Z/28 Returns!

Rumor has it that this spring Chevrolet is going to revive the Z/28 Camaro. It will have the 556 hp supercharged 6.2l V8 out of the Cadillac CTS-V. That ought to give those arrogant Shelby Mustang owners and SRT8 Challenger owners pause. Since Ford is also reviving the Boss 302 Mustang, and the new for 2011 Charger will be available with a 460 hp 392 inch Hemi, this is as good as anytime in history to buy a new musclecar. Wonder what order time on a Charger is..... Mastermind

Never argue with an idiot, because people might not know the difference!!

I talked to a guy the other day who got so upset that I knew more than he did, that if I wasn't about 4 inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than him, I think he'd have challenged me to a fight. I never saw anyone get so spittingly hysterical about being proved wrong. The subject was SCCA Trans-Am racing, and the impact it had on production cars. This "Know-it-All" attended the Monterey Historic Car races every year. If you don't know, the Monterey Historics allow people with everything from MG-TC's to Shelby Cobras, to Datsun 510s and 240Z's to old NASCAR racers to run at Laguna Seca for a few days. It's a great event, and the only place where you can see tons of really cool vintage cars actually running, not sitting in a museum or on a trailer. Anyway, a group of guys were discussing the Trans-Am series, and how the cars evolved. All of us agreed that although they took the name of perhaps their most famous model from the series, Pontiac didn't have much success in the races. I said that was because just as Herb Adams and several other engineers were getting serious about mounting a Pontiac Trans-Am effort to compete with Ford, Chevy, and AMC -( Who by then had stolen Roger Penske and Mark Donohue from Chevrolet ) John Delorean, who was backing Adams and Co., got promoted to Genearal Manager of Chevrolet and left. DeLorean's successor cut Adams budget.  Adams had destroked a 400 Pontiac to 303 inches to meet the 305 cubic inch limit. He found that the Tunnel-Port Ram Air V heads that Arnie Beswick and other Pontiac drag racers were using with great success on the 400 and 428 engines just killed the little 303. They actually ran better with Ram Air IV or regular "D Port" Ram Air III heads. With the smaller heads, Adams got 485 hp out of the 303, between 5,000 and 8,000 rpm. This was consistent with what the racing 302 Chevys and Boss 302 Fords were putting out. However, because the cranks, rods, and pistons, were all custom-made, and the solid lifter valvetrain was a hybrid of Pontiac and Chevrolet parts, the engines were quite expensive. Chrysler was even experimenting with a 305 Hemi to have Richard Petty and company possibly mount a Trans-Am effort. Petty had the same problem as Adams. The engines were outrageously expensive to build, and the Hemi heads were just too damn big for the little motor. Chrysler cut the budget just like Pontiac did. In the end a few 303 Trans-Am Firebirds were built-Jerry Titus won a couple races before he was killed at Lime Rock. When the rare and expensive Pontiacs blew up, a lot of privateer racers just put 302 Chevys in the cars and kept racing. As for Chrysler, Richard Petty pulled out and decided to stay with NASCAR. But Sam Posey and others destroked a 340 small-block to 305 inches that was competitive. This guy started staying how stupid I was, that Pontiac never sold a 303 engined Firebird Trans-Am, and that every Challenger T/A or AAR Cuda he ever saw, had a 340 six pack, and that Mopar never had a 305 Hemi and I was the dumbest person he'd ever met. I responded that I was fully aware that Pontiac never sold the 303 in a production car, but it was built for racing purposes, and that NASCAR, as far back as 1968, because of the 200 mph plus speeds the 427 Chevys and Fords and 426 Hemi mopars were going, was considering lowering the cubic inch limit to 305 to keep speeds down and make the racing safer. That's why Richard Petty was involved, because they thought they might need a 305 inch NASCAR motor. I said I knew for a fact, that at least one 305 inch Plymouth Superbird was built and raced in the 1970 season to see if they would be competitive. When NASCAR decided to continue to allow the big-blocks, Petty lost interest and without him, Chrysler didn't really give a crap about Trans-Am and cut the funding. Thus the destroked 340s that were run by the Mopar Trans-Am racers. This guy began swearing and telling me that all Superbirds had 440s, Six-Packs, or Hemis, and that I was F-ing retarded. Neither I nor the other guys in the group could convince this moron that we weren't talking about production cars, but RACE cars, and how their development sometimes impacted what made production. He called us all more names and left, disgusted. As were the other five guys there who knew what i was talking about. As Ron White says- "You Can't Fix Stupid!"  Mastermind    

Why musclecars dominate action movies

A lot of people ask me why musclecars are so prevalent in action movies. All their theories about Tarantino and Rodriguez, and their "Homages" to Bullitt or Vanishing Point, yadda,yadda, yadda are bullshit. There's only two reasons Musclecars dominate action movies. # 1. Almost all great action flicks have a car chase. No one wants to see a chase between a Prius and a Hyundai.  # 2. The main reason-and why they don't use modern ones-is all modern cars are so laden with electronic nanny and safety devices, that you can't do a "Dukes of Hazzard" or "White Lightning" or "Smokey and the Bandit" type chase, because if you hit anything with a modern car going more than about 20 mph, the airbags trigger, and the on-board computer shuts the fuel off. That's why Nicolas Cage drove a '60's Charger and a '70's Chevelle in the new 3-D action flick "Drive Angry". Fast & Furious 4 with Vin Diesel and Paul Walker was all muscle this time instead of Imports. A fifth installment is due out this summer, and I've seen some classics in the trailers. I also saw some modern Chargers. Maybe they disabled the airbags. Anyhow, those are the reasons, not any great creative vision on the part of anyone in Hollywood.  Mastermind

If you can't buy your dream car, then build it!

