Mopar meets a Stage One

A friend of mine told me a good story the other night. Back in the day his dad was a master service technician at a Chrysler dealership and a gearhead from way back. He ordered a new '69 Charger with the 440 engine and had it tuned to kill. I know he had headers on it but not sure what other modification he had done to it. He said his dad would let him take the car out on occasion and he was always looking for action. He ask me if I remembered a kid in town who lived down by the river and had bought "one of those Buicks." As he is several years older than I, I didn't, but questioned him about the car. I ask if that would have been about 1970, and if it would have been a Buick GS. He said he was pretty sure that's what it was, he knew it was a big block and 1970 was probably right. He said this guy had come into some money or something and bought it new. He caught up with him one night and talked him into racing on a country blacktop used by many back then for such purpose. He said he couldn't believe it but his dad's bad-ass Charger could not beat that car. He said this kid didn't even know how to drive the car, and it was stone stock, but he beat me 3 times by over a car length. I said it had to have been a '70 GS Stage One, you weren't the only one left asking, "what the hell was that?" :3gears: o No:

 

That's a great story. And I love it when people don't know what "that buick" is, or how fast they go.:laugh:

 

More reasons why i took off all my badging.. i get all the time, "is that a chevelle" or Olds..Gets me tired but hey, gets the job done.

 

A secret shop near my house builds tractor pulling engines, all big hemi's, they sell them here and overseas, 2k hp engines. I stopped in the shop to check them out and got to talking with them. Very cool shop with about 10 NIB 426 blocks sitting under a counter, racks of cylinder heads (each as wide as 3 bbb heads put together), blowers by the dozen, a gearheads dream. Turns out the owner was a big Mopar/hemi racer back in the late 60's/early seventies. I asked him if he would flow some heads for me and he said sure, whatcha got. Showed him the car, he asked if it was a stage, and got a sort of weird look in his eyes and said "I remember those Buicks giving us alot of problems"

Thats alot coming from the guy who built Country Girl and countless other 5 engine tractor combos!

 

People under estimate Buicks. Most people don't know what the hell a GS is, let alone a real stage 1

 

I wonder who would win , on a top speed run? Anyone have an opinion. I think it would be close. Those mopars were pretty quick too.

 

When you're talking about car that have enough power to do 150+ it really comes down to gearing. Like a 4.88 mopar vs a 3.08 Buick. The mopar would stomp that buick until about 100 when it tops out, while that buick would still have 50+ MPH to go on top end

 

well given a couple popular mopar and buick gear ratio's, mopar usually between 3.91 and 4.11, and buick between 3.08 and 3.64, id say Buick has a bit of an advantage in this department, not to mention the 510 ft lbs of torque chugging along in top gear at 3000 rpm.

 

I'm surprised some of our mopar guys haven't chimed in with the standard. "Well there must have been something wrong with the Mopar." Or "He must not have know how to drive that 440"

I have a similar story with my 72 lark VS 69 440 six pack. Mopar guys:ball: Me:Brow: wanna go again

 

Yep, top speed Buick probably has the advantage.

Buicks are like Pontiacs in that they don't need low ass gears to get moving like small block chevys or even big block mopars do. There are lots of people on Performance Years that have gone from a 3.73 to a 4.10 and ran slower ETs. Torque like those long ass gears

 

Hey, a driver can make all the difference in the world.

That's why Corvettes and Vipers are so slow...Rich guys don't know how to shift. Put a redneck in that Viper and he'll cut the best times

 

"Redneck in a Viper":3gears: - I love this board!

 

Don't you love the sheer ignorance of people!!! People always downplay the Buick Stage 1 until they're confronted by one. Then suddenly they back down when the opportunity arises.

These kill stories will keep going on and on. I love it.:TU:

 

Don't hate. Who wants to get beat by grampa's grocery getter in their hot vette? That's like getting your ass kicked by your 55 year old over weight uncle when you're in your 20s. It's embarrassing. Best to just say something's wrong with your car that you need to get worked out first, and avoid future public encounters. Kind of like telling your bully uncle that you pulled a muscle lifting weights when he tries to wrestle with ya infront of the family..... You know he's gonna make you look like a wimp, just avoid it!

What cracks me up is my friends who have mustangs (a 87 lx 5.0 with some mods and a 99 slowbra vert with an exhaust) know the 'lark is going to knock their teeth in when it comes to drag, so they start runnin their mouths off about road racing and twisties. Twisties are for foreigners and corvettes.

