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Thread: Supercars Annual '69

  1. #76
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    The fans of classic Ford muscle cars will certainly like those photos, Dog Ear!

    Very true about many street cars being modified.

    Even I have done that, with my former '66 Dodge Dart GT and, to a lesser degree, my current '69 Cadillac.

    I had dual exhaust put on for the Dart (273-2 bbl V-8 engine) and 3.23 gears replacing the 2.93s. And I installed a Holley aluminum intake manifold, Carter AFB 500 cfm carburetor, electronic ignition and shift kit for the Torqueflite transmission. I didn't take it on a drag strip, but I did have a lot of fun with it on the street.

    The '69 Cad has dual exhaust (the former owner had that done), a shift kit for the Turbo-Hydramatic transmission and 3.21 gears instead of the 2.94s.

    My current '66 Plymouth Fury has 3.23 gears; someday, I may put on something lower, like 3.90s! I've always wanted to drive a car with low gearing just to see how it drives and the differential of the Plymouth is built in such a way that it's easy to remove the ring and pinion. It should be really responsive with 3.90s. Of course, I could go even lower, like 4.10s or 4.30, but it wouldn't be comfortable for highway use (but I rarely take it on the highway; almost always surface street driving). I've heard of some cars running a full 1 second faster in the 1/4 mile just by changing from 2.93 or 3.00 to 4.10 or 4.30. There are, of course, plenty of aftermarket choices for axle ratios in my Plymouth since it has the 8 and 3/4" differential... the same size as the differentials on cars like the 383 Road Runner and 440 Charger.

    I do know that some muscle car owners from the '60s would start modifying their cars within 2-3 weeks of ownership! I can see why; fast is good, but faster is better!
    '76 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five Limousine, '95 Lincoln Town Car.

  2. #77
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitdy View Post
    Since we are speaking about old metal, I actually saw a Mach 1 at an Etobicoke landmark - Tom's Dairy Freeze - tonight.

    A pretty ugly and bulky thing to be honest.

    EDIT: It was between a '71 and '73.
    What color was it, Kitdy? I prefer the earlier Mustangs, like around 1966-1868 but I do like the hood and front end of the '71. Not to mention the hi-po 351 Cleveland and the 429 engines.
    '76 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five Limousine, '95 Lincoln Town Car.

  3. #78
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitdy View Post
    I actually saw a Mach 1 at an Etobicoke landmark - Tom's Dairy Freeze - tonight. A pretty ugly and bulky thing to be honest.
    EDIT: It was between a '71 and '73.
    Hey Kitdy, many people were turned off by the 'big' Mustang in 1971. Aside from some interior nit-picking and the attendant rear vision problems associated with the extreme fastback rear-end styling they were actually fun cars to drive on the street.

    In their time, they were fairly competent handling cars. Not quite as good as Camaro Z28 and the Firebird Trans-Am, and Formula, but good nonetheless. Cuda, Challenger, and the Javelin / AMX were somewhere in between.

    There were five different hi-performance engines offered in Mustang for 1971. I’m goinjg to talk about the 351 Cleveland types.

    All Cleveland engines lacked low-end torque. They had enormous ports and valves that were not effective below 3500-4000 rpm. This hurt both performance and gas mileage. For the most part people never noticed the apparent lack of acceleration that much unless they were directly comparing another car side by side. Perception was that they were all animals.

    Standard 351-4V Cleveland was not really fast, even with high compression. It utilized small hydraulic camshaft with low lift and duration, and a small 4V carburetor. These hampered performance..

    Top-of-the-line Boss 351 was most powerful but there was another edition of the 351C that came out in January, 1971, late in the model year.

    It utilized new revised heads very similar to Boss 351, new hydraulic cam with higher lift and longer duration, new 750 cfm carburetor, cast-iron copy of Boss 351 aluminum intake, and a dual-point ignition system with recalibrated timing for quicker and faster response. With 9.0.1 C.R. and it proved to be a nice competent package. It was officially called the 351 Cobra Jet.

    Result: not as fast as Boss 351 but much quicker and faster than the standard 351-4V Cleveland engine.


    MY IMPRESSIONS DRIVING THE 1971 MUSTANG MACH 1

    I borrowed one from a used car dealership back in 1977 and I intentionally never returned it all weekend. Dealership sticker said $2999.00 and the owner was not budging from that price quote whatsoever. Now the salesman was a different breed. He needed to earn a living so we worked out a deal. It was the same kind of deal I made with the salesman at Parliament and Queen St., for the 1970 Road Runner Superbird 440-6BBL. I offered some money and the guy grabbed it.

    Now here is the rub. I was only supposed to borrow it for a few hours the night I made the arrangements for but I just said ‘to hell with it’ and kept driving it for another two days. I was lucky that the poor fellow did not report me but there are always consequences to one’s actions of that sort.

