Comparing cars is never exactly "Apples to Apples"....

Had an AMC fan who was offended by my calling the Javelin / AMX "The welterweight champ." He said I wasn't comparing Apples to apples. Well, now were splitting hairs. What I said was-the TOP engine available in a Javelin in 1969 was a 390 V8 rated at 315 hp, while the BASE engine in a Road Runner was a 383 rated at 335, and the BASE engine in an SS396 Chevelle was rated at 325 hp with a 375 hp option. I also stated that the BASE engine in a GTO was a 400 rated at 350 hp with the under-rated RAIII and RAIV models rated at 366 hp and 370 hp respectively, and that the Charger and the Road Runner had the 440 4bbl, the 440 Six-Pack and Hemi optional.  I also stated that when AMC increased displacement to 401 cubes in 1971, GM had lifted the ban on engines over 400 cubes in the intermediates, so now you could get a 454 in a Chevelle or a 455 in a GTO or 442.  Now, technically comparing a car with 401 cubes to a car with 455 is a little unfair, all other things being equal. But those were the top engine options for each model.  In the late '70s you could could get a 400 Pontiac in a Trans-Am, while the Z/28 Camaro and Corvette's only engine was a 350. Should magazine writers have only tested the Z/28 and the 'Vette against a base model Firebird with a 350?  In the '80s the only engine in the Mustang GT was a 302 V8, while you could get a 350 in a Z/28 Camaro or Firebird Formula or Trans-Am. Should Car and Driver and Hot Rod, etc only tested the Mustang against the 305 Camaros and Firebirds?  This crap still goes on to this day. Car and Driver was accused of being "Pro-GM" because they tested a Camaro SS against a Mustang GT and a Challenger R/T. The 426 hp Camaro beat the 375 hp Challenger and 412 hp Mustang in a drag race.   The Mopar and Ford guys griped that they should have used an SRT8 Challenger and a Shelby GT500. When C / D responded by saying they were trying to be fair in testing the mid-level models, and that if they used a 470 hp SRT8 Challenger and a 540 hp Shelby Mustang, then they would have had to use a 580 hp ZL1 Camaro, and the results might have been the same, the Mopar and Ford guys still cried foul. Car and Driver's position, and mine is-they were comparing the mid-level and top of the line of each model. If one had a bigger engine or a better suspension-( The Mustang smoked the Camaro and the Challenger on the skidpad and around Willow Springs raceway ) then that's the breaks.  I mean why don't we compare a BMW M3 to a Chrysler Town and Country van and a Toyota Tacoma pickup? I mean all 3 of them have 4.0 liter engines right?  Let's compare a 1987 Buick Grand National to a 1987 Olds Cutlass Ciera. They both have fuel-injected 231 inch V6's right?  I have nothing against AMC's, but the bottom line is in the late '60's and early '70s, GM, Ford and Chrysler offered more powerful engines as standard and optional equipment. Spare me your 11 second time slips from your AMC cars-my much modified, 4.33 geared Judge sucked up and spit out it's share of LS6 Chevelles, 429 SCJ Torinos and Hemi Chargers.  That doesn't mean a stock one would do the same. I know guys with 9 second 5.0 Mustangs. But stock-they ran high 14s and low 15s. And bone-stock is what we were talking about. I stand ready to apoligize if anyone has a problem with comparing the top dog of one car line to the top dog of the other.  Mastermind  

"Run what you brung" is good advice.....

So often in enthusiast magazines and I'm even guilty of it occasionally-automotive writers casually say how "easy" it is to swap engines or transmissions or suspension parts. It might be easy for an ASE certified mechanic, or less difficult than doing the same job on a different make or model, but we forget that a lot of our readers aren't mechanics and replacing an engine or tranny, especially in your driveway with hand tools instead of a shop with air tools-can be a major pain in the ass.  Because of this, for some people it might be better for them to just use the engine or transmission that's already in the car. And if your buying a less than premium model-i.e.-a small-block Chevelle or a non Trans-Am Firebird for example- you may save thousands on the purchase price which will leave you money to do what you want with it.  Here's some engines that can be VERY strong on the street with minor work. # 1. Small-Block Chevy. Duh-there is probably more speed equipment for this engine series than anything else on the planet. Your need for speed is only limited by your wallet here.  # 2. 350 Pontiac. Everyone wants a 400 or 455, so you can get a 350 Firebird or LeMans a lot cheaper than one with the larger engines. Since their a small-bore / long stroke design they are not high revvers but they have a ton of torque. And they respond well to traditional hop-up mods-intake, exhaust, cam etc. Your car can go plenty fast with a 350 Poncho-fast enough that you might forget about swapping in that 400 or 455.  # 3. 350 Oldsmobile. There's a lot more '60's and '70's Cutlasses out there with 350s in them than there are 455s.  Of the "other"( i.e.-non-Chevrolet ) 350s these have the most potential. They are an oversquare ( big-bore / small stroke ) design and there was a factory high-performance version. They respond well to intake, exhaust and cam mods. You can use factory or aftermarket 455 heads on a 350, but you'd need special pistons to get any kind of compression, and the only intake you could use would be a Mondello-ported Performer RPM. Or you can get a diesel block and a custom 425 crank and have 440 inches. However, in both of those scenarios-if you have that much money and need to go that fast, why aren't you building a 455 instead of a 350?  # 4. 318 Chrysler. There's a lot more Challengers, Barracudas, Chargers and Satellites out there with 318s inder the hood than ther are anything else. Although a lot of them get bought up and have big-blocks or Hemis swapped into them, you can still buy them fairly cheap. If you have a Duster or Dart you could build a real fast sleeper with a 318. The other models are just too heavy. Don't get me wrong, a 318 Charger can be a nice driver, but you won't be throwing fear into the hearts of any big-block Chevelle owners. I know what your thinking-a 360 will bolt right in and they can be stroked to 410 inches. True-but if your going to go to the trouble of changing the engine-then I'd swap in a big-block.  # 5. 351C Ford. There's a lot more Mustangs,Torinos, and Cougars with 351s than there are with 429s. On the upside-the 2 bbl heads are better for street use anyway, and there's a ton of speed equipment available for these engines. And their incredibly tough- "Dyno" Don Nicholson and Bob Glidden ran in the 9's with their Pro Stock Mavericks and Pintos in the '70s and they used a stock crank.  # 6. 403 Oldsmobile. I mention this one because there's a lot of '77-79 Firebirds and Trans-Ams out there with this engine. I had one, and with only intake, exhaust and an axle-ratio change ( most of these had 2.56:1 gears, I'd go with 3.23:1 or 3.42:1 ) they can really rock and give those smug 400 Pontiac owners a run for the money they'll never forget. Anything that fits a 350 Olds will fit these engines, and hopping them up is a lot easier than changing it to "Real" Pontiac power.  So don't despair if your car doesn't have the biggest,baddest powerplant available in that model. You can still go fast and have fun. Mastermind       

