Another great video, Kevin. I met you and your wife at the Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals in 2015 and you were kind enough to spend time discussing cars. Keep the great videos comingl The Brothers Collection is simply amazing.
Hey Kevin great video, I lived those years and i can tell you the stock tires were so bad it was well known just changing your rear tires to a pair of M&H drag masters it was possible to shave off a sec from the 1/4 mile. BTW my 454 Chevelle 4 speed had the 3.55 rear gear,... :)
I remember reading a test of the 1970 year muscle cars with the Cuda Hemi running 12.9, and the LS6 Chevelle running 13.10 with the Muncie 4sp. They were having a hard time with traction and with the Muncie in the Chevelle.
@Moon Pie It was just from an old Muscle Car Shootout magazine from the '70s. They didn't test the Buick Stage 1, but they tested a Challenger 440 Six Pack, AMC Rebel, Torino SCJ, Chevelle LS6, and a few others. As a kid, I wanted to know which was the fastest. That was the Plymouth Cuda 426 4sp. at 12.9. The Chevelle, as mentioned, ran 13.10, with the comment "that old Muncie balked," and traction was a problem. A guy who tested a lot of these cars wrote a book that is probably out of print. The Mopar factory guys brought a broom to sweep the track. They also ran colder plugs in the Hemi for testing. Again this is just from memory. If you have a moment, check out this site, really cool. Dave Dudek has run 9 second times with his Hemi Road Runner on biased ply tires. www.fastdrags.com/
@@vanlittle5893 That book was by now-deceased Joe Oldham: Muscle Car Confidential. In that book, Joe described a truly bone stock Hemcuda he tested that could only manage a 13.9 time slip. i Joe said that all of the fastest Mopars he tested had been first sent directly from Mother Mopar to Al Kirchenbaum and crew for a "total going over". Al was the high performance guru for a big NJ Mopar dealership and he "tuned" many magazine Mopars. Joe said that otherwise the "bone stock" Mopars he tested were often a half-second slower than how they actually left the factory. Especially so, the Hemis. So, no telling' what all was really was done to those Mopars that were magazine "road tested". Most GM cars, esp. the Buick GS's, were simply cars in the corporate pipeline. If poorly tuned or run hard and put away wet, then so be it. o cars.
It was not a 1970 model, but my -69 Pontiac GTO with a Ram Air III engine and automatic transmission was clocked at 12.51, that's right, TWELWE 5,1 at a drag race in USA in 1975 just after I had bought the car. It was completely (100%) stock and had regular G60 tires on. 3.55 rear end without Pos-A-Traction even. I later disassembled the engine and verified that all dimensions were per blueprint specifications. At the time, the only car that I met that could match it was a slightly modified Shelby GT 427 CJ. I bought the car used at a regular car dealer in Ohio and had it shipped to Sweden where I live. Unfortunately, I no longer have the car.
Really? My friend's "bone stock" '69 Chevelle SS 396 runs 11:70's on 9" slicks. It's a class car in BS/A. You may find pictures if your search "Indian Summer".
My grandfather worked on a lot of different car lots back in the 60's-80's. And I asked him, what was his opinion on the nastiest muscle cars he had drove/sold/delivered etc etc. His exact words..... "Well son...I loved the Mopars! They were always neat look'in, and the colors always brought people by the lot! They had that Hemi engine...but I tell you what! That Hemi Cuda would eat the doors off anything on the road!"
So many variables back then and very little consistency in testing from the car magazines. One car mag in 1970 had their 340 Dart run the 1/4 mile faster than the Hemi (a Charger I think). Hemis are hard to tune properly. LS6s and Ram Airs need low gearing. Some autos runs mysteriously better than manuals. The tires on car back then were appalling - great for burns out and looking good but not much else. The most consistent factory stock cars I've seen are Stage 1 Buicks and W-30 Olds, more often with automatics. Let's put it this way; late '60/early '70 muscle cars could run anywhere between high 11s (e.g., COPO) and mid-15s off the showroom floor. Just depended which boxes you checked off. And you never knew what someone did under the hood.
