Big blocks in the 80's vs. rich kids....???

[LeftLaneOnly]

My high school parking lot was full of mostly muscle cars class of 77
I drove a 65 mustang that I dropped an 289 engine and trans from a ford wagon with low gears that would rip ruts in the parking lot

 

[Local Hero]

I wasn't part of the rich folk, but I went to a private high school in the early to mid 80s. There were lots of families with money there. Lots of kids drove their parent's sports cars or big boat Lincolns and Cadillacs. There were a few muscle cars but nothing that anyone would call "fast." This was before muscle cars really became collectible. They were basically 10-15 year-old daily driven cars, and most were not pampered.

I had my Cougar then as well and while it looked really nice following a fresh restoration, it still had the stock 302 with C4 trans and open 8" rear. The only real mod was dual exhaust. Hardly fast....

Good friends (3 brothers) had their parents' hand-me-down Plymouth Satellite wagon that they hot-rodded WAY before anyone thought wagons were worth messing with. While it had headers and glasspacks, it still only had a stock 318 in it.

Another buddy got to drive his Dad's 77 Bandit Trans-Am once in a great while. One kid got to drive his Dad's brand new Monte SS in 83 back when they only came in white and that grayish purple color.

A younger kid had a freshly restored 69 Firebird that had all stock running gear in it. I think it was a 400 and a 2V. Another older kid had a Buick Grand Sport that was an upgrade from a beat early 70s Camaro that he replaced it with. The GS only had a 350. There was another kid with a really nice mid-50s Chevy pick-up that got driven year round. Another early 70s Nova looked beautiful until you opened the hood and saw the inline 6 still there. I also recall an early 80s Chevy pick-up lifted on GroundHawg Monster Mudder tires. Anytime it snowed, that kid was absent because he was out plowing snow with it.

I think there were probably twice as many muscle cars that kids "claimed" to have at home that were undergoing restoration........ that nobody ever saw.

 

[Mikej89]

Glad you enjoyed it MikeJ The memories of it make me smile. Even the stock 383 was pretty quick, it ran a 14.0@99 as I bought it. I'm sure there was more in it.

It was later put in my sister's Dodge Dart. We installed a bigger hydraulic cam, ported the heads and and it ran 12.4's@109. It only made 1 visit to the track and the car was sold.

The Road Runner's 440 was from a mid 70's truck. When I say we didn't know what we were doing. We ordered the wrong pistons and compression was super low. We decked and ran thin gaskets just to get it up to 9.4:1. Also a hydraulic cam, ported heads, 750 Holley vacuum carb and 4.10 gears. It ran mid to low 12's and I knew getting a time slip on the nitrous would raise the eyebrows of the track officials due to no roll bar. So I didn't turn on the nitrous until after the 60' and it went 11.4 at 118 and it was flagged for no roll bar but I went home with a smile. No other runs were made.

High rpms, computers, turbos are todays way to do it but one thing the old cars had which will never be known again was the torque. Engines like 455's GM, 440 Mopars made 90% of their torque at 1/4 throttle under 2500rpm, this is fun times some will never know.

Thanks for sharing, sir! Yes the 455 Buicks and Olds were the king of the stoplight wars back then! I mean, 500-510lb ft at 2800rpm? Even the 440 magnum couldn't touch that at 480 lb ft@3200... I imagine if you had just a stock 70-71 GS 455 Stage 1 from new to like 2005 nothing could beat it 0-60. Those cars not only had the giant torque but the big mid range HP of around 400 net stock (underrated at 380). Like the HEMI cars, 440-6, etc they were pretty much high 12 cars STOCK with decent radial meats out back not the crap skinny polyglass tires they came stock with lol.