I saw an article in a Mopar Enthusiast magazine the other day that made me think-"Hey, everybody should do that!" The guy in the article always wanted a Challenger T/A. Since they were only offered for one year-1970-and few were built, the problem was finding one in any condition, at any price. He gave up searching, and bought a 318 powered 1970 Challenger. Through Year One, Mancini Racing, and other companies he bought a T/A style replacement hood, spoilers, and graphics package. He couldn't find a 340, but he bought a 375 hp 360 crate motor from Blueprint engines, and bought the Edelbrock 3-2bbl manifold, Holley carbs, throttle linkage, and air cleaner from Summit Racing. Summit also supplied the replacement Rally Wheels, and a local muffler shop made him the correct-style exhaust that exited in front of the rear wheels. Unless you check the serial numbers, you have no way of telling that it's not a "Real" Challenger T/A. And it's faster than an original one, too. They were only rated at 290 hp. This is not an isolated example. I did a little checking, and it would be easy to turn a 1965-68 Mustang fastback into a Shelby GT350 clone. Tony Branda and other companies offer the body pieces and reproduction interior parts, steering wheels, even the Shelby-style mags. Practically ever Mustang built in this era has a 289, or you could buy a 302 or 347 stroker crate engine from Ford racing. Want a 1969 Trans-Am? Good luck, as only 697 were built. However, Pontiac built over 100,000 Firebirds in 1969, and almost all of them have 350 or 400 V8s under the hood. If it's got a 400, your already ahead of the game. If not, the 350 can be hopped up pretty good, or a 400 or 455 is a bolt-in swap. If you want to build a Ram Air IV style engine, Edelbrock sells Aluminum RAIV heads, and the "Performer RPM" cam has the exact same lift and duration. The Performer RPM manifold is actually a little better than the factory aluminum RAIV intake, especially above 4000 rpm. Year One and Ames sell the hood, and spoilers, stripes, and Air extractors for the fenders. Summit has reproduction Rally II wheels. You could also buy the stuff to make a "Plain" GTO into a Judge, or a Malibu into an SS model, or a Camaro into a Z/28. And I'm not just talking cosmetics. You don't have to have a base Camaro with a junkyard 350 that's painted to look like a Z/28. GMPP sells 4 inch bore, 4-bolt main new blocks designed to use 283 style small-journal cranks, and you can buy the 3.00 inch stroke cranks. Summit, Dart, Trick Flow, and many other companies sell High-Performance Iron and Aluminum heads for small-block Chevys.  Crane sells exact replicas of the original solid-lifter cam in their Blueprint Musclecar series. GMPP still sells the intake manifold in iron or aluminum, or a Holley # 300-36 is also an exact replica. Summit has 3310 780 cfm Holleys. Moser sells brand-new 12-bolt Posi rear ends, and you can find M20 or M21 Muncie or BW T10 four-speeds through Summitt or many other places. You'd have a Z/28, with a "Real" solid-lifter 302 Chevy engine!! When you powershift to second at 6,500 rpm and lay about 30 feet of rubber, are you going to be thinking about serial numbers?  This may be the way to go for a lot of people. Mastermind   

More on Dealer influence on the Musclecar Era

In the last post I talked about certain dealers across the country that offered option packages that weren't available from the Factory. Some of these packages resulted in the factories eventually offering these upgrades to the public. A couple examples would be the Hurst/Olds and the Yenko Camaros and Chevelles. For some reason, maybe pressure from insurance companies or government safety Nazis, GM had an edict that no A or F body car could have an engine over 400 cubic inches. This included Chevelles, GTOs, Cutlasses, and Camaros and Firebirds. That's why the largest optional engine in a Camaro or Chevelle was a 396, and the largest engine in a GTO or Firebird was a 400 Pontiac. Ditto for Olds and Buick. Century, Skylark and Cutlass / F85 models were limited to the 400 inch Buick and Olds engines. Meanwhile, Chrysler had no such restrictions. You could get a Road Runner, Charger or Super Bee with a 426 Hemi or a 440 V8. If their all stock, a 440 Road Runner has little to fear from a 396 Chevelle, or 389 or 400 GTO. This was not lost on the GM brass, but they didn't quite know what to do about it. George Hurst and others did. Hurst performance took the 455 out of the Toronado, added W30 heads and cam, special graphics,and a beefed up Turbo 400. Although only 515 were built in 1968, and 906 in 1969, the automotive press went wild. Don Yenko started offering 427 Corvette motors swapped into Camaros and Chevelles. Royal Pontiac got into the act by swapping 428 HO Gran Prix engines into GTOs and Firebirds. Carroll Shelby got tired of his 289 powered GT350 Mustangs getting dusted by big-block Camaros and Firebirds, so he took a 390 Mustang, and swapped in a 428 and called it the GT500.  Bob Tasca, owner of Tasca Ford, who campaigned many stock class racers in the 60s, blew everyone away by swapping a 428 Police Interceptor engine into a 68 Mustang. This caused Ford to offer the 428 as an option on 1969 Mustangs. In 1969 when Chrysler introduced the new 1970 E-bodied Challengers and Barracudas, which looked eerily like a Camaro,and were avalable with any engine up to and including the 440 Six-Pack, and 426 Hemi, GM decided to lift the ban and allow the largest engines to be put in the smaller cars. This is how the LS6 454 Chevelle, 455HO GTOs and Firbirds, and the 455 W30 442, and 455 Buick GS models came into being. If not for a few adventurous souls at the dealer level, some our most revered cars might never have been built. Mastermind       

Dealer specials! A thing of the past....

