Take a ride in Richard Petty's 1970 Plymouth Superbird

There is nothing in the world like the sound of a big hemi ratcheting on monster cams. Well...there is one thing. The sound of the same motor when it comes up on the curve.:untroubled:

Brings back some fond memories of the 60's.

The spirit of the sport began to die with the frickin' slick marketing and restrictor plates. What sane gear head would build an engine to this level...then suffocate the #$%! thing????

IMHO

I'm gonna go watch the video again.
 
Hey All,

Racin with a wing and a 426 - those were the days. Easily the greatest engine of all-time. Never to be brought back again - you can't ever go back.

Initially those wings were not banned but the Mopar cars had to run smaller engines - yes in the name of parity. Parity (with usually a slight advantage to Chevy) has always been what NASCAR was/is about. Mopar innovation has always been frowned on. If there isn't parity the loser companies take their cars and go home - never buck a rigged game. In F1 both Honda and Toyota learned that.

Big time racing is never run what ya brung try harder next week if you lose big. If you lose big take all your cars and leave. It's bad advertising and bad for the pocketbook if you don't. Racing is never about the purity and spirit of the sport - it's about the money. That is why parity is king. It is just crazy that people could ever think it can ever be any other way again. Why simple - just too much investment is required to not require a serious return on investment. It is just a business.

But for a brief period of time we had a wing and a 426 - I'm glad I got to see it - limited as NASCAR coverage was back then.

-Ed-

PS On a side note I was admiring a metallic blue 68 two door roadrunner with a 440 just day before yesterday - although my dream car has always been a two door 68 super bee with a 426. Both are great cars.
 
Ed has a point. Even in the late sixties NASCAR effectively banned the 657HP Ford 470 SOHC "Cammer" in response to pressure from Chrysler. Both engines went to legend status on the drag circuit. Nick Arias eventually took the MOPAR Hemi to stratospheric levels of power and design innovation...based on the original engineering and geometry.

I drove a few Blown Arias flat bottoms back in my younger days. Rule number one...don't wear a pony tail in a blown drag boat!

I always had a soft spot for the '69 Hemi Cuda, but if I were to build another hot rod, it would be a reproduction Shelby AC Cobra with the SOHC. The new kit cars offer some pretty nifty tech. I had a client out in San Dimas that sent a few of those my way when I still had the shop. The rub was having to road test them....darn.
 
EasyEd said:
- yes in the name of parity. Parity (with usually a slight advantage to Chevy) has always been what NASCAR was/is about.
Click to expand...

Even though yet again, you've managed to throw in a non-subject related snub at F1 :banghead:,
I do agree with you in the sense that NASCAR has always favored Chevy. I seem to remember the Taurus
drivers having to give up a quarter inch here and there in the name of parity (for Chevy)....And if memory serves correct, Toyota was snubbed too...
 
Hey All,

The subject is parity. You brought up parity. Is there parity in F1? Name one constructor since the first in 1958 who won the F1 title that was not from Europe. Just one. Then tell me there is no way either Honda or Toyota have the resources to win in F1.

Even look at the F1 last race. Who wanted either A) Hamilton to lose or B) Rosberg to win 3 in a row to join only two other drivers having done so at Monaco or was it point separation too big? There was a whole lot of smoke and mirrors talk about sector 2 times, safety times slow pitting due to another car and on and on. The bottom line is all Hamilton's crew had to tell him was Rosberg is staying out and Hamilton would have too as he would have his teammate behind him to block Vettel. Yet that simple simple message never came - forget all that other smoke and mirrors stuff - why? They all knew Rosberg was staying out. Does the Mercedes F1 team really not know anything about passing at Monaco - are they really that bad? Really? An F1 team making a mistake that unbelievable huge. Looks suspicious as hades to me.

Anyway getting back to NASCAR we will never see the likes of the superbird and 426 Hemi again. The most recent issue of chevy favoritism a few years ago now was a lip on the front of the chevy's giving them more downforce compared to the other makes. In the case of the last dodge engine - they came up with an innovation which gave dodge an advantage - NASCAR removed it but did not let dodge redesign the engine which left dodge with an engine in which the center of gravity was too high and offset so a disadvantage. This too was several years ago and I'd have to look up the details.

-Ed-
 
EasyEd said:
Hey All,

The subject is parity. You brought up parity. Is there parity in F1? Name one constructor since the first in 1958 who won the F1 title that was not from Europe. Just one. Then tell me there is no way either Honda or Toyota have the resources to win in F1.

