46 with CR 4 speed/4.11:1 axle----14.55 seconds
LT-1 (dealer modified L-46) with CR 4 speed/3.70:1 axle----14.44 seconds
L-36 with WR 4 speed/3.08:1 axle-----15.02 seconds
L-68 with THM-400/3.08:1 axle------14.70 seconds
L-71 with CR 4 speed/4.11:1 axle----13.94 seconds
L-71/L-89 with THM-400/3.36:1 axle-----14.58 seconds
L-88 with THM-400/3.36:1 axle ratio-----14.10 seconds
Just by coincidence, in the same issue there were tests of some other "muscle cars" including a Mustang Boss 429 (these things now make 67 Corvette big blocks look cheap at auctions), 1968 Hurst/Olds 455, and a 1969 Dodge 440 "six pack".
Here's how they did in the 1/4 mile:
Mustang Boss 429 with 4 speed and 3.91:1 axle----14.09 seconds
Hurst/Olds with THM-400 and 3.42:1 axle ratio-----14.1 seconds
Dodge 440 "six pack" with Torqueflite and 4.10:1 axle----13.8 seconds.
Look at performance numbers for modern day cars in any current-day automotive magazine. You'll find that there are MANY cars that best the above numbers. Of course, 1/4 mile times are just one measure of performance. However, you'll find that by just about any measure, the modern day cars will do better, sometimes WAY better.
For example, I once saw 2 road tests of 2004-2005 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP's like my daily driver. One test showed a 1/4 mile ET of 14.9 seconds and the other 15.0 seconds. So, this means that, as tested in completely stock configuration (generally, the configuration so-revered by just about everyone on this discussion board), my Grand Prix is faster than my 1968 Chevelle SS 396 L-78/M-22. Plus, the Grand Prix gets 20 MPG compared to my Chevelle's 8 MPG.
I saw a Ford Mustang GT in a recent magazine road test. It turned a 1/4 mile time of 13.7 seconds. That makes it faster than ANY of the above "muscle cars" , including all of the 1969 Corvettes.
So, the way I see it, the "golden age of performance" is NOW, NOT THEN!
Of course, we all love the old cars for their "character" and "charm". I'm right at the top of that list. I'd rather drive my 1969 than any other modern car I can think of. But, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that they were the "fastest, best performing cars ever built". These old cars are ANTIQUES, pure-and-simple.
Comment