Do the brothers have any Big Block Novas? An L-78 Nova would definitly be near the top of this list, if not the top. There is a Car and Driver track test from '69 with a before and after bolt-on test with a L-78 Nova.
NOPE...................GM.................Chevelle SS 1966 thru 1972.......... Just a little tweak here and there and they were untouchable. No mopar could come close to them.............
I have a Hot Rod Magazine 1970 July issue 70 1/2 Z28 Camaro best time was a 13:46 in the quarter mile. It was a delete delete 4- Speed no rear spoiler white with black stripes.
rosenb37 let me clarify on the Z28 it was a delete radio delete power steering delete console and it had no spoiler on the back but had the stripes. on the front cover of the magazine it said the new LT1 Chevrolet's new Little Wonder.
You can clarify all you want, but no stock LT1 goes 13.46. Also, there is no such thing as "radio delete" because the standard configuration was no radio. Ditto PS and console. I believe spoiler was standard but it's possible it was made optional or maybe it was possible to delete it or it was a pre-production car without a spoiler...a Chevy expert would know.
rosenb37 yeah you're right, I dug the magazine out it's actually a March 1970 hot rod issue, out of three runs the average was 14:23 same driver, the mid 13 run was unofficial but was noted
Back in '69, my friend bought a '69 Nova SS 396. It had the 375 hp 396 and a 400th. The rear was a 4:10. Off the showrrom floor at Lions Drag Strip, it ran 13:10. The car scared him so he sold it.
@@LR-my2di I've owned two Novas. A '62, 2 door hardtop 3 sp/6cyl and a '64 SS that the prior owner had dropped in a 300hp/327. The 4 sp was gone but a buddy had one that I bought for $65. Two friends had '66 Novas L79/4 sp, my personal favorite Nova.
Ever since Wangers pulled the 421 swap stunt in the '64 GTO 'test' cars, no magazine run has had credibility. That said, not surprising that LS6 and hemi cars dominated...I might have expected an RAIV car to have broken 13.40-50 in street trim.
Thanks for this great video, BUT: car #4 shown is NOT a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner with the 426 CID, 425 HP, 2x4 BBL, V-8 HEMI engine. It is, in fact, a 1969 A-12 Plymouth Road Runner with the 440 CID, 375 HP, 4 BBL, V-8 engine! Unfortunately, you could NOT order the more potent HEMI KILLER, 440 CID, 390 HP, 3x2 BBL 1,375 CFM Holley equipped engine, which I would have preferred, with the milder, but still potent, Drag Pack. You could order the avalable Super Drag Pack, with or without the A-12 option, but this setup was strictly for the track, and too stout to be liveable on the street for day-to-day use. In 1970 I had the base 1969 Plymouth Road Runner coupe (2 door post sedan) with the police package unsilenced Air Grabber Cold Air Induction 383 CID, 335 HP, 4 BBL, V-8 engine, A-833 HD 4 speed transmission with Hurst shifter, Dana 60 positraction rear end with 3.91:1gear ratio, and low restriction dual exhaust system. It was plenty fast. I could and did destroy Fords and many GM muscle cars (especially those in the hands of inexperienced drivers)! The other item I question is that you did not mention that the #3 car a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS-6, if it was equipped with the positraction rear end and 4.10:1 gear ratio, similar to the #2 car the 1970 Dodge Challenger 426 CID, 425 HP, HEMI engine, 4 speed transmission, with a positraction rear end and 4.10:1 gear ratio would have turned in a faster quarter mile time than the same 13.10 seconds, especially when the Chevelle with a 3.54:1 rear gears ran faster than the Challenger with the 4.10:1 gear ratio!
Thanks for the note... did you listen to the video? At 6:52 we say exactly that, that we did not have footage of the '70 Hemi car, bud that this is an A12 440 car.
The engines were stout. The E/T killers were bias tires and 2, 3 and 4 speed transmission. Stick a modern close ratio 6 speed manual in them with modern tires and the would easily be 12 sec cars.
The L88 was a thinly disguised full race motor. If you want to include it, then how about including a 68 Hemi Dart or Barricuda with the race Hemi. Then see which car wins the drag race.
