RIP Patricia Fenton Scott...A "Musclecar Mom" if there ever was one...

Sad News on Valentine's Day Feb 14th after a nice dinner with my dad and my sister and I my mother passed away suddenly from a heart attack. She was 75. She always said she went out with my dad the first time simply because he had a cool car. That "Cool" car was a Jet-Black 1959 Pontiac Catalina with the 345 hp Tri-Power ( 3-2bbl ) 389 V8 and a Warner T85 3-speed. They spent many nights drag racing on the great highway by the beach in San Francisco where they lived. I remember that car from when I was a little kid. I also remember her Blue and White '58 Chevy Impala. That one was a 283 / Powerglide. She had chrome reverse wheels with baby moon hubcaps and big whitewalls on it. She loved that car. She was furious when, without discussing it with her, my dad traded it in on a 1965 Pontiac Catalina. As a protest she refused to drive it, commandeering his beloved '64 GTO, which had replaced the '59 Catalina. I have to say mom handled the Rock-Crusher equipped, 4.33:1 geared Goat exceptionally well through the streets of SF, although it used to drive my grandmother bonkers when we'd back out of her driveway on 29th Street ( A VERY STEEP SF Hill ) roll backwards, and then light up the tires all the way up the hill!!  Those 7.75-14 Uniroyal Tiger Paw redlines would smoke forever!  She finally agreed to drive the Catalina and give dad the Goat back, scolding him with "How'd you like it if I traded your GTO without asking you?" Needless to say, Dad bought, sold and traded many cars, trucks and motorcycles in the ensuing years, but HIS, never again Mom's!  My dad's friends were all gearheads so we always had ton's of cool cars around. Paul and JoElla had a '63 Split-Window Corvette Stingray, Jan and Paula had a for-real 289 Shelby Cobra, Sonny had an SS396 Chevelle, and Dave had a 400, 4-speed, '67 Firebird Convertible. Bryan Adam's sang about the "Summer of '69"; I remember it too but not because of teenage romance. I was only 7 or 8. But my mom had a '67 Olds Delta 88 convertible. We always had the top down on that car. She used to take me and my friends to the movies, to the park, roller-skating. Our favorite day trips were to Marin County where my dad owned a Shell Station. There was a Burger / BBQ place next door called "Booby's". Their Burgers were awesome. My dad would let me and my buddies "work" a couple hrs pumping gas and washing windshields, emptying trash cans, etc. Then he'd give us a few bucks and my mom would take us to "Booby's" for lunch. For a little kid that was into cars-could you have a better day than that?  Our house was party central. No matter how many people dropped by on Saturday or Sunday to bench race or watch football mom always managed to feed everybody and make sure every body had a good time. She didn't even really get mad when I set the top of the Olds on fire with a bottle rocket on the 4th of July. My dad was pissed-but my mom was more like-"Isn't that a beautiful fire he started?" My first car was a Ram Air III, 4-speed, 4.33:1 geared '69 GTO Judge. How my dad convinced mom that buying that for a 16 year old was a good idea, I don't know. Needless to say, I lost my driver's liscence in less than a year. I have to say mom was better than F. Lee Bailey at arguing with Juvenile Traffic Judges, and somehow keeping us ( I have a brother and sister as well that drove like they were on the "Dukes of Hazzard" ) liscenced and out of jail most of the time. She loved my brother's GTO, my dad and I's Trans-Ams, and my Hurst / Olds in later years. She always hated my SS396 El Camino however. I don't think she hated the car-more the circumstances in which she drove it. For whatever reason her car was down and she needed to borrow mine. She was in her early '40's then, but still very trim and attractive-she could easily pass for 30. She came home perplexed that all over town guys from 16-60 were waving and honking at her and trying to pull her over, and she didn't know why. She was mortified when, while gasping for breath and rolling on the ground with laughter, my sister pointed out the Bumper Sticker on the Elky which read: "Certified Sex Instructor" "First Lesson Free". She wanted to murder me, but I have to say I honestly forgot I had that on the car when I lent it to her. I was only 21 or 22 at the time-of course I had an obnoxious sticker like that!!  My dad died laughing when he got home. Mom did not find it entertaining. Anyhow she loved her children and later her granchildren, some of whom are gearheads, fiercely. She always made Christmas, Birthdays, 4th of July, Labor Day, tons of fun. She will be sorely missed by everyone who knew and loved her. Especially me. Mastermind    

Other "Rodney Dangerfields" that could be badass sleepers....

