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[QUOTE=Fleet 500;740230]I'm pretty sure that Ferrari is not big.
I don't know what year Maserati 5000 GT you are referring to but a '63 is only 187.4" long (nowhere near "big") and weighs around 3,200 lbs.
Remember that most of the big '50s/early '60s American cars were not only heavy, but had mild rear axle gearing (anywhere from 2.90 to 3.40:1, whereas cars like Ferraris and Maseratis had 3.50 to 4.50:1. That makes a big difference in acceleration.
I have posted specs here before of near-4,000 lb, full-sized early '60s Pontiac 389 and 421-cu-in Catalinas which could run 0-60 mph in the 5-sec bracket and 1/4 miles in the 13s.[/QUOTE]
I was referring to the '59 Allemano Coupe. I weighted 4400lb which makes it similar in weight to the cars you quoted, which is what matters when it comes to performance not the size.
Anyway with those Pontiacs, that's more like it. ;)
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[QUOTE=Ferrer;740335]I was referring to the '59 Allemano Coupe. I weighted 4400lb which makes it similar in weight to the cars you quoted, which is what matters when it comes to performance not the size.
Anyway with those Pontiacs, that's more like it. ;)[/QUOTE]
Do you have a link with info on that '59 Allemano? I would like to read up on it. Do you know what rear axle ratio it had?
As for the Pontiacs, they had 3.90, 4.30 and 4.56:1 rear axles, that's why they were faster than the other cars I posted which had much milder gearing.
In fact, I've read that the top two things you can do to a '50s-'70s American car to make it faster is to change to a lower rear axle ratio and put on a set of headers.
As an experiment, a muscle car magazine hopped up a '71 Plymouth Satellite with a 318 V-8. They did things like put on a bigger carb, dual exhuasts, wider tires, etc. They found that just installing a set of 4.30:1 gears replacing the factory 2.93s made the car 1 and 1/2 seconds faster in the 1/4 mile. Just by changing the rear axle ratio!
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[QUOTE=Fleet 500;740456]Do you have a link with info on that '59 Allemano? I would like to read up on it. Do you know what rear axle ratio it had?
As for the Pontiacs, they had 3.90, 4.30 and 4.56:1 rear axles, that's why they were faster than the other cars I posted which had much milder gearing.
In fact, I've read that the top two things you can do to a '50s-'70s American car to make it faster is to change to a lower rear axle ratio and put on a set of headers.
As an experiment, a muscle car magazine hopped up a '71 Plymouth Satellite with a 318 V-8. They did things like put on a bigger carb, dual exhuasts, wider tires, etc. They found that just installing a set of 4.30:1 gears replacing the factory 2.93s made the car 1 and 1/2 seconds faster in the 1/4 mile. Just by changing the rear axle ratio![/QUOTE]
[url=http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=9218&Maserati]1959 Maserati 5000 GT specifications - Carfolio.com specifications[/url]
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After checking that site and others, I have found that only 34 '59-'65 Maserati 5000 GTs were built and only 2 in 1959. This, of course, compared to the tens of thousands of Cadillacs/Lincolns/Imperials/DeSotos built. So the 5000 GT could be considered a (very) limited production car, maybe even an exotic.
I did find out that the rear axle ratio of the 5000 GT is 3.54:1 and that several sources list a weight of around 3,600 lbs.
This one [url=http://www.supercars.net/cars/1082.html]Maserati 5000 GT - Supercars.net[/url] lists a weight of 3,642.
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[QUOTE=Fleet 500;740667]After checking that site and others, I have found that only 34 '59-'65 Maserati 5000 GTs were built and only 2 in 1959. This, of course, compared to the tens of thousands of Cadillacs/Lincolns/Imperials/DeSotos built. So the 5000 GT could be considered a (very) limited production car, maybe even an exotic.
I did find out that the rear axle ratio of the 5000 GT is 3.54:1 and that several sources list a weight of around 3,600 lbs.
This one [url=http://www.supercars.net/cars/1082.html]Maserati 5000 GT - Supercars.net[/url] lists a weight of 3,642.[/QUOTE]
There were different bodies made by italian coachbuilders for the 5000 GT, which might explain the differences in weight you find.
And the Maserati might be a limited production car but I quoted it because it had a similar power to weight ration yet much bette performance. It's not Maserati's fault if the Americans didn't know how to make it better... :p
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[QUOTE=Ferrer;740677]There were different bodies made by italian coachbuilders for the 5000 GT, which might explain the differences in weight you find.
And the Maserati might be a limited production car but I quoted it because it had a similar power to weight ration yet much bette performance. It's not Maserati's fault if the Americans didn't know how to make it better... :p[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it could be the different bodies.
Again, gearing makes a big difference in performance. And in some cases, you are comparing that car with 3.54:1 gears to Cads/Lincolns/Imperials with 3.00 or 3.07 gearing. Also, you are comparing with cars that have a relatively mildly tuned engine. The engines in the Cad/Lincolns/Imperials were not high-performance engines, whereas the Maserati's was.
As for the American's "not making it better," those driving the early '60s Pontiacs would probably have something to say about that! :D
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THe Chryslers seem to be goingthrough the slalom at a much slower speed