1969 test of 6 corvettes

[Don W.]

I just found this article from Car Life in the July 1969 issue where they tested 6 different corvettes. Great information.

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-bin/pub9990391350594.cgi?itemid=9990392811471&action=viewad&categoryid=9920392079962&page=1&placeonpage=5&totaldisplayed=50

scroll down to corvette test pdf. It's too large to attach on the forum...Don

[William F.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

Interesting. Probably pretty honest as compared to many fake- they admit as much and think they're oh so cute- C&D "Road tests".

[Rich G.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

They claim an L71 with 4:11 gears does 0-60 in 7 seconds and get 10 MPG

I have one of those, a 68, but should be the same. I also have an Audi A7. It gets 20 mpg in town and 30 on the highway. It goes 0-60 in 4.7 seconds.

And it's a heck of a lot more comfortable!

Rich

[Loren L.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

The more interesting facet of this test - and many others - was that it was arranged and set up by Chevrolet's uncrowned director of racing, Walt Mackenzie, part of Engineering's staff but assigned early on by Ed Cole as an undescribed liaison with PR/Styling/Engineering/Racing, going back to the beginning. He was the gentleman who called Dick Jess, an employee at the Oakland Regional Office, and told Dick to take his checkbook to the dealer in Walnut Creek CA and buy a '56 Corvette 3 spd car and deliver it to Bob D'Olivo's house in N. Hollywood the next weekend. Bob and Racer Brown had informed Chevy brass at cocktails following the race at Pebble Beach that if they had a car, it would be "at least" as fast as Dr. Dick's #46 was at Pebble. Dick got to play "owner" at the western SCCA races in 1956, with 2 victories for Dr Dick in old #106.

[William F.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

Rich, all you said is true, but compare how much your Corvettes will be worth compared to what your Audi (or anybody's new Mercedes, etc,) . Classics vs just used cars. Besides we drive our Corvettes and other classics for different reasons than our current daily drivers.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

They claim an L71 with 4:11 gears does 0-60 in 7 seconds and get 10 MPG

I have one of those, a 68, but should be the same. I also have an Audi A7. It gets 20 mpg in town and 30 on the highway. It goes 0-60 in 4.7 seconds.

And it's a heck of a lot more comfortable!

Rich

Rich------



I've pointed this out for years and I've referred to the performance test results from this very Car Life test. It's a perfect comparison because the Car Life tests involved "bone stock" Corvettes when they were brand new. So, one can compare them against performance test results found in various present-day car magazines of current car models.

About 12 years ago I happened to be in a bookstore browsing through a pile of books. I happened upon a book that had nothing but re-prints of various early car magazine tests of "muscle cars". It so happened that one of the test articles was for a 1968 Chevelle SS 396 with L-78 engine. That interested me because I was the original owner of one of these. That car was really problematic for me. It was the only car that I ever ran out of gas and it happened twice in the only 16 months I owned the car. The best mileage it ever got was 8.6 MPG (and that was on a highway trip from the SF bay area to LA). Anyway, the magazine road test showed it turned an average quarter mile time of 15.0 seconds. I never ran my car against the clock so I had no idea what kind of ET it was capable of. But, now, I knew. The sobering thing was that just a few weeks earlier I had seen a magazine road test of my then-new Pontiac Grand Prix GTP with supercharged 3.8L V-6 engine (which averages about 21 MPG). Its magazine test showed it covered the 1/4 mile in an average ET of 15.0 seconds! So, my daily driver Grand Prix was equally as fast as my 1968 Chevelle SS 396 L-78 "muscle car".

This and other such comparisons "lay bare" the notion that the 60's "muscle cars" were the epitome of performance. The really fast cars weren't built then; they're built NOW. Many modest, "grocery-getter" present-day cars will best the performance of the "muscle cars". Just compare the test results in the Car Life Corvette tests to results found in current magazine tests.

