Idle thoughts/ What is a Supercar??

[NWYENKO]

Sitting here on a NW rainy afternoon and was wondering about the definition of "Supercar" Does this include L79 Novas and Chevelles, what about L78's, 283/283 fuelies, 409/425, Z28's? Just thoughts for a rainy day.

[Mr70]

Start with a Pony car.
Step up to a Muscle car.
Reach for a Super car.

[NWYENKO]

Lets see if this links.http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/May/20015144411729339985614.jpg. This is the photo we are using for our cards.

[NWYENKO]

Lets try this http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/May/20015144411729339985614.jpg

[Belair62]

The definition for "Supercar" for this site is "Chevrolet dealer built Supercars and COPO cars"......HOWEVER..if you take it back a few years when pony cars were barely on the drawing board...there were those wonderful Z-11's,Pontiac Super Duty's,Lightweight Galaxies,Super Stock MoPars...those were indeed Supercars by anyones definition.Head down to your local dealer and buy factory built aluminum front end,drilled frames,acid dipped....factories definitely took the big cars to their ultimate place before the pony cars arrived.Bet the engineers were glad to see them arrive...wonder what they would have thought of next to shed weight and go faster. http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/burnout.gif

[NWYENKO]

Not to be a pest but my question is " what is a Chevrolet built Supercar" ? I am really trying to learn the correct terminology. As far as i am concerned Chevrolet has built a lot of Supercars!!!!

[COPO PETE]

I have to agree with Belair62. I believe his definition is 99% correct. Any dealer built performance car and almost all COPO's. All COPO's with a performance engine would qualify. Special order paint through the COPO program would not apply. I believe a 396/375 Daytona Yellow Chevelle painted through the COPO program would not be a "Supercar". And obviosly taxi cabs, telephone trucks and what not would not be. Although the tri- power Police cars that went to Nevada I think would certainly qualify.Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. NWYenko, according to your picture, you have two "Supercars" although the other one looks super too. http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif
Peter

[Casey Marks]

Pete - what's the story on the 3-deuce Nevada police cars ?? Don't know that I have ever heard that story ?????

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Pete and Bob;
I agree 100%!!

NWYENKO;
Nice L79, I really like them. I passed up a nice '66 L79 Nova and a nice '69 L78 Nova to buy my Yenko. The guy selling the two Novas thought I was crazy, telling me that the L79 was more rare than the Yenkos! I told him only if it was a '67 L79 Nova.
M

[COPO PETE]

Casey; Never seen one but in the Dec/Jan 98 issue of MCR, the one with my three cars on the cover, Tom did an interview with Jim Mattison. He talks briefly on this subject. I'd like to see you Dodge boys outrun that unit. http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/laugh.gif
Peter

[NWYENKO]

Thanks, Marlin, the L79 is a # matching factory air car that was the Nostalgia Nova club raffle car in '95. It was nicely restored but improperly prepared and painted with lacquer which had checked real bad. The guy I bought it from was afraid to have it painted. The tires and wheels were my wife's Valentines present last year. (it is her car you know). I wish I could locate some documentation on the car but the guys at Nostalgia Nova were not much help.

[DarrylD]

Idle thoughts? Thats not Supercar talk. It should be W.O.T. thoughts! http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/wink.gif

[bowtie3168]

NWYENKO,
Great Question. I have always wondered about the same question. I think that the most of the group here is primarily interested in Chevrolet COPO and dealer prepared cars from 1967-1972. There are members that have different interests in the group, like Yenko Corvairs, Motion Vettes, and cars like the Yenko Turbo Z, Yenko Vegas and the later Motion cars (I by the way like them ALL!). I have always wondered if people are interested when I bring up topics on Z-11 Impalas, special order Z-28s, L-79 cars (Chevelles and Novas) and really ground breaking cars like the '65 Chevelle SS Z-16. Bill Jenkins' '66 L-79 Nova (a non-SS car by the way) was a really intersting car, that was probably special ordered through Ammon R. Smith Auto Car Company (Chevrolet) York,Pa.. Why wouldn't that car be considered a Supercar when a '69 COPO Camaro would? The HP to weight ratio on the L-79 cars were comparable to the L-72 cars. My definition of a Supercar is a Chevrolet that was avail from the factory or dealer for special ultra high performance use avail in limited quantity.

[NWYENKO]

Great analysis!! I like it! http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/burnout.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubb/smilies/burnout.gif

[Belair62]

Bowtie....feel free to bring up all that stuff....One day I hope to have me one of them thar Z-11 Impalas....and a Z-16 Chevelle.Never had an interest in "normal" hi-po cars.I like the oddball rare stuff.I doubt I am alone on that.Wouldn't you love to go down to your connected dealer and pick up an altered wheelbase car ? Damn.The modern horsepower wars just aren't the same without a little aluminum and a hole saw ! I talked to the original owners wife if my SD Pontiac...she recalled her husband being very P.O.'d when he found out she took the thing down to the store ! She recalled walking into Allens Pontiac in Covington Indiana (a town of about 2500 people) and ordering up the only Kimberley Blue SD car built.They took delivery AFTER the official GM racing ban...Sorry for the long post..I must be bored ! By the way Pete when I was in high school acouple towns over in Skokie Illinois they had 2 "chase" cars, a 69 427 Bel Air and a 69 Hemi Polara or Fury. I had a ride in the MoPar once !

[Edited by Belair62 (05-15-2001 at 10:17 PM).]