Amazes me that I was able to cover all these legends in my moldy third gen camaro . 13.01 at 108.89 with a pathetic 2.6 60'. All it took was a stock crank, long, cast rod, flat top piston, 406 with the worst mid seventies smog heads you can find. Extreme energy hydro cam , perfomer rpm, 650 dfdp, t 5 trans , 373 gears , and old rotten road hugger gt tires.lol
Hate to do this. My friends and I clocked a 11.68 in my 4 door Ford six banger, wired up from cheap south if the border bennies. Parked. Anyhoo. What if, right? They did it with dual point distributors, funky tires, etc.
Being a Mopar Guy I hate to admit it But Yeah the GS was Probably King to mid 11.s with Slicks and a tune same as the ls6.. But those Buick Engines , Like the 454s Like to start Tossing rods With continuous 7000 Rpm blasts! You wont see that with the Chrsyler BigBlocks.
@@MrR6guy NEVER rev a stock or even lightly modified 455 Stage 1 over 5300. That's where you shift and rpm will drop back to 5100 rpm. That's where max power is. They won't even rev. to 7000 due to v. springs. Absolute waste to do so anyway.
13.10 in the hemicuda with only 3.55 gears.....imagine if it was a 4.10 rear. Easily into the 12s bone stock. Just because ONE magazine got a better time from the Buick GSX455 stage 1, all of a sudden it's the "hemi killer"? Sorry but I'm not buying that. If you put a stage 1 Buick next to a hemicuda with the same rear axle ratio and both with either automatic or 4 speed, the hemi will win easily 99 out of 100 times. Only way the Buick stands a chance is driver error
Number (video) 60 will take them all down with good tires. it was assembly line production, affordable, anybody could buy one. It's not a muscle since muscle cars came out later
Because they actually sucked in the 1/4 mile.. They were made for NASCAR.. Just like you don't see any Daytona's, Superbirds, Talladega's ect in this list.. Those engines are made for high speed on super speedway tracks. At least there was a Ford in the list!
Rev limited to 4500 RPM in 1970 and tiny carb. Totally defeats the purpose of high revving engine. Henry probably didn't want to have teenagers blood on his hands, and felt better knowing gear heads would easily identify the problem an alter it.
I think tha ls6 chevelle is tha fastest certainly the best looking. I've numerous time that in 1970 it was tha fastest car on tha planet at tha time. Those magazine guys was probably scared of all dat Chevy power LOL!
@@shawnriddle3018 it really wasn't, but definitely had the capabilities to be a top performer, all it needed was a big cam and big carb, and then the gearing, goodnight to the hemi!
@@LR-my2di Of course not, my grandpa had a 68 dart HEMI that my dad still owns, he used to laugh at Chevy's. It would tote the front wheels pal, FACTS. Only made a few
@@wildestcowboy2668 And of course, Kevin culled the fastest of all those tested. Unlike the many various 1970 Hemi models, and three LS6 cars, there was only one test of the 1970 GS Stage 1 that wasn't loaded with a/c and other power options, and that was the one Kevin chose. Then there's also the question of the legitimacy of those tests. That Hemi Dart would pull the front wheels you say? Sure 'nuff! With the rear gears those things had on slicks at a drag strip, yeah. So would a Thunderbolt and those light factory prepped AMX's that ran SS/DA and gave the SS/DA Hemicudas fits. But these are all factory prepared all-out light-weight race cars. I was in Chicago (Rosemont) 2 wks. ago at the MCACN and some of all three of these were there at this huge musclecar show.
it's ironic that the fastest vehicle of the 70's was a truck.. faster than a Ferrari.. faster than a Corvette or 426 HEMI cars.. that was the great Lil Red Express. 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
It was the fastest production vehicle in 1978, not the entire decade lol..... A 360 with probably 200 horsepower in a pickup truck is NOT even close to ANY muscle car produced from 1970-71
Exactly what I was wondering. Probably the smog pump that kept it off this list. It was the first thing a lot of people threw off of them back in the day.
