Best muscle car of the 70's

[outofyourmind]

I've always been partial to the 1970 Dart. It was a very affordable muscle car with a smaller block but lots of power out of the hole. My first car was a blue 70 Dart, not a Swinger but the regular coupe, with a 318. Would have loved to have owned a Swinger with the 340:

those 340's could get up and move.

 

[JohnRandle]

Pontiac produced the best 'low compression' engines hands down.
Before the 455 Super Duty you had the 455 HO in 1971 with special heads and Ram Air.
When everyone else stopped trying, Pontiac kept putting out big cubes.


1971 GTO 455 H.O.

'71 was pretty much the peak of the muscle era, everyone was building huge big blocks.
'73 was about the end. It's not that they all quit trying, more so the fuel crisis made them big blocks not desirable anymore. Nobody was buying them, and the folks who owned them were trying to dump 'em.

The 455 was still around for a couple years, but it was so de-tuned it was hardly worth wasting the fuel to drive...

 

[JohnRandle]

those 340's could get up and move.

No kidding, great motor.
Buddy of mine had a 340 Six Pack in a 'Cuda, that thing would scream.

 

[outofyourmind]

'71 was pretty much the peak of the muscle era, everyone was building huge big blocks.
'73 was about the end. It's not that they all quit trying, more so the fuel crisis made them big blocks not desirable anymore. Nobody was buying them, and the folks who owned them were trying to dump 'em.

The 455 was still around for a couple years, but it was so de-tuned it was hardly worth wasting the fuel to drive...

Yeah, except for Pontiac. Pontiac offered the 455 thru 1976 and the 400 thru 1979.
Gas guzzling yes. But Pontiac made the smart move by offering the big cubes when nobody else did.
Some people wanted them and were willing to buy them.
No other manufacturer came close to what Pontiac was doing in that time frame.

From '73-'74 Trans Am sales doubled.
Then from '74-'75 Trans Am sales almost tripled.
In '75-'76 they almost doubled again.
By '79 they doubled again.
From '73-'79 the entire Firebird line Quadrupled in sales.

And all you had to do to get the performance of old was to chop off the catalytic converter, put on duel exhausts, install headers, recurve the distributer/rejet the carb, adjust the timing, and poof, high 13 second quartermiles. Go buy one of the Ram Air cams over the counter at the Pontiac parts department and you get low 13's. All of that for a few hundred dollars.

Buy new. Uncork the fucking things and fly.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I had a buddy in high school who owned a 79 Firebird, was pretty much tricked out like you described: headers, dual glasspacks, 4-barrel.

I ran him in a quarter in my Dart - had the edge on him out of the hole, still lead at 1/8th, then his low gear kicked in and he streaked by me at the line. Lost 40 bucks.

I knew I shouldn't have run him, but I thought I could get ahead of him enough. After that, I stuck to my weight class.

This is exactly what his looked like:

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Also, one of my older brothers had an early 70's model Cutlass, but i was a lot younger when he had it and I don't recall which year. I just remember it was very fast. Similar to this one, but black:

 

[ckhokie]

Some cool cars here guys, but lets be real for a minute..

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Sorry, can't help myself now, going through my entire family's 1970's vehicles!

Another brother owned several Mercury Comets. They weren't nearly as popular as the Mustangs or Cougars, but they were another under rated lil' affordable muscle car. He had a 68 and a 74, which looked like this:

I believe both of them had smaller blocks, either 289's or 302's stock, but he might have dropped a bigger block into his 68:

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Some cool cars here guys, but lets be real for a minute..

You freakin commie!!

 

[Voltaire26]

1969 Dodge Charger Daytona ... 426 ci Hemi Engine

Not as good as today's automobiles but badass for the 70s

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

And my dad loved 70's model AMC's, like this here Javelin:

But all we could ever get ahold of was a bunch of Hornets with 6-cyls:

We had two of these ^^^, one orange, one black, and a sedan that was turkey-shit green vvv:

 

[Carnzo]

When did dodge Plymouth stop having reverse thread on one side of the wheels? Was it the passenger side?

