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Modern Muscle with Classic Names

175 messages,  Last post on Nov 10, 2008 at 11:35 AM

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#172 of 175 Re: The young some times speak without [davethecarnut] by andre1969 Nov 08, 2008 (3:35 pm)
Replying to: davethecarnut (Nov 08, 2008 2:48 pm) The 426 Hemi was dropped after 1971. However, Chrysler held onto some of its other high performance engines longer than most. You could still get a 440-6pack in a 1973 Charger. It put out 330 hp that year. That might sound tame compared to the glory days of the 60's, but remember that they rated hp differently starting in 1972, publishing net, rather than gross figures. 330 hp net would easily be 400-410 gross. To put it in perspective, the 426 Hemi, which was rated at 425 hp, was rated at 350 net.   For 1974, you could still get a Charger with a 280 hp 440. By that time though, I think it was a hot 4-bbl, rather than a 6-pack or dual quad.   As for the Challenger and Barracuda, they wussed out very quickly. In 1971 you could get a 440 6-pack or the Hemi. But for 1972, the top engine was a 245 hp 340 smallblock. It was actually a good performer, and would embarrass many big-blocks, but it wasn't not Hemi! For '73 they started phasing in a 360 which had about the same peak hp, but it had a narrower power band than the 340, so it didn't perform as well.   By 1974 though, I think everybody was out of the high-performance game. Olds, Buick, and Pontiac used to offer high-output versions of their 455's, but I think they were down to around 250 hp by 1974, and by 1975 you'd be lucky to see 200-210 hp out of a big-block. The Chevy 454 put out 270 hp back in 1972, but by '74 I think it got cut severely, and even worse by '75-76.   Chrysler did still have a 255 hp 440 in 1978, which was about as powerful as it got by that time. The only catch is, they were only offered in the midsize Monaco/Coronet police cars! They were pretty quick, too...fast enough that they'd even give most modern police cars a run for their money.
#173 of 175 Re: Retro's are no goes! [andre1969] by papasam1 Nov 08, 2008 (6:56 pm)
Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 25, 2006 6:15 am) I guest I should ask just how many of you were actually driving does the first crisis, I was bron in 1952 and was just starting love the muscle car era when this crisis came along. I have heard all type of hear say crap about how and why it started with most of it being from some grand pop or grand mom that didn't even own a muscle car or even knew what they were. And yes the insurance was going up but that was nothing, new the car industry always lied about horse power in cars just to keep the insurance down and the insurance companies were just starting to change with the times. The mustang II was a nescessary car for the times along with nova,acclaim and a number of other car that were needed. If we are to talk these types of things aleast get all the facts. Replies to this message: davethecarnut (Nov 10, 2008 10:57 am) andre1969 (Nov 10, 2008 11:35 am)
#174 of 175 Re: Retro's are no goes! [papasam1] by davethecarnut Nov 10, 2008 (10:57 am)
Replying to: papasam1 (Nov 08, 2008 6:56 pm)  Not just gas and insurance prices, but don't forget (excuse me while I channel my inner "Gore"), emission equipment choked the heck outta engines too. Unfortunately it was a necessary evil. I've lived in So. Cal all my life and I remember my eyes would burn from the smoggy air back then. Believe it or not, air quality here is much better than it was in the early 70's.
#175 of 175 Re: Retro's are no goes! [papasam1] by andre1969 Nov 10, 2008 (11:35 am)
Replying to: papasam1 (Nov 08, 2008 6:56 pm) And yes the insurance was going up but that was nothing, new the car industry always lied about horse power in cars just to keep the insurance down and the insurance companies were just starting to change with the times.   I don't think high insurance rates played much of a part until the 1970's. If anything, most car companies were over-stating their hp in the 60's, rather than under-stating it. Horsepower is what sold cars in those days. Chrysler's 340 was one of the few under-rated engines...probably because if they listed its true horsepower, then people would question whether they really needed some of the bigger engines. It was rated around 270-275 hp with the 4-bbl. When the rating system went to net hp, it still had 245 hp, or about 89-90% of its gross rating. Many engines were lucky if their net rating was 70% of its gross rating, although to be fair, some engines had their compression cut at the same time, so there was a real loss in addition to the "paper" loss.

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