"Area 51" Cars Again...... And the reasons why their not real!

Recently I've had a lot of people telling me about their ultra-rare cars that they or a friend or a relative now owns or once owned. They also say they can't find any factory documentation that these cars exist. That's because they don't. But wait, you say, the guy's driving the car, or restoring it in his garage, how can you say it doesn't exist? Here's how. If I miss a few, I'm sorry, but here's the list of mythical cars that don't exist, and the reasons they don't, in no particular order of importance. I'll start with GM, and then do Mopar and Ford. #1. There are no Tri-Power 1967 GTOs. Enthusiasts were pissed when this option was dropped at the end of 1966. All the parts could be ordered from dealership parts departments, and the system would bolt right on the 400 engines. Some dealers,like Royal Pontiac, would even install the system for you for extra cost. However there was never a factory-built version. #2. There were no factory-built Ram Air V GTOs or Firebirds. Drag racers like Arnie Beswick and Doug Nash got the engines or parts from Pontiac and put them in their race cars, but they never made production. Royal Pontiac's Milt Schornack even built an RAV Judge that he raced with some success, but the bottom line is Pontiac wouldn't warranty any solid-lifter engine, so DeLorean wouldn't allow them to make production. # 3. There are no 1970 LS6 Corvettes. Originally the LS6 454 was slated to be available in the Camaro SS,and the Nova SS as well as the Chevelle. The low hoodline of the Camaro and Nova is why LS6's had the flat intake manifold that cost about 20 hp compared to the old 427 aluminum 4bbl manifold. However, GM brass wanted to cut down on proliferation of options, so ultimately the LS6 was only installed in Chevelles and a few El Caminos. Zora-Arkus Duntov expected the even more radical LS7 to make production as the Vette's top engine option, so the LS6 wasn't offered. The brass killed the LS7 at the last minute. Thus any 1970 Corvette with a 454 is the hydraulic-cammed 360 hp version. Roughly 1,000 or so 1971 Corvettes were built with 9.0:1 compression LS6's rated at 425 hp. #4. I am 99.99% sure that there are no 440 Six-Pack 1972 Chargers or Road Runners. The option was listed in early 1972 sales literature, and the horsepower rating was 330 hp, down substantially from the 385 hp rating of 1971. However, the engines had trouble passing the stiffer 1972 emissions standards, and the option was dropped. Rumors persist that "A few" i.e.- less than 10-"Slipped through"-but I have never seen one, seen the window sticker or build sheet for one, or seen one documented by a Chrysler engineer, or a magazine like Hot Rod or Musclecar Review. #5. The Challenger T/A and 'Cuda AAR models were only produced in 1970. Again, very early 1971 sales literature listed the option, and I have even seen a picture of a Challenger T/A which a Chrysler Executive said was a 1970 model with a 1971 grille airbrushed in. However, the option never made production, and the 340 Six-Pack wasn't offered after 1970. #6. There are no Boss 429 Cougars. Kar Kraft in Michigan, which helped Ford build the Boss 429 Mustangs, built one or two "One-off" Boss-Nine Cougars for Drag Racer "Dyno" Don Nicholson. However these were 428 Eliminator models that had the 429s swapped in. There was never a production version offered to the public. #7 The Boss 351 was produced for one year-1971. It had 11.3:1 compression, a solid lifter cam,was rated at 330 hp, and was only available with a 4-speed and 3.91 or 4.30 gears.  In 1972 the name was changed to 351 HO, and the compression was dropped to 8.8:1. It was still only availble with a 4-speed and 3.91 gears, and the horsepowe rating dropped to 285. These are quite rare. The majority of 1972 Mach 1 Mustangs have the 351CJ, which has a hydraulic cam, an 8.0:1 compression ratio, is rated at 266 hp,and was avalable with a stick or automatic. Hope this clears a few things up Mastermind