Posted on 07/15/2016 6:04:55 PM PDT by mdittmar
A Chevy Impala that defines “Muscle car”
Any year that used a restrictor plate.
Racing became the luck of the driver when the lefties took over.
Engine control, gun control, trophies for all participants, etc. Its all just a soccer game now.
I remember when it took an Art Arfons car to get 900hp.
Amazing stuff these days with “power adders”
Yeah. My old ‘68 390 only ran 408 hp stock. Pushed a little over 500 with modern aftermarket tweaks. My autoshop class was filled with muscle cars. I grew up in the desert, and we picked them up for spare change. Always loved the old Ford big blocks.
I had a friend who ran pro drag in California in the 60-70s. He bolted a supercharger off a B-29 onto his big block mill. He was doing really well until he pissed off his wife and she took a sledge hammer to it and ended his brief career.
Nope, that particular one didn't. I Swapped the engine out of a out of a Vette. The fiberglass front end wasn't factory installed either. A bit of trivia here: the Camaro could be special ordered with a 427, all aluminum ZL-1
The prettiest Impala was the 61 model year.
IMHO of course.
427 factory installed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBnGDUOLruE
Well then... :)
11:40 is still freaking quick for a 52 year old factory car!
Yep. one of, if not the fastest “production” cars, though only around 100 were built and those only to qualify as production. It’s amazing what happens when American companies compete openly at all levels. Seems now they only compete for government favor.
Agree with you on that, they toned it down just the right amount, keeping some of the character of the 59 and 60 models but losing the fins, and the "bubble top" still looks very nice to this day. Later model years looked a little too plain until the 65, which is in my opinion a close second, but they got carried away with the fastback thing after that as far as 60's Impalas.
Well, that’s neither stock nor merely tuned. ‘Factory Appearing Drags’ is its own little cult that uses every trick in the book. I’m suspecting a 600hp powershot nitrous system hidden from view, jetted under the manifold plenum with a line running through the firewall from a phony heater hose.
600hp on the motor alone isn’t enough to run low-9s even in a car as light as a 280Z. :)
Door slammers that run high eights are all developing about 1000 horsepower in a vehicle that is basically a theater prop in construction.
Except for a short experience with a Mercury Sable, all of my other cars have been very small ones. I liked the way they handled better.
But I’ve never felt as safe as I did in that old Impala.
-JT
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.