“What would you guess about the Hemi? I had a friend with a ‘66 Belvedere Hemi. Play with the tune, timing, etc, add a set of headers and BINGO! somewhere around 550 HP.”
The old Hemi was rated at 425 @ 5000 rpm or probably about 475 hp at peak rpm. Given that these ratings were on a test platform at optimum (not street) tune, without exhausts, water pump, etc, I seriously doubt you were getting 550 at the flywheel.
My Mustang weighs about the same with 435 hp and has better quarter mile times and top speed.
Correction. The Belvedere was lighter. I was thinking of the SuperBee.
I’m over 50. Heard the old v. new discussion/debate/bar fight for years.
Without delving into all of it, I’ve come to believe that folks who side with old are putting a premium on the visceral aspects of it all over and above the actual performance numbers.
There’s just something primal about the full-throated battle cry of an old big block motor howling for all it’s worth — you can’t quantify that. Bolt that into a chassis that handles like the USS Nimitz with seating for six bug-eyed ass-tronauts...WOO-HOO!
It’s not really about the numbers at the track; it’s about the “HO - LEEEE — AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!” factor you experienced getting the numbers at the track.
So, yeah, you can top 110 through the traps in a modern Mustang GT, but that’s a different animal than doing the same run in, say, a ‘67 Chevelle SS. Bigger, louder, looser — it’s just more intense in an old muscle machine.
And that’s a whole ‘nother thing again than bombing a two-lane country road at 135 in a ‘68 Camaro. Now THERE’S an experience that’ll bring you closer to God!