More fun one or two year wonders....

Here's some more one or two year wonders that might be fun to play with. # 1. 1978-79 Dodge Li'l Red Express Pickup. These were a short-bed 2WD stepside pickup with a red and gold paint job, chrome wheels, and vertical chrome semi-style exhaust stacks. They also had an E58 Police Interceptor 360 V8 a 727 Torqueflite and a 3.55:1 rear axle. Mopar freaks like to reference a November 1977 Car and Driver article titled "Double the Double Nickel" where they tested a bunch of cars that could run faster than 110 mph. The Li'l Red Express Prototype blew the doors off an L82 / 4-speed Corvette and a W72 Trans-Am in a drag race. However-the "Prototype" had NASCAR style W-2 heads, a single-plane aluminum Holley "Street Dominator" intake topped by a 650 Double-Pumper Holley, the cam out of the old high-performance 340, and catalyst-free exhausts. Needless to say-Production examples that had standard 318 / 360 heads, and iron intake with EGR and a Carter Thermo-Quad, and a stock cam, were substantially slower!!  They have kind of a "cult" following which drives the prices up a bit, but they are a unique ride.  # 2. 1977 Pontiac Can-Am. Trying to cash in on the Trans-Am's immense popularity the engineers came up with this performance / appearance / handling package for the LeMans. They had a white paint job with "Judge" style stripes, a "ducktail" rear spoiler, a T/A style "Shaker" hood scoop and body-colored Rally II wheels. They also had "Radial Tuned Suspension," a 400 Pontiac V8 ( 403 Olds in California ) backed by a TH400 with a shift kit and a posi rear end. They only lasted one season because GM down-sized all the intermediates for '78. A cool ride if you can find one. # 3. 1982 Corvette. For this one year only you got the C3 bodystyle that had been around since 1968, with the "Cross-Fire" Injected 350 / TH700R4 powertrain that would be in the new for '84 C4 'Vette. "Corvette" and "cheap" don't usually come in the same sentence, but 'Vette collectors snub these in favor of the carburated L48 and L81 and L82 models used through '81.  # 4. 1984 Corvette. This was the first year of the C4 body that would last until 1996. Power was the Cross-Fire Injected 350 backed by a TH700R4 or the 4+3 4-speed manual with overdrive in the top 3 gears. 'Vette collectors snub these in favor of the Tuned Port Injected '85-91 models, so you can buy them cheap. I have seen decent examples on used car lots as low as $2995!!  # 5. 1984-86 Ford Mustang SVO. These had 16" wheels and 50 series tires, a scooped hood, front and rear spoilers, 4-wheel disc brakes, and Recaro seats. Power was a turbocharged 4-banger that made between 175 and 205 hp depending on year. They didn't sell well when new because the "5.0" V8 models were both faster and several thousand dollars cheaper. Dynamite if you can find one. # 6. 1990-93 Chevy SS454. These were a 1/2 ton 2WD pickup with chrome wheels, a sinister monochromatic black paint job and a 454 V8 under the hood. 1990 models had a TH400 and 3.73:1 gears. '91-93 models had a beefed-up 700R4 and 4.10:1 gears. Great for winning burnout contests. # 7. 1992-95 Ford Lightning. Another hot-rod pickup. This one had 17" wheels, a hotted-up 351W V8 and front and rear sway bars. Any of these would make a fun driver / weekend toy. Mastermind      

One or two year wonders that can be fun...