+Luke Teverino The BOSS9 stock wasn't a great performer. The ordinary stock 390 or 428CJ found in Mach1s could easily beat it. The engine is famous for it's rarity history and size. I like this list! Well done video!! A list on best handling would be great and informative as well! Thank you Kevin and team! See ya next week. Pete :")
The boss 429 came from the factory all bottled up. The carb was very small for a large cubic inch engine, the exhaust needed to be opened up. Not an excuse, just the reasons why it was a not so good a stock engine, but open up the engine to free breathing and you had a whole different animal, like most of the big blocks of the era
The Boss 429 in stock form would usually get beat, as would a Hemi vs. a good running 440 even in non A12 trim. All that being said, a Boss 429 with good headers, proper carburetion, tires, and a really good tune was the equal or better of most anything else. A well set up R2 Lark prepped for the strip would roast most of these. IMHO
The Boss 429 came with a tiny carburetor, smaller than the Boss 302's. In addition; Even though it was designed as an exceptionally high revving engine, by 1970 the governor was rev limited to 4500 RPM. I don't know the mechanics of how it worked, but I'm sure a fix was available.
Another great video, Kevin. I met you and your wife at the Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals in 2015 and you were kind enough to spend time discussing cars. Keep the great videos comingl The Brothers Collection is simply amazing.
Thanks, and we will!
love the fact that all the cars were only a few tenths of a second apart. Great year for the muscle car!
Mopars always handled the Chevys and Ford's like a champ.
Imagine going to your local dealer and ordering an LS6 Chevelle, or a GSX stage 1, or maybe a Hemi Cuda. Those were the days.
This the best American, muscle car channel here on TH-cam. Keep up the great work and information about these cars Kevin.
As always, MCW surprises us with different topics of the era. Thanks.
How about top ten best handling muscle cars? That would be interesting.
Not a bad idea, Vinegar! I too would like a handling video. Not all muscle cars were only good in a straight line!
As Ben Denny, include me in the request by Vinegar!
Hey Kevin great video, I lived those years and i can tell you the stock tires were so bad it was well known just changing your rear tires to a pair of M&H drag masters it was possible to shave off a sec from the 1/4 mile. BTW my 454 Chevelle 4 speed had the 3.55 rear gear,... :)
Thank you so much for this video. Gorgeous muscle cars. I love '70 HEMI 'Cuda. Mopar Power!
GSX is my favorite
AHHHH Super cool episode. Great cars with great memories for me. Was a gear head from birth.
This is the moment you realize your parrents had all these cars growing up and they sold them!!!!
I remember reading a test of the 1970 year muscle cars with the Cuda Hemi running 12.9, and the LS6 Chevelle running 13.10 with the Muncie 4sp. They were having a hard time with traction and with the Muncie in the Chevelle.
@Moon Pie It was just from an old Muscle Car Shootout magazine from the '70s. They didn't test the Buick Stage 1, but they tested a Challenger 440 Six Pack, AMC Rebel, Torino SCJ, Chevelle LS6, and a few others. As a kid, I wanted to know which was the fastest. That was the Plymouth Cuda 426 4sp. at 12.9. The Chevelle, as mentioned, ran 13.10, with the comment "that old Muncie balked," and traction was a problem. A guy who tested a lot of these cars wrote a book that is probably out of print. The Mopar factory guys brought a broom to sweep the track. They also ran colder plugs in the Hemi for testing. Again this is just from memory. If you have a moment, check out this site, really cool. Dave Dudek has run 9 second times with his Hemi Road Runner on biased ply tires. www.fastdrags.com/
@@vanlittle5893 That book was by now-deceased Joe Oldham: Muscle Car Confidential. In that book, Joe described a truly bone stock Hemcuda he tested that could only manage a 13.9 time slip. i Joe said that all of the fastest Mopars he tested had been first sent directly from Mother Mopar to Al Kirchenbaum and crew for a "total going over". Al was the high performance guru for a big NJ Mopar dealership and he "tuned" many magazine Mopars. Joe said that otherwise the "bone stock" Mopars he tested were often a half-second slower than how they actually left the factory. Especially so, the Hemis. So, no telling' what all was really was done to those Mopars that were magazine "road tested". Most GM cars, esp. the Buick GS's, were simply cars in the corporate pipeline. If poorly tuned or run hard and put away wet, then so be it. o cars.