Even look at the F1 last race. Who wanted either A) Hamilton to lose or B) Rosberg to win 3 in a row to join only two other drivers having done so at Monaco or was it point separation too big? There was a whole lot of smoke and mirrors talk about sector 2 times, safety times slow pitting due to another car and on and on. The bottom line is all Hamilton's crew had to tell him was Rosberg is staying out and Hamilton would have too as he would have his teammate behind him to block Vettel. Yet that simple simple message never came - forget all that other smoke and mirrors stuff - why? They all knew Rosberg was staying out. Does the Mercedes F1 team really not know anything about passing at Monaco - are they really that bad? Really? An F1 team making a mistake that unbelievable huge. Looks suspicious as hades to me.

Anyway getting back to NASCAR we will never see the likes of the superbird and 426 Hemi again. The most recent issue of chevy favoritism a few years ago now was a lip on the front of the chevy's giving them more downforce compared to the other makes. In the case of the last dodge engine - they came up with an innovation which gave dodge an advantage - NASCAR removed it but did not let dodge redesign the engine which left dodge with an engine in which the center of gravity was too high and offset so a disadvantage. This too was several years ago and I'd have to look up the details.

-Ed-
Click to expand...

(Sigh)
I've been boneheaded enough in the past but no more! I now realize that every thread here regardless of subject will have a negative anti-Montoya, anti-F1, or anti-Indycar comment by you.

Now back to NASCAR, yes I agree with you in believing that there is a bias towards Chevy. Dodge pulled out maybe Toyota & Ford should pull out too.
 
EasyEd said:
Hey All,

Racin with a wing and a 426 - those were the days. Easily the greatest engine of all-time. Never to be brought back again - you can't ever go back.

Initially those wings were not banned but the Mopar cars had to run smaller engines - yes in the name of parity. Parity (with usually a slight advantage to Chevy) has always been what NASCAR was/is about. Mopar innovation has always been frowned on. If there isn't parity the loser companies take their cars and go home - never buck a rigged game. In F1 both Honda and Toyota learned that.

Big time racing is never run what ya brung try harder next week if you lose big. If you lose big take all your cars and leave. It's bad advertising and bad for the pocketbook if you don't. Racing is never about the purity and spirit of the sport - it's about the money. That is why parity is king. It is just crazy that people could ever think it can ever be any other way again. Why simple - just too much investment is required to not require a serious return on investment. It is just a business.

But for a brief period of time we had a wing and a 426 - I'm glad I got to see it - limited as NASCAR coverage was back then.

-Ed-

PS On a side note I was admiring a metallic blue 68 two door roadrunner with a 440 just day before yesterday - although my dream car has always been a two door 68 super bee with a 426. Both are great cars.
Click to expand...

Well said.
 
Hey All,

(Sigh)
I've been boneheaded enough in the past but no more! I now realize that every thread here regardless of subject will have a negative anti-Montoya, anti-F1, or anti-Indycar comment by you...
Click to expand...

Simply not true. I am not opposed to Indy, F1 or Montoya. I like Montoya and am glad Montoya won the Indy this year. How he beat two teammates was fun to watch. I am opposed to cliques dominating sports that claim to be global. I am opposed to a lack of parity - definition of boring. I am opposed to the idea that an open wheel driver is inherently a physically superior driver to a stock car driver - history continues to show it not so. I am opposed to things like team orders - NASCAR came down hard on it - F1 well - not so much. I am opposed to many things done within NASCAR and say so - look at my last post. I am opposed to the "sacredness" of the past while turning a blind eye to today's reality and tomorrows. I am not hard to comprehend.

-Ed-
 
Hey All,

Well you choose to take it that way. It is not and never has been my intent at all. I do not attack people.

I may criticize what people like or are dedicated to and - I will say why - usually with more information than they want to hear - but in no way do I see that as an attack on the individual. For example I drive a wrangler jeep and you can go ahead and tell me what a piece of junk it is - how bad the fuel economy is - how much oil it burns - yes it is a 3.8 - and I am to assume you are not criticizing my jeep but are attacking me? Why would I assume that? Do you really want me to ascribe that kind of character to you? I don't and I won't.

But that said it is your choice to ascribe to me what you will.

-Ed-
 
Last edited:
Have to remember when NASCAR came down on the boys from Dawsonville, when Ernie got those special engines for Bill. Don't recall the exact reason, but NASCAR sure didn't like it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top