good for a retro laugh Mid 80's muscle-less car review

[Dantankerous]

 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Wow, 5 liters (305 cid) and a whopping 185 hp! Get the egg timer! 

[Pat Riot]

In the 80’s I had a Mazda GLC then I bought a Mazda B2000 pickup. Excitement, thrills and chills...

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

12 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

In the 80’s I had a Mazda GLC then I bought a Mazda B2000 pickup. Excitement, thrills and chills...

 

Bought a 1974 Mazda Rotary Engine pickup brand new off the showroom floor. I would compare it's performance to a small block V-8. Had lots of fun with "muscle" cars over the years.

 

I sold it in 2017 to a guy in Australia for over twice what I paid for it!

[Dirty Dog Doug]

I had 83 Mustang GT  . 185 HP ...thing is compared to cars in late 70s is was a FAST 

now if you want fast get a Tesla !!! " stock" they run 10s 

[Maddog McCoy SASS #5672]

You all have nothing on me. i blew thru the 1970's in a 1974 Ford Pinto station wagon.

 

With it's powerful 2000 cubic centimetre 4 cylinder engine and automatic transmission, you could floor it and get off the line in a mere 10 seconds. With a top end of 88 miles an hour downhill with a tailwind, you could go back to the future at any time. Not only did it sound Like a powerful tractor when the exhaust fell off, you could haul 13 kids, a drum and a saxophone when the school bus broke down. On the weekends, my brother would drive it to town and pickup a ton of hog feed and it would only drag the bumper part of the way home. The smooth ride was comparable to farm wagon hauling logs. Also, unlike  the runabout model, it would not explode when rear-ended. The gold color and the fake wood grain panels made it the perfect chick magnet.

 

It was a wonderful thing when my parents got rid of that old 1969 2 door Oldsmobile cutlass with the 350 V8 that my sister ran up to 115 mph passing cars in a no passing zone between two hills and they found about it. It was a wonderful present to get 4 days before my 16th birthday. 

 

I wanted a a 1978 T-top Pontiac Trans Am for $10,000 in midnight blue with a big 400 v8 and an automatic transmission but I never did get one.

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

I had a Pinto wagon just like that in '76, but mine had the 4 speed stick. '72 model

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

In order to keep my fun car off the snow and ice I had a succession of SALT HAWGS.

These were very useful and parked at work I didnt care who opened the door next 

to it\ them.

A white ford falcon van was pressed into use to go camping at Road America.

This van was so slow(HOW SLOW WAS it) so slow it lost speed going up

the gentle hills of wisconsin.  No danger of speeding tickets..

It could just keep up with 55 mph traffic.

But when the saturday races were over and a blanket of angry storm

clouds came over the land. the tents blew down but guess who was

grilling on the hibatchi and sleeping on air matress cozy and dry.....

Those old fords wore out but were easy to fix.

And they ran at 20 below after I got done with em.

Best

CR

 

[DocWard]

13 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Wow, 5 liters (305 cid) and a whopping 185 hp! Get the egg timer! 

 

Remember, horsepower ratings changed in 1971 from "gross" to "net." Using the older method, those numbers would be significantly higher. I know there are claims of some vehicles having much higher horsepower ratings than the factory showed, but by and large, those aren't supported by numbers, although many were easy to get to make huge numbers. https://www.hagerty.com/media/archived/horsepower/

The interesting thing is, those vehicles in the video were pulling mid 14 second quarter mile times in stock trim. By comparison, stock muscle cars of the late 60's /early 70's were only running a 1/2 second to a second faster, with significantly more cubic inches, the inability to turn particularly well, and stopping ability that was sometimes questionable at best!

I would say beyond the clothes, hair and facial hair that make me cringe a little, the video is showing us the beginnings of what is the true golden age of performance. I still prefer the looks of the older cars, but for performance...

[Marshal Chance Morgun]

The wife had an '82 Z28. Sure was fun to drive on Interstate exit ramp and curvy roads. No fun on bumpy ones.

My '70 Dart swinger would do over 130mph. Don't ask me how I know.

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

My little MG Midget has a woppin 948 cc engine. Two carbs as if that made a difference.

I suspect one larger carb might have turned out a few more horse, not less.

