Quote:
Originally Posted by RSSSfan
(Post 1503086)
I remember how bleak things looked automotive-wise back in the late 70's and early 80's. It was looking like the musclecar was soon going to be extinct. At that time very few could envision that 30+ years in the future you could walk into the dealership and order a car that had 500+ HP, could get 25+ MPG on the highway, could outperform a lot of the all-out race cars in the 70's, and still had all the creature comforts like AC, power windows, and leather interiors.
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If for no other reason, this is why I have a soft spot for the 77 Z/28. At least Chevy decided to take a shot at performance. This was a first step, and I was so excited to see it back in 1977; and I hate giant bumbers from the 70s.
1976 had to be the low water mark for performance among U.S. produced cars. I have posted many time about an article that Road & Track ran on the fastest cars made in America in 1976.
The fastest car was almost ..... a Chevy truck. Could still get a 454 in the truck. The truck came in second to a Corvette that managed something like 124 mph.
The fastest car Ford could put in the line up was a 302 powered (and I use the term generously) Mustang II, at 105 mph. Can you imagine? Of course you can, as most of you were around. I freakin Focus can do better than that. Hell, my 1.1 liter Opel GT can break 100!
Remember, the horrible performance of the time is what fueled the first wave of muscle car mania.
JMHO, but in some ways, this car was ground breaking (re-breaking) as it signaled Chevy's attempt at muscle.
Yeah, the giant heavy doors suck, and quality control was on par with a Yugo, but still, it was just a glimpse of what was to come. |