    This Mach 1 was a white on black 1971 with the desirable 351 Cobra Jet. It had a 4-spd Hurst shifter and a 3.50.1 Traction-Loc rear end. I will post a pic of the very same car later. It sported 15x7’’ aluminum slotted ‘mags’ with huge OEM G60-15 Firestone Wide Ovals on it and the highly desirable front and rear spoilers. It was a very clean unmolested car.

    I already knew that this ‘Stang had good headers on it and nothing else but a perfect tune-up. Otherwise it was dead stock. Once inside you immediately notice the hi-back buckets and the T-Handled Hurst shifter poking out of the console. It pretty much falls right into your hand.

    This one had the factory gauge package and a nicely installed aftermarket Pioneer stereo system. Starting it up brought a prima-grin to my face. She was burbling away at idle and I let her warm up briefly before swinging out on the street.

    Putting it in gear was smooth and the exhausts exhibited a mellow growl as you fed in the rpms. With the stereo on and Fleetwood Mac playing Go Your Own Way, I headed out unto Queen St. and made the turn north on Jones Ave., right at the light. In one liquid motion I was around the corner and heading northbound. For an instant I let her gather up a little head of steam and she moved right out. Up to 50 mph in no time and kept that pace all the way up to Danforth Ave. Yeah baby!

    It was a Friday night and I was grooving. With money in my pocket, some smoke, and nice wheels I was making tracks with a destination in mind. Up on the Danforth, I made a screeching left-turn Westbound.

    I was headed for the DVP, man, and I intended to take her all the way to the 401. Under the fluorescent lighting along the Danforth, I glided along with Elton John singing, Benny and the Jets. You could almost sense the aura of Aloha, Bobby and Rose filtering in through the windows as I cruised effortlessly to the beat of my own drum. The world seemed truly beautiful that evening. Air was clear and balmy. Chicks were walking in skin-tight blue jeans and I was scanning the sidewalks for some bacon.

    Before I knew it, the Bloor St. on-ramp presented itself to me and I took advantage of the situation. No cops in sight so I ‘punched’ that mother to the floor and rocked the corner in a cloud of rubber smoke.

    At that point, I heard the sudden surge of unmistakable induction roar. The moaning cacophony turned into a resonant wail as the Cobra Jet sucked air into the carburetor. You could hear the deep reverberation echoing off the concrete barriers and the surrounding apartments in the valley. Anyone familiar with that sound will tell you that it can only mean one thing-the sonorous howl of a big quad at full throttle in an accelerating musclecar. To a gear-head, this was automotive nirvana and the illustrative vanguard of motoring.

    I kept the throttle buried all the way down the on-ramp and I did not let off as I merged with the traffic on the DVP. By the time I got to the entrance of the expressway, I was really rolling. The on-ramp disappeared in a blur.

    I definitely created a sensation upon merging into the ‘fast’ lanes. Pandemonium was in the ranks. Oncoming traffic got squirrely and began to brake as this maniac cut in, around and swerved to mark my line. I even thought I heard a few horns blaring in protest. Their exasperation was beyond me. I was late and wanted to make up for lost time. He! He!

    With the accelerator matted I was now traveling well over 100 mph. I settled in and watched the road ahead. Traffic is always an issue on any busy highway, including the DVP especially at speed, so you had to keep your wits about you.

    With sudden clairvoyance, I listened to the Mach 1s exhaust singing out its melodious thunder over the blaring music. At first, the rumble was barely audible, just a muffled growl. As I turned ‘down’ the radio, C.C.R.s Travelling Band explicably coalesced and then mutated into the perceptible cadence of a ferocious snarl. The combination of exhaust noise, inrushing (outside) air whipping around my ears, the rhythmic slapping of the big tires on the cool asphalt, surrounding vehicles and my screaming engine gave an impression of an unruly beast unleashing its fury in a fit of intemperance.

    This earth-shaking vehemence was unmistakably getting louder in intensity with each millisecond of the tachometers climb to redline. As this veritable menace accentuated the afternoon stillness with raw machismo, my heart-beat performed an impromptu dance. With fiendish joy, it whooped, and hollered with abandoned glee.

    Shortly thereafter, I had to shut her down or else risk an impending disaster. I could no longer contain the onrush of taillights zooming in on my hood-line so I reluctantly eased off the throttle and zigzagged through the traffic imbued with new vitality. The Mach 1 had proved its point. She was still an impending menace with an incessant ability to create chaos upon the unsuspecting motorist. As speeds approached 120 mph it made little sense to keep it pegged. What’s the point?

    In a heartbeat of inspiration, I understood what the factories were trying to convey in a musclecar. It was the optimistic ideology of creating inspirational vitality to the otherwise disenchanted enthusiast who had become tired of driving mediocrity.