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield always joked that he got "No Respect" . In the last post I talked about the GM "X" bodies and what great hot rod potential they have. Well, there's some others out there that are treated like Rodney that could really run with very little work. # 1. 1970-76 Plymouth Duster / Dodge Dart. Obviously the 340 versions are the most sought after, and prices are rising on those. However there's millions of 318 models that can still be bought cheap. In these light cars-maybe 3,000 lbs-a 318 can really rock. They respond well to basic hot rod tricks-4bbl carb and intake, headers and dual exhausts, mild cam. '91 and later "Magnum" heads will bolt up to earlier blocks for an even bigger boost. You'll need a "Magnum" compatible intake, but Edelbrock has you covered. A shift kit in the Torqueflite, and some 3.55:1 or 3.91:1 gears, some sticky tires and traction bars or a pinion snubber and you'll show your taillights to many a shocked big-block musclecar owner. Some of these cars had a 318 backed by a 3-speed manual. Get you a Hurst shifter ( the stock ones are balky even when not driving hard ) and look at it this way-you have a torqueflite with a high-stall converter. You can pop the clutch at 3,500-4,000 rpm for a jack rabbit launch. Or you could swap in a 4 or 5 speed if you wanted to.  # 2. 1971-77 Ford Maverick / Mercury Comet. While a lot of these have six-cylinder motivation, the 302 versions are the ones to have. Weighing in about 2,900 lbs-these make great sleepers. A friend of mine's 440 Road Runner got his doors blown off one night by a hot 302 Maverick. Their short wheel base makes them good drag racers and there's more speed equipment for a small-block Ford than anything but a small-block Chevy. You could go "Pro Street" radiused rear wheelwells, huge meats, a hood scoop hiding dual quads. I'd go the other way-skinny tires, dog-dish hubcaps, the whole granny look to really blow people away when you eat their lunch. # 3. 1975-79  Dodge Aspen / Plymouth Volare. These replaced the Duster / Dart line. Ever-tightening emission standards kept them from having a performance version. Dodge had an R / T model, and Plymouth even shamelessly put the Road Runner name on a Volare which caused Mopar guys to vomit,and howl blasphemy to the heavens. But they are light, ( about 3,200 lbs ) and most have 318s although there are some 360 versions. How badass would one be with a "Magnum" headed, 360 based 408 stroker?  # 4. 1975-78 Ford Mustang II. A lot had 4-banger or V6 motors but the ones to get are the 302 versions. The buff magazines called them "dogs" but that's because they were saddled with 2 bbl carburation, single exhaust, and salt-flats gearing like 2.75:1. With a curb weight of about 2,700 lbs-it would only take a 4bbl carb and intake, some dual exhausts and some 3.50:1 gears change to make one of these really rock. Or going further-a nasty 347 stroker?  # 5. 1975-79 Chevy Monza / Pontiac Sunbird / Olds Starfire.  A lot of these had 231 V6 power, but quite a few had 305 Chevy V8's. Some '75-76 "California" models had 350s!!  ( For some perverse reason, the 305s weren't certified for California emissions. If a customer ordered a V8 in California they got a 350 ). Like the Mustang II 2bbl carburation and axle ratios like 2.29:1 made them slugs. But even a 305  model can really run with 4bbl carb, dual exhausts and some 3.42:1 gears and you'll have a rocker. They weigh less than 3,000 lbs.  These aren't sexy, but they can go real fast for very low bucks. Mastermind    

"X" could be the ultimate sleeper...