Due to the firing sequence it was terribly difficult to set the carb right.

Fuel injection might have been interesting.

A miata engine would make an interesting transplant IF IF IF it would

ever fit without chopping left right and backward.

However driving such a slow car makes one appreciate speed.

Anything hard to get is appreciated more, right?

It sure could turn. And a lot of folks way overestimated its power. hahahaha.

Best

CR

It would easily parallell park NOSE first. Sure surprised some guys.

 

Top candidate for all show and no go...

 

 

[Count Sandor, SASS #74075]

15 hours ago, Maddog McCoy SASS #5672 said:

You all have nothing on me. i blew thru the 1970's in a 1974 Ford Pinto station wagon.

 

With it's powerful 2000 cubic centimetre 4 cylinder engine and automatic transmission, you could floor it and get off the line in a mere 10 seconds. With a top end of 88 miles an hour downhill with a tailwind, you could go back to the future at any time. Not only did it sound Like a powerful tractor when the exhaust fell off, you could haul 13 kids, a drum and a saxophone when the school bus broke down. On the weekends, my brother would drive it to town and pickup a ton of hog feed and it would only drag the bumper part of the way home. The smooth ride was comparable to farm wagon hauling logs. Also, unlike  the runabout model, it would not explode when rear-ended. The gold color and the fake wood grain panels made it the perfect chick magnet.

 

It was a wonderful thing when my parents got rid of that old 1969 2 door Oldsmobile cutlass with the 350 V8 that my sister ran up to 115 mph passing cars in a no passing zone between two hills and they found about it. It was a wonderful present to get 4 days before my 16th birthday. 

 

I wanted a a 1978 T-top Pontiac Trans Am for $10,000 in midnight blue with a big 400 v8 and an automatic transmission but I never did get one.

  Maddog - did your Pinto also have the just-a-bit-too-short auto-trans cooler lines that were designed to rest the inside of a 90 degree bend  right against the point of a trans-pan bolt head so they would wear through at the most inopportune time?  Sandy's Pinto wagon did, left her stranded just off John Deere road with a sick kid and no phone.  If the lines had been one inch longer, it never would have happened...the Ford bean counters won that one for sure, probably saved 1 cent per car.  Fortunately, we made it - without incident - all the way back to Rock Island with it chained up behind the Mustang and my brother at the wheel & brakes!

 

CS

[Mister Badly]

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

I thought those ran pretty well....no??

Best

CR

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

I had a 57 Chevy, 4 door blue and white, 6 cyl automatic. It was the Model Two Ten. It was my dads car he gave it to me in 1965. 

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

1 minute ago, Chili Ron said:

Howdy,

I thought those ran pretty well....no??

Best

CR

 

If a mid '80's small block V8 was still euniched, then what do you thing a turbocharged 6banger from the same period was capable?

 

To be fair, it could hang with any of its' contemporaries up to about 100 and beat quite a few in the 1/4.

[Mister Badly]

They were pretty quick. No domestic v8 was able to top them with a factory tune. There was more on the table

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

I believe that's a Buick Grand National. One of my fellow employees had one, as well as a '63 Impala with the 409

[Sixgun Sheridan]

My first car was a 1975 Chevy Nova, just like this one except for being a typical 70's copper color. It had a small-block V8 in it, but it was a whopping 262 cu in delivering a mind-boggling 110 net horsepower, matched to a Turbo 350 3spd auto transmission. It literally... I kid you not... took between 17-19 seconds to go from 0-60 mph depending on how badly it stumbled on initial acceleration. The first thing I did when I got a little disposable income was rip that engine out and put a built-up 307 cu in V8 in its place, improving times to around 10 seconds 0-60.

 

[DocWard]

2 hours ago, Marshal Chance Morgun said:

My '70 Dart swinger would do over 130mph. Don't ask me how I know.

 

So would my '84 RX-7. Uhmm... Or so I heard...

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

Mine was a 1948 Plymouth, somewhat, almost fastback. Green it was.

[Lawdog Dago Dom]

1985 Mazda RX-7.

 

Straight rotary, no turbo. 5 speed.

 

You could wind out 3rd gear at 90 MPH.

 

Red line that motor all day with no issues.

