King of the Muscle Cars

[EZ Nova]

WHO kept the stock tires on??? All these "day 2" thread an no-one had stock OEM tire!

So the OEM tire is a "moot" point.

[EZ Nova]

IF your looking at EVERYTHING being OEM stock and correct with ALL cars. It comes down to the 15X8 rim'med Vettes. 15 X 8 rims and sidepipes for the win.

[earntaz]

Originally Posted by EZ Nova

WHO kept the stock tires on??? All these "day 2" thread an no-one had stock OEM tire!

So the OEM tire is a "moot" point.

70s' NHRA Pure Stock -- same size tires/rims that came from the factory ... just sayin' ... TAZ

[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by EZ Nova

WHO kept the stock tires on??? All these "day 2" thread an no-one had stock OEM tire!

So the OEM tire is a "moot" point.

The essence of this thread AFAIK was which muscle car . . . right off the showroom floor . . . could be considered King of the muscle cars.

So such things as which transmission was standard or mandatory, what was the standard tire size, what was the standard rear axle ratio, did it include "posi?"

Then you have to consider what were available options? Could you improve on what was standard by spending more money or were you stuck with "it."

Let me give you an example - 1970 GS455 came standard with G70x14 tires and a 3.42 non-posi rear. Order the Stage 1 option and you got a 3.64 posi rear included. And you could order G60x15 tires on either steel wheels and hubcaps or extra charge 15" chrome "Magnum 500" wheels.

[Survivor 69/Z28]

I think its fair to say that the gear rations are really irrelevant to the topic considering all of the gear options for all of the models. Let's take car for car in general terms.

[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by Survivor 69/Z28

I think its fair to say that the gear rations are really irrelevant to the topic considering all of the gear options for all of the models. Let's take car for car in general terms.

I disagree.

I am sure you have seen this list before:

http://www.streetmusclemag.com/news/...t-muscle-cars/

Look at all the cars with 3.23 - 3.55 gears

We are talking about 1969 - 1970, the zenith of muscle cars. How many people actually ordered a 4.10 posi rear for their 1970 LS6 Chevelle SS? The one Chevrolet provided to Car Craft had a 3.55 rear in it.

Now keep in mind that by 1970 insurance rates were sky high on super hi performance cars. So the factories didn't set their cars up for optimum performance when they lent one out to a magazine for testing and a write up. They didn't want to see an LS6 Chevelle SS do 12.90 in the quarter mile right off the showroom floor for fear insurance companies wouldn't insure them.

In 1969 Chevrolet had 6400 dealerships in the USA. How many of them were Hi Performance Dealerships?

That's what made some cars special. Like the 1968 RAII GTO with it's standard 4.33 posi rear or the 1969/1970 RAIV GTO with a standard 3.90 rear.

If you ordered a 1970 Hemi 'Cuda with an auto trans the standard rear axle ratio was 3.23. If you wanted 4.10 gears it's cost you $221.00 which is $1,425.40 in 2017 dollars! They only came with the super performance axle package which included PFDB.

[Lee Stewart]

IMO - some cars have grown in stature over time due to their rarity and not necessarily what their original performance specs were. A perfect example is the Boss 429.

Would someone please explain to me why this engine has a 735 CFM carb on it while the Boss 302 has a 780 CFM carb. Why didn't Ford put a 780 CFM carb on the Boss 429?

[SeattleCarGuy]

My King.

[Lee Stewart]

The 1968 - 1970 L78 Nova SS396 is a great muscle car no question. But IMO it was a car that Chevrolet paid no real attention to. Such things as never offering the 396/325 HP engine as an option, never offering RWL tires as an option, never designing stripes for it, never designing chrome exhaust tips for it, using the same hood inserts for 3 years. The M22 is offered in 1968 and 1969 but not in 1970. Chevy called it the Console option but it really wasn't. It was a Consolette. The 396 engine options don't appear in any of the brochures. It was almost as if Chevy didn't want to sell you a Nova SS396.

Please don't wax lyrical using today's knowledge and say how great all that was - a street sleeper, a Q-Ship because back in 1969/1970 that wasn't what a muscle car was.

[69LM1]

This is like a bunch of old men arguing over which one is best: blonde brunette or redhead.

One of each please!




Rich