Kiss had a hit several years ago titled "Let's Put the "X" in Sex".  I thought of that and thought about an often neglected car that has great potential-The 1968-79 GM "X" body. The '68-74 Chevy Nova already has kind of a "cult" following-you see tons of them in the buff magazines. However almost all of those are done in the '90's "Pro Street" style-i.e.-looking like Pro Stock drag racer-narrowed rear ends with huge tires in the rear, a nasty small or big block Chevy with a blower or tunnel ram protruding through the hood. And that's Ok. My vision is a little different. "X" bodies have great potential for two reasons. # 1. Their engine bays will swallow anything from a Chevy straight six, a Buick V6, a 350 Chevy, Pontiac, Olds or Buick to a 454 Chevy or a 455 Pontiac or Olds or Buick. # 2. The basic platform is the same as a Camaro or Firebird. That means any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Camaro / Firebird will fit these cars. You could build a drag racer that will pull the front wheels on take-off, a corner carver that can run with a Z06 'Vette in the twisties, or anything in-between. The first word of advice I would give any X-Body builder is first off-get the one you want. Chevy Novas are the most popular and will be pricier than the other versions, but compared to a same-year Camaro or Chevelle their still dirt cheap. If you want a Pontiac Ventura, get one. Ditto for an Olds Omega. Not many Buick Apollos around, but there's a few. Secondly try to get one with the engine line you want. Because of GM playing musical engines in the '70's because of smog laws a lot of these are going to have small-block Chevys in them, which is if anything a plus factor. There's more speed equipment for a small block Chevy than anything else on the planet. Even if it has anemic 262 or 305 that's not a deal breaker because a 350 or 383 stroker would be a bolt-in. However-if you "gotta have" a "real" Pontiac engine in your Ventura-their are a lot of them with 350 Pontiacs under the hood. The good thing about this is 350 Pontiacs respond well to basic hot rod tricks-carb and intake, headers and dual exhausts, mild cam, etc. You can make 325-350 hp and 400 lbs ft of torque pretty easy. If you need more than that-a 400 or 455 is a bolt-in swap. Their are Omegas out there with 350 Olds V8s under the bonnet. Of the "other"-i.e.-non-Chevrolet 350s the Olds has the most potential. Edelbrock claims 397 hp and 400 lbs of torque from their "Performer RPM" package on a 350 with stock heads. 400 hp will turn a 3,200 lb "X" body into an absolute rocket. If you want more than that-a 403 would be a bolt-in swap-53 extra cubes will give you a big torque boost. You'd need special pistons-but you can use 455 heads on a 350 / 403 if you want to build a real stomper. Or you could swap in a 455. As for Buicks-if you find one with a 350 Buick they make nice drivers-but their isn't much speed equipment available for 350 Buicks. There is quite a bit for 400-430-455s-Edelbrock makes heads and intakes, Crane, Lunati, etc make cams, Hooker makes headers. If you find a 231 V6 model here's a thought-though it might be a little pricey. Find a wrecked late '90's early 2000's Buick Riviera or Pontiac Bonneville or Grand Am / Gran Prix SSEI with the Supercharged 3.8 V6. They have 240 hp stock, and could easily make 100-150 more by changing pulleys on the blower. Scarcer still and more expensive would be the vaunted Turbo V6 out a wrecked Grand National or Regal T-Type. Dynamite if you could find one. My personal choice would be a '71-74 Ventura.  As for suspension I would use WS6 Trans-Am sway bars and KYB shocks. I'd use an '84-92 WS6 Trans-Am steering box. These have a 12.7:1 ratio which is even quicker than the '70's T/A's 14:1. Some Year One 17X9 "Snowflake" or "Honeycomb" wheels shod with 255/ 50ZR17 tires. I'd use a 400 Pontiac stroked to 467 inches with aluminum Edelbrock heads. Besides the hp boost, the reduced weight on the front end will help handling too. I'd radius and flare the wheel wells to clear the big tires, and put front and rear spoilers on it. I'd cut a hole in the hood and use a Trans-Am "Shaker" scoop-like a '74 GTO. Paint would be either Monochromatic Sinister black, or Diamond White pearl with Diamond Blue pearl stripes like a '70-'72 Trans-Am or maybe a '78-79 "Macho" T/A. Any body else have ideas for a badass "X" body?  Mastermind    

"Brand Loyalty" and hating the others is just counter-productive....