Excellent! Please do 1969.
Loved my 1970 Roadrunner
Was hoping to see an Olds W-30 or W31 on the list, but regardless...another awesome video!
Sweet thanks Kev
It was not a 1970 model, but my -69 Pontiac GTO with a Ram Air III engine and automatic transmission was clocked at 12.51, that's right, TWELWE 5,1 at a drag race in USA in 1975 just after I had bought the car. It was completely (100%) stock and had regular G60 tires on. 3.55 rear end without Pos-A-Traction even. I later disassembled the engine and verified that all dimensions were per blueprint specifications. At the time, the only car that I met that could match it was a slightly modified Shelby GT 427 CJ. I bought the car used at a regular car dealer in Ohio and had it shipped to Sweden where I live. Unfortunately, I no longer have the car.
lmao
Really? My friend's "bone stock" '69 Chevelle SS 396 runs 11:70's on 9" slicks. It's a class car in BS/A. You may find pictures if your search "Indian Summer".
And then you woke up
@@stu6885 LOVE IT! HaHa ... so true!
In stock form the Boss 429 was not competitive. Intake ports were too big for the camshaft used and had no lowend torque.
The heads were different than the NASCAR version BOSS 429.
Maybe that relates to the tiny carburetor.
I have driven a Stage 1 GSX one time, quickest I’ve had the fun to put it to the floor! Talk about a rush
I was expecting a Yenko Deuce Nova to be in there somewhere or even the LT1 Camaro.
LT1 was potent for a small block but couldn't hold a candle to the fastest big block cars of that era.
My grandfather worked on a lot of different car lots back in the 60's-80's. And I asked him, what was his opinion on the nastiest muscle cars he had drove/sold/delivered etc etc. His exact words..... "Well son...I loved the Mopars! They were always neat look'in, and the colors always brought people by the lot! They had that Hemi engine...but I tell you what! That Hemi Cuda would eat the doors off anything on the road!"
Great episode!
So many variables back then and very little consistency in testing from the car magazines. One car mag in 1970 had their 340 Dart run the 1/4 mile faster than the Hemi (a Charger I think). Hemis are hard to tune properly. LS6s and Ram Airs need low gearing. Some autos runs mysteriously better than manuals. The tires on car back then were appalling - great for burns out and looking good but not much else. The most consistent factory stock cars I've seen are Stage 1 Buicks and W-30 Olds, more often with automatics. Let's put it this way; late '60/early '70 muscle cars could run anywhere between high 11s (e.g., COPO) and mid-15s off the showroom floor. Just depended which boxes you checked off. And you never knew what someone did under the hood.
Do the brothers have any Big Block Novas? An L-78 Nova would definitly be near the top of this list, if not the top. There is a Car and Driver track test from '69 with a before and after bolt-on test with a L-78 Nova.
My brother Steve had one. 396-375, 4.ii gears, TH 400. 13.97 @ 101 was its best when pure stock at G'ville Raceway. He still has that old time slip.
I wonder what those Chevelle SS wheels would sell for today. They were on my 1968 Camaro which I sold for $1000 back in 1988.
And the debate continues.................
What debate Chrysler wins again and always has.
well ???
Chevy BB rule super comp in NHRA and they got a handle on pro stock with the new fuel injection right now.
yup...MOPAR
All day!
All day!
Chevy had the highest MPH..... yup CHEVY !!!
NOPE...................GM.................Chevelle SS 1966 thru 1972.......... Just a little tweak here and there and they were untouchable. No mopar could come close to them.............
ProSkills216 or no car
I have a Hot Rod Magazine 1970 July issue 70 1/2 Z28 Camaro best time was a 13:46 in the quarter mile. It was a delete delete 4- Speed no rear spoiler white with black stripes.
Not stock
rosenb37 let me clarify on the Z28 it was a delete radio delete power steering delete console and it had no spoiler on the back but had the stripes. on the front cover of the magazine it said the new LT1 Chevrolet's new Little Wonder.
