jeff@oblio.UUCP (Jeff Buchanan) (12/07/84)
My thanks to the author of the "50 fastest cars" article. It was indeed
interesting, but I almost got the impression that some people who responded
to it were taking it for more than what it was. It was merely a compilation
of test reports from different magazines, and certainly NOT "the bible",
a definition of what the fastest street cars ever produced by Detroit.
People like me who have a long history of street racing, drag racing,
countless hours of reading hot rod magazines in the late '60s and early
seventies realize that there are vast differences in test procedures,
conditions, test drivers, optional equipment, so many variables that
you can't define the fastest car in terms of one test report in one magazine
on one particular day. Most of all, you must remember that two identical
cars, say, two 375 HP/ 396 Camaros, with identical equipment, test conditions,
etc. can vary by 1.5 seconds and 10 MPH just because of factory tolerances.
To determine the fastest car ever produced, I say you must think in
theoretical terms. In other words, you must figure out which car ever
produced had the best power to weight ratio and define that as the fastest.
Such a car may never have never been tested by the magazines but that would
not make it any the less worthy of the title. Or maybe it was tested,
but the driver was not coming off the line hard and was shifting at 5000
RPM, so in ONE PARTICULAR TEST it would seem to be slower than some other
car.
Naturally I have my opinion of the fastest car. If you count the
427 Cobra, it would be #1 but only because of it's low weight (2500 lbs).
Since this was such a limited production car I would not count it.
For a car to be eligible, it must be a car which you could walk into
any dealership in the country and order it off of the standard order
form. Obviously it would be an option on a standard model, for example
the L-88 option was an option on a 1968 Corvette. If it was on the
order sheet, then it counts but only if it was actually available.
The most famous case was the 1970 Corvette with the LS-7 option.
The LS-7 was the 465 HP/454 option which was actually an L-88 with a
four inch stroke, i.e. open chambered aluminum heads, ZL-1 cam, 12-1
pistons, biggest rods, steel crank, 4-bolt mains. In 1970, the LS-7
option was on the Corvette order sheet. But if you tried to order it,
you were told that Chevrolet changed their minds and you couldn't get
one. The only other 454 available was the low performance LS-5 with
low horsepower everything. Interestingly, the LS-6 was available in a
Chevelle and Camaro that year, so 1970 stands out as the one year in all
of history (at least since 1953) that the Corvette was not the premier
performance car from Chevrolet. The LS-6 was a high performance 454,
but a little less power than the LS-7 cause of close chambered heads,
milder cam, and less compression.
Since the same engines were always available for the Corvette, Camaro,
Nova, and Chevelle, the Corvette would be the fastest since it was slightly
lighter than the others. Actually, the L-88 wasn't available for any car
but the Corvette. My vote for fastest car would be the 1969 Corvette
with L-88 option. The ZL-1 Vette would have been faster (same power but 150
lbs. lighter) but I understand their were only two such cars ever made,
a situation similar to the 1970 LS-7 Corvette. If the 1969 ZL-1 Camaro
was a real car, then either it or the L-88 Vette would be #1. The L-88
and ZL-1 had identical power, but since the Vette was lighter than the Camaro,
and the ZL-1 was lighter than the L-88, it's hard to say which would have
been faster. Anyway, one of these two was DEFINATLY the fastest car
produced by GM because no other engine in the other GM divisions
could compare to the big block Chevy family.
As far as outside GM, the only other possible candidate would be
the 426 Hemi, either a 'Cuda or Charger or whatever their lightest
car was in which the Hemi was an option. I don't know Chrysler Corp.
history as well as Chevy so maybe some Chrysler fans could provide some
information on the subject. I do know that since everywhere I street
raced (five different major cities, 1970-1976) big block Chevys always
ruled the streets. Not your Hemis or 440 six packs or Cobra jet Mustangs
or 427 Ford Fairlanes, or GS 455 Buick Stage 1.
lighter)