I get so tired of seeing jacked-up Dodge Ram pickups with a sticker of "Calvin" ( of the comic strip "Calvin&Hobbes ) pissing on a Chevy Bow-Tie or Ford emblem. I'm really tired of 50 year old men acting like their 12 at car shows. "Chevys suck!" "Mopars Rule" "Fords Suck" etc, etc. Get over yourselves guys. Like it or not the Small-block Chevy is THE engine of the 20th century and is still relevant today. You can buy mega-hp crate engines for very reasonable prices. Introduced in 1955 It quickly eclipsed the flathead Ford that had ruled the 40's and 50's as "The" hot rod engine. Vic Edelbrock Sr. got started in 1938 by making hot rod parts for Flathead Fords. However, if that's all he ever did he'd have eventually went out of business and the company wouldn't be the Juggernaut it is today. Vic Sr and Vic Jr, visionaries that they were,introduced new products and changed with the times. Now 75 years later they are a power in the automotive aftermarket industry. However if when Bob Joehnk approached Vic Jr about making a high-performance manifold for the Small-block Chevy-instead of doing it and marketing it-if he had sneered "My dad built this business on Flathead Ford parts, that's our specialty." "And I hate those goddamn Chevys". His business would have went down the tubes. Get an increasing share of a shrinking market. Sure-fire way to bankruptcy. Thank god he was smarter than that. Years ago I worked in an Import Performance Specialty store. We sold high-performance parts for VW's, Porsches, MGs, Triumphs, Jaguars, and Datsuns amd Toyotas. Headers, cams, Weber Carbs, stroker kits, cylinder had we had it all. I loved the job and I enjoyed talking to our customers and helping them build their cars. I had one guy that ran a "Mini-Stock" a Toyota Corolla in dirt track races. It had a 2TC overhead cam 1600cc engine. It had a Weber carb and a header and a hot cam in it. For a little car it was really fast. And he won a lot of races with it. Another guy did road races with a Datsun 510.  Other guys hot rodded VW's-one guy had a wicked Karmann Ghia that suprprised many musclecar owners. Then there was the British enthusiasts with the Triumph Spitfires and TR6's, MGBs and Midgets. And these guys hated each other. The brits would walk barefoot over hot coals rather than drive a "rice rocket". The Japanese enthusiasts would deride the VW owners, the Porsche owners would deride them all. It was hilarious. Sometimes we'd damn near have fistfights in the lobby as these guys hurled insults at what a piece of shit the other guy's car was. In reality they were all nice cars that people had put a lot of time and money into. They should have got together and formed a big racing club and let people see who was better on the track. Instead there was the British clubs, the German clubs, the asian clubs. And they'd never co-operate, even if someone did suggest a big "Show-n-Shine" or "Track day".  Sad. However-musclecar guys act the same way. Although I've owned just about everything-I even briefly had a 302 Maverick "Grabber"-I'm a Pontiac Guy. I can't remember the number of times I've left a speed shop and been walking to my GTO or T/A or Ventura or Gran Prix, or whatever Pontiac I owned at the time and some asshole has to yell at me "Get a ( fill in the make-"Mopar, Chevy, Ford, Olds, AMC" ) . To which my response is always "Why would I want to Downgrade and drive a piece of shit like that?"  That usually shuts them right up. I must admit-that if this provokes further belligerence, I'm happy to go there too. I fought Golden Gloves in college and even turned pro for a while. Call me immature, but if some 40 year old adolescent wants his ass kicked because he said my car sucked and I said his sucked worse then I'll be happy to oblige. And that's a sad state of affairs. We all ought to appreciate a nice car regardless of make or model. So next time you see a hated Ford or Chevy or whatever that's done really nice, grit your teeth and politely say "Nice Car." If we all do that maybe the world will be a little nicer place.  Mastermind    

Consider all the facts before you deem something "GOAT" ..