    Coasting back down to legal speed limits my diabolical fiend had now transcended into predictive motoring. I turned at the Donlands exit and sat comfortably ensconced in the cockpit once again listening to the sounds of the seventies; this time it was ‘Stuck in the Middle with You.’

    Mustang was the original pony-car now taking on mid-sized proportions by 1971. It was big any standards, but, somehow the interior suited me perfectly. Looking out over the long scooped hood-line only reminded me of what was caged underneath.

    By and all, the car impressed me and the next two days was pure bliss. I enjoyed pulling into the burger joints and talking to innumerable enthusiasts interested in ‘my’ cars prowess. Women stood around on the pilot side talking quietly with each other, hoping for a ‘ride.’ I kept the engine running just to listen to the engine warble its throaty sound. Beyond this this life was good and I couldn’t have asked for a better backdrop.
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    Terry
    _______________________________________________________________________
    You know that you have it made, when you want for nothing, ask for everything, and receive exactly what you "deserve".

  4. #79
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    The one I saw the other night was white, and looked very much like the one pictured above.

  5. #80
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    White is not my favorite automobile color. On the 71 Mustang it tends to make it appear even larger than it actually is. I prefer blue, yellow, and then red. I would say black but it is very hard to keep clean.
    Terry
    _______________________________________________________________________
    You know that you have it made, when you want for nothing, ask for everything, and receive exactly what you "deserve".

  6. #81
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    Here is a road test of a 1969 Buick GS Stage 1 published in the June, 1969 Speed Age magazine.

    This is the first installment of a two part series. Buick performance ''experts'' were the people frolm Kenne-Bell Automotive and the Reynolds Buick dealership in Covina, CA. These people were famous for making Buicks run hard.

    Hey, Fleet? These Buicks would give your 440s a run for the money. I never drove one of these cars, but, I wish that I had.
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    Terry
    _______________________________________________________________________
    You know that you have it made, when you want for nothing, ask for everything, and receive exactly what you "deserve".

  7. #82
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    Good road test, Dog Ear. That Buick ran some good times.
    Yes, it certainly is competition for the 440.

    I like all the "big 3" (or 4... AMC) muscle cars, but Mopar is my first choice.

    Here is a magazine I recently got. A test of my favorite muscle car... 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T with 440-4 bbl. The one in this test had a 4-speed manual transmission and 4.10 gears.

    I remember mentioning a few years ago that these cars could run low-14s or high-13s when equipped with 3.91 or 4.10 gears. One member here said (as if he knows more about '60s Mopar muscle cars than I do... I've been a fan of them for over 35 years) "You implied it and fooled yourself into thinking that a Coronet R/T can run low-14s/high-13s stock (it can't)."

    And: "You are lucky to get mid-14s with a stock R/T."

    Maybe that person didn't know that 3.91s and 4.10s were available. Because this particular R/T ran 13.83 @ 102.27 mph. Looks like it can run those times!
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    '76 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five Limousine, '95 Lincoln Town Car.

  8. #83
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    Super cool

    Another great acquire. You made our day, Fast! Just glanced through this kind of thread and find out that weight load are more consistent with what I had been preachin in the 71 Supercars Annual carefully thread.

  9. #84
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    Fleet 500;
    That 69 Dodge Coronet R/T w 440-4V Magnum was awesome. You are certainly right about the times you can reasonably expect with 3..91.1 or 4.10.1 gearing. I knew a guy who owned a 69 R/T w the 4-spd & Super Trak Pac 4.10.1 Sure-Grip. His was set up like a Super Stock drag car with SS rear springs. I never liked them phoney scoops on the rear quaerters either. My pal ordered his brand new with those scoops deleted. He also had the Ram Air hood scoops. What a machine!
    Terry
    _______________________________________________________________________
    You know that you have it made, when you want for nothing, ask for everything, and receive exactly what you "deserve".

  10. #85
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    Here is road test (Part II) of a 1969 Buick GS Stage 1 that was published in the June, 1969 Speed Age magazine earliar in this thread.

    PT II is from the August, 1969 Speed Age magazine.

    Note that this Buick is now much faster after the attendent Stage II mods.
    Enjoy.
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    Terry
    _______________________________________________________________________
    You know that you have it made, when you want for nothing, ask for everything, and receive exactly what you "deserve".

  11. #86
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    Yes, I like the '69 Charger R/T a lot, too, but the Coronet is somewhat more practical. More room inside and a much larger trunk.

    Here are some photos of the '69 Coronet R/T since the article didn't have any good color photos...
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    '76 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five Limousine, '95 Lincoln Town Car.

  12. #87
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    Quote Originally Posted by dog ear View Post
    Here is road test (Part II) of a 1969 Buick GS Stage 1 that was published in the June, 1969 Speed Age magazine earliar in this thread.

