cars

[lovinthehd]

How much?

Didn't see a price attached to the video I saw or that article at first, altho this article calls it $1M...later was checking out a video of the latest KTM car and it was 280,000 euro. The basic Ariel/KTM track cars were more reasonable priced before....

 

[Mikado463]

I had a '56 Ford Customline similar to this one. All steel dash and no seat belts. The thing was a death trap but fun to drive.

while nice the 'Tri-Five' era belonged to Chevy

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

while nice the 'Tri-Five' era belonged to Chevy

Mos’ definitely. Chevy “shoeboxes” are still some of the coolest. Although I do love a Buick too.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

the other factor is there are still too many tracks without enough shut-down length to accommodate the speeds they are running. the fuel cars are already running faster at a 1000' than they were at 1320 !

I grew up at an NHRA track. Going back to the late 70’s, we’d sit in the pits, and trailers with all of the teams. My dad was big, so he would help swap engines out of the fuel cars and stuff. Golden times! Can’t even tell you how many pro cars I got to sit in. For me, 1000’ doesn’t mean anything. All of the records, and yardsticks any anything meaningful is 1320. Hell it’s almost like watching pro stock now, everything is won at the tree.
New people don’t care, because it’s still amazing, and mind boggling, and a complete assault on the senses. I’d rather see them limit the cars and go back to 1320, or don’t go to tracks with limited run off.
It’s like 1/8 racing. Who gives a FUKK about that.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

If it's just one then either the early 70s Mach I or the fastback. This one has a 429 cobra. The Boss is the ideal but is waaaaaaay up there in price. Third would be the coupe, and it has the best grille IMO. But isn't considered muscle. The coupes have gone up in demand driving the prices up because the fastbacks and machs are much more rare. Johnny Depp had one in 21 Jump Street. It was blue and think that was a fastback but can't remember. It got destroyed at his home in the Hollywood Hills due to an earthquake I believe.
View attachment 57897

Sorry dude. That’s one of the ugliest muscle cars ever.

 

[Dude#1279435]

Sorry dude. That’s one of the ugliest muscle cars ever.

I think this is uglier.

 

[Dude#1279435]

while nice the 'Tri-Five' era belonged to Chevy

Funny thing is 57 Ford sold more than Chevy back in the day and now there's more Chevy's around.

 

[highfigh]

the other factor is there are still too many tracks without enough shut-down length to accommodate the speeds they are running. the fuel cars are already running faster at a 1000' than they were at 1320 !

I would bet that a lot of the drag strips are landlocked and can't extend the gravel pits. I also suspect that a lot of strips that used to be 'in the sticks' have housing developments right next to them and the people hate the noise.

WRT 1000' vs 1320' speed- amazing, isn't it?

 

[highfigh]

I had a '56 Ford Customline similar to this one. All steel dash and no seat belts. The thing was a death trap but fun to drive.

We had a couple of '56 Crown Vics, too- nice cars, but like most from those years, the suspension sucked. At the end of a stop, it would lunge forward, then rebound backward and eventually stop moving. Body roll in turns? Yup- plenty of that.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I think this is uglier.
View attachment 57911

That is a LOT uglier!!! But also, not a muscle car. Lol.

 

[Dude#1279435]

We had a couple of '56 Crown Vics, too- nice cars, but like most from those years, the suspension sucked. At the end of a stop, it would lunge forward, then rebound backward and eventually stop moving. Body roll in turns? Yup- plenty of that.

85 Crown Vic with the variable venturi carb. Worst ever. Should've heard her chug in the winter till warmed up lol. Also owned a 77 Impala and the carb wasn't great either but better than the vv. Great heater though. CV had the 351 Windsor and the 77 Impala the 350. CV was an ex cop car.

 

[highfigh]

85 Crown Vic with the variable venturi carb. Worst ever. Should've heard her chug in the winter till warmed up lol. Also owned a 77 Impala and the carb wasn't great either but better than the vv. Great heater though. CV had the 351 Windsor and the 77 Impala the 350. CV was an ex cop car.

'70s & '80s- the Dark Ages for car performance.

 

[Dude#1279435]

That is a LOT uglier!!! But also, not a muscle car. Lol.

Put muscle tires on it. Now it's a muscle car.

 

[Mikado463]

85 Crown Vic with the variable venturi carb.

an '85 and they were till using carburetors ?? Wow, I would have thought Ford had at least switched to throttle body FI by then ?

 

[Mikado463]

'70s & '80s- the Dark Ages for car performance.

Sadly true but the early 70's still had some trq monster Big Blocks and by the end of the 80's performance progress was being made

 

[Eppie]

We had a couple of '56 Crown Vics, too- nice cars, but like most from those years, the suspension sucked. At the end of a stop, it would lunge forward, then rebound backward and eventually stop moving. Body roll in turns? Yup- plenty of that.

The Customline was basically the poor man's Vic without the fancy options like the glass top and rear spare. It was an Ontario car, all original with surprisingly little rust. Had a 292cc engine with oil breather air filter, and 2-speed automatic. I loved the pneumatic wipers. I had the engine rebuilt but during university I simply couldn't afford to do a proper restoration. My brother-in-law had given me the car so I returned it to him and he eventually sold it to someone in the States. I still have the original keys because I couldn't find who the purchaser was.

 

[Dude#1279435]

an '85 and they were till using carburetors ?? Wow, I would have thought Ford had at least switched to throttle body FI by then ?

Didn't FI not come till real early 90s?

 

[highfigh]

an '85 and they were till using carburetors ?? Wow, I would have thought Ford had at least switched to throttle body FI by then ?

If it was similar to what I had in my '83 Olds Gutlass, it had a crude ECM and a Throttle Position Sensor, Coolant Temp sensor, maybe an Ignition Control Module and not much else. I had a problem with my TPS because, in their finite wisdom, GM didn't use WeatherPak connectors, so the terminals didn't seal the water when I cleaned the engine. I saw the MIL on and called my friend who was still working at GM's Desert Proving Ground and he explained what it did, what it should do and that it needed replacement because it was a POS (my opinion, not his). He mentioned something about 40% throttle position and I had no idea how they would determine that at the time and he explained where the technology was heading.

 

[highfigh]

Didn't FI not come till real early 90s?

From the link, Ford used injection on all of their V6 and V8 engines, starting in 1986. Drag racers were using mechanical injection systems in the '50s and Chrysler offered a Chrysler/Bendix system as an option in 1958.

It also shows that a crude injection system was included in a motorcycle patent from 1896.

The Development of Fuel Injected Engines A Brief History

 

[highfigh]

The Customline was basically the poor man's Vic without the fancy options like the glass top and rear spare. It was an Ontario car, all original with surprisingly little rust. Had a 292cc engine with oil breather air filter, and 2-speed automatic. I loved the pneumatic wipers. I had the engine rebuilt but during university I simply couldn't afford to do a proper restoration. My brother-in-law had given me the car so I returned it to him and he eventually sold it to someone in the States. I still have the original keys because I couldn't find who the purchaser was.

WRT tyhe keys, it didn't really matter since the locks would have been pretty worn by then and if it was like the '66 Fairlane a friend owned, almost any key would work. He was getting ready to leave work during a cold snap and started his engine, so it would be warm inside and inadvertently locked the door. He came back inside and wasn't happy, so I offered to try my key to open the door lock and it worked- I had a '67 LTD.