I don't know how many have seen this list but it's a bit different than the 50 fastest list most of us are familiar with. Len 50 FASTEST MUSCLECARS # YEAR/MODEL ET/MPH ENGINE HP TRANS GEAR SOURCE 1 1966 427 Cobra 12.20@118 427 8V 425 4-Speed 3.54 CC 11/65 2 1966 Corvette 427 12.8@112 L72 427 425 4-Speed 3.36 CD 11/65 3 1969 Road Runner 12.91@111.8 440 Six BBL 390 4-Speed 4.10 SS 6/69 4 1970 Hemi Cuda 13.10@107.12 426 Hemi 425 4-Speed 3.54 CC 11/69 5 1970 Chevelle SS454 13.12@107.01 454 LS6 450 4-Speed 3.55 CC 11/69 6 1969 Camaro 13.16@110.21 427 ZL1 430 4-Speed 4.10 HC 6/69 7 1968 Corvette 13.30@108 427 6V 435 4-Speed 3.70 HC 5/68 8 1970 Road Runner 13.34@107.5 426 Hemi 425 automatic 4.10 SS 12/69 9 1970 Buick GS Stage I 13.38@105.5 455 Stage I 360 automatic 3.64 MT 1/70 10 1968 Corvette 427 13.41@109.5 L72 427 425 4-Speed 3.55 CD 6/68 11 1969 Charger 500 13.48@109 426 Hemi 425 4-Speed 4.10 HR 2/69 12 1968 Charger 13.50@105 426 Hemi 425 automatic 3.23 CD 11/67 12 1970 Plymouth Superbird 13.50@105 426 Hemi 425 ? ? ? 14 1968 Road Runner 13.54@105.1 426 Hemi 425 automatic 3.55 CD 1/69 15 1973 Trans Am 13.54@104.29 455 SD 310 automatic 3.42 HR 6/73 16 1969 Corvette 13.56@111.1 427 L88 430 automatic 3.36 HR 4/69 17 1969 Super Bee 13.56@105.6 440 Six Pack 390 automatic 4.10 HR 8/69 18 1969 Boss 429 Mustang 13.60@106 Boss 429 375 4-Speed 3.91 HC 9/69 19 1970 Challenger R/T 13.62@104.3 440 Six Pack 390 automatic 3.23 CC 11/69 20 1970 Torino Cobra 13.63@105.9 429 SCJ 370 automatic 3.91 SS 3/70 21 1968 Biscayne 13.65@105 427 L72 425 4-Speed 4.56 SS 4/68 22 1964 Polara 500 13.70@107.37 426 4V 365 4-Speed 3.23 HC 2/64 23 1969 GTX 13.70@102.8 440 4V 375 automatic 4.10 MT 1/69 24 1969 Dart 440 13.71@105 440 4V 375 automatic 3.55 CC 5/69 25 1971 Road Runner 13.71@101.2 440 Six BBL 390 automatic 4.10 CC 1/71 26 1971 Cuda 13.72@106 440 Six BBL 390 automatic 4.10 SS 4/71 27 1971 Corvette 13.72@102.04 454 LS6 450 4-Speed 3.36 CL 8/71 28 1971 Super Bee 13.73@104 426 Hemi 425 automatic 4.10 MT 12/70 29 1968 Hurst/Olds 13.77@103.91 455 W-30 390 automatic 3.91 SS 8/68 30 1970 Hemi 'Cuda 13.78@101.2 426 Hemi 425 automatic 4.10 MT 9/69 31 1968 Firebird 13.79@106 400 HO 335 4-Speed N/A HR 3/68 32 1967 Corvette 13.80@108 427 6V 435 4-Speed 3.55 HR 5/67 33 1965 Catalina 13.80@106 421 6V ? 4-Speed 3.42 CD 3/65 34 1969 Super Bee Six Pack 13.80@104.2 440 Six BBL 390 automatic 4.10 CD 7/69 35 1971 Boss 351 Mustang 13.80@104 Boss 351 330 4-Speed 3.91 MT 1/71 36 1966 Satellite 13.81@104 426 Hemi 425 4-Speed 3.54 CD 4/66 37 1969 Coronet R/T 13.83@102.27 440 4V 375 4-Speed 4.10 SS 4/69 38 1968 Cyclone GT 13.86@101.69 428 CJ 335 automatic 4.11 MT 8/68 39 1969 Nova SS 396 13.87@105.1 396 4V 375 automatic 3.55 HR 7/69 40 1969 Shelby GT-500 13.87@104.52 428 CJ 335 4-Speed 3.91 SS 9/69 41 1969 Cyclone Cobra Jet 13.88@101.7 428 CJ 335 automatic 4.11 MT 1/69 42 1970 Olds 4-4-2 W-30 13.88@95.84 455 W-30 370 automatic 3.42 CC 11/69 43 1962 Corvette 13.89@105.14 327 FI 360 4-Speed 4.10 HR 1/62 44 1969 Barracuda 13.89@103.21 440 4V 375 automatic 4.10 SS 8/69 45 1962 Catalina 13.90@107 421 4V ? 4-Speed 4.30 MT 5/62 46 1969 Mustang Mach I 13.90@103.32 428 CJ 335 automatic 3.50 CL 3/69 47 1967 GTO 13.90@102.8 400 RA 360 automatic 4.33 CL 10/67 48 1970 Trans Am 13.90@102 400 RA 345 4-Speed 3.91 HR 2/70 49 1970 Torino Cobra 13.99@101 429 4V ? 4-Speed 3.91 MT 2/70 Legend: CC=Car Craft, CD=Car and Driver, CL=Car Life, HC=Hi Performance Cars, HR=Hot Rod, MCR=Muscle Car Review, MM=Mopar Muscle, MT=Motor Trend, SS=Super
I am surprised to see that a Buick made the list so close to the top. 9TH position is pretty good. Hats off to Motor Trend!:TU: Many of those publications don't even consider a Buick a muscle car. I noticed the '67 GTO near the bottom. A dual quad '65 Riv is at least that fast, but I guess that's not a muscle car and therefore it doesn't belong on their list. Where did that list come from?
