more proof the internet is filled with BS
10-20-2018, 10:15 AM
#43
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Very true and if I remember correctly when Richard Petty switched over to Ford (1969?) he had them working on aero designs for the Torino but NASCAR changeg the rules about how many cars had to be available to the public and it became disallowed before they got it on the race track. I remember they banned the Hemi engines (65?) that way also when they were winning a majority of the races.
The Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird in the street versions were ugly for sure. In race versions, some of the best looking stock cars to hit the track.
This was Dodge's (scientific) development car that Charlie Glotzbach and Buddy Baker spent many, many hours driving around the Chrysler Proving Grounds. Also, the first stock car to go 200+ mph on a closed course.
PS. This car has been "found" and is currently undergoing reconstruction and restoration.
Last edited by MikeM; 10-20-2018 at 10:53 AM.
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gowenfast (10-20-2018)
10-20-2018, 10:47 AM
#44
Burning Brakes
I agree but would take one and quickly sell to buy something else. Would that long front over hang fit in todays regular sized garage?
10-20-2018, 04:35 PM
#45
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Yes, the 68/69 L-88, 69/70 440-6 (especially the 69 Six Pack Bee and 6 Barrel RR) and the 68 Hemi Dart and Cuda come to mind for me.
10-21-2018, 08:27 AM
#46
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St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Look - I've said all along that I remember when the 58 was considered overdone and garish and avoided by many, The 63 coupe clearly had its detractors - hence the removing of the split. Fast forward over 1/2 a century and the very things that caused these cars to be ostracized are what make them desirable now...
I remember when the Plymouth Superbird was a laughing stock to most car guys - that ill fitting front nose and the riciulous hang glider rear wing - now, I'd have one in a heartbeat..
I remember when the Plymouth Superbird was a laughing stock to most car guys - that ill fitting front nose and the riciulous hang glider rear wing - now, I'd have one in a heartbeat..
10-21-2018, 01:04 PM
#47
Race Director
IMHO, the word "hated" should be replaced with 'disliked'. Either way, these are all opinions, not facts.
Personally, I remember the time, place, and feeling, when I first saw a split window. The fall of 1962, me and my friends were having a game of tackle on the schoolyard grass, when my friend yelled out "there's a Stingray". There it was, a Daytona Blue split window, stopped at a light. I thought it was a friggin rocket ship. How could anybody not like the looks of the split window coupe, or any mid-year coupe for that matter [again IMHO].
BTW, Dontov disliked the split window because the rear view was partially blocked, for racing purposes, he didn't argue about the looks.
Personally, I remember the time, place, and feeling, when I first saw a split window. The fall of 1962, me and my friends were having a game of tackle on the schoolyard grass, when my friend yelled out "there's a Stingray". There it was, a Daytona Blue split window, stopped at a light. I thought it was a friggin rocket ship. How could anybody not like the looks of the split window coupe, or any mid-year coupe for that matter [again IMHO].
BTW, Dontov disliked the split window because the rear view was partially blocked, for racing purposes, he didn't argue about the looks.
10-21-2018, 02:00 PM
#48
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Never mind what Duntov thought, So did a lot of other people and you were too young to drive one to find out.
10-21-2018, 03:30 PM
#49
Melting Slicks
OK -- Officially sorry I brought up the Superbird....
But it was to make the point that what seemed odd and a bit bizarre decades ago can become whimsical and beloved today...
At least that's what my wife of 40 years says about me...
Can we move on now to El Caminos ?
But it was to make the point that what seemed odd and a bit bizarre decades ago can become whimsical and beloved today...
At least that's what my wife of 40 years says about me...
Can we move on now to El Caminos ?
10-21-2018, 05:23 PM
#50
Melting Slicks
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2023 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2017 C2 of Year Finalist
That video is just click bait, designed to get you to involuntarily see the accompanying ads. Most of the people writing these bait ads don't know much about the subject matter or care about accuracy, they only want you to start the video or go through the attached series of pics. They get paid per viewing. There's one out there now listing the worst cars of all time, listing inaccuracy after inaccuracy, such things as the Corvair being an awful car, just because the uninformed writer, who'd obviously never driven a Corvair, had somehow heard that Ralph Nader wrote that work of fiction "Unsafe at any Speed". The more intriguing the title, the worse the content...
Don't click those things, it only makes them do more...
Don't click those things, it only makes them do more...
10-21-2018, 07:17 PM
#51
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Not to talk some more about the Superbird, since that subject has been beaten to death here, but, I was a fan of the '58 Vette right from the beginning simply because of its overdone & garish styling and when I could finally afford one in 1986, was able to buy one that had been restored, at a very reasonable price. Even in the 1980's, the '58 wasn't getting any love. It wasn't until the turn of the century that the world started to see what I saw. Opinions vary even to this day, but, for those of us who really like the '58, we think its among the best models of all the years.
But I think things that are loved the most by people are also usually hated by others, for many reasons but predictably because they are usually an extreme or an oddball, which makes them stick out. I’ve always liked the oddballs: I’ve had a ‘58, 2 SWCs, 2 ‘73s and a couple Bricklin gull wings to top it off. I don’t buy cars to please other people or worry about what list they are on.
Oh, I had an El Camino, too.
Last edited by vettebuyer6369; 10-21-2018 at 07:18 PM.
