Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

[jerrym3]

I think we had a tie at Shirley's Diner, West New York, NJ.

One "kid", with money, bought one of the first Plymouth street Hemis. But, he bragged too much, so one night, when he went into the diner for a burger, we popped his hood and switched a few plug wires.

Poor b*****d. He drove home with the car spitting, bucking.........

Another guy had a 56 Corvette with a slightly modified 283 motor, but. he was running 5:14 rear gears.

Unbeatable off the line but top end suffered.

[Bruce]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

Not the absolute quickest, but one of the quickest with a '67 GOAT with ram air and hurst dual gate automatic. That is until someone showed up with a 427 Mustang. Could that thing fly and he new how to drive it as well.

[bwlewis]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

High school buddy had a '69 Road Runner with 440 6 pack....his dad worked at the Plymouth dealer, then a guy from a rival school showed up with a Mustang GT500 that made him upset. The ultimate was the "country boy" with the '48(?) Studebaker pick-up that he had stuffed the BIG Caddy V8 in. Me, I was happy with the '54 five window Chevy pick-up with the 283/265hp...room in the back for lawn chairs at the Drive-In.

[acar]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

Not the absolute quickest, but one of the quickest with a '67 GOAT with ram air and hurst dual gate automatic. That is until someone showed up with a 427 Mustang. Could that thing fly and he new how to drive it as well.

Was that a 427 or a 428? I had a 427 ford motor in my 66 fairlane but it came out of a 63galaxie 425hp factory cast iron headers and dualpoint dist. Man she would fly, traded it for a 69 Mach1 mustang with the 428 never was happy( 1st wife's ideal) didn't have a ragtop again till the bird ahh the good ole days chrome reverse wheels and wide tires and an 8 track with the match book stuck under it so you wouldn't get any cross talk

[yelobird2002]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

My car was the quickest one in High School. It was a Black/Black 64 Ford Ranchero with a 289 and a top loader 4 speed. It was no ordinary 289. My Father, his partner, & I were professionaly drag racing at that time and all of our sponsors flooded me with parts for the Ranchero. I had 12.5:1 Venolia pistons, Crower roller cam with .615" lift and 254 degrees duration, roller rockers, forged crank, high rise dual quad intake manifold with two 750 double pumper Holley's, high volume oil pump, Hays Racing clutch, and much more.

Engine was so radical for the street that something usually broke once every three months. Sponsors would give more parts and I would rebuild it.

Ran 12.20's 118 MPH which was not bad in 69 & 70. Wish I still had that Ranchero.

[Lindy]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

and an 8 track with the match book stuck under

Oh yeah, now those were the good ole days. That match book trick worked like a charm. Had a factory 8-track in my 1970 Chevelle SS 396 convertible. But the 402 in it was a dog, till the timing chain messed up the engine, I then put a Camero 402 in it, with stock aluminum high-rise intake, Holley 750 dp, and hooker headers. Then it would kick a little but. But the faster cars in town were 1970 GTO automatic and a 1970 Roadrunner.

[jerrym3]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

My friend had a big salmon and white 1957 giant tailfinned Chrysler Windsor 4 dr hardtop. Not very fast, but when he held the brakes and gassed her, the car would rise on all fours.

Then he popped the brake and off we went.

[gladiator99]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

I thought I had a fast car, which it was.......64 Chev Impala SS 327 300 HP.
That car could take a ford 390 Galaxie any day. Then it happened, one of my buddies bought a 64 Chev Impala SS 409. Well that think could light up the asphalt for 2 blocks. It did very will at the drag strip too. I think it was 400 HP.
Later I bought a 66 Impala conv with a 396.....325 HP. It went well but not a real race car. Just a nice cruiser for summer. After a few years I bought a nice 69 Mach 1 mustang with a 351 Cleveland engine. The car was just about new when I purchased it, however the first owner put a set of cyclone headers on it along with traction bars and a set of ET mag wheels. That car looked great. Wish I had it today.
I really like our 02 T-Bird now. Not a race car but lots of fun.....
Cheers
Jim

[Rondor]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

In the early to mid sixties Orlando was covered up with some bad muscle cars, and it seemed to change almost monthly. I had a Dart GT with a 273 hi perfomance and 4 speed that was a real sleeper and ron with all the big blocks from lite to lite. anything farther the big cubes took over but I scared many hi dollar muscle cars on the street. it ran a 13:20 quarter mile but most of the speed was in first half. I would say from 64 -67 Mopars were pretty dominate, but we are talking only 10ths of a second difference The earlier period when we built then versus buying them were more fun. Small block chevy's were the king. what you could do to a 283.......

[hlipps]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

Had a friend with a T-Bucket roadster small block chevy in it. It weighed nothing, all engine. Very fast nothing could beat it, but with those small front tires it was almost uncontrollable.

[Peterfurlan]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

I can't remember his name. Rich kid from Mount Vernon New York. He had a 1955
Chrysler 300 nobody could touch that tank. This was in 1955 brand new like I said rich
kid. Myself I had a 1951 Olds super 88 two door hardtop it was okay,blow away any
stock ford flathead.

[Gobird]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

None of mine but I had a buddy with a 67 396 Chevelle SS Conv. He was a little NUTS.

[jerrym3]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

My cousin's 65 Impala SS 327/250 easily dusted off my future brother-in-law's 1965 390 Galaxie convertible. Both were 4 speeds.

In Ford's defense, the Galaxie was heavy and the 3:1 rear end was sloppy.

[TexasWhiteBird]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

in high school here in Houston it was Jim V with a '67 Hemi GTX 410 4speed car...he usually got jumped by the other guys for the first car length or so....but then the other carb would open!! after school it was Johns 69 Boss 302 Mustang drag pack 4'30 gear car. took off the rev limiter, spun a bearing, didn't have a 12point socket to remove the rod bolt cap screws so he stuck in a 70 351 4V cleveland out of his girlfriends Ginas' brothers wrecked Cougar...all in one weekend!!

[Latebird]

Re: Back then, who had the quickest car in your crowd?

Oh yes....the old days! The quickest car around then was a
Bamboo Cream 1970 Buick GS Stage 1 455 4speed...ran a 13.1 off
the show room floor. Would eat "goats"..."Mopars" and your Chevy
409 for both lunch and supper. Even to this day a Buick GS
will wipe the smile off of some unsuspecting soul.

Gotta Love It!