Re: 273 235HP Barracuda
Not just Mopars, but all across the board, many combos had a soft factory horsepower rating. Besides the fact that factories wanted to see their iron do well in class racing,there was a lot of pressure from insurance companies about cars with 425 horsepower and a 4 speed running around on the streets. The muscle cars were big sellers and the manufacturers didn't want to have a bunch of cars on the lot that were uninsureable, therefore unsellable, so that was an attempt to hide some of the facts from a negative power that was. That explains 290 horse 302's,295 horse 350's, 325 horse 396's, even the 450 horse 454. How much would any one of these engines been able to really produce on a dyno sans accessories, with optimal timimg and jetting, dyno headers, etc. anyway. What did the 440 6 pack and the LS-6 actually make, as well as scads of others? If a company actually wants to make a car, they have to be able to sell it.
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