Pure Stock Drags basic rules.....

Since I mentioned the Pure Stock Drags quite a few people have asked how they can enter their cars and what's allowed. I don't have the time or space to list the entire rulebook, but I can give you the basic guidelines, and their pretty lenient for the enthusiast who wants to race his original or clone musclecar. # 1. Engine / Transmission combination. Does not have to be numbers-matching, but the combination has to be one that was an option on that model car, that year. For example-you can't have a 454 in a '67 Chevelle, because the 454 didn't become an option until 1970. On the other hand, you can put a 426 Mopar crate Hemi in a '71 Charger, because although rare, the Hemi was available that year. Same thing for transmissions- if you want to take a six-cylinder, three-speed '69 Nova and swap in a 396 and a 4-speed, you can do that, because that combo was an option that year. However, if your "Macho T/A" has a Doug Nash / Richmond 5-speed in it, you may have a problem, because both the "Macho" package and the 5-speed tranny were not factory options. They were dealer-installed options performed by Mecham Pontiac in Glendale Arizona. Dennis and Kyle Mecham ( "DKM" Inc. ) sold about 300 cars a year from 1977 to 1979, but they were sold as used cars and never had an MSO ( Manufacturer's certifcate of originality ) from General Motors. This is why they were'nt allowed to sell them in California or Colorado. # 2. The engine has to be within 15 cubic inches of it's original size, either way.  For example-the guy that won a few years ago had a 1969 Mustang Mach 1 that was originally a 428 CJ model. Not wanting to risk throwing a rod out the side of a rare, numbers matching block, he took a 390 truck block and put a replacment Eagle 428 crank in it, with special pistons and the CJ heads, intake and carb, and a Lunati reproduction of the the CJ cam. It only displaced 415 cubic inches, but it was legal because it was within 15 inches. Similarly, a guy who had a VERY strong clone 1963 Super Duty Catalina who was running a .030 over 428 Pontiac block was legal because it was 434 inches-within 15 inches of the original 421 cube displacement.  # 3. Induction. You've got a lot of latitude here. For example-the carb(s) only have to be the original "Type." So, if you have a strong 455 Pontiac, Buick or Olds you could run an 850 cfm Q-jet instead of a 750, because their the same type. If you had dual AFB's on your 409 Impala, 421 Catalina or 426 Hemi Mopar you could run dual 750s for a substantial power gain over the stock 625s and still be legal. You could also run dual 600 or 750 Edelbrocks because their virtually identical to an AFB. If you have a 440 '69 GTX-you could run an Edelbrock 800 cfm Thunder AVS carb and gain a ton of power over the stock Carter AVS which only flows about 585 cfm. Your legal because the design is identical-falling under the same "type" rule. The rules are similar for intakes. For example-the guy with the clone SD-421 Catalina was legal running an Edelbrock P65 dual-quad intake because it was identical to the original aluminum factory unit. He'd have been legal with an Offenhauser dual-quad intake as well. If you have a '70 Z/28-GMPP is still selling an exact replica of the original Z/28 / LT1 intake, and the Holley # 300-36 is the same design. Both would be legal under the same "type" rule. # 4. Cams-again the same "type" rule applies. What this means is, if you have a  '69 396 Chevelle you could run a hydraulic or solid-lifter cam because the L34 396 was a hydraulic-cammed version, and the L78 was a solid-lifter cammed model. By contrast if you had a '69 GTO you could only run a hydraulic cam, because there was no factory solid-lifter option-even the vaunted Ram Air IV was a hydraulic design. However, they don't restrict what duration or lift you can run. # 5. Exhaust. You have to run Iron exhaust manifolds-no headers. However they can be ported or extrude-honed for extra flow. The pipes have to go over the rear axle except for stuff like the Challenger T/A, where the factory setup exited in front of the rear wheels. However, there's no restriction on pipe size, so you could run 3 inch pipes if you wanted to. # 6. Driveline. The trans has to be the stock "type." In other words-you can run a Saginaw or Muncie 4-speed, or a TH350 or TH400 in a '70 Camaro, but you can't run a 700R4 automatic overdrive or a Richmond or Tremec 5-speed stick. You can pretty much run any converter you want, and any gear ratio you want. You can see now how these cars run the blistering times that they do-they look stock, but their really not. However-they are a blast to watch or participate in, and I whole-heartedly recommend doing it if you can. Mastermind    

Clone or original, you don't have to spend a mint!!