You can clarify all you want, but no stock LT1 goes 13.46.
Also, there is no such thing as "radio delete" because the standard configuration was no radio. Ditto PS and console. I believe spoiler was standard but it's possible it was made optional or maybe it was possible to delete it or it was a pre-production car without a spoiler...a Chevy expert would know.
rosenb37 yeah you're right, I dug the magazine out it's actually a March 1970 hot rod issue, out of three runs the average was 14:23 same driver, the mid 13 run was unofficial but was noted
Thanks for clarifying!
I love the A12 69' Roadrunner 440
Those high trap speeds make me think many could go faster with some modern grip.
Back in '69, my friend bought a '69 Nova SS 396. It had the 375 hp 396 and a 400th. The rear was a 4:10. Off the showrrom floor at Lions Drag Strip, it ran 13:10. The car scared him so he sold it.
Rick Uyeda 😃😃😃
Knew three guys that owned ‘70 Novas with the 396/375 back when gas was 35 cents a gallon
@@stevethomas760 I'll bet they all sold them because they were so fast. LMAO .
@@LR-my2di I've owned two Novas. A '62, 2 door hardtop 3 sp/6cyl and a '64 SS that the prior owner had dropped in a 300hp/327. The 4 sp was gone but a buddy had one that I bought for $65. Two friends had '66 Novas L79/4 sp, my personal favorite Nova.
Ever since Wangers pulled the 421 swap stunt in the '64 GTO 'test' cars, no magazine run has had credibility. That said, not surprising that LS6 and hemi cars dominated...I might have expected an RAIV car to have broken 13.40-50 in street trim.
I too thought a Ram air 4 would've made the list.
@@MBailey1977 You will find no road test of a 1969-70 RA IV even in the 13's. Period. The GS Stage 1 would eat its lunch. ,
Thanks for this great video, BUT: car #4 shown is NOT a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner with the 426 CID, 425 HP, 2x4 BBL, V-8 HEMI engine. It is, in fact, a 1969 A-12 Plymouth Road Runner with the 440 CID, 375 HP, 4 BBL, V-8 engine! Unfortunately, you could NOT order the more potent HEMI KILLER, 440 CID, 390 HP, 3x2 BBL 1,375 CFM Holley equipped engine, which I would have preferred, with the milder, but still potent, Drag Pack. You could order the avalable Super Drag Pack, with or without the A-12 option, but this setup was strictly for the track, and too stout to be liveable on the street for day-to-day use. In 1970 I had the base 1969 Plymouth Road Runner coupe (2 door post sedan) with the police package unsilenced Air Grabber Cold Air Induction 383 CID, 335 HP, 4 BBL, V-8 engine, A-833 HD 4 speed transmission with Hurst shifter, Dana 60 positraction rear end with 3.91:1gear ratio, and low restriction dual exhaust system. It was plenty fast. I could and did destroy Fords and many GM muscle cars (especially those in the hands of inexperienced drivers)!
The other item I question is that you did not mention that the #3 car a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS-6, if it was equipped with the positraction rear end and 4.10:1 gear ratio, similar to the #2 car the 1970 Dodge Challenger 426 CID, 425 HP, HEMI engine, 4 speed transmission, with a positraction rear end and 4.10:1 gear ratio would have turned in a faster quarter mile time than the same 13.10 seconds, especially when the Chevelle with a 3.54:1 rear gears ran faster than the Challenger with the 4.10:1 gear ratio!
Thanks for the note... did you listen to the video? At 6:52 we say exactly that, that we did not have footage of the '70 Hemi car, bud that this is an A12 440 car.
Mopar takes 5 of the Top 10 spots, 3 of the Top 5, and overall went no.1 and no. 2. Mopar or no car! However I do love the other cars on this list.
The engines were stout. The E/T killers were bias tires and 2, 3 and 4 speed transmission. Stick a modern close ratio 6 speed manual in them with modern tires and the would easily be 12 sec cars.
matrox I agree with the tires, but it's been common knowledge for 45 years that an auto will whip a stick car everyday all day.
