Has S/SS really changed that much? How much did it cost in todays dollars, for Pontiac, Ford, Chevrolet, or Chrysler to "show up" at Indy with special "approved" cars and parts like they did in the 60's? How could the average racer compete with the factory stockers back then?
A reprint of: Pontiac Muscle Car Performance, by Pete McCarthy (page 109) (see
www.petemccarthy.com)
[...trouble was lurking in Detroit. Chevy released the 409, and Mopar was thinking about stuffing a full race 413 into the light Dodge and Plymouth bodies. Ford released the 406 in a stripped body shell. Just before the US Nationals drag race meet on Labor Day weekend in 1961, Pontiac stuck it to Ford and Chevy by announcing the "availability" of a new 421 SD package. According to Malcolm McKellar, the "availability" consisted of about a dozen engines shipped in pieces to Mickey Thompson, Arnie Beswick and a few others.
It was rated at a ridiculous 373 HP, a scant five horsepower increase of the 1961 389 SD engine. Hayden Proffitt, Mickey Thompson's driver, simply annihilated the competition in the new "Optional" Super Stock Class.
Shortly thereafter, NHRA officials put a stop to this type of factory sandbagging, and decreed that henceforward all Super Stock must be factory assembled and in the hands of the general public.
At this juncture, Pontiac announce the availability of the 389 SD and the 421 SD "Special Purpose" vehicles, and the fun soon began.]
Just food for thought.
Lynn