In the 1960's and 1970's many car dealers got into the performance scene, and offered special packages to their customers. Royal Pontiac in Michigan was legendary. The "Royal" treatment on a 389 GTO or 421 Catalina, or 400 GTO or Firebird included re-curving the distributor, re-jetting the carb, ( on 4-bbl models ) using thinner head gaskets to add compression, and adjusting the lifters and putting locknuts on the studs to add maybe 400-500 rpm on the top end. On Tri-Power models, besides richening the carbs, this included changing the linkage from vacuum to mechanical. Don Yenko was legendary for the 427 "Yenko" Camaros and Chevelles, as well as the "Yenko Deuce"-Since the Nova was sometimes called the "Chevy II"- this was a Nova with a 370 hp solid-lifter LT-1 Corvette motor stuffed in. "Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge" was similar to Royal Pontiac, except they were doing it with Mopars. Challengers, Chargers, and Darts had their 340s, 383s, and 440s super-tuned before they left the dealer. Baldwin Chevrolet in New York partnered with Motion Performance, and Joel Rosen was the father of many L88 and LS6 and LS7 427 and 454 engined Camaros, Firebirds and Chevelles. Nickey Chevrolet in Chicago, as late as 1974, ( Hot Rod magazine tested one.)  offered an L88 427 Nova package.  I mentioned in an earlier post the Mecham Brothers of Mecham Pontiac in Arizona and the "Macho T/A".  I guess now, that truly is a thing of the past because of EPA and state and federal regulations. I recently drove a 2011 Charger R/T with the Hemi. In a major U.S. City, where people have a lot of money. I asked the salesman how much the dealer would charge me if they installed a K&N air filter and a Flowmaster "Cat-Back"-i.e.- after the catilytic converter, and thus emissions legal-exhaust system, and he acted like he was a Rookie Secret Service Agent and I said I wanted to kill the president. I never saw such hemming and hawing. He asked a manager, and the manager said he didn't care what was legal, under no circumstances would they modify a new car for any price. I had to quote Steve Martin from an old Saturday Night Live skit- "Wellll Excuuuussse me for asking!"  A sad state of affairs, and I hate to sound like an old fart, but I miss the "Good Old Days" when "The Customer was Always Right", and if you were willing to pay for it, you could get what you wanted on a new car. Sad. Mastermind 

The forgotten 'Cuda

Plymouth introduced the Barracuda in 1964. It was based on the Valiant platform, and the engine choices were 198 or 225 inch Slant-sixes or a 273 inch V8. I guess they thought it was going to compete with the Mustang, but it was too ugly, even in fastback form. Because they were really light ( around 2,900 lbs ) the 273 models made good drag racers, and when the SCCA started the Trans-Am series they could compete with the Mustangs. ( At least on the racetrack, if not in sales.) The Trans-Am series was immensely popular, but the only fly in the ointment in the musclecar era of "Bigger is Better" is the cubic inch limit was 305 inches. The Ford 289 and Mopar 273 did nicely. Chevrolet wasn't content to race a Nova with the old "economy" 283. They fired back with both barrels in 1967, introducing the Camaro, and putting a 283 crank in a 327 block, and adding Corvette "fuelie" heads, a "30-30" ( for the valve lash settings) cam, aluminum intake and a 780 Holley carb, and the legendary Z/28 was born. Also, the big-block 396 was optional in a Camaro, which left the Mustangs in the dust. Ford responded by offereing the 390 in the Mustang to keep up on the street, and after Chevrolet won the 1968 championship in Trans-Am with Mark Donohue driving a Z/28, they brought out the Boss 302, and offered the T-Bird / Police Interceptor 428 in the Mustang and called it the "Cobra Jet".  Mopar couldn't sit by, and let Ford and GM dominate the pony car market, so they got busy. The E-bodies that became the-now legendary Challenger and re-designed Barracuda, had several design and production delays, and didn't debut until 1970. In the interim, they had to fight back with something. The 1968 Barracuda had a much cleaner Fastback body, and was actually good-looking, although it was still light. ( About 3,200 lbs.) Further the all-new for 1968 340 V8 was a quantun leap up in performance from the 273. Besides the extra cubes, it had freer-breathing heads, 10.5:1 compression, a much hotter cam, and with a steel crank, a bullet-proof bottom end. Grossly under-rated at 275 hp, the power to weight ratio was excellent. The 340 Cudas could not only paste small-block Mustangs and Camaros, they could give the much heavier 396 Chevelles and 400 GTOs a run for the money they'd not soon forget. Mother Mopar also offered the 383 big-block in the Barracuda as well. These were a little nose-heavy and didn't handle handle as well as the 340 models, but boy were they quick in a straight line. These 68-69 models have a bit of a following of their own, but they are way cheaper to buy than a 1970 or later Cuda ./ Challenger. The good thing is, you don't have to search the galaxy for a 340 or 383 model. Buy a 318 model and a stout Mopar Performance 390 hp 360 crate motor, or a Bluprint engines 408 stroker ( based on a 360 ) will bolt right in. Or with a little work, forget a 383, stuff in a 440, or an MP 500 inch stroker!  If you want Mopar performance that's a little different from everyone else, consider the "Forgotten Cuda." Mastermind     

The "Other" Novas

The Chevy Nova has it's place in musclecar history-and rightly so. The L79 350 hp 327 SS models of the mid-60's could certainly surprise the heavier big-block offerings from the big 3. When GM redesigned the X-body in 1968, it opened up a whole new world. The front subframe was the same as a Camaro, which meant that big-blocks could now be easily installed. and for the first time, the 396 that had been previously only avaialable in Impalas and Chevelles, was now optional on the Nova SS.  Many an unsuspecting street hero that thought he was messing around with a small-block Nova got his doors blown off by a 396 model. To this day Novas have quite a following, and although they aren't as pricey as a same-year Camaro or Chevelle, they are rising in value. even for base models. However, the other GM divisions needed an economy car too, so they began offering their versions of the Nova. The best ones are the Pontiac Venturas from 1971-77. A lot of them had six-cylinder or 307 or ( 76-77 models ) 305 Chevy engines under the hood. This is not a bad thing, as that means a stout 350 or 383 Chevy is virtually a bolt-in swap. However the real sleepers to look for are the 350 Pontiac models. With very little work-intake,exhaust, and an axle-ratio change, they can really fly, or if you want to go really fast, since Pontiac engines are externally identical from a 326 to a 455, a 400 or 455 is a bolt in swap. After I totaled my 77 Trans-Am, I put the engine and tranny in a 72 Ventura. Since the T/A weighed 3830 lbs, and the Ventura weighed 3278 lbs,  ( a nearly 600 lb difference) the Ventura was noticeably quicker than the Firebird! I toasted many people who thought I was driving a small-block Nova. Olds and Buick didn't get in on the act until 1973. There are quite a few Omegas out there, with 350 Olds engines under the hood. There is a lot speed equipment available for the 350 Olds, and although a 455 Olds doesn't interchange with the 350 as easily as the Pontiacs, it's not too hard. You don't see many Buick Apollos around, but if you do, they were usually bought by old people, and are in really good condition, as opposed to the Novas and Venturas that have been raced, abused and wrecked. T/A performance and Edelbrock offer speed equipment for 350 Buicks, or again, a 455 would swap in pretty easily.  And, many aftermarket suspension and brake upgrades that fit a Camaro or Nova also fit these cars. If your looking for a bargain sleeper, this may be the way to go. Mastermind      

