Yabbut, the wimpy brakes and slush suspensions made all that power useless if not treacherous.
Anyone old enough to remember trying to do a long hard stop with drum brakes know how scary those old sleds were.
Yep...’66 Bonneville 389 w four wheel drum brakes. In 1973, the shoes glazed over going down I-70 in the Rockies and stopping power all but disappeared. Scared the bejeebers out of me, I tell you.
Of course, having my 320 pound Honda 350SL motorcycle stowed in the trunk didn’t help the braking much.
Don’t forget the bias ply rubber too...
:-)
My Dad’s ‘70 Duce and a Quarter would quickly get to the maximum traction available from the tires upon heavy brake pedal force application. Though a little rough on balance, the drum brakes had a high gain and would lock-em up way quick.