Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

Forgotten speed

mattcmattc Member Posts: 16
There are some speedy rides like the Grand Prix NASCAR and Mustang Monroe Handler that have become forgotten. What other obscure rides can you think of? :confuse:

image

Poncho Powa

image
Tagged:

Comments

  • omarmanomarman Member Posts: 2,702
    There are some speedy rides like the Grand Prix NASCAR and Mustang Monroe Handler that have become forgotten.

    The blue car is a 1975 Chevelle Laguna S-3 I found posted on Flickr and is also shown from the rear angle.

    Photobucket

    The Monroe Handler Mustang was a part of an advertising promotion by Monroe Shock Absorbers and other sponsors. They commissioned 7 show cars based on the 1978 Mustang II and apparently gave them away in a contest. (Click on either pic for a larger view.)

    Photobucket
    A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
  • mattcmattc Member Posts: 16
    Whoops, yes, in getting excited about the nosecone I missed the fact it was a Laguna, lol.

    The 1974 GTO wasn't a bad car. Although Ventura / Nova based its 350 V8 put out a Corvette threatening 200 hp net, which was good for the time and you could still team it with a manual gearbox (3 speed).

    The '74 Goat
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,638
    I've seen 0-60 times listed for the 1974 GTO at 7.7 seconds, which was probably with the stick shift. Could you get a 4-speed with these, or just a 3-speed? That's really not far off from the original 1964's 7.5 seconds, with the 325 hp (gross) setup of the 389 (dunno if that was with a 4-speed or automatic though).

    Both of 'em also did a ~15.7 second quarter mile although the '64 was doing 92 mph, versus 88 for the '74, so I guess that's an indication that the '64 was still a much better performer at higher speeds.

    Not a bad car at all, considering the timeframe, but they just should have called it something other than GTO.
  • mattcmattc Member Posts: 16
    The $195 1974 GTO package came with a 3 speed floorshift, with Hurst shifter as far as I know.

    Some of the early Hurst Olds Cutlass were special cars too, later ones were pretty much paint & tape only. :)

    image

    Hurst/Olds
  • mattcmattc Member Posts: 16
    1967:

    Yenko ordered L-78 equipped SS Camaros and swapped in the Chevrolet Corvette's L-72 427 in³ (7.0 L) V8. The cars came with a 4.10 rear end and heavy-duty suspension. The exact number of cars produced is not known; most estimates are around 50. Yenko also installed a fiberglass replacement hood similar to the "Stinger" hood featured on 1967 big-block Corvettes.

    image

    Don Yenko's Camaros were equipped with a 427ci L-72 in them with either an M21 or M22 transmission. The horsepower was rated at 423 hp (315 kW). Yenko Camaros were not allowed to race for Chevrolet on the drag strip because they were not made by Chevrolet. Chevy's answer to this was the Copo Camaro, or Central Office Production Order, in 1969. The Copo Camaros were equipped with the same 427ci engine and were allowed to race for Chevy. :shades:
  • mattcmattc Member Posts: 16
    The 1975 Chevy Vega Cosworth. A marriage between GM's 1970s rear drive subcompact and the 4 cylinder dual cam 16 valve expertise of English engine constructor Cosworth. In 1975 32 out of the 33 starters in the Indy 500 used a Cosworth DFV V8.

    The Vega Cosworth never really lived up to expectations because of pollution controls, but an interesting curiosity today. :)

    image
  • mattcmattc Member Posts: 16
    Rotaries were pretty strong on performance in the 1970-75 smog era.

    Mazda RX-7 & Cosmo AP

    image
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Mazda had a *lot* of trouble making the rotary engine ready for "prime time"--they burned oil and they sucked gas, and sometimes they would backfire so badly every war veteran within ten blocks hit the dirt.

    To Mazda's credit, they stuck with it, and replaced a sizable number of rotary engines under warranty, and BEYOND warranty, and I'm sure it cost them a pretty penny.

    Eventually, in the early 1990s they developed that rotary engine into the rather magnificent Mazda RX 7 Twin Turbo, which was, and still is, a formidable sports car and very quick indeed.
  • mattcmattc Member Posts: 16

    I wonder if with all the advances in Corvette tech of late, that the once popular C3 is getting overlooked?

    C3 in video

    url=https://facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=545816705465703&id=149641291749915&notif_t=like

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481

    Well certainly in 1973--1982, the C3 values start to sink pretty rapidly.

  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,669

    I followed a '70-ish C3 for a couple of blocks last night. Boy, the fumes coming off it sure took me back a few decades...

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481

    I know. We've forgotten that intoxicating smell of hydrocarbons from a badly adjusted carburetor.

  • mattcmattc Member Posts: 16

    Well, from a classic car point of view black smoke just means the car has been sitting a long time. Blue smoke indicates valve guide wear, and white smoke and sweet smell indicates coolant is leaking into the oil (cracked head/gasket issues) Only white smoke is a sign of serious problems.

    Gremlin 401-XR B)

    facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=580173508668158&set=pb.216732805012232.-2207520000.1394712638.&type=3&theater

  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,027

    I always liked the Cosworth Vega. In '76, they could be gotten in any regular Vega color, not just black like the '75. That one in the photo has the bright trim around the quarter window missing--common on those cars. Our little dealer got one in. I rode in it when new, driven by a salesman I knew. At the time, it seemed exhilarating for a four-cylinder. Fast-forward over 20 years, and that same exact car had been traded in on a used Corvette at even a smaller Chevy dealer fifteen miles south of the original selling dealer. A friend of mine bought it and I rode in it again. It has only 13K miles now. Incidentally, the car was originally bought by a little old lady--I saw her in it--salesman told me she said it reminded her of her late husband's Corvair.

  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,669

    @uplanderguy said:
    I always liked the Cosworth Vega. In '76, they could be gotten in any regular Vega color, not just black like the '75. That one in the photo has the bright trim around the quarter window missing--common on those cars. Our little dealer got one in. I rode in it when new, driven by a salesman I knew. At the time, it seemed exhilarating for a four-cylinder.

    I always enjoy driving a slow car fast more than a fast car slow. My '83 GTI, all 90 hp of it, was fun on a day-to-day basis, could use all of the power much of the time, unlike, say, a Corvette or even Mustang now.

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481

    There's a bit of a Cosworth cult, so the cars are appreciated by some.

Sign In or Register to comment.