[mustanginrearview]

Nothing beats the old classics, I'd love to get my hands on one of those bad boys.

 

[patrickth]

I went to VietNam in 1965 with the USMC. Sent all my money home to a bank account with Wells Fargo. Because of some paperwork error, I got extended to 18 months instead of the normal 13 month tour. At the end of my tour, ordered a Tempest Sprint with OHC-6. When it came time to pay for it, my bank account had been drained by my sister. I had something like $3.50, just enough to keep it open. No car for me. 49 years later, finally got my Tempest LeMans with OHC-6. Its a 68, not the 66 like I wanted, and it sure as hell ain't new, but it is all original numbers matching. I have the OHC Sprint 4 barrel engine on a stand in shop, but the original 6 that belongs to the car is in it.

 

[PontiacJim]

I owned a beat 1968 GTO which I bought for $250 in early 80's. Had been repainted with what looked like house paint & a brush. Hood was bent & had the usual New England rust on the rear quarters and in the trunk. Original 400CI & TH400 with His/Hers shifter. The guy I bought it from thought the engine was bad as it had a skip and was down on power. I found a rocker arm had slipped off, put it back on, and the car came alive. I could chirp tires on a hard 1-2 shift.

One day I encountered an early 70's 'Cuda, assume a 340CI. I went to pass him and he began to play. Soon we were wide open going down a stretch of 4-lane road, Route 6, that led into Rhode Island. It has a series of hills and eventually the 2-lane we were on narrows to a 1-lane going down a steep hill and into a merging curve just as you near the state line (keep in mind, traffic back then was minimal so you could do crap like this! LOL).

I would say we were just about dead even on power and I may have had just a bit more as I was creeping up on him as we continued to climb in speed, but he got the jump on me and was out front. We had to have been up over 100 MPH. I didn't take my eyes off the road at these speeds to check, as I was focused on beating him. As we came to the merge, I slid over behind him at the top of the hill and was on his bumper going down it - I mean I was on his bumper. Then he hit his brakes to slow down from our high speed run as we went down this steep hill....... and that's when you realize how poor drum brakes really are. No doubt his "Cuda" had discs and he was slowing quicker than myself. I had both feet on the brake pedal as I watched the gap between his chromed rear bumper and the front of my car close up at a fast steady pace that had all the signs of an impact. Those drum brakes were letting me down just when I really needed them -pucker factor 10 on this one. My only option at the point at which we were in the road was to manually drop the His/Hers into second. I don't know how fast I was still traveling, but when I dropped it into 2nd the engine RPM's went into high-note screaming mode and I thought the engine was going to be a gonner. Between the crappy drums and using the engine as a break, I was able to avoid impact and I swear I was able to count the water spots on the chrome bumper. We rounded the merging curve, straightened out, and crossed the Rhode Island state line where it then opened up to a 4-lane again.

Not having enough, I pulled alongside and tried to get another run on flat ground this time. The driver never looked over at me nor acknowledged my attempts to run him again. He had had enough or figured I was crazy, probably the latter:eek2:. I motored out in front and left him.

 

[BearGFR]

LOL!!! Sometimes the laws of physics force you into doing things that you'd really rather not do.... great story.

Bear

 

[Irishmic]

The summer of '78 and just 22 years old....finishing up the 454 rat motor in my 1957 Chevy Station Wagon...2 Holley 600's , Sid Erson cam, headers , mech set up distributor, 3000 stall speed,turbo 400 with a nasty shift kit and oh yea....4:56 12 bolt posi...We did our street racing on Interstate 93 in Nh. We painted a starting line across the Hi way....and from that line to the Ash Street bridge was 1/4 mile....all the kids use to go ontop of the bridge when a race at the local McDonalds was thrown down. Nobody ever got hurt and those were fun times...and I retired in 1980 undefeated..LOL.. at the track ( New England Dragway) ...my car ran 12.60 @ 108.88...with 9 inch slicks and on regular gas !!!!