"Muscle Car Confidential: Confessions of a Muscle Car Test Driver" + other road tests

[2ndAmend]

My dad had 1 with the 360 lean burn.

I inherited my father's '79 Diplomat station wagon with a 318 Lean Burn. It ran like crap and no one would buy it. I donated it to the high school. POS!!!

 

[DavidKFla]

I inherited my father's '79 Diplomat station wagon with a 318 Lean Burn. It ran like crap and no one would buy it. I donated it to the high school. POS!!!

I remember his ended up on the hook a few times. I don't know how long they kept it but it seemed to run fine after the work around was done.

 

[RetiredFirefighter]

They were slow. My Datsun 260Z laughed at them, Trans Ams and Corvettes.

The 260-Z's 17.8 @ 81 mph (below) doesn't best the above posted Z-28's 16.3 @ 83 mph or the T/A's 16.9 @ 82 mph.

And road test results from 1970's era Corvettes (bottom) from a forum post are even quicker at 14.9 sec - 16.1 sec.

1974 Datsun 260-Z


1975 L48 / 1976 L82 / 1976 L82

 

[DavidKFla]

The 260-Z's 17.8 @ 81 mph doesn't best the above posted Z-28's 16.3 @ 83 mph or the T/A's 16.9 @ 82 mph.

And road test results from 1970's era Corvettes (taken below from a forum post) are even quicker than the Z-28 and T/A (14.9 sec - 16.1 sec).

1974 Datsun 260-Z
View attachment 154775

1975 L48 / 1976 L82 / 1976 L82
View attachment 154776

mine had some goodies.

 

[RetiredFirefighter]

mine had some goodies.

ahhhhhhh

Now it makes sense.

 

[DavidKFla]

ahhhhhhh

Now it makes sense.

tuned by a great Datsun guy with exhaust, air intake, etc. It woke it right up.

 

[RetiredFirefighter]

tuned by a great Datsun guy with exhaust, air intake, etc. It woke it right up.

Running 17.8 quarters stock, besides the exhaust/air intake I'm more curious as to what the "etc." was. 😉

 

[DavidKFla]

Running 17.8 quarters stock, besides the exhaust/air intake I'm more curious as to what the "etc." was. 😉

it's been 40+ years and about that many cars ago. I know he reworked the carbs, the distributor and other stuff. Didn't take much to make it run really well.

 

[John G.]

I know it's apples to oranges, but it's interesting that my DSRT392 is faster, brakes better, corners better, has a higher top speed,
and costs ~same (adjusted for inflation) as the GNX. Just FYI ...

Yes, but it doesn't have that old school, big single turbo kick, like a jet fighter taking off. I still remember my test drive of a 1987 GN. It was the Hellcat of its day.

 

[Prange]

late 70's cars struggling for power is why the new 1982 157 hp Mustang GT was heralded as "the Boss is back" ...

1982 Mustang GT
(*note: this test was a pre-production version, actual 1982 GT's still ran a very fast for its time 8.0 sec 0-60)
View attachment 154748

View attachment 154749

They had an incredible amount of wheel-hop.