[JoeC]

The term "Supercar" was being used in the mid 60's. I do not know when the magazine "SPEED AND SUPERCAR" formerly SPEED and CUSTOM published its first issue but I have one from Dec. 1966. It has an editorial by Dean Parker called "the Supercar Scene." I think "Supercar" was derived from the TV show Superman. Many of the 1961 to 1964 factory Hot Rods like the 409, 426 Wedge and Hemi, 421 Pontiac, and 427 Fords were bought as plain looking low cost bodies with the biggest available engine. They looked like Clark Kent but when you stuck your foot in them Superman came out of the phone booth. They were hard core Supercars that were made stripped for racing. 1964 was a turning point between the Supercar and the Muscle car. The 64 GTO and the musclecars that followed were a different concept. It was still a supercar but it was also designed to be a cool drivers car for the youth market not just for the racer. Then around 1968 the factories discovered that winning races was selling cars so the hard-core Supercar was back in the form of wild cars like 427 COPOs, L88s, Hemi Darts @ Cudas, ZL-1 Camaros, Cross Ram JL8 Z/28s, 428CJ, Boss 302 @ 429s, Hurst 442 Olds, GNX, Superbirds, AMX, etc.. Everyone has their own opinion but to me a Supercar is a stripped down high horsepower car built to race by a factory or a dealer even if it lost its Clark Kent disguise with stripes and scoops it still had to have the heart of Superman. Faster then a speeding bullet, able to leap........

[Belair62]

Agree,well said.I like 'em all.Timing was exactly right for the Muscle car.Young guys didn't want to jump into a big barge anymore no matter how fast they got.Pony/Muscle/Supercars were faster and cooler looking. Something special about a giant behemoth of a car coming away from a light sideways ripping thru the gears with all 8 barrels open!Real drivers ed. class !

[NC Guy]

Howdy all,
I'am a newbie on this sight and am trying to follow the definition of a Supercar. You all have posted informative replys that have been helpful.
My question is:
Will the Dale Earnhardt Intimidator SS be considered a 'Supercar'? The folks at D E Chevrolet recently informed me that I should receive mine sometime next week.
Thanks for any answers/replys.

I TOO OWN A EARNHARDT INTIMIDATOR SS CAMARO. I CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THESE ARE A SUPERCAR. THE ONE THAT WAS ON THE HOTROD POWER TOUR DYNOED 398 HP AT THE REAR WHEELS! THESE ARE TRULY A MODERN DAY MUSCLECAR/SUPERCAR. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WILL LOVE THE CHAMBERED EXHAUST!!!

[Charley Lillard]

I can't believe that car Put out that much HP. They are Rated 381 hp at the flywheel. Maybe he had Nitrous hidden somewhere ? The same company that builds it and the Berger SS is gonna do a ZL1 Camaro with a Vette ZO6 engine. Oh Boy....

[Belair62]

Now that sounds interesting Clill....got any other info on that car ? When will it be built ?

[Charley Lillard]

Go to gmmginc.net...Cool car. A Z06 Vette runs mid 12's and it is rated at 385 hp.......mmmmmmmmm............My understanding is that they will be all Berger Cars and they are gonna build 69 of them....

[Edited by Charley Lillard (06-02-2001 at 10:57 PM).]

CHARLEY, LET ME BREAK DOWN THE 381. 3-EARNHARDTS #, 8-JR.S #, AND 1-STEVE PARKS#. I WAS TOLD THE HP RATING HAD TO BE UNDER 385. PRETTY CREATIVE. I WAS ALSO TOLD BY A SALESMAN AT EARNHARDT CHEVY, THAT THE CAR THAT WAS RATED AT 398 AT THE REAR WHEELS, WAS THE SAME CAR THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE HOT ROD POWER TOUR.

[NC Guy]

yenko,
Thanks for the congrats...I'am really looking foreward to the car.
Thats the first brake-down of the 381 hp rating that I've heard. But it makes sense because chevy always puts its highest hp rating on it's flagship Corvette. Matt at GMMG did tell me the 381 rating was at the flywheel and rear wheel was somewhere around 335.
I plunked down my deposit 2 days after Dale passed away and at that time I was #51 on a list of 53. Since then, Teresa convinced GM to release 30 more cars for the series. That should bring total production to 83 to the best of my knowledge. I think my car will be numbered between 45 and 50.
What number is your car and do you think they are collectables as we speak?
Thanks for your time.

MINE IS #21. IT IS A SIGNED CAR. I AM GOING TO A CHASSIS DYNO TO SEE FOR MYSELF, I WILL POST THE RESULTS. WE HAVE ONE LOCAL. I BELEIVE THEM TO BE COLLECTABLE ALREADY JUST FOR THE FACT THAT MOST OF THEM WENT TO COLLECTORS. I DID GET BEAT MY FIRST RACE AGAINST A 1970 BUICK GS455. I HAD NO IDEA THAT THESE CARS HAD A REV LIMITER SET AT ABOUT 5500RPM FOR 500 MILE BREAK-IN PERIOD. THE CAR PULLED VERY HARD EVEN AT THAT POINT, THERE WAS PLENTY LEFT. IT TOOK ME A FEW SECONDS TO FIGURE IT OUT. BY THEN IT WAS TOO LATE!

[NC Guy]

Thanks for the heads-up on the rev limiter, I wasn't aware of it either. I wonder if other GMMG preped cars (ie Berger SS, ZL1 Camaro, etc..) have the same thing?
Do keep us posted on the results of your chassis dyno pull. I for one, will be very interested to know.
Thanks.