The 3-speed TH400 was actually very good for drag racing.
@@devillockj Tell that to Grumpy Jenkins. He manually shifted faster than an Automatic.
The L88 had a 111+ trap speed, by far the fastest...all that car needed were some decent rear tires & would destroy the other cars featured here
The L88 was a thinly disguised full race motor. If you want to include it, then how about including a 68 Hemi Dart or Barricuda with the race Hemi. Then see which car wins the drag race.
Amazes me that I was able to cover all these legends in my moldy third gen camaro . 13.01 at 108.89 with a pathetic 2.6 60'. All it took was a stock crank, long, cast rod, flat top piston, 406 with the worst mid seventies smog heads you can find. Extreme energy hydro cam , perfomer rpm, 650 dfdp, t 5 trans , 373 gears , and old rotten road hugger gt tires.lol
seems like 3;55 gears are the fastest times at the track at least it offers some ability for hwy use
Hate to do this. My friends and I clocked a 11.68 in my 4 door Ford six banger, wired up from cheap south if the border bennies. Parked. Anyhoo. What if, right? They did it with dual point distributors, funky tires, etc.
I always thought the Buick GS Stage 1 was the fastest.
Being a Mopar Guy I hate to admit it But Yeah the GS was Probably King to mid 11.s with Slicks and a tune same as the ls6.. But those Buick Engines , Like the 454s Like to start Tossing rods With continuous 7000 Rpm blasts! You wont see that with the Chrsyler BigBlocks.
@@MrR6guy NEVER rev a stock or even lightly modified 455 Stage 1 over 5300. That's where you shift and rpm will drop back to 5100 rpm. That's where max power is. They won't even rev. to 7000 due to v. springs. Absolute waste to do so anyway.
Funny that a hemi cuda is popular nowback when they were not a go running 340s and 440 will kick hemi butt.
1970 Rebel Machine ?
Next ?
Where is the 1970 GTO Judge?
Once GM cut the cube limits in 1970, we know who was the big dog at the strip.
The Brothers aren't shy or scared of smoking some tires.
How come u didnt include a 70 Boss 429 ?
Rare and not that fast.
Yep even Kevin knows hemi is the king then and now
The Chevelle is still the quickest muscle car.
I guess nothing really changes, back in 1970 the Mopars were ruling the 1/4 mile jungle and today the mighty Demon rules the 1/4 mile jungle.
#4 is a 69 RoadRunner not a 70.
matrox he explains that in the vid
He said that in the video.
Pay attention!
Kinda thought an L88 Vette might be up there, a book I have claims 12 second 115mph for 69...but of course if they didn't test that car......
Not a muscle car
Back in 69, I had a 69 Barracuda 383 Formula S factorythat documented 13.24.
13.10 in the hemicuda with only 3.55 gears.....imagine if it was a 4.10 rear. Easily into the 12s bone stock. Just because ONE magazine got a better time from the Buick GSX455 stage 1, all of a sudden it's the "hemi killer"? Sorry but I'm not buying that. If you put a stage 1 Buick next to a hemicuda with the same rear axle ratio and both with either automatic or 4 speed, the hemi will win easily 99 out of 100 times. Only way the Buick stands a chance is driver error
And I'm a GM guy so this isn't Mopar bias talking
I'm a Ford guy and that Buick was a monster, I believe it could smackdown the hemi 😁
Well the cuda wasn't the only car with a hemi lol. It was called a hemi killer not a cuda killer
The gsx has beat the hemi cuda,keep in mind the gsx is a luxury car so on a weight reduction it'll definitely beat the cuda..
@@peterkay2406 True! Car Review, March 1985 issue proved that at the G'ville Raceway in their 1970 GS Stage 1 vs. 1970 GTX Hemi Round 1 shootout.
Number (video) 60 will take them all down with good tires. it was
assembly line production, affordable, anybody could buy one. It's not a
muscle since muscle cars came out later
Mopower 👍🏼
Why is the Boss 429 not on this list?
