Norse1974

The 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 was a 2 seat roadster that weighed probally 2500-3000lbs & was still slower than the GT500 that weighs 3800-4000lbs! LOL! Yeah I like the 65 for the pure American Icon classic it is but its a joke compared to tthe Cobra running the pavements now!

bakerjd

I would think that weight and tires are a big difference between the two. Today's cars vs. yesteryear with both heavily modded is def. in today's advantage.

snaf2u

I got my license in `57. Dad had a Dodge D-500 which was pretty quick for then and would beat the `57 Chevy`s around town quite badly. 0-60 was just less than 10 sec. Most eco boxes of today are faster.

Move to the 60`s-70`s. Big power and big cars. Faster than the 50`s, ya. Loud, rompen`, stompen`, crude muscle the likes of which would never be seen again. Or so we thought. My `11 6`er will take many of those cars without much trouble.

Better engines, transmissions, suspension, and don`t forget tires. I loved those cars and there is little that is more thrilling than stomping on the gas in a Hemi-Cuda, but stock to stock preformance cars then and now? Now wins most matches. I just don`t know if it is any more outright fun now than it was then.

There were great cars then and are great cars now. I am just happy to have been around long enough to have seen them.

REDBOSS1

No way, I don't have the car knowledge of a lot on this board but no mods strait out the box todays cars are way faster. The older cars look better and have a place in the hearts of car lovers across America but the newer cars are geared better, lighter, better suspension, ect..... 300 horsepower used to be a lot now it's pretty standard in most vehicles.

Art161

Overall, if you're talking stock, I think today's cars are faster in most situations. I had a 1970 Olds Cutlass Supreme SX W-32. This was essentially a 4-4-2 in a notchback, rather than semi-fastback, body. I have a road test article from then that claimed 6.6 seconds 0-60 and 1/4 mile time of 14.8 sec @ 95 mph. I think top speed was maybe 120 mph on a good day. Those Chrysler 426 cu. in. hemi engines were quite fast, but they were barely streetable. You needed to keep a good supply of spark plugs on hand!

One thing about those older cars--they FELT fast. They had gobs and gobs of torque. I'd actually like to see a test of those old muscle cars compared to today's cars in an uphill match.

With my Mustang, I sometimes look at the tach when stopped at a red light to see if the engine is still running. With the Olds, I didn't need to do that--whole lotta shakin' goin' on.

Cusp

I graduated High School in 1975. For us, the affordable used cars were right at the sweet spot of the Muscle car Era. I drove a 68 Chevell 2 dr. with a 327. My peers of the time drove the Camaros, Novas, Cuda's, Challengers and Mustangs. Or Pick ups. Cars then were more work and expense to keep running correctly. Went through points, plugs, and distributor caps a couple times a year. You were doing good if your engine would last to 100,000 miles. Automatic transmissions way less. I did not have the wallet for it but a few guys I knew seemed to be able to afford to cherry out their rides with built engines, suspension, traction control mods and new paint. Stock suspension was terrible for hooking up. Without traction bars the leaf springs would wind up causing extreme wheel hop. Sixty Series tire profile were a little radical. One of my buddies had a 69 Mustang with a 302. To that was added Cams, Long tube headers (no other kind) What were Cats? The usual polished and ported story. Tunnel Ram intake with a 4bbl perched atop above the hood line. Sound control if you could call it that, through a pair of Glass Packs. Power delivered via a Hertz shifter with lock out reverse on top of a 4 speed through some 4:11s out back. "Meats" behind and Skinnies up front. A sight to behold and fun to ride around in especially roasting first into second in the school parking lot. We all thought it was a fast car. When asked how it did in the 1/4 mile he would report it could do 11s or 12s.... Then one day he took the Mustang to the track... Should not have because he was working a nice myth until that time slip with mid 14s on it. Opps. Todays cars last way longer with much less maintenance. Only an exotic for the time would have some close ignoring the 8 track stereo of course. But the machinery is not the only story to associate with the era. One must also include the political and enforcement climate of the time as well. We had a road not far out of town which was for the most part ignored by law enforcement late at night. Even had start and finish stripes painted across it No RADAR. No traffic cams, No smog inspections, No insurance enforcement, Didn't get our cars impounded if caught with expired tags. Busted for under age drinking usually meant the cops made you pour your beer on the ground and say you would never do it again. Yes the cars of today would have been to die for then. But I would swap it all back if I could once again enjoy the liberties which have been slowly removed from the American experience. Next time you hear the word Progressive spoke ask progress to what?

stealth_GT

You know it's all torque when you see an old school muscle car sitting on some full slicks, roll cage, skinnies up front and no interior, run low 11s and traps 108mph lol

jwharton

I graduated in 1972 and I loved that era of cars! Most of us could not afford anything newer than the early to middle 60's at best. I still love those cars! My first car was a 1950 Plymouth 2 door coupe (I wish I had it today) with a flat head 6 and a froze up motor. The day my dad towed me home in it at 30 mph behind his old Buick with almost no brakes and a sloppy front end that you could barely keep it between the lines....I fell in love with cars and have had many since, slow and fast. I then moved onto a 1961 Buick La Sabre with a 4 bbl. 410 Wildcat in it....man did I think I had something until a kid at school with a 6 banger Firebird beat the tar out of me. It all progressed from ther to an 11.2 Chevy II, some big block Chevys and many more. They felt really fast because the steering was sloppy, the shocks were crude, the brakes were weak, the torque was tremendous, the tires sucked and a lot of the car social life was at night and the darkness always amplified things. We too had a 1/4 mile marked off that we would drag race at with 3 horn honks or if someone was brave enough to stand out front and drop their arms and didn't get hit by someone fishtailing into them. Oh and let me not forget that I worked on them all week long so I would have them for the weekend, which many times was just Friday night because I broke it before Saturday got there. Today I got more horsepower and better technology throughout the whole car and it starts and performs every day. The only time I work on it is when I'm modding. I miss the good old days and the memories are priceless and I still remember what real gas with lead in it at 102 octane smelled like...both out my exhaust and when the floats in my Holley would stick and overflow. Bottom line is your dad is wrong when it comes to the cars most of us drove. There were as few exceptions...but even those exceptions would not compare the exceptions of today. I am glad to have lived through such times and I look forward to what I might be driving in 30 years from now and having this same discussions about the good old days.

Norm Peterson

13's.

Friend of mine back at my first job out of school (1970) had a '68 Corvette with the 390 HP 427, four speed, and legitimately a 13 second car. One of his little amusements on camping trips was to blow off guys with cars they thought were hot - while towing the pop-up camper.


Norm

dennisafrompa

To Cusp: Progressive to what? The air is cleaner, the cars very efficient, safer and faster. I'm a lot older than you and I for one think the auto world is dealing well with progessive thought.

I'm a geezer and proud to call myself a "progressive".