Three fewer Gorilla Mouths!

When I was a kid my dad used to say- "Don't let your Bulldog mouth overload your Canary ass."  My high school football coach said the same thing, just with slightly different lingo. His was- "Don't let your Gorilla mouth write checks that your Hummingbird ass can't cash."  People do this with cars all the time. Here's a few examples that I thought readers might find entertaining. Gorilla Mouth # 1 Drove a crewcab SRT-10 Dodge Pickup. For those of you that don't know. it's a four-door Dodge Ram pickup with a Viper motor stuffed in it. Yes, they are unbelievably fast for a truck. The key phrase being "For a truck." The engine may have 480 hp, but the truck weighs 5,700 lbs!  Anyway this Gorilla mouth was always saying his truck could beat my brother's GTO in a drag race. Without giving the whole laundry list, my brother's GTO easily has 425 hp, ( yes, we have dyno'd it, I'm not pulling that figure out of the sky ) and weighs 3731 pounds. You do the math. With almost the same amount of power, nearly a 2000 lb weight advantage, and better traction, ( try to launch a pickup with a lot of power without frying the tires )  my brother ran off and left him. The guy was destroyed. I mean you'd have thought his dog died or something.  Gorilla Mouth # 2 Had a 2008 SRT8 Hemi Charger. He bragged about all the Mustangs he'd "Eaten for lunch." The SRT8 Chargers have a 425 hp Hemi, and I don't doubt that he dusted many a 90's "5.0" ( 225 hp ) or even many 2005-2009 GT's ( 300hp.) However the Charger weighs 4140 lbs. When he arrogantly challenged a guy in a new Shelby Mustang- ( Which has 540 hp from its Supercharged 5.4 V8, and weighs about 3,500 lbs ) I knew he was in trouble. He even bet the guy in the Mustang $500 bucks. It wasn't even close. The guy in the Charger was speechless as he handed over 5 Franklins to the Mustang driver, who asked- "Didn't you ever hear that song- "You don't tug on Superman's cape..."  Gorilla Mouth # 3 had a 416 hp Lexus ISF. He Challenged a guy in a 2008 Corvette. Again, the Lexus was ungodly fast for a sedan, but it weighs about 3,800 lbs. The Vette had 428 hp, and weighed about 3,200. Do the math. Vette 1, Rice-Rocket, 0.  Like Jim Croce sang in that famous song- "Find out where it's at, not hustling people strange to you that you don't know..."  Mastermind.    

No you didn't Part 3!

I'm sorry to be so negative lately, but I've talked to a lot of people lately who amaze me with their ignorance, and their arrogance. And it's brought back some memories too. The "One Just like it." thing continues to rear it's ugly head and irritate me in new ways. I get sick of people bragging that they beat a certain model of car in a drag race or "Stoplight Gran Prix", so that means they can beat every other car of that type in the world. Here's why it's so irritating, and why I love giving these jerks a huge comeuppance.  I knew a guy that had a small-block Chevelle that he thought was badass. He was always challenging me and my Judge. and saying he "Eats Goats for breakfast." He did this because he'd beat a neighbor's 68 GTO from a light. However, the neighbor's GTO was an "Economy" model-yes they made them- with a 265hp two-barrel carburated 400, an automatic, and 2.93:1 rear end gears. One day I caught him at a light, and annihilated him, even while smoking the tires well into second gear. He couldn't understand how my GTO with a 366hp Ram Air III, a 4-speed, and 4.33:1 gears, could whomp his ass so bad after he beat "One just like it." Another blowhard had a 79 Z/28 and bragged that "Trans-Ams are dogs." Because his 3.73 geared 4-speed Camaro had beaten a 403 Olds powered, automatic, 2.41 geared T/A. When he ran into my 400 Pontiac, 4-speed, 3.42 geared WS6 model, he was shocked when I beat him by a car length and a half. He was even more stunned when my pals "Macho T/A" smoked him by about 5 car lengths.  Yet another arrogant fool in a small-block 72 El Camino challenged my buddys 67 Cougar to a drag race, because he'd smoked his brother-who-you guessed it-"Has one just like that.'  Except his brother's was a 289, and my pal's was a 390 model!!  Oops! The best one was the guy I worked with that challenged my Hurst/Olds to race his 5.0 Mustang, telling me that my "17 second" car didn't have a chance. He came to this conclusion by pulling out a road test of a 1977 442 that "looks just like that", and ran a 16.9 second 1/4.  Except the 77 442 was powered by a 350 with a catilytic converter choked single-exhaust system, and 2.56:1 gears. He was utterly aghast when my 73 model with a 455, catalyst-free dual exhaust, Hurst "Shotgun" converter, and 3.23 gears, came out of the hole with him, and then passed him at the top of second gear. Guess the one in the magazine WASN'T  "Just like mine!!"  God I get tired of hearing that phrase from people who have no Idea what their talking about. Mastermind       

