A Heavyweight Title Fight.....and other tales from back in the day.....

When I was in high school I had a 1969 Ram Air III, 4-speed, 4.33:1 geared GTO Judge. My dad, also a gearhead and Pontiac lover, had a 1978 400, 4-speed, WS6 Trans-Am for a daily driver, and a 1965 Tri-power 421 Catalina 2+2 as a weekend cruiser / toy. The 2+2 was a stealthy street fighter. When dad rebuilt the 421 the summer of my junior year he replaced the "bathtub" heads which had 1.96 / 1.66 intake and exhaust valves and small ports with #670 heads off a '67 GTO that had larger ports and much larger 2.11 / 1.77 valves, yet were still closed chamber so he wouldn't lose any compression. Nunzi Romano and other Pontiac experts said these heads flowed better than any other factory head except the rare and expensive RAIV's. He also went with the RAIII cam-which had 301 / 313 advertised duration instead of the "068" cam that came in the 421 which had 288 / 302 duration. He also added 1.65:1 rockers which boosted lift from .414 to about .455. He also re-jetted the three Rochester 2 bbls and added a mechanical linkage instead of the factory vacuum style. He had a TransGo shift kit in the Turbo 400 and 3.90:1 gears in the rear end. With the big Cat's long ( 121 inches ) wheelbase and substantial rear overhang, to say it took off like a bat out of hell was an understatement. Any how-all my buddies were hot-rodders. My best friend had a 1970 SS396 Chevelle, another buddy had a 390 powered 1967 Cougar, and two others had a 440 Six-Pack '69 Super Bee, and a 428CJ Mustang Mach 1. The motor on the Judge was pumped-up by a previous owner but the 4.33:1 gears, 12 bolt posi rear end, Lakewood ladder bars, and soft-compound N50X15 Mickey Thompson rear tires really gave it an unfair advantage drag-racing other street cars. I could rev to 3,500-4,000 rpm and drop the clutch hard. It would spin the tires, but just enough to get the engine up on it's torque curve and the car moving with alarcity. My friends would all light up their tires taking off. Once a 4.33:1 geared 400 Pontiac GTO gets 2 or 3 car lengths on you, unless you've got a 4.56:1 geared L88 'Vette- your not getting it back. The Judge was pretty much "King Kong". I even beat guys from other schools and "Old men" ( like 35 ) with 440 Road Runners, 429 SCJ Torinos, and 396 Novas. Any how, the 428 Mustang driver's dad was also a mechanic, and he had an L72 427 1967 Biscayne. As it happened one night, for whatever reason I had left the Judge at home and borrowed the 2+2. He had also left the mighty Mach 1 at home and was driving the Biscayne. We decided to face off. The "flagman" hit his flashlight and we roared off the line. The big Pontiac jumped out to a half-car lead, which I held until the top of second gear. The big Chevy pulled even, and that was it. Neither car could gain another inch. We stayed in it until well over 100 mph and well past a 1/4 mile, and it was like the cars were locked together. Too close to call. We drove back to the staring line together and everyone was shocked when we said it was too close to call. Then we both blurted out at the same time-"What the hell is under the hood of that thing?" Which drew big laughs from the watching crowd. We opened the hoods, and when I saw the Rat motor and the "427" stickers on the valve covers, and he saw the "421" emblems and the three chrome air cleaners on the 2+2 we said again-almost in unison-"That explains it." Which drew more laughs from the crowd. My friend said it best-"That's the first time either of you ran up against someone his own size."  Since both of these behemoths had 4-wheel drum brakes, we waited about 15 minutes to let the brakes cool down while other people raced and then we tried again. Exact same result. I jumped him half a car length off the line, he caught me in second gear, neither of us could get another inch. There were some other sleepers around too. There was a kid that had a 454 Monte Carlo that surprised a lot of people. I've mentioned before I had a friend who   stuffed a 401 out of a Matador Police car into his 304 Gremlin that was quite a terror. Another friend had a Chevy LUV pickup with a 327 in it that was a rocket. Once in a while the cops would show up and run everybody off, or write a few tickets, but for the most part we were left alone because our little "Dragstrip" was out in the boonies. There was no fights, or people carrying knives or guns, or drugs being sold or anything like that. Just a bunch of guys getting together on Friday or Saturday night to play with their cars. Very Innocent. It's sad, but you couldn't do that now, and the police couldn't be as lenient as they were back then. A bunch of gang-bangers would have to show up and start trouble or shoot at someone, and there would be intense public outrage. Too bad, that kids nowadays won't have those memories when their my age because the actions of a few screw it up for the many. Mastermind