For whatever reason-poor sales, lousy promotion, rising gas prices, whatever- some cool stuff never lasted. But if you run across one now, they might be fun to play with. # 1. 1970-71 Pontiac Tempest T-37, 1972 LeMans GT. Often called  "The Poor Man's GTO".  These were a strippy Tempest coupe with a 350 V8 and a 3-speed stick. However a 4-speed or a TH400 and the 400 and 455 V8s were available. For some odd reason-in 1972 the name was changed to "LeMans GT", but the package was basically the same.  # 2. 1972-73 Mercury Montego GT. Based on the Ford Gran Torino chassis David Pearson won a bunch of NASCAR races for the Wood Brothers in the mid-70's in one of these sleek fastback coupes. Most will have 351C power which certainly isn't a bad thing; 429 models will be pricier. Dynamite if you can find one. # 3. 1973-75 Pontiac Grand Am. Touted to have the performance of a Trans-Am and the luxury of a Gran Prix-Pontiac's attempt at building a BMW didn't quite take off. Performance buyers bought T/A's and luxury buyers bought GPs. However-they were and still are a great performance and handling platform. Based on the LeMans chassis they had wrist-thick front and rear sway bars, ( "Radial Tuned Suspension " ) front disc brakes, and 400 or 455 cubes for power. You could even get a 4-speed with the 400. 34,000 were sold in 1973 alone so their not a moon rock, and any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Chevelle or LeMans will fit these. # 4. 1974 Pontiac GTO. Often called "The best Nova ever built". This was the year that Pontiac took the GTO name off the "A" body LeMans platform and put it on the "X" body-( read Nova ) platform. They had front and rear sway bars, a T/A style "Shaker" hood scoop and a 350 V8 backed by a 4-speed or a TH350. A 400 or 455 is a bolt-in swap. 7,058 were built. # 5. 1975 Plymouth Road Runner. For this one year only the Road Runner name was put on the Sport Fury platform. 318 models are slugs, but the 360 and 400 versions can be made to run. Over 6,000 were built. # 6. 1971-72 "Heavy Chevy". These were a Malibu coupe with a blacked-out grille, domed "SS" style hood, slotted 14" Rally wheels and special "Heavy Chevy" emblems. Most had 350 power, but the 396 / 402 was available. Rat versions will be pricier. 6,727 were built in '71 and another 3,000 or so in the strike-shortened '72 model year.  # 7. 1983 Camaro Z/28 / Pontiac Trans-Am. For this one year only you could get a "Cross-Fire Injected" 305 with a 4-speed TH700R4. With a 3.06:1 low gear and a 3.23:1 axle ratio these scoot surprisingly good. And the "Cross-Fire Injection" will feed a healthy 350 or 383 with a little tweaking. F-body collectors snub these in favor of the carburated L69 / 5-speed models or the '85-91 LB9 "Tuned Port Injection" models, so they can be bought cheap. # 8. 1980 Z/28 Camaro. For this one year only you could get a 350 V8 with "Cowl-Induction" a vacuum operated hood scoop,a T10 4-speed with a 3.44 1st gear and a 2.28 2nd, with a 3.08:1 posi rear. This combo had better acceleration and more top-speed than the '77-79 models 2.64 low tranny and 3.73 rear cog. Automatics got a TH350 and 3.42:1 gears. Dynamite if you can find one.  For some odd reason in '81 the 350 was only available with a slushbox. ( You could still get the 350 / 4-speed combo in Canada ) If you wanted a 4-speed you got a 305 that wheezed out 145 hp. You could have some fun with these without breaking the bank. Mastermind    

"Lukewarm" August Nights....

"Hot August Nights" is here again, and once again I'm disappointed. It seems to get worse every year. Apparently our greedy city fathers here in Reno-Sparks have finally killed the Golden Goose. I fully understand from a tourist's point of view. Last week any motel room in Reno-Sparks whether it was Motel 6 or Holiday Inn or Circus-Circus or the Peppermill was priced anywhere from $29 to $59. This week the greedy bastards are charging $150-$300 per night. That's just wrong, and short-sighted. So you screw people for an exorbitant rate for a few nights. Does that really improve your bottom line for the year? Does that make people want to come back?  