Building a real or clone musclecar to drive or race on a budget....

Since we've recently discussed cloning your dream car and possibly racing it at the Pure Stock drags, a fair number of people have asked for advice on how to do this without spending a mint. Here's some good advice on how to do that, regardless of make or model that your building . # 1. Don't spend money on beefy, premium parts that you don't need. In other words, if your building a NASCAR Nextel Cup engine that has to turn 7,800 rpm for 500 miles at Daytona, then yes, you need 4-bolt mains, a steel crank, forged pistons, screw-in studs in the heads,a double roller timing chain, a rocker arm stud girdle, etc.  However, if your building a street / strip engine that will never see the high side of 6,000 rpm, then you can get years of trouble-free service from two-bolt main blocks, cast cranks, cast pistons, and stock heads. This applies to drivetrain components as well. Yes, if your putting a 720 hp 572 inch Rat in your Chevelle, and plan on using an automatic transmission then yes, you definitely need a professionally prepped Turbo 400. However, for anything else GM makes- a Turbo 350 will stand up to 500 hp easily. Ditto for a Ford C4. Even if your running later-model stuff- Buick Grand National racers run in the 10s with 200R4 trannys, and 5.0 Mustang racers run in the 11s with T5 manuals that are only supposed to handle 300 lbs ft of torque!  The same goes for rear ends-I've touched on this before-GM 10 bolts, Ford 8 inch and Chrysler 8.75 inch rears are incredibly tough. Unless you have a 600 hp engine and plan on running wrinklewall slicks bolted to the rims and dropping the clutch at 5,000 rpm, you don't really need a GM 12 bolt, or a Ford 9 inch, or a Dana 60 rear end.  # 2. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If your engine has good oil pressure, good compression, doesn't smoke, doesn't use oil, and runs fine, then why would you need to re-build it?  Go ahead and add an aftermarket carb and intake or headers and a cam. You'll get the benefit of the added power without the expense of a complete overhaul. If your cardiologist said your heart and arteries were in good shape, would you have open-heart surgery or a by-pass anyway?  Of course not!  # 3. Get the most bang for your bucks. For example if you have a '77 Trans-Am with a 400 Pontiac or a 403 Olds V8, a Turbo 350 and 2.56:1 rear end gears, the first thing I'd do is swap that salt-flats gearing for some 3.23:1 or 3.42:1 gears, and put a B&M or TransGo shift kit in the trans. These mods will drop as much as a full second off your 0-60 and 1/4 mile time without noticeably affecting driveability or gas mileage. That's a much bigger performance gain than you'd get by adding a cam or a Flowmaster exhaust. Carefully weigh cost vs benefit. For example-a magazine ran an article on a 400 Pontiac build a few months back. They were proud of the fact that it made 440 hp and 460 lbs ft of torque, and cost "Only" $4,400 to build, including the Edelbrock aluminum heads. The iron-head 400 in my brother's GTO cost $1,900 to build and it made 381 hp and 428 lbs ft of torque on our local dyno. Is 59 hp and 32 lbs of torque worth $2,500 MORE bucks?  See what I'm saying?  # 4. Always use the biggest motor you can afford. Often the bigger engine costs no more to buy or build, yet makes substantially more power and torque with the same equipment.  For example a 350 Chevy makes way more power than a 305. A 360 Mopar makes way more power than a 318. A 400 Pontiac makes substantially more power than a 350.  On the other hand, I said biggest motor you can AFFORD.  Don't pull a perfectly good 383 out of your Road Runner and then spend another 4 grand that you don't really have buying and re-building a junk 440. The horsepower difference between a 396 Chevy and a 454 is about 40 hp, if both engines have the same equipment. And, if you do have to rebuild your engine-here's where you may be able to go bigger ( via a stroker crank kit ) at no additional cost. For example-a small-block Chevy 383 stroker rotation assembly doesn't cost any more than a standard 350 setup, yet the extra cubes will make a big difference in power. Ditto for making a 302 Ford into a 347, or a 400 Pontiac into a 455 or a 360 Mopar into a 410. # 5. Unless you absolutely have to have a certain bodystyle, ( or already own it ) always build the lightest car that you can. For example, a Nova weighs about 600 lbs less than a Chevelle. A Duster / Dart weighs about 800 lbs less than a Charger / Road Runner.  Hope this helps out. Mastermind                   

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        

Special Editions that aren't really special.......

