Oddball Muscle Cars

[Dan Bennett]

Originally Posted by genuine jack

the 427 comets were, indeed , rare . a tudor [ light green , i believe ] has been featured in magazines many times . i've also seen a hardtop [single 4 barrel ] featured more than once . i've seen one or both of these cars at shows in pennsylvania a few years ago . i don't know of any 427 comets that were drag raced by the factory , but eddie schartman led a factory team of 390 C/S comets in 1966 .
as an aside , i used to own a '66 cyclone GT [ 4-speed ] convertible . they were fairly rare - about 2150 built . i lost it while going through a divorce several years ago .

jack

Back when I was involved with the original Musclecar Nationals, a really nice 427 Comet R code appeared at our Atco show. For the life of me, I can't remember the owner's name but it was truly a stand up car in every way. The car was white, a hardtop, and I seem to remember a tan interior.

[NewHemi]

I had all but forgotten about the new 68 Dodge Monaco I had with a 318.... Hardly a muscle car, it didnt seem to be able to get out of it's own way. It was pretty but definitely underpowered. I had traded a 63, monterey convertible 390 merc in on it, and was immediately dissapointed with the performance.

It was stolen after about a month, and when I got it back, it was even weaker than before..

So, when the new Mercs came out, I traded it up for another full sized 390 merc monterey that you could land airplanes on the hood or the trunk. That car ended up with about 300,000 miles before the rust monkies ate it completely up...
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Dental insurance advice

[W J]

Here's a beauty.... Checker Motors started making Checker cars in 1922. To start, they were sold as Taxicabs only, but by the 1960 model year, they started making models for sale to the general public--- both a 4dr. sedan and a 4 dr. wagon....By 1968 you could order either with a 275hp Chevy 327. In 1969, both sedan and station wagon were available with a 300hp, 350 Chevy motor w/a Power-Lok rear axle....sorry guys, no 4-speed transmisson, only a 3 sp. column stick or optional Dual-range automatic.... Shipping weights varied from 3220 for the lightest sedan to 5000 for the longer "limo" wagon model.....Hmmm, are these things in the classification guide?? (Chevy Kingswood wagon racers---look out...) The final Checker rolled off the assembly line at Kalamazoo, Mich. in 1982. WJ

[Paul Ceasrine]

WJ,Any of those mis-guided parachute jumpers from the Orange Dragstrip, did they ever land on your home in central Mass.On those Checkers, the body on that thing was indestructible. Had one race at Dover, in 70' or so. Ran in M/S (14.00 - 14.99 wt/hp).Funniest thing, trying to watch the guy power-shift with a 3-speed on the column...We used to make believe to 'Hail-A-Taxi' every time he went down the track,,and down the return-road we would scream 'Taxi!!..Now that was fun racing...Paul,,

[W J]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

WJ,Any of those mis-guided parachute jumpers from the Orange Dragstrip, did they ever land on your home in central Mass.On those Checkers, the body on that thing was indestructible. Had one race at Dover, in 70' or so. Ran in M/S (14.00 - 14.99 wt/hp).Funniest thing, trying to watch the guy power-shift with a 3-speed on the column...We used to make believe to 'Hail-A-Taxi' every time he went down the track,,and down the return-road we would scream 'Taxi!!..Now that was fun racing...Paul,,

Paul, I just knew that you'd be all over me as soon as you saw this Checker post! I would definitely want the automatic model Checker wagon w/at least 5:38's....or does anyone make a 6.19 gearset???? BTW, to land on my house in Paxton, those jumpers would have to be blown off their landing target by almost 35 miles, but here in New England, ANYTHING's possible....the runway that was used for the Orange Dragstrip is still intact.....Keep the hits coming, and best wishes.... WJ

[Bret Kepner]

Incredibly, a Checker Marathon ran in M/S at the 1984 ADRA (not AHRA) Winter Nationals at Tucson; it was actually a pristine car complete with cab benches and quarter-inch thick interior upholstery.

Concerning the supercharged '57 Fords, the Thunderbirds ran in Sports Production, (/SP), because they were true two-seaters and not subject to homologation rules. If memory serves, the Fairlanes started out in D/Stock and then got booted up to C/S and, eventually, B/S where they were shuffled off to uncompetitive oblivion.

[W J]

I also was told today that some of the 1964 Checker models had Chrysler power....not sure if they were the taxi models, or consumer models....6 or V8? Maybe the slant-six that tons of other Chrysler model cabs ran?.....I've heard stories of slant six powered cabs going well over 600 thousand miles w/out being re-built?? How true? Not sure, but everyone who remembers them says the Checkers were real rugged cars that were real survivors.... Mark Yac, you must know something about the Checker vehicles, no? WJ

[dakota tom]

50s early 60s Checkers used Continental flat head six engines. The same basic engine as a Kaiser-Jeep.

63-64 slant 6 in most and the 6-8 door Aerobus used the 318 V-8.

late 64 Chevy six and Chevy 283/327 V-8 started to be used.

Borg Warner 3 sp stick or BW automatics were used.

The 300hp 350 was avalible in 1969.

The GM TH400 was used in 1973 and newer.

Dana 44 rear axle 1968 and newer.

There is a raceable combo in there if you want something different.