And law enforcement here has always been a joke during HAN. The highway patrol is out on interstate 80 just beyond the state line writing tickets as people come in. The minimum fine now for 1-10 mph over is $195!! In other words your driving or towing your classic car to Hot August Nights, the speed limit is 70 and because your going 75-we greet you with a $200 ticket!!  Which you can pay, or you can spend even more money coming back up here a month from now to go to court and fight it. Neither option is going to leave a good taste in anybody's mouth, or make them want to come back. And is a few days of terrorizing tourists with big tickets for minor violations going to fill the city coffers that much? So much that it's worth people not coming back?  There's always a riot, because the police dept allows gang-bangers from the Bay Area and Sacramento to come up here and cause trouble. If New Orleans P.D. can handle Mardi Gras, why can't we handle HAN? There's homeless drunks panhandling all up and down the strip. You don't see that on the Las Vegas strip!!  And again- there's no events worth going to. In years past we got great entertainment like The Righteous Brothers, ( or Bill Medley by himself after Bobby Hatfield passed away ) Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beach Boys, John Kay of Steppenwolf, Little Richard, The Guess Who, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Fats Domino and Ringo Starr,-you know people who actually had hits in the '50's, '60's and '70's!!  I realize some of them have passed away or retired, but now we don't get ANYBODY. Not even "Rain" or "Rob Hanna" or Johhny Baron. Local guys that had very popular tribute shows to the Beatles and Rod Stewart and Elvis Presley respectively.  They used to have real 1/4 mile drag races at the old Stead airport. No more. Now they have 1/8 or 1/16 of a mile drag races in casino parking lots!!  Really?  Who wants to see cars race for 330 or 660 feet? To 25 or 50 mph??!!!  Puhleeze!!  The really strong big block cars will spin the tires for 330 feet!!!  The old "Top Gun" dragstrip in Fallon is still open and that's only 57 miles from Reno. The Reno-Fernley racetrack is only 29 miles away and has a full dragstrip!!  Have some real drag races and offer some real prize money. But the casino owners and organizers of HAN are too damnded cheap. They'd have to buy insurance and have paramedics standing by if you had real races. We don't want to pay for that!!  I guess that's why the high-rollers with the really cool cars are staying away. The "Show-n-Shines" aren't worth going to. The GM section is all 55-57 Chevys and Camaros and Chevelles, and GTOs and Firebirds. No 427 'Vettes, no old small-block '50's or '60's 'Vettes for that matter, no 409 Impalas, no 421 Catalinas, no Buick Rivieras or GS Skylarks, no Olds 442s or Toronados, no W31 or Rallye 350 Cutlasses, no 396 Novas, no Yenko Cars, no Baldwin-Motion cars. I did see one DKM "Macho T/A". No Cadillac Convertibles.  Very few '50's and '60's Chevy / GMC trucks, very few El Caminos. The Ford section is all Mustangs. Generic Mustangs. No Boss 429s, no Boss 302s, no GT350 or GT500 Shelbys. No Cougar Eliminators-very few Cougars period, no Torinos, no Cyclones, no Marauders, no Thunderbolt Fairlanes. A few T-Birds here and there.  The Mopar section is all B and E bodies. Chargers, Road Runners and Challengers with a few 'Cudas here and there.  No Superbirds or Charger Daytonas, no Max Wedge cars, no A990 Hemi Belvederes, no Hemi Darts. No Super Bees. Hell, I'd jump for joy if I saw a 340 Duster or Demon!!  No "Christine" clones, no '70's Furys done up like cop cars. It's a damn shame because just a few years ago you'd see all that cool stuff driving around town. Now you don't even see them on trailers, because their owners aren't bringing them!!  Why should you spend thousands of dollars to go somewhere and get gouged on a hotel room, get chickenshit tickets, and see lousy entertainment??  I wouldn't. The city fathers and HAN organizers better make some changes quick or it's going to die altogether. Sad. Mastermind      