Had some people ask for more one or two year wonders that they might find at a reasonable price. I came up with a few-their not particularly rare or valuable, they just have cool options, or are just plain weird. But if you buy them right they can be a lot of fun. Here's some in no particular order of importance. # 1. 1965-67 Corvette with automatic transmission. I have no idea why Chevrolet did this-especially with the big-blocks, but you could buy a Corvette with a 327, 396, or even a 427 with a two-speed Powerglide automatic. I don't need to tell you that their performance was considerably less than the four-speed models. I find it strange because the excellent three-speed TH400 was introduced in 1965-and if you bought an Impala with a Rat motor-you got a TH400. From 1968 on in the 'Vette-you got a TH400 even with the base 300 hp 327 or 350 engines if you wanted an automatic. This went on until '71 or '72 when power ratings dropped and the small-blocks got TH350s, and the TH400 was reserved for 454 models. These Powerglide equipped '65-67 models fall into the category of  NOT rare or collectible, just weird. They aren't worth anything-( other than the fact that it is a '65-67 Stingray ) so don't pay a premium price for one. Vette collectors snub these cars like the plague so you might actually find a deal on one. On the upside, a TH350 will literally bolt right in-they even use the same rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke. You can even use the stock shifter and linkage-you just won't be able to manually engage low gear. With a proper shift kit from TransGo or B&M, this is a non-issue. This would give the car an incredible boost in performance over the "Powerslide" with no other changes. TH350's are incredibly tough; even in bone-stock trim they can stand up to a 400 hp engine. With very little work they can stand up to 500 or more hp easily.  # 2 1967-68 Olds 442 and Pontiac GTO "Turnpike" editions. For some reason, even though gas was like 29 cents a gallon and the musclecar movement in full swing-( Chrysler introduced the wildly successfull Road Runner and Super Bee models, Ford put 390s in Mustangs and Carroll Shelby and Bob Tasca put 428s in them ) some genius in GM marketing thought it would be a good idea to replace the GTO and 442's standard high-compression 350 hp 400 4bbl V8 engines and Muncie 3 and 4-speed manual trannys, and 3.36:1 or 3.55:1 gears with a low-compression, 2bbl 400 V8 with 265 hp,a TH400 automatic, and 2.93:1 gears. It flopped because no one wanted an emasculated GTO or 442, that looked badass but couldn't back up the image on the street, and no one else really cared about a GM "A" body coupe that got 16 mpg instead of 12, and cost way more than a base-model Malibu, Tempest or Cutlass. If you find one cheap they can be good investments-it doesn't take much to swap rear-end gears, or install a factory or aftermarket 4bbl carb and intake for a massive power gain. However they aren't worth squat-other than the fact that you may have a rust-free GTO or 442 body. # 3. 1977-79 Pontiac Trans-Am  Gold SE or Black and Gold SE. These are just a garden-variety T/A with pinstriping and maybe T-tops. After "Smokey and the Bandit" came out Pontiac sold almost 70,000 T/A's in 1977 alone. 15,000 of those were black and gold SE's just like the movie. Because of that raging success they came up with the Gold SE. But they are nothing special. # 4. 1978 Silver Anniversary Corvette. All 50,000+ 'Vettes built that year had Silver annivesary emblems on them. Some also had a nice Silver / Charcoal Grey two-tone paint job and a silver leather interior-but they are just a garden-variety 'Vette, nothing special. The same goes for....#5. 1978 Indy Pace Car Corvette. These were supposed to be limited editions, but Chevrolet decided to build at least one for every dealer; since their were over 7,700 dealers across the country back then- even though not every dealer got one, today they aren't that rare. Besides the pace car paint and decal package the only special feature is the seats which are the upgraded 1979-82 style. I have seen these for sale for as low as $5999 so don't overpay for one ( unless it's an L82 / 4-speed model; most are L48 / automatics ). # 6. 1975-76 "Starsky and Hutch" Gran Torino. Because of the popularity of the TV show, Ford decided to cash in. However there's nothing special about the cars; their a garden-variety 2 -door Torino with the red and white stripe paint job and 70's style slot mag wheels. Most have bench seats and a 351M with a 2bbl, backed by an automatic. It's not like they were all 460 / 4-speeds or anything. If you want one- I'd just buy a plain Torino and paint it that way and put those wheels on it for probably a lot less than people will ask for these "Special Editions".  Hope this saves people some money. Mastermind            

Still More one or two year wonders.....

Here's some more cool cars that were only made for one or two years and might still be reasonably priced-not in the stratosphere like a 1971 Boss 351 Mustang or a 1987 Buick Grand National GNX.  # 1. 1970 Olds Rallye 350 Cutlass. These cars had a super loud Sebring Yellow paint job, a "Judge" type spoiler, and had a 310 hp 350 V8 with either a Muncie 4-speed or a TH350. 3,527 were built so you see one for sale once in a while. Rumor has it that 10 or 12 were built with the vaunted "W31" Hi-Performance 350 that was grossly under-rated at 325 hp, but I have never seen one or the build sheet for one, and no Olds engineer or car magazine has ever verified one.  # 2. 1970-71 Tempest T-37 / 1972 LeMans GT. "The poor man's GTO."  These had a 350 V8 and a three speed stick as standard equipment, but you could get a 400 or a 455 with either a 4-speed or a TH400 as well. For some reason the "T37" moniker was dropped and the "LeMans GT" name adopted in 1972, but the package was basically the same.  # 3. 1967-68 Ford Mustang "California Special". These coupes had Shelby-style taillights  and scoops and spoilers. A lot were 289 powered, but some had 390s. Quite a few were built, so you can probably find one. And their way less expensive than a "Real" Shelby.  #4 1969-70 Shelby GT350 Mustang. These have the 290 hp 351W Mach 1 base engine with either a 4-speed or an FMX automatic, and I think the best-looking of all the Shelby bodys. I have seen nice examples at auctions for around 35-45K. That's not chump change, but try to touch any other Shelby for under 100K.  # 5. 1971 Dodge Super Bee. For this one year only, the Super Bee package was based on the Charger instead of the Coronet. Hemi versions are in the stratosphere as always-but 383 versions are quite reasonable. Over 6,000 were built so you can probably find one.  Mastermind  

Some one or two year wonders that you might consider....