The Mecham Macho Machines

Since I've mentioned them in a few posts, people have me to talk about the Macho T/A. Here's the story. In 1976, a guy named Dennis Mecham had a 1975 Pontiac Trans-Am that he had mildly hot-rodded. Everyone who drove or rode in his car raved about how cool it was, and said the factory should make them that way. His father owned Mecham Pontiac in Arizona and his brother Kyle was a mechanic at the dealership. Just for kicks, they tricked out a new T/A similar to the way Dennis had done his, and put it on the showroom floor. It sold for full sticker, plus the upgrades in one day. They did another, and it sold in one day. By the end of the model year, they had 27 or 28 of them rumbling around the Phoenix area. This encouraged them to try to go nationwide. They formed DKM Inc.-( for Dennis and Kyle Mecham) in 1977 and started promoting the cars to magazines like Car and Driver, Hot Rod, Car Craft, etc. "Macho" was a popular term back then-The Village People's first big hit was "Macho Man." Thus a Trans-Am on steroids was a "Macho T/A."  They started by opening up the shaker hood scoop and rejetting the carb, as well as re-curving the HEI distributor. Hooker Headers were added, as well as a real dual exhaust system that consisted of two catylitic converters, 2 1/4  inch pipes and two resonators, but no mufflers. Needless to say they sounded wicked. DKM claimed these mods added 50-70 hp. The Macho package also included special graphics either with or without the big hood bird, and the suspension was lowered slightly, and Koni shocks installed. Four-speeds got the stock shifter upgraded to a Hurst Competition Plus unit, and automatics got a TransGo shift kit. You could also upgrade the transmission to a Doug Nash 5-speed manual. Stiffer rearend gears could be ordered, and you had your choice of the factory Snowflake wheels or Center Lines, American Racing or Compomotive wheels. A Hooker chrome rollbar was installed, and Recaro or Scheel seats could be ordered. The magazines loved them. In 1978 Hot Rod tested a stock WS6 T/A against a Macho at the dragstrip. The stocker ran a 15.20 et. Not bad for the late '70s when performance was at an all time low for everyone. The Macho ripped off a blistering 14.29 second blast, nearly a full second quicker, and within one-tenth of the 14.17 e.t. recorded by Car and Driver's Ram Air III 1970 T/A test car. Pretty impressive. All the buff magazines raved about them. They couldn't build them fast enough to meet demand. They built about 200 in 1977, another 300 in 1978 and about 300 in 1979. In 1979 the automatic cars all had 403 Olds engines, and the modifications gave very good, if not spectacular results, like the four-speed Pontiac engined models. They started doing Z/28 Camaros in a similar fashion and calling them The "Macho Z". They even did a few Corvettes and called them the "L82S".  Then the party was over. Because the Machos were modified, GM wouldn't give an MSO-Manufacturers Statement of Originality. This caused several states to not allow their dealers to sell them. The Mecham brothers skirted this in every state but Colorado, by saying that they bought the cars from Mecham Pontiac, tricked them out and re-sold them, to other dealers as used cars, who re-sold them to the public as used cars. California and several other states wanted to outlaw them. Then Pontiac announced that the 400 big-blocks would not be available after 1979. The 1980 models had the ill-fated 301 Turbo, and in California and High Altitude areas a 305 Chevy that wheezed out 145 hp. The 301 Turbos could not be modified with much success because of the then-fledgling electronically managed distributors and carburators. The Mechams were Mormon, and Kyle Mecham had to go on his Mormon mission for two years, which just about killed DKM. Denniss was the salesman and promoter that got the magazines and everyone hyped up, and designed the graphics and modification packages, but Kyle was the guy who ran the shop that actually did the work. Very few 1980 Machos exist, and the last time I corresponded with Dennis Mecham, he said there were no 1981 models.  In 1982 GM changed the bodystyle. In 1983-84, the brothers tried again with the "MSE" Trans-Am-which stood for "Mecham Special Editon." However, this was basically just an appearance package, as the only engine available was still a 305 Chevy that put out about 165 hp. Or 190 hp in "High Output" trim. Again, those horrible mid-80's electronic quadrajets and distributors prevented them from extracting any real power. Remember
"Carburator Dwell" and "Transmission Controlled Spark".?  Anyhow, that was the story of the short, but glorious life of the "Macho T/A."  If your restoring one, or just want to paint yours like one, Dennis Mecham has liscenced Phoenix Graphics to sell the stencils and stripe kits. They were and still are cool, because as Dennis said in 1978- "Their great because you can live with a Macho every day." "They look tough, their fast enough to back up the image, the engine idles smoothly, the seats are comfortable, and the suspension won't rattle your fillings loose."  Sounds like a good musclecar to me. Mastermind    

No you didn't- Part Two!!

I took a bit of heat for my last post from people demanding that I apologize for calling them Idiots. I will not apologize and they are still idiots, and their angry emails proved it. Here's a few examples-"I had a 1969 Mustang Mach 1 with a 351 and a four-speed, Magnum 500 wheels and the rear window louvers." "A friend had one with an automatic." "You don't know what the hell your talking about." Really? I said I was tired of people claiming they once owned a Boss 302. Ford produced over 70,000 fastback Mustangs in 1969, and the standard engine in a Mach 1 was a 351W. Like I said, stupid-you did NOT own a Boss 302!!!  Moron # 2 ranted- "I have a 1969 427 Corvette and dozens of other guys in my local Corvette club have Stingrays from all years." "Your dumb ass." I'm a dumb ass?  Pray tell how many of the "dozens" in your little Vette club have Split window fuel-injected 1963 models? When I asked this question of this genius-he responded "I have never seen a Corvette of any year with a split window, and everyone knows that 1982 was the first year fuel-injection was offered."  When I responded that the first fuel-injected Corvette was built in 1957, and that the Beach Boys hit "Shut Down" released in 1964, talked about a drag race between a fuelie Vette- and a Super Stock Dodge. "Two cool shorts, standing side by side." "A fuel-injected Stingray and a 413"..... He responded to that with "I never heard that song." And by the way, his car is a 390 hp base-model, not a 435 hp Tri-power or an L88. The crown jewel was the retard that told me he went to his local Pontiac dealer in 1977 and bought a Firebird Formula with a 400 and a 4-speed, T-tops, and black and gold two tone paint and snowflake wheels right off the showroom floor. That's nice. When Pontiac introduced the new graphics package in 1976, Formula sales increased by 33%.  But a Formula isn't a "Macho T/A" is it?  Here's some advice for people perusing this site. When something early in a post rubs you the wrong way, stop reading and immediately vent your anger. Use profanity so I know you mean business, and are really intelligent. If I respond with proof that you are wrong- like citing a sentence or paragraph you failed to read, or producing factory sales figures or service bulletins, you are under no obligation to apologize. This is they internet. You can spew insults at any one, and slink away until the next time you want to rant and rave and call people names without having all the facts. I stand ready to apologize for anything I say that can be proven wrong with documentation other than "My cousin Jethro had one just like that."  Mastermind      

