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I had a new ‘62 corvette that was rated at 340 HP, that would peg its 160 MPH speedometer in just over 1 minute.
The peg was about 10 MPH in arc measure beyond the 160 mark.
The howl of the wind where the top met the windshield was severe. The tachometer was reading about 6800 RPM, and the car had 3.56 rear gears, so the rear axles were turning about 1900 RPM with 750x14 tires.
That makes about 13.000 feet per minute, disregarding tire growth from centrifugal force.
That means that it was going at least 148 MPH (obviously more, but who knows how much)
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I am not being a wise ass but was there any concern about tire limit speeds back in those days? Probably not.
That ‘62 was just so sweet. A buddy of mine has one and the most amazing thing about it is the size of the steering wheel! His Colorado plate is “IT’S A 62.
I had a 1968 Chrysler New Yorker with a 440 with a ported intake and 4 barrel carburetor. It was rated at 350hp stock. It outweighed the 67 corvette by 800 pounds so it would take longer to get up to its top speed. But at high speeds the extra weight probably made it more stable than the vette. It was long, low, had solid suspension, good tires and a tight front end. It’s speedometer went to 120 and it still felt solid at that speed, but it would not go much past that.