There are some cars that for whatever reason-poor sales, bodystyle changes, marketing decisions-only last a year ot two. Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with them, they just don't catch on. Some are actually pretty cool and can be great performance / cruiser / daily driver bargains.  Here's a few that I like.  # 1. 1971-73 Buick Riviera. The famous "Boat-Tail" design. 455 cubes standard all years. GTO-like performance, Cadillac like luxury.  # 2. 1973-75 Pontiac Grand Am. Marketed to have the performamce of a Trans Am and the luxury of a Gran Prix. Except performance buyers bought T/A's and luxury buyers bought Gran Prix's. If you can find one, their a great ride based on the LeMans "A" body chassis-400 power standard all years with the 455 optional. Front disc brakes, and wrist-thick front and rear stabilizer bars also standard. Their rare-but you could even get the 400 with a 4-speed. However-for some reason they only sold 4806 GTO's in 1973, but they sold 34,000 Grand Ams-so their more plentiful than you think. # 3. 1977 Pontiac Can-Am. Trying to cash in on the Trans-Am's immense popularity-the engineers came up with this Apperance / Performance package for the LeMans. Appearance items included Rally II wheels, a ducktail type rear spoiler, a T/A style "Shaker" hood scoop, and "Judge" style striping. They were actually a cool-looking car. Performance items included a 400 Pontiac or 403 Olds V8 ( for California or High-Altitude emissions ) a Turbo 400 with a shift kit, Radial Tuned Suspension, and a 3.23:1 posi rear end. The package only lasted one season mainly because the "A" bodies- ( LeMans, Monte Carlo, Cutlass etc. ) were downsized for 1978. Dynamite if you can find one at a reasonable price.  #4 1977-78 AMC AMX. The Javelin had been defunct since 1974, but the AMX nameplate was resurrected on the Hornet platform. Say What?  They actually put a great handling suspension on it, and a cool appearance package-i.e. blacked-out grille, spoilers, striping, and chrome wheels. The down side is the top engine was a 304 V8 with a 2 bbl that wheezed out about 120 hp. I mention this car because of the hot rod potential. Like Pontiacs-all AMC V8's are externally identical. This means that a 360 or 401 is a bolt-in swap. With a curb weight about 2,900 lbs, this would be a dynamite sleeper. # 5. 1978-79 Dodge Li'l Red Express truck. Except for the Pontiac Trans-Am and the Chevrolet Corvette, this short-box, tricked-out half-ton 2wd pickup with a hotted-up 360 V8 was the fastest American car in 1978. They have kind of a "Cult" following but their cool if you can find one at a decent price. # 6. 1984-86 Ford Mustang SVO. These cars had Recaro seats, Koni Shocks, and 16" performance tires and wheels as well as a Turbocharged 4 cylinder engine that put out between 175 and 205 hp depending on the year. They didn't sell well because the "5.0" V8 models were both faster and several thousand dollars cheaper. However if you can find a used one in good shape, they can be great fun. The 2.3 liter Ford four is practically bulletproof, so you could turn the boost way up and /or add nitrous and have some serious fun tormenting "real" musclecar owners and Porschephiles. Just a few cool sleepers to consider. Mastermind            

More cars that never were....That you can build!!

There's a lot of cars that would have been cool if the manufacturers had continued to make them. However-you can build them on your own with the help of the aftermarket.  Here's some of my personal favorites. # 1. 1971-73 "Boss 302" Mustang. 351 Cleveland powered Mach 1s of this vintage bring a king's ransom, but 302 powered coupe and fastback models can be bought relatively cheap. Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer aluminum "Cleveland" style heads that will bolt up to a 302 block, and Edelbrock makes a Performer RPM intake manifold that's compatible with the Cleveland heads and shorter ( than a 351C ) deck height of a 302. With the right cam, headers, and gears, ( I'd go with 3.90:1 or 4.11:1 ) one of these "Mock Boss" engines could really rock. Back it with a C4 and a 3 grand converter or a T5 out of a later "5.0" and I think you'd have a dynamite performance car. Some Boss 302 style graphics would look badass too.  # 2. 1974-77 Pontiac LeMans GTO. We all know the last "A" body GTO was built in 1973, and the GTO ended it's legendary career on the X-body Ventura ( read Nova ) platform in 1974. But what if, instead of making the Trans-Am the flagship, Pontiac continued building the Goat on the "A" body LeMans  platform?  Well, you can build one! All you have to do is find a 2 door LeMans, LeMans Sport, or Luxury LeMans model. The 400 was plentiful in most models through 1977, and the 455 was optional until 1976. These cars have the excellent "Radial Tuned Suspension" from the factory, and any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Chevelle or Monte Carlo will fit these cars. They also have big fenderwells that will clear huge tires-you can run 275/60R15 tires on 8-inch wheels all the way around without modifying the body or the suspension. Like the T/A's of this vintage, all you'd need to do to get some real musclecar performance out of one of these cars is change the salt-flats 2.56:1 gearing for something in the 3.23-3.73:1 range, add an Edelbrock Performer intake ( the stockers from 1975-79 have a restrictive throttle opening that really limits power above 4,000 rpm ) a B&M or TransGo shift kit ( if you have an automatic ) and a decent dual exhaust system. Or you could build a stompin' 455-Edelbrock and Kauffman offer aluminum D-port and RAIV style heads, and Eagle makes a stroker rotating assembly to turn a 400 into a 455. Black out the grill and some of the chrome, add some "Judge" or "Macho T/A" type graphics and some "GTO" emblems, and you'd have a unique, head-turning ride with the power to back up the attitude, at a price far less than you can buy an earlier GTO or even a decent '70's Firebird for. # 3. 1976-77 Olds Cutlass "Hurst Olds". You can buy 73-74 "H/O" graphics ( the bodystyle is the same ) from Phoenix Graphics. Like the Pontiacs-an axle ratio change will work wonders-these cars have 2.41:1 or 2.56:1 gears stock, you need something in the 3.23:1 to 3.73:1 range-this will give you a good compromise between jackrabbit starts and decent freeway cruising rpm. There is a ton of speed equipment available for the 350 / 403 Olds engine, or you could get a 350 Diesel block and bore and stroke it to 440 inches, ( Mondello Performance sells a kit ) or you could just drop in a 455.  Any brake or suspension upgrades that fit a Chevelle or Monte Carlo wiil fit these cars.  # 4. 1978-83 Buick "Grand National". We all know the GN was only built from '84-87, and that only the fuel-injected, intercooled '85-87 models are worth having. ( The carburated 1984 models had way less power, and more reliability problems. ) I'm not suggesting that you try to Turbocharge a V6 base model-that would cost a mint.  No,-the way to go is to find a 1978-83 Regal with either a 301 Pontiac or 307 Olds V8-a lot of them were built with these engines. Don't start-I know these engines were lightweight "economy" motors that wheezed out maybe 150 hp. But, and it's a HUGE but-a 400 or 455 Pontiac will bolt right in place of the 301-the motor mounts are in the same location. Ditto for the 307- a 350 or 403 Olds will drop right in for an instant power and torque infusion. A monochromatic paint job, some fat wheels and tires, ( and again- an axle-ratio change ) and you could give those smug "real" GN owners a run for the money they'd not soon forget for very low bucks. # 5. 1978-83 Malibu SS. These "G" bodys are still relatively cheap. The real bargains are the '78-80 models that had 350s in them from the factory. The '81 and later models had 305s, but that's okay-you'll probably swap in a snarling 350 or 383 anyway. "Honest Charley" and a couple other places sell the Aero "Monte Carlo SS" front clip that will bolt right onto these cars and give them a badass look. I like this treatment way better on the semi-fastback, smooth-sided Malibu over the formal roofline and scallopped sides of the Monte. Being 600 lbs lighter than the 73-77 models they replaced, one of these could be an awesome sleeper with the right equipment.  Any one of these cars would make a unique, fast, cool project that you don't see every day. Mastermind      