No you didn't!!!

I have owned many rare cars, and i know people who own ultra-rare cares, and we get sick of Idiots swearing that they or a friend or relative of theirs "Had one just like that." I have a 1973 Hurst / Olds. One of 1,097 ever built. I have talked to at least 500 people who swear they "had one just like that."  It's not possible. These morons may at one time have owned a two-door 1973 Cutlass, but I guarantee they did not have a Hurst/Olds with the L77 455, swivel captain's chairs, Hurst Dual/Gate shifter, digital tach, Hurst Super Air shocks, etc.  Ditto for some of my friends. One guy I know has a 1970 429 SCJ Torino Cobra. It has the blacked out "Shaker" hood, the rear window louvers, everything. Hundrerds of people tell him they had one "just like it."  No, you had a 1970-71 Torino or Fairlane coupe with a 351. I would bet my house, that none of these jerks had a 429 SCJ Torino Cobra!! My two personal favorites are the numerous morons that looked at a friends 1969 Boss 302 and made that claim. Ford built 1603 Boss 302's that year. How is it then, that every Tom, Dick , or Harry, that wanders into a car show had one? A fastback 69-70 Mustang, ok. But a Boss 302?  I think not. The other one is a buddy's 1978 "Macho T/A." These cars got a lot of press back in the day from the buff magazines, but Dennis and Kyle Mecham only produced about 300 of these cars per year from 1977-79. They have a "Cult' following to this day-there are even websites devoted to them. Since Pontiac sold about 280,000 T/A's in those 3 years, there's a fair chance that this yahoo might have owned a T/A of that vintage, but I seriously-like 99.99 percent seriously-doubt that these car show lookee-loos actually had one of the 8-900 of these cars ever built!!  I think their jealous and are trying to "show" the cars owner- "Hey buddy-you don't have anything special".  Or maybe show their pal or the woman with them, "Hey- I'm just as cool as that guy." "I had a badass car once."  I mean if you said you dated Angelina Jolie before she met Brad Pitt no one would believe you, so you don't say it. And if you had, you'd damn sure produce old pictures or a letter or card she'd written to you to prove it!! Guys don't brag that they had sex with Eva Longoria before she hit it big on "Desperate Housewives" because you sound like an idiot. Yet they think it's perfectly ok to lie about having owned a "Moon Rock" of a car. Why don't you say you walked on the moon before Neil Armstrong while your telling me about the Hemi Cuda convertible you bought for 500 bucks!! Arrrrrgggghhhh!!!!! Just had to vent that. Mastermind

You don't mess around with......a GTO!

My brother and I were cruising in his 69 GTO one night. His car is "Restified" with the Edelbrock Performer RPM package which includes the Ram Air IV spec cam as well as the manifold. The 400 in his car also has ported 6X heads with 1.65 roller rockers, Hooker headers, an MSD electronic ignition, and an A1 prepped Turbo 400 that shifts like a racing trans. It's programmed to shift at 6,500 rpm, but sometimes it shifts between 6800-7100 rpm. On street tires, this results in smoking the tires for about 75-100 feet on the 1-2 shift and about 8-10 feet on the 2-3 shift. The car is usually going about 90 before the speed of the tires matches the road! Needless to say he has given an attitude adjustment to a lot of Corvettes, Buick Gran Nationals, and even the occasional BMW M3. This particular night a Toyota Celica Supra was messing with us. A rice rocket tugging on Superman's cape? This guy had obviously seen the "Fast and Furious" movies too many times. We agreed to go at the next red light. The Toyota jumped us a half a car length out of the hole, and held that lead to the top of ( our ) low gear. In 2nd, we pulled even. As we barked the tires into third, the Supra driver looked surprised that we were still neck and neck. Both cars were going way too fast now, but neither my brother nor the Supra driver would let off. This happened two ore times exactly the same way. The Supra would jump us off the line, we'd pull even in 2nd gear, and then neither car could gain another inch. He flagged us to pull over and we did. He said he'd never seen an american car that fast. He also asked us if we were overheating or running out of nitrous, because he was. We laughed and said, no, our temp guage was 180 degrees like always, and we opened the hood and watched him shake his head in disbelief when he saw we had no nitrous plumbing. He was further crushed when he said his car ran "10 second" quarters ( I told you he saw the movie too many times ) and we laughed, and showed him a 12.47 slip my brother had. A 12 second Supra is impressive, but I love these guys who've never been to the track sprouting the blistering times they THINK their cars run! I think of that Jim Croce hit- "you don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger and you don't mess around with Jim." My brother doesn't call his car "Jim", but you get the point. Mastermind    

Kid Rock is an "American Badass!"

