RagTop69

I subscribe to Hemmings Muscle Car Magazine and they feature about five different cars out of the muscle car era each month. They provide specs on all of them with the e.t.s and trap speeds from magazine reviews back when these cars were new. Most of what we all regarded as hot Detroit iron back in those days were running in the high 14s and low 15s with trap speeds in the high 80s and low 90s according to magazines like Road&Track. My C3 427 390hp Vette with the same M21 4 speed and 3.36 gears posted a 15.02 @ 92 mph per the magazines of the day. Muscle Car had an article about a '66 Chevelle Malibu SS 396 360hp with the same M21 and 3.31 gears and the magazine numbers were 15.5 @ 89 mph. I've seen numbers published for cars like a '69 Roadrunner in the low 15s and the vaunted Mustang Boss 302 (admittedly a track car, not a dragster) at 15.35. My '69 Mustang convertible with a mildly built 302 (now a 308 due to rebuild), a C4 3 speed automatic and 3.55 gears has posted a best of 14.308 @ 99 mph at the local drag strip. I realize that the road tests from the 60s were on bias ply tires, but just how much of a difference in the quarter do radials make?

Gxpz06

The topic bias vs radial is fine in itself yet the tech on tires as come such a long way from those times that's a whole other topic really ***