Playing with junk.....And building cars that never were....

I have a buddy that owns a junkyard and we were talking about building some "cars that never were" out of clunkers.  The first ones that come to mind are GM musclecar wagons. The easiest of course are the Pontiac LeMans and Olds Cutlass wagons built from 1968-72. Back in the days before SUVs were rampant a lot of people that towed trailers used wagons. Thus, while the two-door coupes were mostly 350 models with drum brakes, a lot of LeMans and Cutlass wagons had 400 or 455 cubes under the hood, TH400s, and front disc brakes as standard equipment. It wouldn't take much trim from Year One to make a "GTO", "Judge"  or "442" or "Hurst / Olds" wagon.  You could also build an SS396 or SS454 Chevy wagon, but these may cost more-for some reason-unlike their Pontiac and Olds cousins, most Malibu wagons had 350 motivation. Which means you'd have to find a suitable Rat motor and swap it in, besides doing the body and interior trim. They'd be a great ride-a wagon actually makes a good drag racer because of it's excellent weight distribution, and you'd have the passenger and storage room of a modern SUV.  Another good GM toy would be a "GTO" "442" or Buick GS El Camino. Buy a beater '68-72 El Camino and then put the appropriate front clip and drivetrain on it. You could probably build a 455 Olds, Buick or Pontiac version for WAAY less than a decent SS396 or 454 version would cost to buy. Also way cool would be an "X" body ( Chevy Nova, Pontiac Ventura, Olds Omega ) styled like a '60s Trans-Am or '70's IROC racer. Any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Camaro / Firebird will fit these cars, so making a real handling "G" machine out of one is easy. Monster rubber, radiused and flared fenderwells, maybe even a T/A style "shaker" hood scoop. The Ventura would be a great sleeper because Pontiac V8's are externally identical from a 326 to a 455. A 400 or 455 would literally drop in place of the 350 that some of them have. What about a 403 powered Olds Omega with Trans-Am style suspension?  Mastermind  

Answers about the "Cadzillas"....

Had some inquiries as to why more people don't make the 472 / 500 Cadillac V8 swap. Yes, anything with 472 / 500 cubes is going to have massive low-end torque-like 500 lbs ft at 2,700 rpm. But other than the cubes and low-end grunt, your not going to get anywhere near the performance offered by the big-inch offerings of other GM divisions or Ford and Chrysler. There's a couple reasons why-the main one being that they are not high revvers. And I don't mean that they won't go 8 grand like a 427 or 454 Chevy, or 429 Ford, or that they should be redlined at 5,700 like a 455 Pontiac or Buick because of the large main bearings. The big Cad engines are all done in by about 4,500 rpm. This is because they were built to haul the 6,000 lb land-barges of the late-'60's and early '70's that may even be towing a trailer behind them. This is why they make such massive torque from idle to about 4,000 rpm. But there was no factory "performance" model like the W30 455 Olds or Stage 1 455 Buick. The factory never made a hot cam or performance intake or exhaust.  The second problem is there is almost zero aftermarket performance parts available.  Edelbrock makes a Performer intake manifold that will theoretically make power up to  5,500.  I say theoretically, because there's no cams, headers, nothing to increase power like there is for most other engines. But like I said-for a low-budget swap there alright. But you won't be throwing fear into the hearts of any LS6 Chevelle or RAIV GTO or 440 Road Runner owners. Mastermind   

a Budget "Cross-Breed" resto we can all appreciate..