Now, I'm not trying to "put down" 60's Corvettes or other "muscle cars". I LOVE them. But, as I say, the notion that they're the epitome of performance is just wrong. I've just got to say it; it's the "River City Joe" in me.

[Gene M.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

Rich, all you said is true, but compare how much your Corvettes will be worth compared to what your Audi (or anybody's new Mercedes, etc,) . Classics vs just used cars. Besides we drive our Corvettes and other classics for different reasons than our current daily drivers.

Yes,yes,yes. This is a Corvette site and we could care less about audi or mercedes, toyota or anything else. Except maybe other Chevys.

[Rich G.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

Rich, all you said is true, but compare how much your Corvettes will be worth compared to what your Audi (or anybody's new Mercedes, etc,) . Classics vs just used cars. Besides we drive our Corvettes and other classics for different reasons than our current daily drivers.

Agreed 100%. The 68 is a real trip to drive and I'll have it long after the other daily drivers are gone. I think I've been through 5 or 6 since I acquired the 68.

My post was more more of a comment on how far technology has come (for better or worse). One of my previous cars was a 2007 ZO6. The only thing it had in common with my C2 and C3 was the nameplate. :-).

Rich

[William F.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

True, also. But same holds true for compareing MB 300 SL, Duesenberg, etc to new car technology. Valued for different reasons.

[Mark E.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

It so happened that one of the test articles was for a 1968 Chevelle SS 396 with L-78 engine... it turned an average quarter mile time of 15.0 seconds.

Joe,

I agree with the general premise that new cars perform better than old cars. But the magazine editor's mother must have driven the L78 Chevelle that turned 15.0 seconds. Two data points from personal experience:

- I had a bone stock '69 GTO 366HP/400cid/4 speed/3.36 that consistently ran 15.0 sec @ 90mph. It went through the trap in 3rd gear, so clearly not set up for drag racing. A friend had an L78 Chevelle who never took it to the track, but would eat the GTO's lunch during stop light fun.

- I later had an almost stock '70 Chevelle L78/M21/3.55 which I bracket raced at 14.0 sec @ 95-97 mph. If I pushed it more than I wanted (hard launch, speed shifts) it would easily dip into the 13s. The only mods: ignition re-curved, TCS removed, carb. jetting, headers. It ran through factory mufflers.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

Joe,

I agree with the general premise that new cars perform better than old cars. But the magazine editor's mother must have driven the L78 Chevelle that turned 15.0 seconds. Two data points from personal experience:

- I had a bone stock '69 GTO 366HP/400cid/4 speed/3.36 that consistently ran 15.0 sec @ 90mph. It went through the trap in 3rd gear, so clearly not set up for drag racing. A friend had an L78 Chevelle who never took it to the track, but would eat the GTO's lunch during stop light fun.

- I later had an almost stock '70 Chevelle L78/M21/3.55 which I bracket raced at 14.0 sec @ 95-97 mph. If I pushed it more than I wanted (hard launch, speed shifts) it would easily dip into the 13s. The only mods: ignition re-curved, TCS removed, carb. jetting, headers. It ran through factory mufflers.

Mark------

A modified car cannot be compared to a completely stock one. Plus, the mods that you described could easily account for a 1 second quarter mile difference.

[William F.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

Mark,
I think your figures from real world experience are close to being on the money, conservative, if anything. Certainly agree about an L78 Chevelle being able to beat 15 sec in the quarter. My '67 stock Olds 442, 400 cu in, 350 hp, 3.23 posi, turbo 400 would do 15 flat. Come on, those who say an L78 can't do better than 15.. Had a friend who had a '69 L78 and it would pounce.

[Richard M.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

I know where the L89, M40 equipped Corvette used in this road test is located.

[Wade R.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

Don- canNOT thank you enough for posting that link! What a fun article to knock out the 40+ year cobwebs! and remind me just WHY I love my `67 400a/c so much! Thanks again! wade russell

[Ralph S.]

Re: 1969 test of 6 corvettes

I would like to here about that