What was your first Muscle Car experience ?

[jtisdale]

I had a 69 Cougar XR7 pretty mint. Had the swing away steering, that was cool. 351C (4V motor), crane fireball cam . 030 over pistons, performer intake and a 700 Holley double pumper. Took the factory FMX transmission out and built a C-6 for it complete with an aftermarket Hurst dual gate shifter. It ran mid to low 13's. It was a lot of fun.

 

[Fireman Dave]

I guess my first muscle car ride was in my neighbor's '68 Charger when it was brand new. Through my adolescence I always wanted a '67 Mustang - which I never did end up getting. My first muscle car driving experience was a '70 GTX - 440+6, 4-speed. I bought it. It was my first car. I've been a die hard Mopar man ever since (but I like them all). I guess that first ride in the Charger must have imbeded a Pentastar germ in me that I enjoy to this day. Anyone check out a Magnum RT yet? Coolest looking wagon I've seen. Reminds me a little of the '66/'67 Chargers. The subtle HEMI emblems on the fenders are a throwback to the '68-'70 Chargers - very cool.

 

[DKayser]

It`s ALL good!

Good memories ! First ride in a muscle car... . Hmmm 65/66 289 Fastback w 4 speed. I think it was a 271 hp car. Fastest ride was a 1968 Barracuda SS/A car 426 Hemi 4 peed. Yeah, one of the 100 built by Hurst. Thanks Terry! When the hammer drops, and all you see is sky, that is muscle! Favorite muscle ride was when the brother let me flog the 68 Road Runner coupe at the age of 13. Yeah baby! Favorite car I owned was 70 340 `cuda. I still bristle when I see/hear people refer to anything other than a 70-71 model as a `cuda. They ain`t, imho. DK.

 

[Sled Puller]

Originally posted by jtisdale

I had a 69 Cougar XR7 pretty mint. . It ran mid to low 13's. It was a lot of fun.

Yes, but did it blow beer cans out the pipes?

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Since this is about gassers - I'll leave out all the diesel stuff I've driven or ridden in.



First memorable muscle car experience (as a passenger... ):

'69 Vette - sidepipes, fresh balanced/blueprinted 350cid/350hp, 4-speed... Dad took me out for the first spin after he drained the break-in oil and that thing went quite well.



First memorable muscle TRUCK experience (as a driver... ):

Dad's '82 Chevy K10 - warmed over 454 (bored . 030 over = 461cid) probably ~400hp, headers with 2-1/2" primaries and 3" collectors feeding dual Flowmasters... it sounded WICKED!

Man did that thing ever GO! Sure was hungry, though...



Second memorable muscle TRUCK experience (as a driver... ):

'91 GMC Syclone - too many mods to list... went 10. 97@125mph in the 1/4 mile the day before I drove it on the street. That thing was just plain obscene doing 10psi boost launches...



First memorable muscle car experience (as a driver... ):

MKIV Toyota Supra - converted to a T76 single turbo... went 10. 77@13x in the 1/4 mile... that car was (is) the most fun I have ever had behind the wheel of an automobile. Obnoxious amount of power... engine literally sounds like a dream come true. To this day - I still think those 3. 0L I-6 DOHC 24-valve 2JZ-GTE's are the best souding modern gasser engine.



I will own something with a - 4-speed, dual-quad, posi-traction, 409cid... someday.



Matt

 

[homeka45]

Mom's '68 Camaro SS/RS 396 TH 400.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Re: It`s ALL good!

Originally posted by DKayser

Fastest ride was a 1968 Barracuda SS/A car 426 Hemi 4 speed. Yeah, one of the 100 built by Hurst. Thanks Terry! When the hammer drops, and all you see is sky, that is muscle!

Nasty Car! Oh man you are lucky.

 

[Proram]

First muscle car.

69 Hemi GTX b-5 blue, 4sp 4. 10 dana bought off the back of a car lot in 79 for 500$ lot owner said it had something wrong with the valve train, it rattled and clicked a lot.

put a seta header gaskets and adjusted the valves, Man that thing was scary strong! parted it out in the mid 80's ( back when you couldnt give a mopar muscle car away... waaaaaa)

oh well live and learn.



Scott

 

[SGibson]

I don't remember my first muscle car exp. I was brougt home from birth in a 3-2V 348 impala ragtop and we always had a fast car growing up but after reading prorams post I had to add this, when I was 16 in '77 a neighbor had a 70 4sp. superbird that he wanted to sell for 1500 he was a chrysler mech and bought it new where he worked, I had half the money but dad wouldn't budge, his reason,"We don't need another g-damn gas drinkin chrysler product around here" we had a 6bbl GTX as a family car at the time. oh and the superbird? it was a hemicar w/41k.