[DocWard]

56 minutes ago, Lawdog Dago Dom said:

1985 Mazda RX-7.

 

Straight rotary, no turbo. 5 speed.

 

You could wind out 3rd gear at 90 MPH.

 

Red line that motor all day with no issues.

 

Yeah, I could listen to mine, a 13B, all day. Not a great pic, but this was mine. Cried like a baby when I wrecked it.

 

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

27 minutes ago, DocWard said:

 

Yeah, I could listen to mine, a 13B, all day. Not a great pic, but this was mine. Cried like a baby when I wrecked it.

 

 

I had a yellow '79. I was on a waiting list for over a year! Before I got on the list, a neighbor of a co-worker worked for Mazda USA.  The co-worker knew I was interested in the RX-7 (I already had a Rotary Pickup) so he was able to bring the neighbor's RX-7 to work for me to "test" drive. Mind you, this was almost as soon as these hit the US! Anyway, we went down the 405 at over 100 mph and coming back, I hit a green light on the exit and took a 90 degree turn at 75 mph! That car would really grab the corners!

[Lawdog Dago Dom]

1 hour ago, DocWard said:

 

Yeah, I could listen to mine, a 13B, all day. Not a great pic, but this was mine. Cried like a baby when I wrecked it.

 

Oh boy!

I feel your pain.

 

I used to think guys that mourned cars they owned (then sold) were nuts.

 

So I'm nuts too.

 

Those MacPherson struts could let you take a curve easily 20 mph over what it was posted.

 

Life in the fast lane. Literally.

[Duffield, SASS #23454]

I had the first RX-2 in Nashville.  The speedometer went to 130 and it would burry the needle.  It was a remarkable little car, and looked enough like an Opel Cadet that no one supected how fast it was.  I don't know why I didn't get a big stack of speeding tickets.

 

Duffield

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

I had one of the very first GTI.  The first change was to pull off

the GTI emblem and replace it with Diesel LS.

I am pretty sure it kept me from being pulled over a few times.

I had a little speech all ready where I was going to ask

the officer to write a statement that my Diesel had in fact

broken a speed limit so I could show my friends etc.....

Better to have and not need.

I found over the years that getting an officer to laugh is

a way out of a ticket or the ticket will be much less or

just a warning.

Best

CR

 

[Finagler 6853 Life]

When we were first married, my wife wanted a Ford Mustang n the worst way.  So we ordered a 1980, blue unit with a 4 cylinder engine.  She didn't think she needed more horsepower.  You could time that thing with an hour glass.  It cornered alright but if you punched it, it would hesitate, turn to you and ask, are you kidding?  She did admit that we should have gotten the six cylinder like I said.  She didn't need the 8 cylinder but that would have been fun.  I traded in my Pontiac Sunbird with a 4 cylinder Iron Duke and a 4 speed on the floor.  That baby could scoot.  I wish I had that one.  She couldn't drive a stick and it needed a tune up, new muffler, etc.  By the time the Ford arrived, she had learned how to drive it and I got it tuned but the Mustang was her car.  That is the only car she has had that she didn't regret selling.

[Michigan Slim]

My Camaro had a 307 with a two speed Powerglide trans when I bought it. It would get from 3 to 22 mpg depending on how I drove. Quick for what it was. Had a 350 bored and stroked but left the 307 emblems on the side. If you booted it under 60 it would break loose if you weren't careful. 

Sold it to an 18 year old puke. Told him NEVER punch it in turns! Ever! He owned it four weeks and rolled it. 

[Blackwater 53393]

My 1964 Impala SS with the factory installed 4.56:1 posi-traction rear end, 4spd transmission and 425hp 409 engine would cover a 1/4 mile in just over 11 seconds. When I pulled the heads and removed the extra head gaskets installed at the factory, it would run 10.40s.

 

 The only other change was the better tires available in 1980/81!  Not slicks, mind you. Store bought street tires!  Estimates are that with the double head gaskets, these engines actually produced nearly 500 hp in factory tune. With the extra gaskets removed, the compression jumped one full atmosphere and it’s rumored that factory dyno tests produced over 550 hp.

 

It’s useful to remember that Pro Stock racers in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s were willing to pay $5,000.00 for a tenth of a second on the quarter mile.  Your 14 second Mustang would require a lot of bucks to run with my ‘64 Impala that sold new for less than $2,500.00 new and only required a few bucks for tires and a few hours of labor to run the way it did.