I often rail about people putting modern Chevy LS engines and trannys in old GM Iron at five times the cost of restoring the powertrain that came in the car. I saw a car in "Street Rodder" the other day that was quite refreshing. The guy had a gorgeous red 1961 Impala coupe. For power it had a 500 inch Cadillac engine out of a '76 Eldorado backed up by a BOPC ( Buick, Olds, Pontiac, and Cadillac all share the same bellhousing bolt-pattern, only Chevrolet is different )  TH400. He also had the better 1970-73 heads, an Edelbrock Performer intake and some TTI headers on it. Needless to say with 500 cubes and a TH400, it ran a lot better than it did with the old 348 / Powerglide combo and cost a LOT less to build than a 348 / 409. The car was good-looking, fast, and "Old school" enough-i.e. an engine with a distributor and a carburator instead of coil packs and injectors,-and a tranny that had a vacuum modulator instead of sixteen electric shift solenoids that someone who wasnt a gearhead couldn't tell it wasn't stock. That's what made it so cool. While were on the subject, a 472 or 500 Cad engine is a good, cheap way to infuse some massive torque into a low-budget project. They don't rev like a 454 Chevy or even a 455 Pontiac, but boy do they have ungodly torque--like 550 lbs ft at 3,000 rpm.  There was a company-I'll try to look them up that made a motor mount kit to put the 472 / 500 motors into the '78-88 GM "G" bodies-i.e. Cutlass, Monte Carlo, Regal etc. What a dynamite low-budget sleeper that would be!  Mastermind       

A brand-new Tri-Five Chevy, what's not to like?

This months "Street Rodder" magazine has an article on building a '55 Chevy from the ground up. Hot Rod did a similar aarticle on '57 a few months ago. The place to call is "Woody's Hot Rodz". They have access to frames and brand-new '55-'57 Chevy bodies. The basic kit is like 13 grand. Even if you spent 4 grand on say a GMPP ZZ4 crate motor, $1,500 on a new BW T10 4-speed, $3,300 on a Currie 9 inch rear with GM mounting points, a grand on seat covers and interior trim, and a grand on a Pete and Jakes straight front axle and disc brake kit, and 2 grand on paint and bodywork, you'd only have 25K in the whole project, and you'd have a badass, '60's style gasser look and the performance to back it up. You'd never find a restored '55-57 for anywhere near 25 grand. Like the guy in "Hot Rod" said-his was built with a nasty Rat motor-you don't care about cutting up the wheelwells  for monster meats, and you don't care about abusing it-if you hit a guardrail drag-racing it-it's not like you wadded up a $100,000 original. Just fix it. Even if you totalled it, you could build another one for about 15K-assuming you could salvage the engine and tranny and other parts from the wrecked one. I'd love to build one of these-I've got a ZZ4 crate engine and a Chevy TH400-I'd just have to pull it out of the 442 and put the 455 Olds / BOP TH400 back in it. Anyhow-if you always wanted a a badass, "American Graffiti / Two-Lane Blactkop" '55 ( Both movies used the same car )  nows your chance to have one for about the price of a strippy Honda Accord.  Mastermind       

A$#%*&le of the Month.......

Hustler magazine used to have a column titled "Asshole of the Month"  where they chronicled celebritys, politicians, sports figures and anyone who made the news for doing something incredibly stupid, or hypocritical-like Larry Craig and his gay-bashing, then getting caught trying to pick up a guy in an airport men's room. I nominate the guy who had his '70 Chevelle featured in not one, but two magazines. This guy goes beyond the LS engine swappers, or any other heinous act of classic automotive destruction you can think of. The moron that put a 389 Pontiac in a '57 T-Bird? Not even close. The jerk that bought a concours show-quality, one of 1,286 1972 Trans Ams and not only put an LS motor in it, but butchered the body, interior and suspension? Child's Play.  No, this clown spent $250,000-that's not a typo I didn't mean to write 25K, he spent a QUARTER MILLION putting a pumped-up GM Duramax Diesel engine and Allison transmission out of a 2011 GMC one-ton pickup into a 1970 Chevelle!!!  Blaspehemy most foul!! Carroll Shelby and Zora-Arkus Duntov, Vic Edelbrock Sr., Bill Jenkins, and any other deceased legendary hot-rodders are spinning in their graves like the Tazmanian Devil. It had a tricked-out suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes, and custom paint, and it was fast. But 250K??!!  That's the price of a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath, 3- car garage house anywhere except New York or California!!  That's the price of TWO Aston Martin Vantages, or 3 Z06 Corvettes!!. I don't get it, no way, no how. For 50 grand he could have built one with a 720 hp 572 inch rat, that would have at least been both badass and cool. I don't care how fast it is, a Chevelle with a diesel truck powertrain is not cool, it falls into the more-money-than-brains category. How is he ever going to get his money back? I wouldn't buy it for $10,000. That's like "Fart in the Wind"  ( Hustler's award for the second biggest asshole of the month ) Jay Leno converting a 1966 Toronado to rear-wheel drive and putting a Chevy engine in it. If he liked that body and wanted it on a rear-drive platform why didn't he just start with a 1966-67 Buick Riviera? Their rear-drive, and the hidden headlight, fastback, swoopy body is almost identical  in styling. In fact the Riv body is actually cleaner and sexier in my opinion. And a Rat motor would only require a Chevy bolt-pattern TH400 and some Chevy Impala motor mounts!! Not actually fabricating a whole new different chassis from the ground up!!  I think I'll plagiarize Mr Flint and report here regularly on people that butcher classic iron like these two clowns with way more money than brains. Or to avoid a lawsuit maybe we'll just call ours the "Shit for Brains" page. Mastermind           

T.V., Movie and literary screw-ups.....