I was reading Hemmings' Motor News the other day and I saw a 1971 Boss 351 Mustang for sale. It was priced at $79,995. Even for a restored Boss 351, I felt this was exorbitant. In the same issue they had two other Boss 351s for sale that were also restored and pristine, and one was priced at $42,000 and the other was $58,000. In reading the ads, the guy selling the one for 80K boasted that he'd paid $5000 for an original Autolite 4300 Boss 351 carburator. To me that's absolutely insane. That's the price of a whole car ( not a Boss 351, but you know what I mean ) that needs restoration, or a high performance crate motor at the very least. I mean, think about it, If a 1971 Boss 351 Mustang was your dream car and you found a pristine, numbers-matching Boss 351 that was even the color you wanted, and you could afford the asking price, would you NOT buy it because it had a non-original Autolite 4300 4bbl, or even say a 750 Holley or Edelbrock on it? Of course not!! You'd lay down the cash in a heartbeat, as would anybody with common sense. Even Concours show organizations have realized that our beloved musclecars are all 40 or 50 years old and expecting every nut and bolt to be numbers-matching is unrealistic. Most of them, whether their a GM, Ford or Mopar organization have amended the rules to make competing easier and less expensive. Let's take carburators since we started there. Most Concours show judging organizations say that the carb has to be the original "type." This means if you have a 1970 Z/28 Camaro, you can call Summit Racing and buy a new #3310 780 cfm Holley, put it on the car, and not lose points because it doesn't have a Chevrolet part number or 1970 date codes. Ditto for putting a Jet rebuilt Quadrajet on  your 442 or  L34 SS396 Chevelle, or a later-model Carter AFB on your 1964 GTO-it doesn't have to have 1964 or whatever date codes on it. The same for intake manifolds. If your restoring a 1969 Six-Pack Super Bee-and the tri-power setup is missing-you can buy a new manifold from Edelbrock and new carbs from Holley, and the linkage and air cleaner from Mopar Performance and not lose points because the parts don't have Chrysler part numbers or 1969 date codes. This also gives you a little leeway even if your just doing a generic engine. The manifold has to be the original "type."
 This means that if the 400 your '68 GTO has a Quadrajet carb and manifold that came off a '72 Gran Prix, you won't lose any points because their the same as the original except for the part # and the date codes. The same goes for distributors and exhaust manifolds, and alternators and starters. Some have even relaxed the rules for engines. In other words-if your restoring say a 1969 SS396 Nova-all they require is that the engine block have late 1968 or early 1969 date codes. This means you can use an engine that came out of a 1968 Impala or 1969 Chevy pickup or Chevelle wagon. It doesn't have to be one that corresponds with only a '69 Nova SS. For transmissions they've gone the same way as carbs and intakes-in other words, you can buy a TH400 from TCI or B&M or your local Aamco, put it in your GM car and not lose points because of the numbers on the case. Or if your restoring a 1957 Corvette or 1962-63 Super Duty Catalina you can buy a new BW T10 4-speed from Summit and not lose points because the case doesn't have 1957 or 1962 date codes. The Pure Stock drag races only require that something be an OPTION on that model, that year. This means if you want to throw a Mopar Performance crate Hemi in a 1970 Challenger that originally had a 383, and race it, it's legal. Or if you want to build a W31 -spec 350 Olds for your 1969 Cutlass and race it, it doesn't have to be anm original W31 car. That means you could take a 350 1971 Chevelle and put a 454 in it and race it because the 454 was an option on the Chevelle that year.  If your not competing in Concours shows or the Pure Stock drags, then things really open up. If you want to throw a 455 Pontiac into a '79 Trans-Am that originally had a 403 Olds in it ( the TH350 will bolt right up; BOP engines share the same bellhousing bolt-pattern, only Chevys are different ) who cares?  Don't go crazy and spend a bunch of unnecessary money chasing stuff with a certain part number on it, when you don't really need it!!. Mastermind           

If your going to clone it, don't half-ass it at the last minute!!

I talked about cloning your dream car a couple days ago and I said don't go hog-wild chasing rare parts to make it "Just like an original."  What I meant was-for example-if you want an an RAIV spec GTO-don't spend a zillion dollars trying to chase down an original RAIV engine, or even just the heads, and intake and exhaust manifolds. Edelbrock makes aluminum heads that are patterned after the legendary RAIV heads, and the "Performer RPM" cam is an exact replica of the RAIV grind. Year one sells reproduction RAIV / 455HO intakes, and Hooker and Hedman sell round-port headers. You'd have all the performance of a Ram Air IV, at a fraction of the cost. Or you could buy aluminum "Cleveland" heads from Trick Flow or Edelbrock and the matching intake manifold that will bolt on to a 302 block and make a clone "Boss 302" engine for your Mustang project for less than the price of an orignal Boss 302 carburator! That's what I meant. However, I have seen clone cars for sale, that I wonder what the hell the builder was thinking.  # 1. I saw a gorgeous 1970 Charger that was a originally a 318 / automatic car that was turned into a Hemi / 4-speed clone. The car had a 465 hp 426 inch Mopar Performance crate Hemi, an A-833 4-speed with a pistol-grip shifter, and a Dana 60 rear end. It was beautifully done, and the asking price was $79,000.  Not chump change, but a lot less than the $250,000 that "original" Hemi Chargers bring. However, it had manual drum brakes on all 4 wheels!!  Who wants a 4,000 lb, 465 hp car with 4-wheel manual drum brakes??  He couldn't finish it right and buy an  $800 front disc brake conversion kit from Summitt or Just Brakes?  For god's sake, if your going to cut corners- then leave it an automatic-it's a helluva lot easier to swap a 727 for a 904, ( change the rear trans mount and front driveshaft yoke ) than it is to convert an automatic car to a 4-speed-you need a bellhousing, clutch assembly, clutch linkage, shift linkage, pedals, and you have to cut the floorboards up to fit it.  Or forget the Dana 60 rear-I have never, ever seen anyone break a Chrysler 8 3/4 rear, and I know a guy that has a 505 inch Duster with nitrous who runs a trans-brake and slicks!!  I don't know about you, but If was going to pay 80 grand for a nearly 500 hp Hemi Charger to live out my "Dukes of Hazzard" or "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry"  fantasies, I'd damn sure want disc brakes!!!  # 2. I saw a gorgeous 1968 SS396 Chevelle for sale for $35,000. It was red with black interior, and instead of a 396, it had a stout 454 backed by an M21 Muncie 4-speed. It also had a 12 bolt posi rear end and front disc brakes.  However, it had no power steering!!  Ever tried to drive or park a Chevy car or truck with a heavy Rat motor up front and no power steering? Not a pleasant experience!!  Again-what was the guy thinking?  Summitt and other places offer new GM power steering boxes-even a 12:7:1 WS6 Trans-Am box-which fits the "A" bodies by the way-is less than 300 bucks!!  With new hoses and a pump / reservoir you'd barely have $500 in the whole system!!  Even if the base car wasn't so equipped, for god's sake-it's not original anyway-at least make it safe and fun to drive and more desirable for a prospective buyer. # 3. I saw a 1969 GTO "Judge" clone that was priced ar $29,995.  It was Carousel Red with the spoilers and stripes, and it even had a Hurst Dual / Gate shifter in the console. However the 400 V8 had a two-barrel carb and intake on it!!  For Christ's sake-he didn't have $600 for an Edelbrock Performer intake and matching carb?  Or he couldn't go to a junkyard and get an iron factory 4bbl manifold and quadrajet carb off any Pontiac built from '67-79 for probably 100 bucks, and then spend another 50 on a rebuild kit and a float for the carb?  Even if the engine and car isn't numbers-matching, and the price reflects that, "Clone" or not, who want's a GTO Judge with a f@#%ing two-barrel on it??!!  Come on, people use your head!!  Mastermind                                  

