Supercars Annual '71

[Fleet 500]

Dog ear, being a Mopar fan (though I do like the '60s/'70s GM and Ford muscle cars, too, I would take that 440-6 Pack Challenger. I always did like the Mopar 440 engine; they made lots of useable torque. They are not quiet but in a car of this type, that's good!

[dog ear]

My favorite cars from Dodge are the 2 nd gen (68-70) Charger and the (70-74)Challenger. I prefer the 68-69 Chargers over any other and in particular, the 69. Of Challengers, I like the 1970 best.

3rd gen (71-74) Chargers are nice also, and in my opinion, far better looking than the original 66-67 versions. 1975 and up Chargers were the same as the Cordoba, another nice automobile, but a different breed. I drove in all of them at one time or another.

Here is a piture of myself behind my favorite year 1969 Charger, somewhere in the mid-seventies. LOL

[Kitdy]

dog, your hair ain't long enough there!

I prefer the unsplit '68 grill.

I think that the '68 Hemi Charger is the ultimate muscle car; it is one of my favourite designs of any car. I'll take mine in black please.

[dog ear]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

dog, your hair ain't long enough there!

I prefer the unsplit '68 grill.

I think that the '68 Hemi Charger is the ultimate muscle car; it is one of my favourite designs of any car. I'll take mine in black please.

I was trying to be presentable in order to 'talk down' the $3500.00 price quote for that 69 Charger SE 318-2V from the friendly owner but he wouldn't budge.

I owned my 1969 Mustang Sportsroof 390 auto at the time, but, I had a 440 waiting patiently by without a home, and I knew it would be mighty fine in that '69 I had my ass parked against. I bet the guy still owns it. Or more than likely, he gave it to his son, Chris. Damn!

[Kitdy]

What is/was your profession dog ear, then and now? You seem to have driven/owned quite a lot of cool Detroit iron.

[dog ear]

I was an original bad boy for many years, Kitdy. After going to college I settled down. Now I'm a pensioner living out my golden years in tranquility.

At one time, I was a residential painter in Toronto, and worked for the best people. In the Mid-seventies it was for National Painters, Phillips Restoration, among others. Later, I got my kicks on sky-raise buildings washing windows. Some of them were the First Canadian Place, T-D Towers, Eaton Center, Bank of Commerce, etc. Piece work was my thing; more cash to be made.

Throughout that tumultuous time-frame, I worked on the side in the banking business. Unsecured loans and entrepreneurial investments were my specialty. Nothing big-time, mind you. In those days, money was to be made catering to your fellow clients, who could not otherwise secure loans, and such, in the normal manner. Now you just walk on into your local Money-Mart, and do the same thing.

I was interested in cars since I was a kid in diapers. Used to be able to recognise and name most every car on the road 300 yards away. Now I require glasses at fifty feet. Even at that distance my guess will be dubious.

I used to operate an old Clayton water brake engine dyno at one time. The boys and I used to wake up the neighbours for a half-mile around the institution we worked in. It was tedious work by the way. That old dyno was not computerized like they are today. Safety was not up to standards either. I stood at the panel no more than six feet away while I operated the hand brake and controls. Every input was manual. We used to phone the local airport for barometer, atmospheric, and humidity readings as soon as we finished a pull, in order to get the latest readings in preparation for measuring torque and horsepower. It was all a gas, pun intended.

We actually had two dyno machines. One was for measuring small engines; lawn mowers, and such. I never used it. What for? There was a diesel fuel injection tester / analyser but it was useless in the shop. If you needed injectors for anything you just went out and bought them. Same holds true today. Why waste time analysing them when you know they are junk?

Anyway, I spent most of my time blowing up cheap mundane small block Mopar engines. They truly were hopeless pieces of crap. Instead of being called ‘Mopar,’ they should have been called ‘No-Power,’ that’s how little use they were.

I was just kidding there, Fleet 500. LOL!

Finally, I was always a good story-teller. Good orator, and even better at writing. I enjoy playing with people's minds almost as much as I enjoy playing with myself. I am the master (baiter!) of my own game!

One last quip before I submit my mirthful past-life before you.

‘When your head gets as slick as mine, you'll start to shine!’
Terry King

Posted pic is for Fleet!

[dog ear]

Here is a 1971 Plymouth GTX test dated November, 1970, from Car & Driver. Sadder days were just around the cornor for the musclecar. Check it out!

[Fleet 500]

Yeah, you better be kidding about the small-block Mopar engine!

Nice Barracuda (with 340) ad.

That '71 GTX (I have that test, too) did quite well. Not as good as the '68, '69 or '70, but not bad considering the lowered compression ratio and 4,000+ lb weight. As you said, sadder days were just a couple of years in the future.

[dog ear]

Fleet 500; This is the musclecar for you - a nice quiet little economy version, and it's not a Vega.

At the time of introduction, they seemed laughable, but, with some simple mods they were easily made into low 14s / high 13s musclecars. Just give the little lady a supertune, a set of headers, and some traction, and you're laughing.

December, 1970 Hot Rod
71 AMC Hornet S/C

[Fleet 500]

Yes, the low weight does help acceleration a lot. Even with the "little" (by '60s standards) engine.

That car is too small for me, though. The smallest I would want would be about the size of a Dodge Dart (195-197"). Even better, an intermediate.

[dog ear]

Ok, then how about a 1972 Pinto Pangra? Admittedly, it's a very low production 'tuner' car, but, it 'wailed' in 1972.

1972 Road & Track

[Fleet 500]

It does well for a 4-cylinder but I don't like Pintos (too small).
And only V-8s for me!

[dog ear]

I never liked the Pinto either but I would drive the Pangra if someone gave it to me. Apparently, they could have been ordered with up to 285 HP. In the early 80s I went for a ride in a non-Pangra (turbocharged) wagon that had a dyno verified 220 HP. Wow! It really moved.

[Fleet 500]

Originally Posted by dog ear

I never liked the Pinto either but I would drive the Pangra if someone gave it to me. Apparently, they could have been ordered with up to 285 HP. In the early 80s I went for a ride in a non-Pangra (turbocharged) wagon that had a dyno verified 220 HP. Wow! It really moved.

A one-time only drive would be okay for me, but I would like driving this '72 Plymouth Duster with a supercharged 340 many, many times!

A 13.92 sec @ 106 mph 1/4 mile. With that high trap speed, you just know traction was a big problem (and was mentioned in the text). It should run about 13.5 with decent traction.

[dog ear]

Ah, the 1972 GSS 340 Demon! Yes, Norm Kraus was on to a very good thing at the time, but nobody listened. Everyone kept thinking 'low-compression smogger!' and thus wrote the concept off before realizing that a s/c car was much more driveable than the older high-compression big-cammed engines this one was trying to replace.

I don't recall too many tests on the 340 s/c Demons, and none at all the Duster. In the fall of '75, I saw a s/c Paxton set-up on a '74 Ply Road Runner 360 and she really honked. I recall high-13s on G-60-15 Tiger Paws; pretty stout at the time for a basically stock 360, with headers, automatic and 3.23.1 posi. Big tires and extra weight helped the RR ET in the quarter.
Thanks for the road test Fleet.