I get tired of movie stars and rappers and football players and their Mercedes, Bentleys, Porsches and BMWs. Where's your pride in America, that's the only country in the world that you can ply your trade in and make millions of dollars so you can afford to live like a king? And you show off in foriegn cars? At least Elvis always drove Cadillacs, or Pontiac Gran Prix-based custom Stutz Blackhawks. Frank Sinatra always drove Cadillacs or Lincolns, and had one of the few legendary Ford Ghias built in the early '60's. Joe Namath had a Dodge Charger. Jan Berry, of "Jan and Dean" fame was nearly killed when he wrecked his 427 Corvette. At least Kid Rock stays true to his Detroit roots. He has a Supercharged Hemi Super Bee that is legendary among the Michigan State Police, who don't even try to pull him over anymore. In the video for his latest hit- "Born Free" he rides a Harley and cruises around in a gorgeous customized 1964 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. He's been on the speed channel driving NASCAR racers and Top Fuel dragsters, and testing musclecars on the show "Top Gear."  He's been derided for saying that anyone who drives a hybrid is a dork. Mostly by dorks that drive hybrids-like Leonardo Di Caprio or Alexandra Paul. He goes hunting with Ted Nugent and Hank Williams Jr, and doesn't care what liberal Hollywood thinks of him. He doesn't want to adopt third-world orphans or abolish nuclear weapons, or push his beliefs on anyone else. Your right, Kid, "We never met a mother @#$er like you!"  Wish there were more. I know this is a little off-topic, but If I see another movie star or basketball player on MTV Cribs or in "Rides" magazine with 4 Bentleys or 5 Bimmers, and  drug or rape charges hanging over his head, talking crap about freedom and civil rights, and being a good American, I'm gonna vomit.       

A "Sister" car can be a great deal!

Like I talked about a Cougar being a great, lower priced alternative to a Mustang, GM guys have a lot of choices. For example, if you can't find a good deal on a Chevelle, you might consider a Monte Carlo. They share the same chassis as the A-body Chevelle, so any aftermarket suspension or brake upgrades will fit. And, compared to non-SS Chevelles, Monte Carlos from 1970-77 are especially good deals. This bodystyle dominated NASCAR in the '70's. The Montes generally have more cool options like cruise control,factory A/C, and upgraded interiors. Most Monte Carlos have 350 power under the hood, and we all know there is more speed equipment on the market for the small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet. 402 and 454 versions can be bought substantially cheaper than a same-year big-block SS Chevelle. Or you could swap in the Rat Motor of your choice-a GMPP 502 crate motor for example-very easily. Or an even better deal is a Pontiac Gran Prix. Gran Prix's from 1969-76 are awesome buys even if your not a Pontiac collector. 400 4bbl power standard all years, and a fair number of 70-76 "SJ" models had 455s! I've said it before, but my sister had a 1972 SJ in high school. This car had power everything, and it felt like a GTO. If you want a big-block Camaro, it might behoove you to consider a Firebird. 99% of Camaros have 350s under the hood. Rat-motored Camaro SS models were only produced in small numbers from 1967-72, and are thus pricey. By contrast, you could get a 400 in a Firebird Formula or Trans-Am right up until 1979. There are hundreds of thousands of them around. If you can't find a good deal on a 400 Firebird, you aren't looking past the end of your nose. The same applies to early and mid-60's full-size muscle cars.  Most Impalas, Bel-Airs, and Biscaynes built from 1960-68 have either six-cylinder or 283 or 327 small-block motivation. That's why 396,409, and 427 versions bring a King's ransom. However, Pontiac Catalinas, Bonnevilles, and Gran Prix's of this vintage all had the venerable 389 as standard equipment, and a few had 421s or 428s! My mom had a 376 hp Tri-power 421 1965 Catalina 2+2 when I was in high school. I had a GTO Judge. When people challenged me to a race, I used to say- "I don't need the Judge to beat you." "I'll beat you with my mother's car."  Quite a few Camaros, Mustangs, and Chevelles accepted this challenge, and were utterly shocked when this "Big" car blew their doors off. One of the best races I ever had in that car was with a wise-ass from another school who was doing the same thing in his dad's 1967 385 hp 427 Impala SS. It was too close to call, and we were both suprised that neither of us could pull away. If your a Nova fan, and can't find a good deal, I'd check out a Pontiac Ventura. This was Pontiac's version of the Nova from 1971-77.  A lot had six-cylinder Chevy engines in them, and some had small-block Chevys, but the ones to look for are the 350 Pontiac versions. With very little work they can really haul ass, and if you want a Super "Sleeper" a 400 or 455 is a bolt-in swap. 99% of people will think your driving a small-block Nova, and that there going to blow your doors off. Imagine their surprise when all they see is taillights! And, since the Nova / Ventura shares the same basic subframe as the Camaro / Firebird- ( Any factory or aftermarket suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Camaro will fit these cars ) they aren't just drag racers, they can be made to handle like a BMW.  Something to think about.  Mastermind        

Crazy About the Mercury!

Crazy about the Mercury was a classic '50's rock song. The singer was talking about a '49 Mercury Coupe, but it applies to the musclecar era as well. Like the Chevy Nova, the Comet was sold as an economy car, but since they were light and cheap, they made good drag racers. "Dyno Don" Nicholson campaigned a string of Comet racers in the '60's. Seventies models are basically a re-badged Maverick, but that's not a bad thing. "Dyno Don" campaigned Mavericks and Pintos in Pro Stock in the '70's. 289 / 302 models can be really quick, but if you want to be a real badass, I'd swap in a 302 based 347 stroker, or a 351W-based 392 or 427 stroker. The Cougar is to the Mustang what the Firebird is to the Camaro-the better buy of the two. Cougars built from 1967-73 have racy styling, and usually have more cool options than a same-year Mustang. By cool I mean upgraded interiors, factory air, front disc brakes, and bigger motors. Most non GT or non Mach 1 Mustangs of this period have six-cylinder or 289 / 302 motivation. There were no six-cylinder Cougars made- the 289 /302 was standard equipment. A good number of 67-68 models have 390s under the hood, and are substantially cheaper than a same-year 390 Mustang. A lot of 69-70 models have 351Ws or 351Cs as standard equipment, when again, the standard engine in a Mustang was a 200 six. 1960-70 428 "Eliminator" models can be just as pricey as 428 Mustangs however. Most 1971-73 Cougars have 351C power. However, 351C's share the same bellhousing bolt-pattern as the 429 / 460 family, and that makes swapping in those behemoths easy, and makes a great sleeper. The Cyclone/ Montego is basically a Torino/Fairlane. Again, the Mercs are generally more loaded than the Fords, and are usually cheaper. 428 and 429 versions will be pricey, but you can steal a 351W or 351C version. In 1979, and from 1982-85, ( The V8s took a two-year hiatus in 1980-81 ) You could get a Mercury Capri that was basically a re-badged 5.0 Mustang. Again, for some unexplainable reason, they are cheaper than their Ford Mustang cousins. And any aftermarket engine or chassis or brake upgrades that fit a Fox-bodied Mustang also fit these cars. If your a Ford fan, you may want to consider a Mercury. Mastermind        

Just buy the damnded car you want!