Can't afford your dream car? Clone it!!

Purists are reaching for oxygen right now, but honestly in some cases this is the only way some of us can have the car we desire. A couple examples- # 1. 1969 Pontiac Trans Am. Pontiac only built 697 T/A's in 1969, and they bring a kings ransom. I have seen RAIII automatic versions for sale for 90-100K, and I have seen a low-mileage RAIV 4-speed model for sale for $399,000!!!  Outside of winning the lottery, 99% of us could never afford to spend 100 grand or more on what is certainly going to be a second or third car. However, Pontiac built over 115,000 Firebirds in 1969. I have seen rough, but running examples as low as $2,500 and anything over 5 grand is usually pretty decent. I saw a rust-free convertible for $6,500 on a used car lot a couple months back. Now, when I say "Clone it" I don't mean spend a zillion dollars doing a frame-off restoration and chasing down an original RAIII or RAIV engine. If your going to do that, you might as well take out a second mortgage on your house and buy an already restored original. It'll be easier, and probably less expensive in the long run. NO, what I mean is buy a base-model Firebird in decent shape, and get the hood, spoilers and trim from Ames or Year One. Don't replace every nut and bolt whether it needs it or not. That drives the price way up unnecessarily. Go by the old adage-"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." For example-if the power steering pump isn't making noise and isn't leaking, why would you replace it? If the radiator isn't leaking, and the car doesn't overheat in 90 degree weather why would you replace it?  If the car starts every time you turn the key, why would you replace the starter?  See what I'm saying?  If it doesn't have a 400 in it-find one at a junkyard or swap meet or by buying a rusted-out '70's "big car"-( Bonneville, Catalina, Grand Ville, etc ). Whether you rebuild it to stock specs, or go ultra-badass with Edelbrock heads, and an Eagle 455 stroker crank is up to you. 14 or 15 inch "Rally II" wheels are the proverbial dime a dozen, or you could go with Torq-Thrusts or Cragars or something else that's "period correct."  You could build a clone that you could only tell was a fake by checking the numbers for about 20 or 25 grand, including the purchase price of the car. You couldn't touch even a basket case original that needed everything for that.  #2. 1969 Z/28 Camaro. Same thing-Of the 243,000 Camaros that Chevrolet built in 1969, only 19,000 were Z/28 models. Restored examples routinely sell for 60-80K. I know a guy that bought a six-cylinder. three-speed base model for $1,500. He installed a mild 350 and a Saginaw 4-speed, a "Cowl Induction" hood, some Rally wheels and painted it blue with white stripes and got "Z/28" emblems from Year One. Everyone "oohs" and "aahs" over his "Z/28". Total investment-$5,500.  Again, you couldn't touch an engineless, transmissionless, rusted out hulk of an "original" Z/28 for $5,500.  # 3. 1965-68 Shelby GT350 Mustang. "Real" Shelbys of this vintage routinely sell for 100K. I have seen them as high as $225,000 at Barrett-Jackson auctions on the Speed channel. 10-15 grand will buy you an excellent condition 289 Fastback of this vintage. With the help of the aftermarket you can buy the scoops, spoilers,taillights and wheels necessary to to get the look. You can buy a replica Shelby aluminum intake and many companies sell tri-y headers. And there is a million other ways to build power into a small-block Ford. For 25K you would have a car that again-an onlooker would have to check the numbers to know if it was "real" or not.  And that's 1/4 of what a "real" one would cost.  # 4. 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona / 1970 Plymouth Superbird. The legendary "winged" cars go for 100k all day long, and that's the 440 models. Six-Pack and Hemi versions bring a quarter-million rouitinely. 20 grand will buy a decent 383 Road Runner or Charger. There are several companies that sell the fiberglass "bullet" nose and rear wing. You'll probably have 30 or 35 grand in it by the time your done, but again that's 1/3 of what a "real" one would cost. Even if you spent another 15K on a Mopar Performance 426 crate Hemi, you'd have 50K in a Hemi Superbird insted of $250,000!! And you could sell it for 100K even though it's a clone!!  As long as you don't try to pass off any of these projects as original, you can save a ton of money and have a great unique car.  Mastermind            

More implausible movie chases.....

