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First On Race Day. That one died with the first small block Chevy!

Interesting you should bring up the comparison. Back in the late 50's when drag racing was not yet professional-dominated we ran a '57 T-bird and a '57 Chevy in "C" gas. Doing one's own engines, costs were maybe $1,000 per car per season.

The problem quickly became trying to keep the T-bird Y-block V8 engine together. We couldn't run competitive without having to "overbuild" the Ford (forged chrankshaft, special rods, etc.) We finally gave up due to frustration and expense.

The Chevy, however, was very durable. The 283 cu. in. engine could be run with factory parts, other than camshaft, lifters, springs, etc. They Chevy would also easily run away from the T-bird, which had a 312 cu. in. engine but couldn't wind up as fast or as far.

Ford has not managed to keep up with GM engineering for as long as I've been driving. At this point I doubt Ford will survive in the long run, unless they get their engineering and quality-control acts together.

We have been happy with our Fords - although neither the Explorer nor the Expedition is going to set the pond on fire, they've been extremely reliable - Explorer is pushing 100k miles now, with nothing other than extremely regular maintenance and one brake job. We had a '69 Torino that we bought second hand from the Sheriff of Mecklenburg County VA - it was a plainclothes car - for 1700 bucks. It ran like a top, the air filter said 302 but we KNOW that was a lie. ( :-D ) We put almost 200k miles on that thing, then sold it to a kid at my husband's job who took it to the drag strip down at Conyers GA. He was doing great until he dropped the C-4 on the pavement (that tranny was always the weakest link . . . )

But the real champ is our old '62 Studebaker Lark convertible (200k miles plus) with the 289 Jet (police pursuit) engine - had a Holley 4 barrel until my dad dropped a Maserati injection system into it (and it was, unbelievably, a drop in job). I take the car out and crank it up just to hear that motor purr.

"The problem quickly became trying to keep the T-bird Y-block V8 engine together."

The biggest problem with the 312 was breaking the crank in the center main. I worked on Johnnie Parsons 56 Stock car for the Ford Factory, we won the NASCAR national championship but it wasn't easy.

In 1954 I was running a 32 "D" roadster with a flathead and held the record but at Bonneville Voight and Colb showed up with a De Soto, straight out of a car in their 32, made 2 runs for an average of 176 and blew our 157 record all to pieces. Quit and sold the roadster!