Car Colors: Your 3 Favorite & Least Favorite

[henk4]

Don't worry you don't have to convince me. The Elan is one of the cars I want to own/drive sometime in the future.

yep, the message was actually addressed to Fleet....but he might be too busy finding road tests that say that muscle cars have good handling....(maybe the alarming increase in death toll (which ultimately resulted in Governmental intervention) after the introduction was related to the quality of the drivers and not of the cars )

[Fleet 500]

Don't worry you don't have to convince me. The Elan is one of the cars I want to own/drive sometime in the future.

How about a nice Hemicuda instead?

[Fleet 500]

yep, the message was actually addressed to Fleet....but he might be too busy finding road tests that say that muscle cars have good handling....(maybe the alarming increase in death toll (which ultimately resulted in Governmental intervention) after the introduction was related to the quality of the drivers and not of the cars )

Just when was this "alarming increase" in the death toll?

[henk4]

Just when was this "alarming increase" in the death toll?

you will read that in C&S.

[Ferrer]

How about a nice Hemicuda instead?

While I like it, it's not one of those "must have" cars for me.

[Fleet 500]

While I like it, it's not one of those "must have" cars for me.

Just as well, since they are super-expensive.
I like what Motor Trend said in their test of a '70 Hemicuda (Motor Trend, May, 1970):
"The Hemi had to be babied 'til it was well on its way down the strip, as it could really spin the tires."
There were three 'Cudas tested, a Hemi, a 440-6 bbl and a 340.
In general, they liked the handling when equipped with power steering ("a whole lot easier to use"), but criticized the understeer with manual steering...
"The cars, especially with manual steering, understeer miserably, of course, but not too many people will be running their Hemicuda at slaloms."

[henk4]

"The cars, especially with manual steering, understeer miserably, of course, but not too many people will be running their Hemicuda at slaloms."

very informed remark. As if you would experience understeer only during slaloms....

[Fleet 500]

you will read that in C&S.

Come on... can't you tell me what year it started?

[henk4]

Come on... can't you tell me what year it started?

of course, with the introduction of the muscle cars, you could have sorted that out for your self, Einstein
In 1970 new safety and emission rules effectively ended the horsepower race. "The US Secretary for Transportation even tried censoring adds for muscle cars to prevent manufacturers from targeting young and impressionable drivers...." In the land of the Free that is quite a drastic proposal (under a Republican president) so the situation might not have been too good.

and if you start digging in historic material, try also to find some figures regarding the development of insurance premiums...

[Fleet 500]

of course, with the introduction of the muscle cars, you could have sorted that out for your self, Einstein
In 1970 new safety and emission rules effectively ended the horsepower race. "The US Secretary for Transportation even tried censoring adds for muscle cars to prevent manufacturers from targeting young and impressionable drivers...." In the land of the Free that is quite a drastic proposal (under a Republican president) so the situation might not have been too good.

and if you start digging in historic material, try also to find some figures regarding the development of insurance premiums...

Yeah, 1964, the introduction of muscle cars.
And it's ridiculous to blame muscle cars for increased death toll... a car is only as dangerous as its driver.

Insurance premiums... again, the fault of the drivers, not the cars.

[Fleet 500]

very informed remark. As if you would experience understeer only during slaloms....

I think we both know what they meant... the understeer, no problem with normal driving; a problem on a slalom course in which practically NO Hemicuda owners took their cars to.

[henk4]

I think we both know what they meant... the understeer, no problem with normal driving; a problem on a slalom course in which practically NO Hemicuda owners took their cars to.

try a car with heavy understeer in the rain.....(let alone snow)

[henk4]

yep, the message was actually addressed to Fleet....but he might be too busy finding road tests that say that muscle cars have good handling....(maybe the alarming increase in death toll (which ultimately resulted in Governmental intervention) after the introduction was related to the quality of the drivers and not of the cars )

Fleet, you have been carefully reading my earlier post...

[nota]

The year was 1969 and the line between the muscle car and pony car had been lost. Ford had released a 428 ci V8 powered Mustang for the streets. The key to success was in producing the most gut-wrenching car of all - and to hell with the handling. The limited numbers of the Hemi Barracuda and the fact it was illegal for the streets meant that it was not enough to challenge the opposition on the newly laid 'Big Block' playing field.

But surely with the streets filled with big block, 400+ cubic inch pony muscle cars from other manufacturers, there had to be more from Plymouth? And there was, with the release of the big cubed 440 'Cuda. The large engine was borrowed from Chrysler's large muscle cars and shoehorned inside the cramped engine bay. No power steering, power brakes or air conditioning could be had with this monster engine. There was one simple idea behind this car, and that was to pound the boulevards in search of street drags. With 375hp on tap, the 440 'Cuda was able to produce 14.1 second quarter mile times... but by no means should you try to brake and corner at anything but slow cruising speeds! The car was a bit of a pig to drive, as it suffered from bad understeer and was a little too quick for its own braking system, both characteristics due to the 440 big block's large weight being concentrated rather forward in the car.

With its raked stance, oversized rear rubber, side-exit exhausts, and loud graphics, an AAR was better suited to a Saturday night at Burger King than a Sunday afternoon at Lime Rock. With a 56-percent front weight bias, handling was plagued by understeer, prompting Car and Driver to suggest "it might have been better to put the fat tires on the front wheels."

^^ and this with the 'lightweight' 340 smallblock V8

[Ferrer]

"The US Secretary for Transportation even tried censoring adds for muscle cars to prevent manufacturers from targeting young and impressionable drivers...."

Like this one. Unfortunately GM saw the hidden meaning too, and forced Pontiac to withdraw it.