Maybe we should just title these  "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".  But that wouldn't be fair to Sergio Leone's masterpiece. I guess the target audience is 12 year old boys that only play video games, and have never seen a car race or a crash of any kind. Anyhow, here's some more with impossible things put on the screen. # 1. "Salt." This spy thriller was supposed to star Tom Cruise as Edwin Salt-who in the book may or may not have been a Russian sleeper spy. When he pulled out they changed the name to Evelyn Salt and cast Angelina Jolie, who after "Tomb Raider", "Wanted", and "Mr and Mrs Smith", apparently has given up serious acting and thinks she's an action hero. It starts out cool enough with Angie, barefoot in her bra and panties, chained up in North Korean dungeon and being brutally beaten, tortured and waterboarded. ( Doubtless Billy Bob Thornton and Jennifer Aniston applauded this scene ) Anyway,that's the high point of the film. Everything from then on is totally implausible. She runs away from about 50 supposedly trained CIA agents who are firing automatic weapons at her and apparently, in spite of all their combat training, can't hit the side of a barn from across the street, except for the black guy who shoots her in the ass as she jumps off a high freeway overpass and lands on top of a semi,not once, but twice, without breaking any bones or sliding off the slick top of the trucks to her death in freeway traffic. Then she steals a motorcycle and eludes about twenty cop cars. She plugs her bullet wound with a tampon in a ladies room, and it's never addressed again. Later, she wrecks a Police Tahoe off an overpass by tazering the driver and even though she's handcuffed in the back seat and not in a seat belt, and the truck fell like 50 feet,   she again doesn't get a scratch. I've had car wrecks on and off the racetrack, and all of these stunts are impossible without you sustaining serious injury and / or totalling the vehicle. Sad, because the book was alright, and the movie might have been cool with the right director.  # 2 "Marked for Death". Steven Seagal martial arts thriller, in which the sinister black 1973 Mach 1 Mustang he's driving gets wrecked between two bulldozers. Then there's a chase where Seagal and Keith David,driving a 1990 Dodge Ramcharger ( the most under-powered, ill-handling vehicle on the planet except for possibly a Suzuki Samurai ) somehow manage to stay up with a BMW 633 CSI.!!!  ( One of the fastest, best handling vehicles on the planet!! ) Of course, the bad guys crash the Bimmer, and Seagal DOESN'T wreck the Ramcharger. Riiight.  # 3. "The Last Stand"  Arnold Schwarzenegger's new action flick. Tongue-in-cheek humor and decent action, until the finale. Drug dealer is making a run for the Mexican border in a stolen ZR1 Corvette. Arnie is the sheriff of the last Arizona town before the border. The wise-ass car dealer just happens to leave Arnie a ZL1 Camaro for the weekend. The gunfight with the dealer's "advance team" is a little over the top, but then comes the chase. A ZL1 Camaro chasing a ZR1 Corvette through a Corn field? I know they grow corn in Iowa and Nebraska, and the midwest, but I didn't know they did in the arid desert of Arizona. Amazingly they don't destroy the undercarriage of these low slung cars in a cornfield, and when the dealer drives the 'Vette UNDER the Camaro and pushes it sideways for a hudred yards, the 'Vette's fiberglass front end doesn't get a scratch, and the Camaro doesn't flip. Then when the dealer and Arnie both hit a tractor at high speed, and the 'Vette is totalled and the top ripped off the Camaro, the airbags don't trigger on either car. Then there's the fight to the finish. When Arnie slams the dealer down on a steel bridge rail with all his might, right on the guys neck at about the C3 vertabrae, he isn't killed or paralyzed from the neck down, he's only stunned. Then when the guy wakes up, and pulls a knife and cuts Arnie's thighs all to hell, ( looked to me light he hit the femoral arteries ) Arnie not only doesn't bleed to death, he doesn't even fall down. The chase and the fight kind of soured it for me. You can make a movie with believable action. Remember the original "Mechanic" with Charles Bronson and Jan-Micheal Vincent? Or "Magnum Force" with Clint Eastwood, or even "Bloodsport" with Jean-Claude Van Damme? Those are reality shows compared to this new dreck. # 4. "Gone in 60 Seconds." Not the H. B. Halicki classic, I mean the awful remake with Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie. First off, the plot stinks. Cage is a retired legendary car thief whose moron brother played by Giovanni Ribisi crosses this badass gangster who exports stolen expensive cars. He demands Cage steal 50 premium cars for him or he's going to kill the stupid brother. Why Cage doesn't call the FBI on this asshole, or since he's also a legendary badass, just put a bullet in the prick's head and mercifully end the movie after about 15 minutes into it. Instead we have two more hours of how quirky and cool Cage and his crew are as they steal the first 49 cars. Then he tries to deliver the 50th, a 1967 Shelby GT500 that's obviously a fake. Then he uses the Mustang to jump about 100 cars across what looks like the Golden Gate bridge. When he lands, instead of the shock towers coming through the hood, the wheels folding under, the engine driving the steering column back and killing the driver with blunt force chest trauma, and the rear end breaking and the leaf springs coming through the trunk and the backseat, ( Which is what would really happen ) he lands like he hit a speed bump at 35 and keeps going. Puhleezze. # 5. "The Transporter." I personally like Jason Statham, but when he crashes a BMW 733i through a concrete overpass wall and doesn't even dent the hood, and lands perfectly on a truck, doesn't slide off and crash or jacknife the truck, I signed off. Come on, guys. Just like the martial-arts movies where Jet Li jumps six feet in the air, rotates his body clockwise, kicks three guys in the face, does a backflip and lands on his feet. It can't be done, we know it can't be done, we know the actor or the stuntman isn't doing it, so why put it on screen? I don't want a video game designed for 8th graders, I want at least believable action. Listen up, Hollywood, people aren't going to stand for this sub-par crap anymore.  Mastermind                     _

Implausible movie chases.......