Because they actually sucked in the 1/4 mile.. They were made for NASCAR.. Just like you don't see any Daytona's, Superbirds, Talladega's ect in this list.. Those engines are made for high speed on super speedway tracks.
At least there was a Ford in the list!
Rev limited to 4500 RPM in 1970 and tiny carb. Totally defeats the purpose of high revving engine. Henry probably didn't want to have teenagers blood on his hands, and felt better knowing gear heads would easily identify the problem an alter it.
looks like my favorite "AMC Javelin" sucks.. still decent shape tho
No Mustangs?
They were looking for the quickest cars.
mfnbigdaddy73 i figured a Boss 427 would be quick. I guess not quickenough
Quentin 33 😃😃
Nope.
I think tha ls6 chevelle is tha fastest certainly the best looking. I've numerous time that in 1970 it was tha fastest car on tha planet at tha time. Those magazine guys was probably scared of all dat Chevy power LOL!
boss 429 should be up there
Wasnt a good performer.
@@shawnriddle3018 it really wasn't, but definitely had the capabilities to be a top performer, all it needed was a big cam and big carb, and then the gearing, goodnight to the hemi!
Come on Kevin let's face it. Mopar always leaves the Chevy and Ford's in the dust.
They tested MANY hemis back ten, some fast and some not so fast. Some even 14's. Those tests were not included here,, of course.
@@LR-my2di Of course not, my grandpa had a 68 dart HEMI that my dad still owns, he used to laugh at Chevy's. It would tote the front wheels pal, FACTS. Only made a few
@@wildestcowboy2668 And of course, Kevin culled the fastest of all those tested. Unlike the many various 1970 Hemi models, and three LS6 cars, there was only one test of the 1970 GS Stage 1 that wasn't loaded with a/c and other power options, and that was the one Kevin chose. Then there's also the question of the legitimacy of those tests.
That Hemi Dart would pull the front wheels you say? Sure 'nuff! With the rear gears those things had on slicks at a drag strip, yeah. So would a Thunderbolt and those light factory prepped AMX's that ran SS/DA and gave the SS/DA Hemicudas fits. But these are all factory prepared all-out light-weight race cars. I was in Chicago (Rosemont) 2 wks. ago at the MCACN and some of all three of these were there at this huge musclecar show.
it's ironic that the fastest vehicle of the 70's was a truck.. faster than a Ferrari.. faster than a Corvette or 426 HEMI cars..
that was the great Lil Red Express. 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
It was the fastest production vehicle in 1978, not the entire decade lol..... A 360 with probably 200 horsepower in a pickup truck is NOT even close to ANY muscle car produced from 1970-71
@@jeremythompson9895 So true. It was stated in that test that it was the quickest vehicle tested in 1978 where all cars & trucks tested were dog-SLOW.
Wheres the boss 429
Exactly what I was wondering. Probably the smog pump that kept it off this list. It was the first thing a lot of people threw off of them back in the day.
+Luke Teverino
The BOSS9 stock wasn't a great performer. The ordinary stock
390 or 428CJ found in Mach1s could easily beat it. The engine is famous for it's rarity history and size. I like this list! Well done video!! A list on best handling would be great and informative as well! Thank you Kevin and team! See ya next week.
Pete :")
The boss 429 came from the factory all bottled up. The carb was very small for a large cubic inch engine, the exhaust needed to be opened up. Not an excuse, just the reasons why it was a not so good a stock engine, but open up the engine to free breathing and you had a whole different animal, like most of the big blocks of the era
The Boss 429 in stock form would usually get beat, as would a Hemi vs. a good running 440 even in non A12 trim. All that being said, a Boss 429 with good headers, proper carburetion, tires, and a really good tune was the equal or better of most anything else. A well set up R2 Lark prepped for the strip would roast most of these. IMHO
The Boss 429 came with a tiny carburetor, smaller than the Boss 302's. In addition; Even though it was designed as an exceptionally high revving engine, by 1970 the governor was rev limited to 4500 RPM. I don't know the mechanics of how it worked, but I'm sure a fix was available.
I just knew a Camaro or Mustang was taking the #1 spot lol. WRONG!