John,
They had the whole "I think I left my stomach back there" whiplash
inducing torque, and were the symbol of this country's culture in the 60s
and 70s.
Exactly, like a F-105 Thunderchief hitting full throttle in full AB or
pushing the throttle past the copper wire safety stop in a Corsair to get
full War Emergency out of the P&W R-2800. :-)))
The Chevy Corvette, despite what that site says, was one of the leading
musclecars. I ride in one frequently, and it is not a "sports car." A
sports car handles well, has a lightish weight engine, and has a generally
European feel. Some of the Jaguars are sports cars. The Porsches are
sports cars. The 60-70s Vette was NOT a sportscar; it ascribed to the
definition in the previous paragraph and was a musclecar. Despite being
near the fastest thing out there, the Corvette was a Chevy, and was not a
luxury vehicle.
I agree. Hard on the butt for a long trip. Noisy, with all the road noise
and engine sounds coming right through the fiberglass. A 375HP FI 327 in a
'64 'vette or a 425HP 427 in a '65 'vette. That's mean!
In my opinion, any American car that was either designed to haul ass, or
had an alternate powerplant available so that you could make it haul the
aforementioned, was a musclecar. They died out with the 70s gas
crisis/emissions imposition.
Gerald Ford's and Jimmy Carter's gutlessness. There was a way, but no one
was willing to carry Teddy R's "Big Stick," even though it had been
determined behind closed doors there were not many teeth in the Iron Curtain
threat. We knew that when Victor Belinko defected with his Mig 25 in '75. It
was a true "paper tiger" that could be eaten by an obsolent F-86F Saber.
With the occasional exception that came back in the mid 80s, they're gone,
for now. (I think the Grand National, and the Camaro/Firebird) are the
exceptions. The Corvette and the Mustang became sports cars. The Mustang,
being Ford's top car, competed with the Vette, at least somewhat, while
the Camaro and Firebird were kept sane by having the Vette always having
to be 'above' them in status.
They became sports cars only after the muscle car era was dead.
I guess the musclecar idea was to have a screamer that wasn't a luxury,
high priced race car. Nobody does that anymore, it seems.
The first '64 442 I ever drove was a dealer demo at Ketchum Olds in
Independence, MO., in May '64. It was just days before I graduated from high
school. A red inside and out Sport Coupe, fabric covered bench seats, thin
rubber floor mats instead of carpet, no power anything, radio delete, and
windsheild wipers only, no washer. She did have a dealer installed Sun tach
on the steering column. The salesman drives her first, out of the lot, and
takes her 330 to 7500 in first, 6500 in second, lets off in third, and lets
her coast in 4th. Then we switched places. :-))))))))))))))))))))))))
That gives one an idea how a 330 CID '64 442 could eat a 389 tri-power '64
GTO.
Milton Schick
1964 442 Cutlass
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