A while back we talked about great movie chases and a lot of people really liked the posts. I had a few people ask about bad ones as well. What constitutes a bad one? When the cars are completely mismatched or they use CGI to do something that is physically impossible.  Here's a list of some that I love to hate, in no particular order. # 1 "Wanted". This stinker breaks the record for implausiblity-shooting bullets around corners?  The horrid chase scene is Angelina Jolie and James Macavoy driving a Dodge Viper and being chased by a guy in a UPS type truck who miraculously has the horsepower and cornering ability to stay up with a Viper. Yeah, right. A 30 second scene of Angie nude and barefoot getting out of a bath isn't worth the price of a DVD rental. The whole thing sucks. # 2. "Cobra" Sly Stallone was riding high in 1986-he'd released "Rocky" and "Rambo" sequels in 1985 that both grossed gazillions of dollars. Like Leo in "Titanic" he was "King of the World".  Then he screwed up with this stinker. He plays Marion Cobretti a "Dirty Harry" type cop on the trail of a gang of ax-murderers who want to create a "New World". How they plan to do this by murdering people goes unexplained. Brigitte Nielson is a model who witnesses one of their ax-killings, and she seeks police protection. Stallone swaggers through the film wearing mirrored sunglasses and leather gloves ( even when eating pizza and watching t.v. at home ). and carrying a cocked and locked pearl-handled Colt .45 without a holster stuffed in the front of his pants. ( Not recommended by the NRA ). The chase is terrible because Stallones ride is a hot-rodded '50 Ford with nitrous, and he wrecks it while unsuccesfully trying to outrun a 4-door Plymout Volare!!!  Nielson doesn't even get naked, and sadly, ladies, amazingly, for once Sly doesn't even take his shirt off. It just pissed me off. Which brings up......# 3. "Get Carter".  Since the 1971 version starring Micheal Caine was totally badassed-Carter kills three people and has phone sex with Britt Eklund in the first 15 minutes, and goes out in a blaze of glory after kicking everyone in the London underworld's ass trying to avenge his brother's murder, I was actually looking forward to this 2000 update starring Sly as Carter, who instead of a British thug, is a Las Vegas "fixer". Sly again swaggers through the film, this time in an Armani suit and mirrored sunglasses threatening everyone to "Take this to another level".  Unfortunately, he never takes it to the next level. A muscle-bound Mickey Rourke who looks like the Joker after his botched plastic surgery and Sly have two totally implausible fights-Mickey kicks the shit out of Stallone completely one-sided, and five minutes later Stallone kicks the shit out of Mickey completely one-sided. Ultra-sexy Rhona Mitra is totally wasted as his dead brothers mistress-she doesn' even get naked-and od's halfway through the film. Two chases-one between a 1980 Volvo and a 1985 Cadillac Deville-two slugs, and in the crash-the airbag triggers. In a 1980 Volvo???  The other chase is between Sly driving a 320 hp Northstar Seville STS, and he has trouble leaving John C. Mcginley who's driving a '70s Jag XJ6-which had what-150 hp?  Come on, guys. And he doesn't die in a blaze of glory, he has a cutesy goodbye scene with the niece that caused all the trouble in the first place. Gag. Let's hope next month's "Bullet to the Head" starring Sly and directed by Walter Hill ( "48 Hrs", "Last Man Standing", "Undisputed" )  is better.  # 4. "The Driver" I loved this badass gangster flick, and it has a great scene of Ryan O' Neal demolishing a Mercedes in a parking garage while his Russian Mob passengers scream like schoolgirls. A couple other good chases in here, but in the finale O' Neal is driving a stick-shift '76 Chevy pickup-( You know how hard those are to shift above half-throttle ) and catches a guy driving a '76 Trans Am. Puhlleeeze. If the truck was a 454 automatic, and they were drag-racing down a straight road, maybe. But cornering around city streets- ala' "Bullitt?"  Uh-uh. A '70's T/A is one of the best-handling cars ever built even to this day, and a '70's Chevy truck corners like the Titanic. They had him driving a Gold Formula Firebird earlier in the film, why not use that to catch the T/A?  That would have been believable.  #5. "Jack Reacher."  I love the Jack Reacher books, so I was a little disappointed that they cast Tom Cruise. ( In the books Reacher is 6'5" and 270 lbs. What- Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or John Cena or Howie Long wasn't available? ) I was also disappointed in the chase. The day I can't outrun a few 2008 Crown Vics in a 1970 4-speed, SS396 Chevelle is the day I'll committ hari-kari on the White House lawn, and I'm not a military-trained mercenary. Which reminds me.... # 6. "Fast and Furious 4."  Two stinker races here. Paul Walker, driving a pumped-up front-drive, 4-banger 1989 Nissan 240SX  somehow manages to stay up with Vin Diesel who's driving a 4-speed, 1970 SS396 Chevelle with Nitrous. Later he manages the same feat-he's driving a 2009 Subaru WRX that manages to stay up with Diesel's 1970 426 Hemi Charger that has a BLOWER on it, on a mostly straight road, not the twisties. Yeah, right.  I have to quote "Stuntman Mike"-the pervert who kills women with his car in "Death Proof" played by Kurt Russel. "I long for the Vanishing Point days, the Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, White Line Fever days." "Great men doing great things with great cars, not CGI."  I mean, that 455 Grand Ville would have given a 350 Ventura a helluva run, just like they showed in "The Seven Ups". On some things, ya gotta go "Old School." And car chases are one of them. Mastermind                          

A classic truck may be the way to go for you.....