I have an eye for detail so it really drives me up the wall when something stupid is done in a big-budget movie or T.V. show. The most recent one that really irks me is "Vegas" starring Micheal Chiklis ( "The Shield", "Fantastic 4" ) Dennis Quaid, and and Carrie Ann Moss ( "The Matrix" trilogy ). The series is set in 1960. Yet, Quaid drives a 1964 Dodge pickup, Moss has a 1963 T-Bird, and Chiklis has a 1962 Lincoln with the suicide doors.  Arrrrrggghhh!!!  In one episode a gangster robs a bank and torches the getaway car-a 1964 Dodge 330 sedan!!  Yet the series is supposedly set in 1960!!  And the executive producer is Nicholas Pileggi- who did "Goodfellas", and "American Gangster".  You'd think they could afford to hire someone who knew what cars to use!!  This isn't an isolated incident, Hollywood does it all the time. I guess they just don't care, but it really takes something away from the movie or show for me. A few examples-in "White Lightning"-Burt Reynolds brown Ford whiskey runner-in some scenes it's a four-speed; the camera shows the Hurst shifter and him shifting it. In others, they show him putting the automatic column shifter in park. The same for "Smokey and the Bandit" in some scenes the black T/A is a 4-speed,-again the cameras occasionally show the clutch pedal and him shifting it.  In others you can clearly see the automatic shifter on the console. In "Bullitt" the Charger loses 8 hubcaps in the chase, and they pass the same VW three times. On the "Rockford Files" which ran from 1974-82- James Garner's "Mike Hammer" type- Private Eye initially drove a '74 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400 with the Ram Air hood and rear spoiler for the first few seasons. Then it was a '77 or '78 base model with a flat hood and no spoiler, and finally an '81 Formula with the simulated scoops. The '70-81 F-bodies were basically the same, but the front end, taillights and hood is where all the changes were! Plus the '74 model had the flat rear window, the 75 and later models had the wraparound rear glass. I guess since they were all gold with Rally II wheels the producers figured no one would notice. Well, we did!  In the original "Fright Night" ( The classic with Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowell, not the remake with Colin Farrell ) hero William Ragsdale drives a '65 Mustang fastback, that his mother, his girlfriend and shop teacher refer to constantly as a "'68".  In "The Butcher" Eric Roberts plays an ex-boxer turned mob enforcer. Everyone he meets comments on his "Original" 1969 Charger; the only problem was the car on screen was a '73!!  In the Stephen King  thriller "The Dark Half" the killer drives a Jet-black 1969 Olds Toronado. That's all well and good.  However King alludes to it being a Hurst-shifted 4-speed as a "Macho Man" like George Stark wouldn't have it any other way, and talks about him smoking the rear tires. The problem, if you don't know is every Toronado ever made since they were introduced in 1966 has had an automatic transmission and is FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE!!!  He should have had Stark drive a Pontiac Gran Prix-which is rear-wheel drive, had engines either 400 or 428 cubic inches, and was available with a Hurst-shifted 4-speed from the factory.  Do some research guys!!! Mastermind                  

Movie review...

Saw "Killing them Softly" this weekend. What a colossall waste of time. Even top-notch actors like Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini ( "The Sopranos", "The Last Castle" ) couldn't save this stinker. Brad Pitt is a hitman for some unknown organization, that's never revealed. James Gandolfini is a fellow hitman that Pitt recruits for a job and then betrays because the guy's a drunk. Ray Liotta ( "Goodfellas" "Heartbreakers", "Narc" ) is totally wasted as one of Pitt's targets. He's only in two scenes-one where he's brutally beaten by two thugs and one where he's brutally murdered in a drive-by bt Pitt. You don't even really know why the "organization" wanted him whacked, or why Pitt ws trying to talk the go-between out of it. There's some cool cars one thug drives a 1968 GTO, another has a 1971 Buick GS Skylark, and Pitt's ride is a Jet-Black 1968 Olds Toronado ala-"The Dark Half".  However there's no car chase action, no real action at all outside of Liotta's slo-mo "Sam Peckinpah" style murder, and it ends with Pitt demanding more money for the job from his contact. You never know who any of these people were, who Pitt was working for, or why they needed to be whacked. The one funny scene is a political argument where Pitt pontificates on what a hypocritical asshole Thomas Jefferson was. This speech rivals his classic one in "Fight Club"-  ( "We are a nation of consumer slaves, were kept chained to jobs we hate to pay for shit that we don't need." ) Too many unanswered questions, and not enough action.  Maybe "Jack Reacher" will be better.  Mastermind  

Stop being a pre-1972 snob......You sound like an idiot!