I'm also curious what the source is for this list. The more commonly seen list has the 13.38 1970 Stg.1 in 3rd place. Where do all these cars/times come from that are ahead of the Buick in this list?
David the list you have seen is from the Jan 1970 issue of Motor Trend which would put some of the top 10 in the above list below the Buick. Some would argue that a normalization of relative times is best obtained by using the results from one mag like Motor Trend and not mixing as was done above. Some would argue the mix is what counts. What we do not know is whether all the other mags tested the Stage 1 in the same way as did MT. ( For example same rpm lauch) Perhaps they did. I notice MT tested an auto car. Some would argue the 4 speed is a more efficient drive train while some would say the auto gives a more predictable launch. What do you think?
If you compare auto vs stick, Buick is second. Only beaten by a hemi roadrunner. I don't know the weight of a roadrunner but it's not even close to the buick I would say that's pretty good all considered
I think the lists aren't worth the paper they're printed on! You know the old saying, "on any given day".... :3gears:
I think Erik's article makes my intended point above. It is relative performance that counts and for this reason one mag reporting the times of many cars presumably reflects the same relative handicap of similar methodology. Therefore, I like the MT results for relative comparison purposes. ( Besides that way we have the fastest 4 seat car.)
I was interested to see the 62 and 65 4spd Catalinas rated head to head with the 62 fuelie Corvette. Checked the collector car adds and sure enough, there's a 63 4spd for sale. Nice looking car. http://www.collectorcartraderonline.com/dealeraddphotos.html?32987138
The list came from musclecarclub.com. It's a decent site with a lot of information on a variety of cars. There is quite a bit of info on the various Buicks. Len
That's an interesting article,Erik. This article explains what's very true whenever a car has to be road tested by a given magazine. Case in point: the 1966 Pontiac 2+2-this car had unbelieveable numbers because it was race prepped by Royal Pontiac. That's what is called a "ringer".
I checked out this website...pretty cool...BUT- As usual the '66 Riv GS was not represented accurrately. This guy claims that the dual quad option was gone that year, and that 198 of them were fitted at the dealer.....WRONG- Perhaps 198 were fitted at the dealer, but in fact 600 some odd number of them did in fact come from the factory that way. (I used to know exactly but forgot the number) This is nothing new with these publications. I just wish I knew where they get their information from.:af:
33 1965 Catalina 13.80@106 421 6V ? 4-Speed 3.42 CD 3/65 :Brow: :Brow: And there were factory aluminum front end 62 Catalinas (Tin Indian) with the 421 Super Duty. What an awesome time to be an engineer!
You know what also gets me about these guys, they give the 1/4 mile stats for the '63 riv w/ single 4 motor at 16 sec. They skip it for the '64 and '65 altogether, avoiding disclosure of their healthy 1/4 mile performance with the dual quads. They rate the '66 425 single 4 as doing 16.2 sec the 1/4 mile, which is probably true. It just sucks that Buicks don't get credit for what they truly have to offer. Only the "real" muscle cars get that honor. No wonder so many guys eyes pop out of their head when they notice my dual quad nailhead at a car show.:grin: I think these guys should check their facts before writing books.
Back in the day (er - mid '80s) an acquaintance of mine located in Paso Robles CA a '62 bubble top Cat (hell of a lot of glass) with the super duty stuff including aluminum bumpers in plastic bags in the trunk. Car had cut-out headers, dry original cheater slicks, 1,600 original miles, quarter at a time. Was NHRA campaigned on the west coast. That car sounded so awesome with the solid cam and the headers. My vague recollection is that in '62 it wasn't yet referred to as a Super Duty Cat because much of the equipment was OTC - not factory. He bought the car for $8,000. Sold it about 4 months later for $18,000. Probably kicking himself today.
I think the whole list is a little hokey: The 66-68 427 Corvettes were essentially identical cars from a drag racing standpoint. They all had posi, the same crummy tires, and their weights were all nearly identical. The only difference between them is that each year they all got more powerful. Why is it then that there was such a difference in the times? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. - Freed
I think I like the Basketball Sam list better, where the 70 GS Stage 1 is ranked #3. Hey Benderbrew, where's #50?
O.K. John, so it's a list of the 49....good question though, never really looked at the end of the list. Hope all is going well for you and yours.... Len