    PT II is from the August, 1969 Speed Age magazine.

    Note that this Buick is now much faster after the attendent Stage II mods.
    Enjoy.
    As can be seen, many '60s muscle car engines (the Buick's for example) responded well to modifications. In some cases it didn't take much to get them in the 12s. The Buick you posted ran some very good times!
    '76 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five Limousine, '95 Lincoln Town Car.

  13. #88
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    Road test: 69 Grand Prix SJ 428-390 HP Bobcat
    Issue: May, '69, High Performance Cars

    With this test I am going to do something a little different. You will notice that this car was previously tested by another magazine. The first testers totally thrashed the car and it was in sad shape after that (first magazine) road test was completed.

    (I have a retrospective on that very first test by the original author in a mid-80s Musclecars magazine)

    I will post that article for comparative analysis later. Said author freely admits to street racing nightly while car was in that magazines possession.

    My point in posting these next tests will illustrate two very important things. First, you will see that identical cars may not perform comparatively because of ailing mechanical issues, state of tune, testing methods, driver techniques, and just how well the actual car was prepared. All of these conditions can, will, and do affect editorial road tests.

    Second point deals with published magazine test times and quoted specs for the cars actually tested, and the resultant correlation between 1/4 mile ET, total vehicle weight, and the predicted HP calculations derived thereof from the various formulas used in modern society.

    Based on these two tests we can readily see that it is very hard to definitively quote valid horsepower estimates derived from old road tests back in the day. In order to do so we must have accurate specs using total vehicle weight, including driver and an unmodified car. In this case, we know that the GP was modified with the Royal Bobcat kit.

    Numerous dyno tests and published criteria have fully demonstrated that the typical Bobcat mods will add an additional 5 – 8 % horsepower to an otherwise stock unmodified engine.

    Throughout most of the musclecar era (1960 - 1970) Pontiac musclecars were typically prepared by Royal Pontiac and / or the Pontiac Motor Division Engineering Department. Advertising manager extraordinaire Jim Wanger’s made sure that every vehicle under his direction was fully prepared and tuned, although not always modified beyond factory specifications.

    In addition, his cadre of mechanics, drivers, and street racing associates made certain that the cars were properly maintained the majority of the time, while they were in magazine hands. This was particularly true if the tests were to be mainly conducted at the track.

    Beyond doubt American Motors, Chrysler, Ford and GM wanted their respective models to perform well. In many cases, they did exactly that. On the other hand, they were often neglected and were not representative of show-room models. It all depended where the cars were sourced: dealership, manufacturer, privately owned, or through local zoning depots.

    Zoning depots may have been the worst case scenario. These vehicles were often poorly maintained. Musclecars more so than economy or luxury oriented vehicles.

    In summary, I find these old road tests very entertaining. However, I am suspect whenever I see a particular car with outstanding performance. On the other hand, if one is a dog than I suspect that it was the victim of a press-pool bandit in the guise of a magazine tester. LOL
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    Terry
    _______________________________________________________________________
    You know that you have it made, when you want for nothing, ask for everything, and receive exactly what you "deserve".

  14. #89
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    That is an interesting road test (I have it).

    I like in the text when they say you can get an "economy" 400-cu-in engine" then they say "why?" Lol.

    Yes, test results did vary. Some cars ran great and posted excellent acceleration times and some were clearly either out of tune or not running properly.

    Probably the best example of a car not running properly was the Car Life (April, 1968) test of a '68 Dodge Charger R/T with 426-Hemi... 0-60 in 7.6 seconds and a 15.35 @ 94.6 mph 1/4 mile. They did clearly state that something was wrong with it. Even though it was not in peak tune, it still ran 30-70 mph in 5.6 seconds and they managed to get it up to 132 mph (@ 5400 rpm).

    They did get a much better example when they tested a '69 Charger 500, again with the Hemi engine and the same gearing as the '68 and got 13.92 @ 104.5 mph.

    I also like another test of I believe a '71 Plymouth Road Runner with 440-6 bbl. They said it ran a 13.8 second 1/4 mile even when leaving it in "Drive!"
    '76 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five Limousine, '95 Lincoln Town Car.

  15. #90
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    When smog controls were first introduced in 1968 California based vehicles often ran poorly compared to other parts of the US. California always had tougher emissions laws and the ‘clean air act’ certainly put the kibosh on many highly tuned engine combinations.

    Dual four barrels were early victims. Carb calibrations were leaner as well as distributer timing. As we know, certain engine packages were not even available as the 70s wore on. I have a few road tests that were conducted in California and the testers often complained about drivability problems associated with smog equipped engines after 1968.
    Terry
    _______________________________________________________________________
    You know that you have it made, when you want for nothing, ask for everything, and receive exactly what you "deserve".

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