Quote:
Originally Posted by NBD MGT
I still don't get how older cars are at a disadvantage in the classes below CC/S unless those cars were not able to run very far under the index in the first place . Or maybe the indexes were wrong to begin with?
I'm also confused about the horsepower ratings on some of the older combinations like the Cobra Jet 1968 Mustang. Did it really makes 335 horsepower?
I know my buddy's dad went to great trouble to find all the correct parts to build a 427/ 425 for his 1969 Nova Yenko clone. It had all factory parts in it including the camshaft. Even though there were ridges on the tops of the cylinders and some of the parts looked pretty bad it still made over 550 horsepower. So can it be said that that combination also has a bogus rating?
So far the only thing I see that makes sense as an argument against new cars is that they were not torn down and built up from the ground like some of the older cars and that they were not really intended for the street.
So that makes me wonder weather NHRA required cars to be street legal in the original days of stock eliminator and for that matter whether they allowed 14 inch tires and 4 links in super stock back then?
|
Here's the problem for those of us with older cars, in my case a 1964 Plymouth Savoy Max Wedge 425hp which I believe is rated at 425.
John Shaul has one of the fastest Max Wedge cars in the Nation and he's in the 10.20's while new cars in the same class are deep into the nines.....who's going to win a heads up race?
Why should a car that was sold on the lot and street driven have to compete heads up with a hand built race car that was never sold off the lot and never was street legal?
In 1968 Mopar sold the Hemi Darts/Barracudas for racing and they were not street legal.....and they went straight into SS because they were not Stock cars. Why didn't the NHRA do the same thing with the new cars?
In 1965 Mopar hand built altered wheelbase cars and these cars went straight into FX class not stock, Why didn't NHRA do this with the new factory hand built cars?
During that time period NHRA required all cars in Stock to have full street equipment including mufflers, even the 1965 Hemi Coronets and Belvederes and the Tbolts could be street driven because they were street and NHRA compliant. None of the cars came with roll cages, slicks, spools, lightweight seats, headers, etc. which are standard equipment on the new factory race cars.
The simple fact is that they don't belong in Stock, if you go by the precedent set by the NHRA they should be in FX or SS and that's the cause for all this debate.
JimR
For all you guys that own and race these new cars there should be some understanding by your detractors that all you did was buy the best car that fit the class just like we used to do back in the day and despite what some might say I know you still had to put work into your combo to get it to run the numbers.