Monday, June 5, 2017

Beware of what you want....Because you might get it....

The old proverb in the title really applies to buying and owning a classic musclecar. I talk to so many people who spend major bucks on a classic car and then are disappointed in it's performance and drivability. There are several causes of this, and most can avoided with some forethought. # 1. Realize that anything built before 1960 is going to be primitive and bare bones, and seem slugginsh compared to later cars. For example- you may think a '57 T-Bird is a cool ride,-hey Dan Tanna drove one in "Vegas" and they've been featured in countless other movies and T.V. shows. A '62 T-Bird is light years ahead in performance, comfort and handling. The '62 model will have the torquey 390 V8 that was used in millions of cars and trucks through 1976, which has way more power, and gets better gas mileage than the boat anchor 292 / 312 inch Y-Blocks. They will have power steering and brakes, and better handling and riding suspension and factory A/ C and power windows, etc. In just 5 years of development. This is not an isolated example. I had a friend who bought a '55 Pontiac and hated it. It had no power steering, no power brakes, the 287 inch V8 was underpowered in the heavy car and he said driving it was like driving a big dump truck. He sold it and on my recommendation bought a '63 Gran Prix. He loved it. The interior was luxurious, it handled like a dream, especially on the highway and the 389 V8 would literally spin it's tires as long as he wanted to stay on the throttle. Things improved exponentially through the later '60's. Chrysler found a huge increase in performance and drivability not in the engine but with the transmission when they introduced the Torqueflite automatic in 1962. GM replaced the horrible old "Slim Jim" hydromatics with the excellent TH400 in 1965. By 1965 front disc brakes were optional on some cars, ( Corvettes had 4-wheel discs ) and by 1967 were standard, or at least optional on almost everything. I'm not saying don't buy a '55 Buick Roadmaster or a '57 Chevy or a '50 Merc coupe or whatever your dream car is-I'm just saying-realize that the 60+ year old technology is not going to be up to things just a few years later. The aforementioned '55 Buick doesn't even have a modern, open driveline-it has the old "Torque Tube" and a huge pumpkin at the rear., The Kingpin front suspension rides and handles like an old dump truck-like the old Pontiac owner said.  My buddy's '63 Riviera is an awesome car to this day. Besides the cool, hidden headlight styling, the 401 V8 has way more power than the old 322, the ball-joint / control arm suspension is light-years ahead in ride and handling quality, the power steering and brakes feel like a modern car, and it has factory a/c, power windows, tilt wheel, etc. My buddy says-he likes it because it has Cadillac like luxury and GTO like performance. In just 8 years. If it's a show car- that's only going to be driven on and off the trailer, then do whatever you want. But if you plan to drive the car at all-you may be much happier in a '65 Impala than you will be in a '58!!  # 2. The "Biggest and Baddest" isn't for everyone. I mentioned an older gentleman who had bought a 435 hp, 11:1 compression, solid-lifter, 4-speed, 4.11:1 geared 1969 427 Stingray. And hated it. It pinged even on premium gas,got 5-8 mpg, the clutch was stiff, his wife burned her legs on the sidepipes everytime she got in or out of it, and the motor buzzing at 3,500 rpm on the freeway was annoying. Since it was a premium model he was able to recoup his investment when he sold it, and is much happier in the low-compression, L82 350 / TH350 Silver Anniversary 1978 model that he bought. He and his wife love taking it on weekend trips to Lake Tahoe or the wine country with the t-tops out, or if it's too hot, with the t-tops in and the A/C blasting. The seats are comfortable, the engine idles smoothly on 87 octane pump gas, and the suspension doesn't rattle your fillings loose. It looks cool, and it's fast enough to back up the image-he doesn't have to take crap from little boys in Honda Civics or soccer moms in Hemi Cherokees. He's much happier now. Again-this is not an isolated example. If your a Mopar guy-you may be much happier in a 3.23:1 geared, 440 / Torqueflite GTX with power steering, front disc brakes, bucket seats, and factory A/C than you would be in a stripped-down, manual steering, drum braked, 4-speed Hemi Road Runner with 4.30:1 gears!!  Everyone loves a Boss 302. They are undenaibly badass. But they have very little torque below 3,000 rpm and there's a reason they were only available with a 4-speed and 3.90:1 or 4.30:1 gears!! If your going to drive the car at all-you might be better off with one of the 70,000 other '69 Mach 1s that are 351W powered. It's a much better street engine, with gobs of low-end torque, and will be much more pleasant in city traffic than the 11;1, solid-lifter, fire-breathing "Boss". I mentioned this in another earlier post. Edelbrocks "Performer" Package for Pontiacs made 387 hp and 439 lbs of torque on a 400, and had 15 inches of vacuum at idle. The "Performer RPM" package-( which has a cam that's an exact replica of the factory RAIV ) makes 422 hp and 441 lbs of torque and only has 10 inches of vacuum at idle. That's a gain of 35 hp and only 2 lbs of torque. Your giving up a lot of idle quality and low-end and mid-range torque for top-end rush. There's a reason RAIV's were only available with 3.90:1 or 4.33:1 gears! On street tires, in the real world, all other things being equal-is a car with 422 hp going to be noticably faster than one with 387 hp? Probably not. Like I said, your giving up a lot of good drivability for a little top-end gain. If all your doing is drag-racing it, then 2 or 3 tenths in the 1/4 mile might be worth the compromise to you. But again-if your going to drive the car at all-the one with slightly less power and a much smoother idle and broader torque curve will work better 99% of the time!  If you just "Gotta Have" a Hemi ' Cuda, or an LS6 Chevelle, an L88 'Vette, or a Boss 429, or 427 Fairlane or an RAIV Judge, etc-and can afford it, more power to you. But for 95% of the rest of us-you may be happier with  less than the biggest and baddest model.  Which brings up # 3. Be honest about what you really want. I've said it before, but it's worth re-iterating here. If you live where it gets very hot in the summer-it might behoove you to get a car with factory A / C. If you live in a big city like San Francisco or Los Angeles with a lot of stop-n-go traffic, an automatic transmission might be a better choice than a 4-speed. If you live in the country 30 miles from the nearest town-a car with 3.23:1 gears is going to be a lot more pleasant on the highway than one with 4.10:1s!!  If you follow these simple guidelines, you'll be a lot happier with your investment in the long run. Mastermind           

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