I get really tired of sportswriters and car writers over-using the acronym "GOAT"- Greatest of all time."  There are very few people or things-( cars, motorcycles, etc)  that can be truly labeled the greatest in their own time, but all time?  No. The loudest coming from New England Patriots fans. On one hand I agree-Bill Bellicheck has done a spectacular job in his tenure there. Six Super bowl wins and ten appearances in 19 years-that's awesome. And he's done it with a revolving door of players in the free agent era. And certainly Tom Brady deserves a ton of credit. However-think of this-when Peyton Manning was in his prime with the Colts-and got hurt-the Colts went 4-12 that year. The year Brady blew his knee out-the Patriots went 11-5. That's coaching. However-People forget that Tom Landry took the Cowboys to the playoffs 16 out of 17 years from 1966-83, and played in 10 NFC Championship Games, and 5 super bowls, with two wins. Vince Lombardi's Packers won 5 NFL championships in 8 years, including the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi's Packers also won the 1965 NFL Championship-making them the only team to ever "Threepeat". Win-3 consecutive championships. Should Lombardi's accomplishment be discounted-simply because the game wasn't always called "Super Bowl?" Chuck Noll won 4 Super Bowls in 6 years with the Steelers and took them to the playoffs almost every year from 1972-1989. Don Shula won NFL Championships with the Colts,then took the Dolphins-and expansion team-and had them in the Super Bowl in just 3 years. They went 3 years in a row-"71,72, and '73-winning the last two. You think Bellicheck is good for going 11-5 without Brady?  In 1972-the unequaled, unbeaten season-The Dolphins star QB-Bob Griese broke his leg in the first game of the regular season. So the Dolphins went 17-0 with their backup QB-Earl Morrall. The Dolphins went to a couple more Super Bowls in the '80's losing to the Redskins and 49ers, and made the playoffs almost every year until Shula's retirement in 1995. As for Brady-yes he definitely is the best in the modern era. But if you look at the QB nowadays you get a 15 yard roughing the passer penalty. I'd like to see Brady take some of the hits that Terry Bradshaw took-Super Bowl 10-the winning TD pass to Swann?  The Hate Crime with Jerry Shirk that still makes people cringe today?? Or the hits that Roger Staubach, Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, Len Dawson and Jim Plunkett took on a daily basis with no flags thrown. Ditto for Randy Moss and Chad Johnson and Jerry Rice and all these Diva Recievers. I'd like to see what these candy-asses could do when you could hit them all the way down the field, not just the first five yards!  And conversely-How awesome would Lance Alworth, Bob Hayes,Paul Warfield, Drew Pearson and Lynn Swann have been if you couldn't touch them without a flag after 5 yards?  Now Patriot fans are going to sneer "6 Super Rings" No Debate."  If Super Bowl rings are the only measurement were using then yes there's no argument. But what about level of competition? Who they beat in the playoffs to get there? And who they beat once there? Let's compare the '70's Steelers to the modern Pats.  Are you going to say with a straight face, that this years Chargers were better than the 1978 Houston Oilers that had an awesome defense that rivaled Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain, the leading rusher and arguably one of the greatest running backs ever-Earl Campbell, and Dan Pastorini at QB and Mike Renfro and Kenny Burroghs as recievers?  Can you say that with a straight face?  Your going to say that this years Chiefs are better than the 1974 Oakland Raiders that had Ken Stabler, Cliff Branch, Fred Biletikoff, Mike Siani, Clarence Davis, Gene Upshaw and Art Shell, and a stingy defense that had killers like Jack Tatum and Willie Brown and Phil Villipiano?  The team that ruined the Dolphins run to four straight Super Bowl appearances in the "Sea of hands" divisional game?  Are you going to say that last year's Eagles were better than the 1978 Cowboys that had Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Tony Hill,Preston Pearson, and the "Doomsday Defense?"  This year's game with the Rams was a defensive struggle? How about Super Bowl IX?  It was 2-0 at halftime. The Steelers eventually won 16-6, beating a tough Vikings team that had Carl Eller, Jim Marshall and Alan Page on the defensive line, Fran Tarkenton at QB, Chuck Foreman and Ed Marinaro for running backs and John Gilliam at Reciver. You think this year's Ram's were tougher than the 1974 Vikings? The '74 Vikings didn't have losing games that went 54-51 or 43-40!!  The same for Boxers. Yes Floyd Mayweather is great. But could he have beaten Sugar Ray Leonard in his prime? Or Roberto Duran, or Thomas Hearns, or Alexis Arguello, or Aaron Pryor or Hector "Macho" Camacho?  On any given sunday-maybe one of them. But two or more?  Uh-Uh. Tyson Fury, the Klitschko brothers, even Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, non of the modern heavyweights would have even been contenders if they fought in the same era as Ali, George Foreman ( Foreman gave Holyfield hell and damn near took his title at age 42; at 27 he'd have destroyed him like he did everyone else ) Ken Norton, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers, Larry Holmes, Ron Lyle, Floyd Patterson, Oscar Bonavena, Bob Foster. And just like the rules changed in football-they didn't stop fights back then like they do now. You hung in there till you were down or your trainer threw in the towel. Travis Pastrano is going to break Evel Knieval's records? I'd like to see him do it on heavy Harley XR-750 instead of his 250 lb Motorcross bike!!  What does all this have to do with Musclecars?  I was talking to a guy the other day and I said if I ever built another project it was going to be a corner-carving '70's T/A with a snarling, aluminum headed 434 inch Pontiac and a Tremec 5-speed. He asked why I wanted such an "Antiquated" car. I explained that I had owned them before, and added that Car&Driver's road test of a new Camaro SS and a new SRT8 Challenger said the Challenger pulled .85g on the skidpad, and the Camaro .88. I pointed out that C/D's 1979 Trans-Am test car pulled .82g on 225/70R15 Goodyear Polysteel Radials. If the old T/A had been shod with the modern cars 245/45ZR17, and 275/40ZR17 rubber, it would have easily surpassed those numbers. Doesn't take a mathmetician to figure that out. Ditto for drag tests. I'd like to see what a for-real '60's L88 427 Corvette would do in the 1/4 with the 335/35ZR20 tires that a modern Z06 has!!  Lets' run an LS6 Chevelle on something fatter and stickier than F70-14 Coker tire Wide Oval repros shall we?  Or a Hemi 'Cuda on something other than repro Polyglas GTs!!  Anyhow I just had to vent that-sick of hearing the "Greatest Ever" label put on some person or thing that is really just "cool now" not the "greatest ever".