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

When did dodge Plymouth stop having reverse thread on one side of the wheels? Was it the passenger side?

It was after 1970, for sure...the first time I ever had a flat on my Dart, I wrung off two studs. I had NO IDEA they had left-hand threads. My dad was like, "How could you not know that?"

 

[Rex Racer]

Some cool cars here guys, but lets be real for a minute..

Lamborghini Miura, very nice sled and one of my all time faves. Many consider it the first true "Super car". I had a Corgy toy of the Miura when I was about 8-9 years old and it has held my attention ever since. Jay Leno has two (real ones), that miserable bastid.

Speaking of Jay, if any of you are not aware that he is an avid car nut check out his website "Jay Leno's garage" He has some incredible cars and his website is top notch.

 

[Neb4life]

1970 El Camino SS 396.

 

[Nosferatu]

Always loved the Stingray...

 

[JohnRandle]

Yeah, except for Pontiac. Pontiac offered the 455 thru 1976 and the 400 thru 1979.
Gas guzzling yes. But Pontiac made the smart move by offering the big cubes when nobody else did.
Some people wanted them and were willing to buy them.
No other manufacturer came close to what Pontiac was doing in that time frame.

From '73-'74 Trans Am sales doubled.
Then from '74-'75 Trans Am sales almost tripled.
In '75-'76 they almost doubled again.
By '79 they doubled again.
From '73-'79 the entire Firebird line Quadrupled in sales.

And all you had to do to get the performance of old was to chop off the catalytic converter, put on duel exhausts, install headers, recurve the distributer/rejet the carb, adjust the timing, and poof, high 13 second quartermiles. Go buy one of the Ram Air cams over the counter at the Pontiac parts department and you get low 13's. All of that for a few hundred dollars.

Buy new. Uncork the fucking things and fly.

Funny how that's the same time frame that Ford quit building the big Mustangs...lol
Some people still wanted the Pony Cars
From '74 to '78 they had the Mustang II's. And their sales went way up as well.
Most T/A's were ordered with the 400 rather than the 455 in those years too.
I'm half buzzed, so if I'm just rambling incoherently, just let me know...

 

[JohnRandle]

Some cool cars here guys, but lets be real for a minute..

The thread title was Best Muscle Cars of the 70's.
We're talking about cars people drove to work, then went around and raced their buddies on the weekends.
Not about Super Cars..

 

[outofyourmind]

Funny how that's the same time frame that Ford quit building the big Mustangs...lol
Some people still wanted the Pony Cars
From '74 to '78 they had the Mustang II's. And their sales went way up as well.
Most T/A's were ordered with the 400 rather than the 455 in those years too.
I'm half buzzed, so if I'm just rambling incoherently, just let me know...

Everyone else just stopped producing anything that would go fast.
Pontiac took advantage of that and sold a bunch of cars because of it.
The 455 was offered thru 1975 and had the H.O. moniker on the T/A.
They didn't offer it in the 1976 models, but gave in half way thru the model year and offered it, but it was just the garden variety 455 that could be had in any other big car they produced. Funny, they dropped the H.O. designation and only offered it with a 4spd and 3.23 gears, I guess in an attempt to prop it up.
But again, all you had to do is put a couple of hundred dollars worth of work in them and they would run pretty fast.

 

[JohnRandle]

Everyone else just stopped producing anything that would go fast.
Pontiac took advantage of that and sold a bunch of cars because of it.
The 455 was offered thru 1975 and had the H.O. moniker on the T/A.
They didn't offer it in the 1976 models, but gave in half way thru the model year and offered it, but it was just the garden variety 455 that could be had in any other big car they produced. Funny, they dropped the H.O. designation and only offered it with a 4spd and 3.23 gears, I guess in an attempt to prop it up.
But again, all you had to do is put a couple of hundred dollars worth of work in them and they would run pretty fast.

True, but Ford went the opposite direction, and sold a bunch as well. Not saying Pontiac was bad, just that they all had a reason to do what they did, and they all survived.....oh wait, the Firebird isn't around anymore..lol
Just fucking with you, I like the Firebird, and loved that they offered a big block option when nobody else would.