Posted on 02/04/2011 11:59:21 PM PST by Swordmaker
When I was a senior in high school, 1956, a classmate had a Volkswagon “Bug”. His father was in the military and had bought it for him in Germany. I was surprised how peppy that thing was. Of course, that was before we were so safety conscious about seat belts, air bags, etc., and it being dangerous because it was small never crossed our minds.
Also that year, two attractive twin blonds had transferred from California to our school in Jackson, MS . They drove to school each morning in their new red Corvette. We called them (what else?) the Corvette Twins.
Yep, that Oldsmobile would have been super! My running mate had, or at least his family had, a 1956 Rocket 88. It would out run everything in town except a big old 1955 Packard. We would run from dead stop to around 105 until we ran out of room and the Packard was always about one foot ahead of us.Years later, when I remembered that narrow two lane asphalt road we raced on I shuddered. There was about 6” between cars and to the edge of the road on each side with 18 year old kids doing 105.
1. The fuel line deteriorated from engine heat in about three years. If you didn't replace it, it would crack and drip gas onto the magnesium block engine, causing a fire.
2. The battery was under the back seat. If you used the back seat much, the springs would wear through the rubber mat that covered the top terminal battery and short out, causing a fire.
3. The heater used forced fan ventilation coiled around the exhaust. You had to replace the heat exchanger about every three years, or it would rust through and the heater would pump pure carbon monoxide exhaust into the passenger compartment. We used to joke about driving down the road in thirty degree weather with the heater full blast, the windows open with our heads hanging out so we could breathe.
4. The only thing between you and oncoming traffic was the gas tank. (course, for years, all pickups had the gas tank in the passenger compartment, so it didn't seem nearly as crazy for the gas tank to be right in front of the fire wall then.)
5. An eighteen wheeler coming the other direction would cause you to move about a foot and a half without turning the steering wheel.
6. The bolts that held the seats to the floorboard were too small and would shear in a wreck. This left the occupant free floating in a completely detached seat. Custom vans had the same problem, as they often just used sheet metal screws to attach the tables and stuff. They become free flying objects in a wreck.
Despite all those safety issues, as you said, it was built with excellent craftsmanship and surprisingly peppy for the small engine.
There's not much sexier than a hot chick in a Corvette, although here in Texas, a hot chick in a pickup ain't bad.
The Rocket 88 you mentioned used the same base engine as Earl's F88, although Earl did some stuff to up the horsepower from IIRC, about 180 to 250. Also consider that the F88 weighed about half of what the Rocket 88 weighed.
Dittos on the "can't believe I survived because of the way I drove" comment. My "racing car" was a 1963 Chevy pickup with a 3 on the tree and a 327 from a wrecked Camaro in it. Didn't have any top end, but it would leave a lot of cars in the dust for the first quarter mile.
Did we just hijack a thread?
You’re looking for another kind or article. If you Google, I’m sure you will find what you are looking for.
No, the one who started it just picked the wrong subject.
I was going to say more about cars I have owned (like a 1957 Ford Fairlane Convertible with an Interceptor engine and a 1963 Chevy with a 360 engine) or friends have owned (a Fordillac composed of a 1949 Ford with a 1955 Cadillac engine that was so souped it loped in idle and would do 90 in low gear)) but since you have brought me back to reality I guess I won't.
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