Just because it's in a movie or on T.V....doesn't mean it can be done...

A lot of people argue about car stunts they see in movies and on T.V.  Like Kurt Russel's evil stuntman Mike said in "Death Proof" even before the advent of CGI there was quite a bit of trickery going on behind the scenes by filmmakers to put exciting sequences on screen. Way back in the '50s-when Robert Mitchum did "Thunder Road"-the rear bumper of his '50 Ford was unbolted and barely attatched with adhesive-so when the "Feds" latched on to it-it would come off easily. They also used hydraulic jacks to flip the cars. "Bullitt"-the grandaddy of them all that still looks good 50 years later because of Steve McQueen's committment to reality had quite a bit of off-screen scrambling to keep it going. Ford had the contract to supply cars to the movie company. McQueen didn't want two Fords in the chase. What are the chances that the cop and the bad guys would both be driving Fords?  Since Chrysler wouldn't or couldn't supply them with cars because of Ford's contract-McQueen and Stunt Coordinator Carey Loftin bought the ominous black Charger off the showroom floor of Tanforan Dodge with their own money. The Charger was a 440 / 4-speed; the Mustangs were all 390 / 4-speeds. Ford guys aren't going to like the next few paragraphs, but it's all true verified by interviews with Steve McQueen, Carey Loftin, Bill Hickman, and Max Balchowsky-the stunt crew of the film. When they first started filming-the Charger would leave the Mustang so badly that they couldn't film it. Steve McQueen was furious.  Max Balchowski-Loftin's ace mechanic hopped up the 'Stang. He added headers and shorty glasspack mufflers, and an Edelbrock Intake and a Douple-Pumper Holley carb along with a Mallory distributor. That's why the car sounds so badass when McQueen is winding the gears. The Charger would still beat it in a drag race-but now only by a car length or two; now McQueen could stay close enough to Hickman so they could film it! The other problem they had was bounding over the hills of San Francisco at speeds up to 115 mph. The Charger-with it's Torsion bar front end and leaf-sprung Dana 60 rear end had no problems other than throwing hubcaps off. If you watch the film closely-the Charger loses 8 hubcaps during the chase!  The Mustang on the other hand kept breaking suspension parts and ripping the shock towers out. Ford had supplied 5 Mustangs. Loftin and Balchowski worked every night stealing parts off the other cars to keep the camera car running! That's why only two of the five are known to exist today. Oddly-none of the Mustangs had a limited-slip rear end. That's why McQueen and Loftin-they drove the Mustang- ( Bill Hickman was the Charger driver ) created such one-tire fires when taking off.  Carey Loftin was also the stunt coordinator on the classic "Vanishing Point". The Challengers were stock except for the one that Loftin jumped the creek in. That one he cranked up the torsion bars to maximum height and added Koni shocks. At the end he towed an engineless Camaro with dynamite and an impact-sensitive switch in the engine bay behind the Challenger toward the bulldozers at 80 mph and used a quick-release cable. In the "Seven-Ups" directed by Philip D'Antoni-who worked on "Bullitt"-he apparently didn't care what cars were used-or perhaps didn't have Steve McQueen's power with the film company-there were two Pontiacs in the chase-a black Grand Ville and a silver Ventura. ( Pontiac's version of the Nova ). The chase was supposedly through upstate New York-but there were a lot of similarities to "Bullitt" including the passenger shooting at the pursuing cop with a shotgun. The scene where the Ventura's hood comes off after getting shot took quite a bit of planning. By the '70's all cars had double hood latches. Even if the hood was popped accidentally or not fully closed-the 2nd latch would keep the hood from flying up and blocking the driver's vision. A safety feature all the manufacturers had. The stunt crew cut off the 2nd latch; that way when the hood was popped-it would fly up. However-it would have just been up; the hinges and the bolts holding it to the hinges would have held. The stunt crew set the hood on the hinges with pins not bolts. That way when the hood flew up at 75 mph or however fast they were going-the pins would slip out and the whole hood would fly off.  It looks cool on-screen. The scene where the Ventura runs under the parked semi took a page from Loftin's playbook. In the film it looks like driver Roy Scheider dove onto the floor a second before the car's roof is torn off.  In reality-no one was driving the Ventura. Bill Hickman was towing it beside him using Loftin's quick-release apparatus-that's how they threw the Charger into the gas station in "Bullitt" as well. Hickman hit the release at the last second and the Ventura spectacularly gets be-headed by the rear of a parked semi. In the first "Smokey and the Bandit" big burnouts were easy. With 400 cubes under the hood the T/A's could smoke the tires at will. However-the 2nd movie was made in 1980-and the mighty 400 Pontiacs were retired. The ill-fated Turbocharged 301s couldn't smoke the tires at all on dry pavement. Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham-the director / stunt coordinator thought it would look silly to have to wet the pavement for smoky burnouts, and that the audience would find it cheesy, which it would have been. The solution? They had ten black Turbo T/A's for filming. Two of them were designated "Burnout" cars. These two were fitted with nitrous. When they wanted tire smoke either Burt Reynolds or the stunt driver would powerbrake the motor, hit the nitrous button and release the brake. Instant burnout. The joys of the smog-laden cars of the early '80's. Just 3 years earlier in '77-the driver only had to pop the clutch on a 4-speed models or just punch the automatics!  The Dukes of Hazzard destroyed something like 216 '68-70 Chargers during it's run. A lot of the "jumps" were done with driverless cars because the stunt guys knew that a driver would be gravely injured or killed by the impact. The stunt crew of "Dukes" had a rivalry with the stunt crew of "Knight Rider". A grudge match was set up. The Dukes stunt crew built a "General Lee"-it was code-named "GL26"-it was the 26th one built, with a tricked-out suspension and a NASTY 440. The Knight Rider crew put a NASTY Traco-Built 460 hp 350 Chevy into one of their '83 T/A's in place of the stock 305. '83 T/As had WS6 suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes from the factory-nothing needed there. Since the T/A in the show was named "KITT"-this one was code-named "Superkitt".  Anyhow the race was held at a local L.A. racetrack-it might have been Fontana-I'll have to double-check-and apparently it was too close to call. No one claimed victory; but they had a lot of fun. A funny side effect-for months to come the stunt drivers of both shows complained loudly that all the other cars didn't have near the power and handling capabilities of GL 26 or "Superkitt"!!  The "Fast&Furious" movies use quite a bit of trickery. Hydraulic jacks were used to make the Charger wheelie in the race with the Supra. The stunt crew put 600 lbs of lead in the rear bumper of the Chevelle to make it wheelie. The Grand National had the body mounted backwards on the frame for the scene where Vin Diesel is chasing the semi in "reverse". The BMW in the "Transporter" was a one-off 733i specially built for the movie by BMW. It had a manual transmission-which production models don't have-their all automatics-and it had all the traction controls and electronic nannys disabled so the stunt drivers could do all those smoky burnouts and sliding around. On that subject-this is why so many action flicks use old musclecars in chase scenes. Because modern cars have so many safety features and electronic nannies-if you hit anything at any rate of speed-the fuel pumps shut off, the airbags trigger, etc-which could certainly ruin a chase scene if it happened at the wrong time!  Anyhow-take what you see on the screen with a grain of salt-and like they used to say on stunt shows-"Don't try this at home". Mastermind