One avenue for those who want some classic muscle but don't have Donald Trump's bank account is trucks. On the really old stuff  ( 1950's ) you'll have to do some fabrication-no one really wants a top-heavy vehicle with a ton of horsepower and tiny drum brakes, no power steering, and a suspension that handles like a UPS truck. But upgrading is relatively simple. Whether the truck is a Ford or a Chevy for years guys have been putting Chevelle or Camaro front clips on the classic '53-56 F100 Fords and the 1/2 ton Chevys of the the 1950-59 vintage. This gives them modern power steering and front disc brakes, and allows the installation of a small or big-block Chevy or just about any other GM powerplant you want. I know a guy that had a 389 Pontiac and a Muncie 4-speed in a '56 GMC pickup, and he showed his tailgate to many a hot rod. For you Ford guys that don't want to committ blasphemy ( by using a GM engine ) the other hot setup is to use a Mustang II front clip. This gives you front disc brakes, rack and pinion steering and allows the easy installation of the 289 / 302 or 351W V8s.  Into the 1960's, and things really improve. The 1960-66 Chevy / GMC trucks are already classics, but can still be bought at reasonable prices. Golden State pickup parts, Summitt Racing and others offer disc brake conversion kits. Like I said, the engine bays will swallow any GM engine. I know a guy that had a 1965 GMC pickup with a 455 Pontiac under the hood that was a monster. I've also seen these trucks with a 425 Olds or a 472 Cadillac engine under the hood as well. And of course, the ubiquitious small and big-block Chevys. 1967 was a big year for trucks. Both GM and Ford completely redesigned their pickups with spectacular results. The bodys were sleeker than ever, the interiors were nicer than ever-you now got carpet, and could get a/c and upgraded radios. On the GM front-besides the usual six-cylinder and small-block V8 offerings for the first time you could get a Rat motor in a pickup-the mighty 396. Ford guys could get the big-car 390 V8 in their trucks. Watch the Charles Bronson action flick "Mr Majestyk".  There's a chase scene involving a '68 Ford pickup and several cars. This chase scene was used in the "Built Ford Tough" ads for years. GM and Ford kept these bodystyles until 1972. Didn't mention '50s or '60s Dodge trucks because they were heavy, and ugly, and you could only get a slant-six or the "old" 318 V8 ( Nothing interchanges with the '67 and later "LA" 318-340-360 engines ). And no one really offers suspension or brake upgrades for these either, while there abundant for the GM and Ford applications.  However, by 1972, Dodge had caught up with a new body that they would keep until 1993, and you could get any V8 up to and including a 440 through the '78 model year. the 1973-79 Chevys and Fords were even better than the previous generation. Power steering and front disc brakes were now standard equipment, and the interiors were more luxurious than ever, and you could even get stuff like bucket seats, power windows and door locks and cruise control. Here's where the term "Cowboy Cadillac". originated. Power-wise you could get a 454 in Chevy / GMC ( as well as the 350 small-blocks ). Ford guys could get a 460. In a short-box, two-wheel drive, you had a hot rod. I mean think about it, a 454 V8 in a 3900 lb machine is a potent ride whether it's a '71 Chevelle, or a '77 Stepside!!  An added bonus is trucks with a GVW rating over 6,000lbs ( which included 1/2 tons ) were exempt from having catalytic converters through the '78 model year. Then the government got wise and changed the rating to 8,500 lbs in 1979 which meant you had a cat on it unless it was a one-ton.  Any how, all of these trucks can make a sweet ride for low bucks. ( Compared to restoring a Mustang, Camaro, Road Runner etc. )  Mastermind       

Still more cars that never were......

I enjoy finding out about cool stuff that missed production for whatever reason, but it also irritates me greatly when some yahoo starts telling me that he or a friend had some rare car that I know for a fact was never built. Here's a few that I keep hearing about that I love to hate. # 1. 1967-68 428 CJ Mustang. The 428 did not become optional in the Mustang until 1969. The 390 was an option in 1967-68. Carroll Shelby stuffed 428s in some 390 models, added swoopy bodywork and other upgrades and called them GT500s. Bob Tasca-owner of Tasca Ford swapped T-Bird 428s into Mustangs and had great success drag racing them, but the fact is the 428 did NOT become a regular production option until 1969 when the bodystyle changed.  # 2. 1969 Boss 429 Cougar. Ford only built the Boss 429 Mustang to homogolate the engine for NASCAR. The rules at the time said you had to sell at least 500 cars to the public before you could race them. The Boss wasn't even built by Ford. They started life as 428 Mach 1s, and were farmed out to Kar Kraft in Michigan for the Boss 429 conversion. Ford lost money on every Boss 429 Mustang they built, so it made no sense to offer a Mercury Cougar version. At least two were built for Drag racer "Dyno" Don Nicholson, but again, these were 428 Eliminators converted by Kar Kraft. Other than Nicholson's race cars, there was never a Boss 'Nine Cougar. Period.  # 3. 1971-72 GTO station wagon. This one really drives me up the wall. In 1971-72 you could buy a LeMans wagon with the scooped hood and "Endura" ( read GTO-type ) front bumper and grille. And you could get a 400 or 455 in a LeMans wagon, and if you didn't want hubcaps and wanted to pay extra, you could get the Rally II or Honeycomb style wheels used on GTOs and Firebirds. For the interior you could order front bucket seats, and you could order the rally guage package and the "Formula" ( Trans-Am style ) steering wheel.  But the 455 was the generic 250 hp 455 used in the "big" cars-i.e.-Bonneville, Catalina, Grand Ville, etc. The 335 hp ( 300 net in 1972 )  455HO that had RAIV heads and intake and exhaust manifolds and an "068" cam that was standard in the Trans Am and optional on the GTO, T37 Tempest, ( "LeMans GT" in 1972 ) and Formula Firebirds was NEVER, EVER, available in the LeMans wagon. Contact Pontiac Historical services if you want. Pontiac NEVER built a GTO wagon, not even by mistake. If you see a GTO wagon, it's a LeMans Sport or Luxury LeMans wagon that some clown has put GTO emblems on. Which brings up.... # 4. 1964 Olds 442 Station Wagon. In 1964 sales literature, the 442 package-which stood for "Four-barrel carb, four-speed trans, and dual exhaust" ( 4-4-2, get it? ) was listed as available on ANY Cutlass or F85 model which included 4-doors and wagons. However, I have never seen one, nor has one ever been verified by any reputable magazine-i.e. Hot Rod, Musclecar Review, etc, nor has any one ever produced a build sheet or window sticker for one, and none has ever been verified by any Olds engineer or other GM employee past or present. All "Real" 442s were two-door coupes.  # 5. 1969-70 Ram Air V GTO.  Pontiac engineers toyed with a "Tunnel Port" head design much like a 427 Chevy or Boss 302 Ford for a while. Originally slated for the Trans-Am racing program-Herb Adams and company found out that the 303 cubic inch engines actually made more power with the smaller RAIV heads. However, drag racers like Doug Nash and Arnie Beswick discovered that when placed on the 400 and 428 blocks and coupled with a very hot General Kinetics solid-lifter cam, that they really rocked, even outrunning the vaunted Chrysler Hemis. Arnie Beswick campainged an RA V Judge, and Royal Pontiac and Milt Schornak campaigned an RA V GTO in stock class drag racing. 2 or 300 of these engines were built and sold over the counter out of dealership parts departments to racers, but there was never a Pontiac-built production version. Mastermind             