I am sick to death of the pig-headed morons who claim that no "real" musclecars were built after 1971. It's true that 1972 was the year that the SAE ( Society of Automotive Engineers ) switched from gross to net hp ratings. What these morons don't realize is the net ratings are a much more accurate reading of the engine's true output. The LT1 Corvette engine for example was rated at 330 gross hp in 1971 and 255 net hp in 1972. The engine was unchanged from 1971 to 1972. It still had 9:1 compression, "2.02" heads, a solid-lifter cam, an aluminum intake with a 780 Holley carb, and the famed "ram's horn" exhaust manifolds. It didn't "lose" 75 hp; the rating system was simply changed. The same went for everything else-a 400 4bbl Chrysler engine in a Road Runner that was rated at 260 net hp for '72 wasn't down 40 hp from the 300 hp rated 383 of '71, they changed the rating system. In fact-with the extra 17 cubic inches, new for '72 electronic ignition and 800 cfm Thermo-Quad carb ( as opposed to points and the 585 cfm Carter AVS or 600 cfm Holley used on the '71s, ) the '72 model probably had a little MORE power rather than less, if the rating system was apples to apples. The LS5 454 Chevy engine that was optional in Chevelles, Corvettes and Monte Carlos was rated at 365 hp in 1971 and "only" 270 hp in 1972. Again, the engines are identical; they didn't "lose" 95 hp, it was the different rating system!! What about the Pontiac 455 HO and SD engines of 1971-74? The 455 HO had Ram Air IV heads and exhaust manifolds as well as the RAIV's aluminum high-rise intake and special 800 cfm Quadrajet carb, the milder "068" cam made it a torque monster and one of the best street engines ever made. They still dominate stock drag racing classes to this day. The 455 SD went even further with bigger round-port heads, a special iron intake and 850 cfm carb and ran the legendary 308 /320 RAIV cam. ( That was later changed to to the slightly milder 301 /313 degree RAIII cam for emissions testing ).  Do you really believe that the 389 in your 65 GTO, with its small-valve "bathtub" chamber heads,( That aren't nearly as good as even the standard '67 and later D-ports or '70's 6x castings ) standard 273/289 degree cam, iron intake and 625 cfm Carter AFB really has 45 MORE hp than a 455 SD?  You people don't consider a 400, 4-speed , 3.42:1 geared, WS6 Trans-Am or an L82, 4-speed, 3.70:1 geared Corvette a musclecar?  You don't consider a Buick Grand National or a "5.0" Mustang a musclecar?  Really??  Even though these cars with their sneered at low-15 or high 14 second 1/4 mile times were just as fast as whatever your beloved ride is!! Don't believe me? Try these facts on for size-# 1.  The reason is 99% of these "Purists" that deride anything post 1971- didn't then and don't now own a Hemi 'Cuda or an LS6 Chevelle, or a 428 CJ Mustang or a W30 Olds 442, or anything else that ran 13s off the showroom and with only slicks and headers could hit the low 12s. No, these people had what we call "entry level" musclecars-i.e.- 383 Road Runners, 396 Chevelles, 389 GTOs, etc. Tales of being pushed back in the seat, laying third-gear rubber, and pulling the front wheels seem silly when someone pulls out a yellowed, dog-eared copy of Car Life or Hot Rod and we read that the machine in question ran in the 14.60s.  I hate to break this to you guys but forget the new 400+hp Boss 302 or Camaro SS, a V6 Mustang or Camaro will blow the doors off  95% of you snobs' "pride and joy."  Car and driver's V6 Mustang ran a 13.9 second 1/4!! Their V6 Camaro ran a 5.9 second 0-60 time and a 14.4 second 1/4!!  Road and Track tested a V6, six-speed Honda Accord coupe that ran a 14.60!!  I'd love to see one of you snooty bastards in your "Just as it left the factory" pre-1972 "Real Musclecar" Road Runner, Chevelle or whatever get your ass handed to you by a kid in a a Honda!!  Or worse yet-a soccer mom in a 4-door V6 Toyota Camry ( R&T 's Camry test car ran a 14.7 ). Or a V8 Jeep Cherokee!!  I love the old iron as much or more than anyone, but I also appreciate performance and style regardless of who built it or what year it was built. I think the new Challenger is awesome, and I also love the Nissan 370Z.  Are you guys going to say that you wouldn't have sex with Cindy Crawford or Pam Anderson because their over 40 now?  Puhlleeeze. So next time you see a '79 Trans-Am or an '85 Mustang GT or a '94 Z/28 don't turn up your nose and act like you smelled a fart-the driver may show you his taillights!!  Mastermind                  

More about diminishing returns....

Some people took that post wrong-"If you want a smooth idling driver, then go buy a Camry".  I like badass cars as much or more than anyone. But there comes a time when you've gone too far, and the car isn't any fun to drive even around the block. I knew a guy that had an '81 Trans-Am with a 305 Chevy and a 4-speed. He swapped in a snarling 350 ( First thing I'd have done ) but then he went crazy. He also swapped in a Richmond 5-speed, and subframe connectors, an 8-point cage, braced the front subframe to the firewall, and installed all solid bushings in the suspension, and 17X9 wheels with 275/40ZR17 Comp T/As. It went around Reno-Fernley Raceway faster than a Z06 Corvette and a Porsche 911 Turbo on track day; however on anything but glass-smooth pavement every little bump or ripple was communicated to the steering wheel and the driver's seat with bone-crushing force. I mean you couldn't drive it around the block without pissing your pants because it jarred your kidneys so much. Now if he'd used rubber and urethane bushings instead of aluminum, it might have been a tad slower on the track and still a little stiff, but it would have been at least tolerable on the street; it wouldn't rattle your fillings out. As it was he ended up selling the car to someone who made it a race car, because he couldn't stand to drive it. Another guy did that with a 1962 Corvette. He built a 12:1 solid-lifter 427 that shook the earth and backed it with a Rock-Crusher 4-speed and 4.88 gears. On street tires it ran "only" a 12.47 because it literally smoked the tires all the way through first and second and into third. The car was going about 90 when the speed of the tires finally matched the speed of the road. With slicks it ran something like 10.60; then it broke the rear end on it's fourth or fifth pass down the strip, and was banned for not having a roll cage and a driveshaft safety loop. ( Required for any car that runs faster than 11.50 ) This monster overheated at every stoplight, handled like a UPS truck, and the 4-wheel drum brakes would barely stop it the first time. God help you if you didn't let the brakes cool off for 20 minutes between runs. It got 5-8 mpg while using two cans of octane booster per tankful, and the motor was buzzing at 4,000 rpm on the freeway. Drivers and passengers alike burned thier legs on the sidepipes entering or exiting the car. Does that sound like a pleasant driving experience to you?  He sold it and bought a '67 Vette that had power steering and disc brakes. He got into the 12s with 3.70 gears, a much milder 396,and was a LOT happier. Sometimes you just have overkill-you wouldn't hunt rabbits with a .44 Magnum-a .22 rimfire will do the job nicely. Same with cars-it doesn't have to be as fast as an NHRA Pro Stocker to be cool. That's all I was saying. Mastermind