Dealer specials! A thing of the past....

In the 1960's and 1970's many car dealers got into the performance scene, and offered special packages to their customers. Royal Pontiac in Michigan was legendary. The "Royal" treatment on a 389 GTO or 421 Catalina, or 400 GTO or Firebird included re-curving the distributor, re-jetting the carb, ( on 4-bbl models ) using thinner head gaskets to add compression, and adjusting the lifters and putting locknuts on the studs to add maybe 400-500 rpm on the top end. On Tri-Power models, besides richening the carbs, this included changing the linkage from vacuum to mechanical. Don Yenko was legendary for the 427 "Yenko" Camaros and Chevelles, as well as the "Yenko Deuce"-Since the Nova was sometimes called the "Chevy II"- this was a Nova with a 370 hp solid-lifter LT-1 Corvette motor stuffed in. "Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge" was similar to Royal Pontiac, except they were doing it with Mopars. Challengers, Chargers, and Darts had their 340s, 383s, and 440s super-tuned before they left the dealer. Baldwin Chevrolet in New York partnered with Motion Performance, and Joel Rosen was the father of many L88 and LS6 and LS7 427 and 454 engined Camaros, Firebirds and Chevelles. Nickey Chevrolet in Chicago, as late as 1974, ( Hot Rod magazine tested one.)  offered an L88 427 Nova package.  I mentioned in an earlier post the Mecham Brothers of Mecham Pontiac in Arizona and the "Macho T/A".  I guess now, that truly is a thing of the past because of EPA and state and federal regulations. I recently drove a 2011 Charger R/T with the Hemi. In a major U.S. City, where people have a lot of money. I asked the salesman how much the dealer would charge me if they installed a K&N air filter and a Flowmaster "Cat-Back"-i.e.- after the catilytic converter, and thus emissions legal-exhaust system, and he acted like he was a Rookie Secret Service Agent and I said I wanted to kill the president. I never saw such hemming and hawing. He asked a manager, and the manager said he didn't care what was legal, under no circumstances would they modify a new car for any price. I had to quote Steve Martin from an old Saturday Night Live skit- "Wellll Excuuuussse me for asking!"  A sad state of affairs, and I hate to sound like an old fart, but I miss the "Good Old Days" when "The Customer was Always Right", and if you were willing to pay for it, you could get what you wanted on a new car. Sad. Mastermind