a local kid owns a 1957 chrysler saratoga, under the hood lies a 396 Hemi...anyway he'd been street racing all day, im riding with my buddy in his 72 302 powered mustang when my buddy decides he'll race the saratoga, naturally he loses, so i start talking with the hemi owner and tell him i'd like to run him if he'd let me go home and get my car, he sayed he didnt want to run me cause he's seen the GN in action, so i say ok i'll go get a big 4 door boat and he agreed, so we ran and got the electra, i cruise on out to the 1/4 and pull in behind the hemi saratoga, we bullshit a little while and a crowd gathers, everyone laughing at my big ol car, we go get in our vehicles and i fire up the 455 and rev it a few times hollaring out the window some smartass comment to the other kid, he laughs and goes to start his car, and it wont start, battery dead..(a sign??) i laugh at him and give him lots of crap..tell him i scared his hemi, he didnt like that much...we get his car jumped and line up on the highway, stage up and he flagger gives us the go, i nail the old buick, and the saratogas keeping up pretty good, but in the last 100 or so feet i pull away, won the race by 1.5 to 2 car lengths, i dont think he'll ever live down losing to an "old peoples car"
gotta love it... in my town theres no real competition ( mostly mustangs and a chevelle) and there not that many buick fanatics so I can't wait till Im done with my GS 400. :Brow: :3gears:
beating hemi s I love beating one of those things, Some of the people that own them let the mags pump them up into thinking that they cant be beat. In reality the wedges have given me a stronger run on the street than the hemis.
That's those highway gears kick'n in! :laugh: I never purposely street raced my Electra, but when some ricer would try to pull away from me at a light I got great joy in slowly rolling on the throttle and staying right up with them as they were winding out their little sewing machine!
Doc, you're thinking of the 426 Hemis. the 50's hemis dont get talked about as much. They were very different. they had smaller cams and more low-end torque. They were great for hauling around the Imperials and Chryslers. IMO, the 426 Hemi was a pig that never stayed in tune. it ran like a pig until you got to about 60 or 70mph.
hemi s Yup, and nitrus wasnt around then. I am sure the scene has changed since then , always does. That is why an old street rat cant get stuff out of his mind like, for instance, a turbo nailhead, a nitrus nail head, a efi nailhead, or a turbo,efi,nitrus nailhead. :Brow: :Brow: my nephew was amazed at the way the old 64 Riv would sqwash him back in to the seats with just a stock engine. Like I always say, you can build what you want but there is always some one out there faster. That is what makes it fun.