 

[Bova]

First hotrod,67 Mustang I bought in 79 for $35. We rebuilt the 289 and put some 351w heads on it. That thing would rev!



Now 66 Pro Street Chevelle with a Blown 509 rat motor.

 

[No Neck]

Great thread. Brings back a lot of great memories.



First car I bought was a 66 Chevelle, 396, 375HP. It was used, or should I say well used.



It blew up the first week I had it. Nothing was left to salvage from the engine. Part of a connecting rod even went through the bottom of the intake manifold. Talk about a heartbroken 17 year old kid.



The only saving grace was I worked at a Buick dealership at the time so I could buy any GM parts at 5% over cost. Well the difference in price between another 396/375 and a L-88 was less than a $100. Still a lot of money at that time but worth the extra wait while I saved my money.



When it was all said and done it had the L-88, B&M manual shift Turbo Hydro 400, and 4:56 gears. Needless to say I did a lot of street racing and it was one of the fastest cars in town for a long time.



For those that are not aware, the L-88 was a 427 with 12 1/2 to 1 compression ratio, and aluminum heads. Factory rating on the HP was 425, although if you added headers it jumped up to over 500. One of the old silly HP games they used to play back then to statisfy the insurance industry and NHRA.

 

[jgillott]

Originally posted by SGibson

I don't remember my first muscle car exp. I was brougt home from birth in a 3-2V 348 impala... ... ... ... .

I thought that I was the only one who had the 348 Impala experience. Dad's was a '58 hard top 3-2's, a 3speed on the tree, and a 4. 11 posi. They were a little early to be considered a true muscle car, but they were quite fast for their size and weight. He sold it years ago for far less than what they are going for now. Every time he sees one, it brings tears to his eyes.



Justin

 

[Hohn]

Originally posted by Sled Puller

Sigh... someone define Muscle Car for the Texas Kid.



GTO

442

Road Runner.



The 442 was the baddest, but my heart was in the Road Runner!

I'll take a '69 Hemi Dart over anything else Detroit produced.



A factory 10-second car? Sounds good to me! It's not quite the family cruiser, and a little termperamental, but you'd only lose to a car that was VERY special indeed.



Justin

 

[jtisdale]

Originally posted by Sled Puller

Yes, but did it blow beer cans out the pipes?

:-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[DKayser]

Re: Re: It`s ALL good!

Originally posted by HEMI®Dart

Nasty Car! Oh man you are lucky.

You would have loved the neighbor, Terry. Not only did he have the 68 SS/A car,but he sold it to buy himself the 71 Pro Stock Duster Butch Leal drove! That thing made the 68 seem like a slug! When you are a pud kid, people like this are gods. Oh yeah, his daily driver was a big block 66/67 Charger. Fun guy, and willing to take time for neighborhood kids.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Justin said: "A factory 10-second car?"



OEM trim 10-second car?!



Matt

 

[DKayser]

Yes Virginia, There was such a beast!

Originally posted by HoleshotHolset

Justin said: "A factory 10-second car?"



OEM trim 10-second car?!



Matt

They were more O. E. M. than the mythical all aluminum Rat motor`d Camaros of 68-69. At least I have seen the Hemi Darts & Hemi Barracudas. I have never seen the ZL-1, but all the carmakers built ringers. Thunderbolts were nasty little Fords and the Super Duty Tempests werre wicked. We`ll never see the like again. DK.

 

[SGibson]

There is supposed to be 30+ of them showing up at Indy this year for the Hemi challenge,there will be some real ones amongst the clones, a friend of mines 65 A990 belvedere ran 10teens at gateway last weekend,it's pretty close to stock as an awb car can be, ran a 1. 35 @60' on the back wheels, on the next pass during a dry hop he put it on bumper, came down too hard and ventilated the oil pan,no harm done though,a real crowd pleaser.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Holy Crap! I have NEVER heard of such a beast... I always thought that '70 was the first year for the 426 Hemi...



How did they make 'em hook well enough to run a 10? They have all the power in the world and are light enough... but how did they get it all to the ground?



"supervised acceleration trials" = :-laf



Matt

 

[Fireman Dave]

Matt,



The 426 HEMI was in production from '64 to '71. '66 was the first year they were in production cars (the more tame "street" HEMI). And there were earlier versions of the HEMI in the '50s - smaller displacement engines (from 331 to 392 ci). The 392 was the one that really started to make an impact in drag racing when guys put them in rail dragsters (Don Garlits among them). The early HEMIs were called the Chrysler Firepower HEMI. The Chrysler 300 was among the cars that had them in the '50s. You could even get a HEMI in a DeSoto back then!