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corvetteed (10-23-2018)
10-22-2018, 08:53 AM
#52
Melting Slicks
This has to be true, it is on the internet.
Steel bodied Corvette.
http://www.rotarywiki.com/index.php?...Rotary_Concept
Steel bodied Corvette.
http://www.rotarywiki.com/index.php?...Rotary_Concept
10-23-2018, 12:22 PM
#53
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C3 of Year Finalist (stock) 2019
C2 of Year Finalist (stock) 2019
In '69 I bought a '61 from a high school friend for $900 who sold it to me so he could buy a '63 coupe for $1500. The PO to him disliked the car causing him to sell it, but my friend loved it then, and he still loves it today.
10-23-2018, 01:47 PM
#54
I disagree with this statement. Compare a 1967 Porsche 911S with a 1967 Corvette. The 67 Corvette will wipe the floor with the Porsche. Now compare the 1975 Corvette with the 1975 Porsche Turbo. The Porsches were getting faster EVERY YEAR. But the Corvette languished. I look at the C3 generation in its entirety as a failed generation. Every year - including the chrome bumper cars, showed a reduction in HP in some way. And coupled with the crap quality of the C3s makes them awful cars - at least historically. It took the C4s (and in particular the ZR-1) to bring significant high performance back to the Corvette nameplate.
10-23-2018, 02:04 PM
#55
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I disagree with this statement. Compare a 1967 Porsche 911S with a 1967 Corvette. The 67 Corvette will wipe the floor with the Porsche. Now compare the 1975 Corvette with the 1975 Porsche Turbo. The Porsches were getting faster EVERY YEAR. But the Corvette languished. I look at the C3 generation in its entirety as a failed generation. Every year - including the chrome bumper cars, showed a reduction in HP in some way. And coupled with the crap quality of the C3s makes them awful cars - at least historically. It took the C4s (and in particular the ZR-1) to bring significant high performance back to the Corvette nameplate.
10-23-2018, 02:14 PM
#56
10-23-2018, 02:17 PM
#57
Melting Slicks
I disagree with this statement. Compare a 1967 Porsche 911S with a 1967 Corvette. The 67 Corvette will wipe the floor with the Porsche. Now compare the 1975 Corvette with the 1975 Porsche Turbo. The Porsches were getting faster EVERY YEAR. But the Corvette languished. I look at the C3 generation in its entirety as a failed generation. Every year - including the chrome bumper cars, showed a reduction in HP in some way. And coupled with the crap quality of the C3s makes them awful cars - at least historically. It took the C4s (and in particular the ZR-1) to bring significant high performance back to the Corvette nameplate.
The C4's had upgraded technology but quality control went down the crapper as did the whole GM line up in the 80's. I've been working on cars for 50 year and some of the worst crap ever produced was by GM in the 80's.
Of course I was a GM mechanic back then so I made tons of money fixing those $hit boxes.
Last edited by biggd; 10-23-2018 at 02:32 PM.
10-23-2018, 02:28 PM
#58
Melting Slicks
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I agree with Mike. Most of the Corvettes produced in the 70s were overweight, underpowered, ill handling pigs with enormous quality control issues. If you gave me another fifteen minutes on that video, I could expand the list beyond what was mentioned. Corvettes of that era were caricatures of themselves. They made a trillion of them, mostly with slush boxes. If these ever become collectible, I have some Elvis art I will post on Ebay.
From reading customers reviews in magazines & Edmunds reviews & KBB reviews about Corvettes starting in the 1970's & 1980's quality control wash poor and the interior car materials was cheap/substandard to the foreign sport cars of that time. A big complaint were rattles, vibrations, cheap interiors, and water leaks from the removal hard-tops and soft tops leaking. The cheap interior materials of the fabrics and too much cheap plastics plagued the Corvette for generations. Starting with the C6 and C7 higher quality interior materials and quality control greatly improved.
10-23-2018, 02:31 PM
#59
Rear wheel horsepower started dropping right from the introduction of the '68s. The data I have seen (as an OEM insider) shows the quality of the C3s was FAR lower than the C4s which improved every year in performance, durability, and reliability. From a performance perspective, the C4s were so good that the SCCA BANNED them from racing against the Ferraris, Porsches, and Nissans of the day. They created a special Corvette only class because those other marques complained about the unfair C4 Corvettes. people seem to forget how dominant the C4s were on the track for their time.
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Lola T70 (10-23-2018)
10-23-2018, 02:37 PM
#60
Melting Slicks
Rear wheel horsepower started dropping right from the introduction of the '68s. The data I have seen (as an OEM insider) shows the quality of the C3s was FAR lower than the C4s which improved every year in performance, durability, and reliability. From a performance perspective, the C4s were so good that the SCCA BANNED them from racing against the Ferraris, Porsches, and Nissans of the day. They created a special Corvette only class because those other marques complained about the unfair C4 Corvettes. people seem to forget how dominant the C4s were on the track for their time.
GM quality control was terrible all the way into the early 90's. That's when Toyota and Honda started to take market share away. Back in the early 80's I was telling my customers back then to buy Toyota's. Too bad I wasn't into stocks back then. I should have loaded up on Toyota stock.
Last edited by biggd; 10-23-2018 at 03:02 PM.