Even more musclecars that never were.....

A lot of people don't know about the cool stuff that never makes production for whatever reason. Sometimes the model doesn't sell enough, or is too expensive to build ( Ford lost money on every Boss 429 ) or political maneuvering in the front office, or the bean counters kill them. Any way, heres a few that I thought everyone would find interesting.  # 1. Pontiac XP833. We all know the Mako Shark II 1965 show car based on a Stingray chassis inspired the design that eventually became the 1968 Corvette, and the basic platform lasted until 1982. In 1966-while the proposed '68 Corvette was being developed, John DeLorean, -then president of Pontiac-wanted a two-seat sports car for Pontiac. Using the Corvette / Mako Shark platform, De Lorean, Pete Estes, and a few others that had fathered the GTO actually built two prototypes. One had a 250 cubic inch Overhead cam six-cylinder that made about 215 hp. The other one had a fire-breathing 421 that made about 375 hp. The Chevrolet brass threw a fit, saying that would be a direct competitior for the Corvette. The project was killed by GM brass immediately, which infuriated DeLorean. Ultimately, this led to the wildly successful Firebird. Also in 1966 Chevrolet was developing the Camaro as an answer to the hugely successful Ford Mustang. DeLorean had a meltdown when GM said Pontiac wasn't getting a version of the Camaro. His position to GM brass was "You already screwed me on the two-seat sports car concept because Chevy is the favorite division, I'm not taking the shaft on this." "You want us to sell cars, then give us the cars that will sell." "A Pontiac "Mustang" will be a runaway hit, and you know it." Thus, the go-ahead was given for the Firebird. As for the two-seat 'Vette clone-I think designer Bill Mitchell kept the six-cylinder model, and the 421 model was later sold for the princely sum of $233,000. Too bad-it would have been a cool ride. # 2. Pontiac Tempest "E.T."  In 1968 Plymouth took a strippy two-door Belvedere body, put the heads and cam off the 440 Magnum on a 383, gave it a "Beep-Beep" horn and even had a small decal of the Warner Brothers cartoon character-The Road Runner. The base price was $2,800. Chrysler hoped to sell 10,000 units; the "Road Runner" was a huge hit-they sold 45,000 in 1968 and another 81,000 in 1969. With a dealer network twice the size of Chrysler-Plymouths, Chevrolet only sold 58,000 SS396's in 1968 and 86,000 in 1969. Pontiac had won Motor Trend's "Car of the Year" award in 1968 with the GTO and sold 87,000 units. However in the first quarter of 1969, the Road Runner was outselling the GTO and the SS396 Chevelle by a wide margin. John DeLorean told his engineers to make a stripped-down GTO to combat the budget-priced Road Runner and it's Dodge Super Bee cousin. They took a strippy post-coupe Tempest and gave it a hopped up 350 V8, a four-speed, and a heavy-duty supension, and a bright orange paint job wiht multi-colored stripes. They called it "E.T" for elapsed time. In testing the badass Tempest outran a 383 Road Runner in a 1/4 mile drag race. However, DeLorean changed his mind and said no GTO would have an engine less than 400 cubes, but he liked the trim package. It eventually morphed into a premium performance package with the RAIII 400 std and the RAIV optional and was called the "Judge". ( You remember that don't you? ) The 350HO was optional in the LeMans and Firebird lines in 1968-69, but not many were sold, as hot-rodders all wanted a 400. The basic ET concept-( strippy Tempest coupe with a 350 2bbl V8, a Hurst-shifted three-speed tranny and bench seats standard, with the 400 / 455s optional ) was resurrected in 1970-71 with the T37 package which the magazines called "The Poor Man's GTO ". In 1972 the package was called "LeMans GT".   However, it would have been cool to have a lightweight, budget street-fighter Tempest / LeMans with a fire-breathing 325 hp 350 much like the vaunted "W31" Olds F85 package. # 3. 1989 Buick Reatta. I know, they were an over-priced front-drive sporty coupe with a 3.8 liter V6 that wheezed out about 120 hp. Which is why they didn't sell. However, when the rear-drive "G" bodies were discontinued after 1988, Buick engineers got the bright idea to put the badass Turbocharged Grand National engine into a rear-drive, two-seat sports car. Again-Chevrolet screamed to the high heavens that this would hurt Corvette sales, ( it would have ) and the project was nixed. The swoopy body was put on an existing front-drive chassis, and Yuck.-you know the rest. # 4. 1979 Chrysler 300. I know there was one of these with an anemic 360 V8 and "Rich Corinthian Leather".  However, being painfully aware that Mopar didn't have a performance car since the demise of the Challenger / 'Cuda and Charger / Road Runner in 1974, and that Pontiac and Chevrolet were selling Trans-Ams, Z/28 Camaros, and Corvttes as fast as they could build them in the late '70s, Chrysler decided to resurrect the legendary "300" nameplate. Initially it was supposed to have a 440 V8, and be styled like a Nascar racer on the swoopy Dodge Magnum body. ( That was campaigned in Nascar ) The brass got involved and it ended up being a "Luxury / Appearance" package on the squarish, ugly Cordoba with an anemic 318 or 360 under the hood. Too bad, they'd have been cool.  Mastermind              

More cars that never were.....But we wish they'd been built!!

