Oddball Muscle Cars

[D.Holly]

A friend of mine still races a 58 Mercury 2dr. sedan in the Pure Stock Drags.
MEL motor with 3 two barrels, 3 speed on the tree.

[D.Holly]

Yes, I know the 430 is kind of weird but it has run in the 13's, even with the three on the tree.

Car has also won awards at Cobo Autorama and been on display at Floyd Garrett's Musclecar Museum in Sevierville.

[Paul Ceasrine]

A Midget Odd-Ball!!
1965 Sunbeam Tiger.
Came equipped with a 260 Ford.
With the Cobra up-grade conversion 245HP.
Not the safest car on the road, poor front-end suspension geometry!!
PC....'Get Smart'

[bill dedman]

Maybe this has been mentioned before; I may have missed it.

At the 1967 NHRA World Finals at Tulsa, there was a 1957, 312cid Thunderbird with a belt-driven, Paxton (or, was it McCulloch?) centrifugal blower and an automatic transmission that I witnessed running a 13.00 in C/SA withoiut even stall-starting it... left from an idle.

That was pretty fast, forty-three years ago...

[treessavoy]

1958 Pontiac Chieftian 2 dr sedan, 370cu, 10.30 compression, 3-2's, auto with positraction. The car ran in the mid 14's.

Mary Ann Foss dominated D/sa with a black one just like the one in my garage.

JimR

[bill dedman]

Jim, did they have TWO 330 HP motors that year? One had sold lifters (optional and probably dealer-installed) anf the other a McKellar hydraulic grind?

I remember a guy from Memphis named "Sonny Belt," running a white, 3-on-the-tree Catalina 2-door post with the solid lifter motor, racing at Carlisle (AR) and Halls Tennessee in '58.

Bucrons and a 4.56:1 on the concrete at Halls....

Hard to beat...

[Paul Ceasrine]

JIM R,
Mary Ann Foss 'La Bella of Bellville' (Ohio)Tore up Division 3 with that 58' Pontiac 'Black Magic'.
No one could touch her in D/SA. Set the record at the 66' Regionals (late 66') with a 13.75.
A wonderful car. A staple at Dragway 42 (West Salem, Ohio)

Have to add,, the 65' Sunbeam Tiger, 260 with the LAT HP up-grade kit, and, 4.56 gears,, could run 13.00's @ 108,, in 1965.
Agent 86...

[treessavoy]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

Jim, did they have TWO 330 HP motors that year? One had sold lifters (optional and probably dealer-installed) anf the other a McKellar hydraulic grind?

I remember a guy from Memphis named "Sonny Belt," running a white, 3-on-the-tree Catalina 2-door post with the solid lifter motor, racing at Carlisle (AR) and Halls Tennessee in '58.

Bucrons and a 4.56:1 on the concrete at Halls....

Hard to beat...

Bill,

I've done a fair amount of research on the engine combinations and there is conflicting data everywhere.

First, there are two 2 bbl engines listed in some of the sites, three 4bbl engines, two 3-2bbl engines and either one or two fuellies.

Here's the breakdown ( note, this is internet info from several sites ):
370ci 255hp 8.6:1 ratio with a 2bbl carb
370ci 265hp 8.6:1 ratio with a 4bbl carb
370ci 270hp 10:1 ratio with a 2bbl carb *
370ci 285hp 10:1 ratio with a 4bbl carb
370ci 300hp 10.5 ratio with tripower
370ci 310hp 10.5 ratio with fuel injection
370ci 315hp 10.5 ratio with a 4 bbl carb (PK code)#
370ci 330hp 10.5 ratio with tripower (PM code)#
370ci 338hp 10.5 ratio with fuel injection *


* these two engines are noted on two non-Pontiac sites

# these two engines were built for NASCAR racing but were also released for street driving. I couldn't find any info on the camshafts for these two motors but I'm very sure that they are solid lifter engines.

If someone out there knows any more about these engines I would be happy to hear from them.

JimR