It rode good and was pretty comfortable to drive until I went all out street racer with it. Like I said on the other thread. It was the most brutal, violent vehicle I’ve ever driven on the street!!

 

I’ll tell y’all about some of my sissified cars in another post!

 

HELL! I was the proud owner of a Fiero at one time!! 

 

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

I had one exactly like this in 1980, no muscle car but really cool ride!!

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

On 10/5/2020 at 3:00 PM, Marshal Chance Morgun said:

The wife had an '82 Z28. Sure was fun to drive on Interstate exit ramp and curvy roads. No fun on bumpy ones.

My '70 Dart swinger would do over 130mph. Don't ask me how I know.

I had a 1990 Silverado that I got up to that and it wasn't even breathing hard and had lots of gas pedal left. I ran out of straightaway and guts about that time so I really don't know how fast it would go.

JHC

[Marshal Chance Morgun]

2 hours ago, Capt. James H. Callahan said:

I had a 1990 Silverado that I got up to that and it wasn't even breathing hard and had lots of gas pedal left. I ran out of straightaway and guts about that time so I really don't know how fast it would go.

JHC

That's the same thing that happened with me, I mean the guy driving my car.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

6 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I had one exactly like this in 1980, no muscle car but really cool ride!!

In its day, the Cutlass was among the top selling cars at GM.

[Blackwater 53393]

I said in my previous entry here that I would tell about some of my wimpier rides.  The Fiero was a good example. It was a top of the line model with a 4spd and the good tires and handling package. It wouldn’t get out of its own way on acceleration, but it drove really well and got great fuel mileage.

 

We had four of the ‘78-‘82 Malibu models. All were 200cid V6s when we got ‘em. One was a four door beater, worthy only of grocery getter duty and back and forth to work and school. One was a wagon. The 6banger blew up and I dropped in a stout little 350 and a 400 turbo transmission.  That one really pissed off the Fox Body Mustang contingent.  We did a little suspension work on it and I doctored the rear frame rails to accept a set of C4 Corvette wheels and the Z speed rated tires.

 

We had two of the two door models. Again, one was a “plain Jane” that did its job but offered no pleasure or performance. The other one was the top of the line Malibu Classic. It was a nice looking little car with all the bells and whistles.  Schoolmarm drove it until the engine let go one afternoon in downtown Nashville. We bought her a clean, one owner Camaro RS that was pretty but really wimpy. I dropped the 462 inch big block Chevy engine and 400 transmission out of my old Suburban into the little Malibu, stuck the 12 bolt rear end out of a Monte Carlo under it and “Katy! Bar the door!!!”  These cars were MADE for the hotrodder!! Every piece to make it work could be bought at your local Chevy dealer or the local parts store!!  Everything, right down to the A/C and the cruise control worked with factory parts!

 

That Camaro I mentioned. It was a plain waste of metal. It looked great, but it wouldn’t run 100 mph if you started at 90 and drove it off a cliff! It rode fair and stopped great, but it had no spunk at all.

 

Later, there was a Honda CRV. It was pitiful!  It rode bad. It wasn’t comfortable to sit in.  It got only fair gas mileage, considering that it was so small and so under powered. Even those V6 Malibus would out accelerate it. Worst of all, nobody could keep the A/C working on it! I replaced THREE compressors on it! I replaced the A/C clutch another time. The dealership replaced the compressor AND the harmonic balancer. Finally, it broke down twice in two days while we were on a long vacation. They repaired it once under warranty and it failed again the next day, just south of the Iowa state line in Missouri.  We bought the current ride, a Buick Enclave over the phone from a dealership and had them pick us up off the roadside. The Honda was never seen again!! The Enclave is a nice car, (Buick lists it as a truck, by the way) it gets gas mileage as good as the Honda, is twice the size, rides better, and is far and away more comfortable! It’s no muscle car, but it’ll do.

 

Much of this time, over thirty years as a matter of fact, I have had my old Harley. It has been more dependable than most of these bombs. It and Ol’ Green, which we’ve had for seventeen years, just seem to always be sitting there saying, “I got this! Feed me some gas and charge the battery. We can go!”