Automotive engineers often come up with way cool packages for existing models and often their killed by the bean-counters or inter-office politics, or just plain jealousy between engineering teams. Here's a few that I wish had come to pass. # 1. 1970 LS6 Camaro and Nova SS. Originally, the monster LS6 454 was slated to be an option on the Camaro and Nova. Since a 396 was already an option on these cars, it would have dropped right in. In fact, even though Chevelles had the domed "Cowl Induction" hood, production LS6's had a flat intake manifold that cost it 15 hp compared to the 1969 Corvette 427 4bbl manifold. This was to clear the low hoodline of the new-for-1970 Camaro. Ultimately the brass decided to only offer it in the Chevelle line. Which brings up...#2. 1970 LS7 Corvette. The reason the only 454 available in '70 Corvettes was the "station wagon" Q-jet equipped, hydraulic-cammed LS5 is Zora-Arkus Duntov, Cheif Corvette engineer, never put the LS6 on the option list, because he fully expected the much more radical LS7-( Basically all the vaunted L88 427 compnents on a 454 block- 12.25:1 compression instead of 11:1, and with "off-road: L88 427 cam in place of the relatively mild L78 396 cam that was in the LS6 ) to make production. It was killed at the last minute by the brass, which is why the LS6 wasn't available in the 'Vette until 1971.  # 3. 1973 SD-455 Pontiac  GTO, Grand Am and Gran Prix. Originally, the SD-455 was supposed to be an option on all the "A" bodies as well. It was even listed in early 1973 sales literature, but ultimately was only installed in the Firebird line.  # 4. 1974 400 Ventura GTO. When the decision was made to put the GTO on the "X" body ( read Nova ) line, the engineers wanted to take the Goat back to it's roots-a big engine in a light car that's a stripped-down badass. Since the 350 Pontiac was already an option, a 400 would have dropped right in. However, the Trans-Am was now the flagship, and a 400 powered Ventura that weighed 3,278 lbs would blow the doors off a 3,830 lb T/A even if it did have an SD-455. The brass couldn't have that, so the downsized Goat got a 350 that wheezed out maybe 200 hp. # 5. 1977 Hurst / Olds. Since the "A" bodies-Chevelle, Cutlass,LeMans, Monte Carlo, etc were slated to be down-sized for 1978, some Olds engineers and George Hurst decided to have a "Last Hurrah". The car was slated to be silver and black like the 1968 original, and have a 455 with a TH400 with a 2,500 rpm converter, and a 3.42 posi rear end as well as F41 suspension, swivel buckets, digital tach, and funcional ram air. When the 455 was dropped at the end of 1976, they actually built a prototype with a 403, but the brass killed that too. Shame.  Any of these cars would have been way cool. Mastermind.  

Some Full-size bargains......

Here's some full-size muscle machines to consider while everyone else is fighting with machetes for Chevelles, GTOs ,Road Runners and Mustangs. # 1.  1965-68 Pontiac Catlina, Gran Prix or Bonneville. While 396 and 427 Impalas and Biscaynes of this era are rare and pricey, ( 90% of Chevys of this vintage have 283 or 327 small-block motivation ) the Pontiac cousins are a screaming bargain. 1965-66 models have 389 cubes standard with 421 optional. 1967-68 models have 400 inches standard with 428 optional. Most have the excellent TH400 automatic for trannys, but there are a few four-speed models out there as well. Also, the Pontiacs tend to have upgraded interiors and cool options like factory a/c, while the Chevys are more often than not stripped-down "Granny" cars. Great hot rod potential-there are a million ways to build power into a Pontiac V8 and any aftermarket suspension or brake upgrades that fit an Impala will fit these cars. # 2. 1967-71 Ford Thunderbird. 390, 428 or 429 cubes standard all years. The hidden headlight '67-69 model is already a classic, and I personally like the Nascar-inspired fastback '70 or '71 models the best. Won't be dirt-cheap, but still a lot less than a same-year Mustang or Torino. 1972 and later models have lower-compression engines with a lot less power and are based on the much heavier and uglier Lincoln MKIV platform. # 3. 1966-69 Buick Riviera. The racy, sexy body of the revolutionary Olds Toronado, but on a rear-wheel drive, hot rod friendly platform. 430 cubes and a TH400 standard all yeras. I see one jet-black with 18" Torq-Thrust mags and a snarling 620hp 572 inch Chevy Rat under that long hood. All it would take is some Chevy motor mounts, and a Chevy bolt-pattern TH400.  # 4. 1965-69 Olds Delta 88. 425 or 455 cubes with a TH400 standard all years. I personally think the fastback-'67-68 model is way cool. # 5. 1965-67 Ford Galaxie. These have the racy "Coke Bottle" flanks and stacked headlights that resemble a '65 Pontiac, which I always liked. They also have gorgeous interiors and 390 or 428 cubes under the hood. # 6. 1969-71 Plymouth Sport Fury. 383 or 440 cubes standard all years. Peter Graves drove one on "Mission : Impossible".  I thindk any of these cars would be a Unique, cool, project. Mastermind