The title to this post seems like a no-brainer, but you'd be amazed at the number of people that buy a small-block Chevelle, with the intent of putting a big-block in it, or a car with an automatic and talk about changing it to a stick or vice-versa. It's like they get excited and think their never going to find another car, ever, other than the one their looking at. Two guys I know both had 1970 Pontiac Firebirds. One was an Esprit, and the other was a Formula 400. However, the Esprit had a 400 under the hood, and they were both blue with blue interior! The Formula was a 4-speed and the Esprit was an automatic. These geniuses decided to trade transmissions. Me and everyone else that knew them- said "Why don't you guys just trade cars?!!" No, these idiots tore both cars apart and swapped transmissions. Pretty pointless if you ask me, because now neither car was original. I knew another guy who bought a 1971 318 Charger with the intent of swapping in a 440. He did it, but he spent a ton of money and time doing it and chasing down parts. And shortly after starting this project, he ran across a 1973 Charger that had a 440 in it from the factory, was just as nice as the the other one, and was priced only about $1500 more than he paid for the 318 model! And believe me, it cost him way more than $1500 to convert the 318 model to 440 power! Same thing for a guy who bought a four-cylinder 89 Mustang and tried to convert it to V8 power. Why? The V8 models are the proverbial dime a dozen, and again, he could buy a nice "5.0" for way less than the cost of converting a 4-banger to V8 power. It just seems to make more sense to take the easy way. Mastermind 

"Family" swaps are Period correct

I've talked before about "Period Correct" modifications, but I had a conversation with a guy yesterday that got me thinking, and I felt compelled to write this. He asked me to look at a hot rod he was thinking about buying. The car was a 1964 Pontiac Tempest. It had a killer 425 inch Olds motor built by Mondello Performance ( Joe Mondello is THE Olds Guru, like Smokey Yunick with Chevys or Dick Landy with Mopars ) a B&M Turbo 400, and a 9 inch Ford rearend with 4.30 gears. It had big-n-little ( 14X6 front, 15X8.5 rear ) American Racing Torq-thrusts, and a gorgeous black paint job. And the guy selling it had timeslips from his local strip showing that the car ran a best time of 11.88 at 121 mph! The car had "badass" written all over it. If I didn't already have too many cars, I would have bought it. The buyer was apprehensive over the Olds powertrain. I told him-"Hey, it's a Tempest, not a GTO, so who cares?" "And, that's the beauty of GM cars, everything interchanges." "And people did this all the time in the '60's and '70's." "Motion Performance and Baldwin Chevrolet, that built L88 427 and LS6 454 Canaros in the early '70s offered the same conversion to Firebird owners." "High Performance cars even road tested an LS6 Firebird in 1972, and raved about how cool it was." "I've seen countless Firebirds, Cutlasses, and LeMans's with big-block Chevys in them." "I've even seen a Buick Skylark and a Chevy El Camino, both with a 455 Pontiac engine under the hood."  "If you want this car, buy it." "I mean, if the emblems on the fender said "Cutlass" instead of "Tempest" you'd be jumping up and down over your great find." "Ditto if had a 421 Pontiac under the hood instead of a 425 Olds." "GM has always done this." "How many Olds Omegas, and Pontiac Venturas had Chevy engines in them from the factory?"  "Thousands of Pontiac Firebirds from 1977-79 had 350 Chevy or 403 Olds engines from the factory."  So if you find a great deal on a GM car and it's been "Cross-breeded" don't panic. I probably wouldn't buy a 69 Judge with a Rat motor in it, but a 68 Tempest, hell yeah, if it was done right. Something to think about. Mastermind

Why "Period Correct" is Important!

If you were watching a movie that was set in a certain time period, wouldn't something completely out of place just ruin the film for you? Like if in the "True Grit" remake the Coen brothers had Jeff Bridges carrying a Glock 21 instead of a Colt Peacemaker? Or if In Saving Private Ryan, the air strike showed F14 jets flying over instead of WWII vintage P51s. Pretty stupid,huh?  Would you buy a 2011 Charger R/T , yank the fuel-injected Hemi and electronically controlled 5-speed automatic and install a carburated 440 and a three-speed Torqueflite? Would you buy a 2011 Camaro SS and yank the LS3 / Six-speed Tremec combo and install a carburated, solid lifter 396 and a Muncie four-speed?  Spend 50 grand on a 2011 Shelby GT500 and yank the Supercharged 5.4 V8 in favor of a 428CJ? What kind of moron would do that?  The same types that do the reverse to vintage Iron. I swear to god, why doesn't Peterson Publishing cancel Hot Rod and Car Craft, and just put out "Modern Fuelie Swap" monthly, since every month we have to have pages and pages of SRT8 Hemis in '60's Mopars and LS Chevy engines in vintage GM Iron. Replacing the crappy Inland shifter in your Impala SS with a Hurst shifter is cool, just like it was in 1965. Putting an electronically controlled 4L80E trans in is not. A 1970 Monte Carlo with '70's style Corvette Rally wheels is cool. The same Monte with massive 22"'s looks like shit. Does everybody understand now? Mastermind