As for the viper bit... redneck might bang those gears like a man, but that car is still garbage for traction no matter what you do. I mean how much horsepower do you need to put a viper in the 8's? 500hp is a mid 12, 830 was a high 10? 1000 was a low 10, high 9 on slicks? That's just an abhorrent waste of power. CLK-GTR does low 9s with 650hp. TT 427 lingenfelter vettes do low 9s with street radials with 800. hell, back in 69 the ZL1 vette did mid-high 10s with those terribad tires with less than 600. I hate vipers. Shelby's worst design, EVER. Yes, even worse than the 80's daytonas or that stupid durango. Viper = $30K car with a horrible markup for people who want to say "I dont know crap about cars, but I have money!" but cant afford Lamborginis.

/rant off sorry, I really really really dont like vipers.

 

From owning one I would say a stock Zo6 Vette will dust 98% of the street driven Buicks. Ask the others on here that own one. From being around back then, a 440 six pack is one of the quickest cars from the muscle car era and so is a stage 1 455. An early 60s max wedge plymouth or Dodge B body was even faster. You just do not see many on the street now. We have a couple maxies and a stage 1 GSX. I have close friend that has 428 SCJ Torino. It is right in there with 440 MOPAR and and stage 1 car in terms of performance. I would not underestimate any of these cars. I appreciate all of them and many of the other brand owners appreciate the Buicks too.

In general the cars made today are quicker than those from the muscle car era. Technology has advanced such that today more performance is obtained from lesser cubic inch motors.

 

pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft!

you just popped the buick ballon:moonu:

 

I never give them hell.
I just tell the truth and they think it's hell.
--Harry S. Truman

 

This is especially true when it comes to the small block cars (sorry Sean and Cason). But its true, when you goto the track every stock newer corvette and mustang out there will out run the old small block V8's. Hell there is a Z06(not exactly stock) that runs at our track that runs right with my turbo big block.

 

Come on, folks...

Some OEM new stuff can outrun some OEM old stuff, and vice-versa.

Modify either, and all bets are off. Then throw in the abilities of the driver.

Devon

 

So, however impressed I am with these "stories", I have nothing to contribute. In 1972, I bought an RX3 Coupe and my buddy bought an RX2 Sedan, before we knew each other. We were in Cupertino, bought our cars at Oak Tree Mazda. They each had a twin-wankle engine, and these tiny little (loaf of bread) transmissions. Years later I bought me a change-of-life 83 Mustang GT 5.0 liter - 5 speed "rocket".

I had dozens of friends envy my Mustang, and I drove the heck out of it. Only ticket I ever got was when I jumped out to pass a long line of semi-trucks near Syracuse, NY - Smokey the bear jumped off the fast lane shoulder of the road - his ticket writer clearly in his hand - I ducked in between two trucks, snuck right up to the right rear trailer tire, and he watched as I sailed by. About 50 more yards was an exit ramp -I dove into it- up the hill, around the circle to the payment booth. Toll was $3.00 or something - 1986 or so - and as I looked in the rear view mirror - saw the trooper go flying by with lights and siren. . . "Ha - Ha- the brain said" - fooled him. Drove straight thru the toll, made a U-turn, back onto the Thruway with a new toll ticket. Got to the end of the ramp, merged onto the Thruway = I-90 and there was Smokey - sitting underneath an overhead bridge - in the shade - just waiting for me. I sheepishly pulled over, and he smiled as he walked up (swaggered). He says "what took you so long ?"... I gave him license, registration, and insurance and waited for my ticket. He came back, handed it to me - "clocked you at 110" he says - smile got bigger - "but I only wrote you a 90 mph in a 55 bzone. Cost me $250 and I had to drive back to Syracuse 10 days later for traffic court.

I thought that Mustang was hot. . .but I always remember that Mazda. The Mustang is a lead sled off the line, 5 speed, long stroke clutch wire, about a 1,000 pound clutch plate. It would spin the tires in ANY GEAR, and I mean SPIN. That crappy little Mazda was QUICK off the line. About the only thing it could smoke was a Marlboro ! But -it had a 50 pound clutch plate,was a lot easier, shorter strokes to shift. It would press me back into my seat at about 6 G's. The GT Mustang could spin the tires and jump off the line, but it only pressed me into the seat at 3 G's. Maybe 4 G's in second gear, and 5 G's in 3rd gear. I could drop the Mustang into 4th gear already doing over 100 mph.

Comparison - I never ran either car in a quarter mile - but the Mustang would probably slip by the Mazda in the last 20 yards. The Mazda was quicker and stronger right off the line. The wankles went from IDLE to MAXRPM-like in half a second. The tires didn't spin- they GRABBED.

A few weeks ago, I ran into a guy with TWO Mazda Quarter-milers - the twin wankles have been tuned up to over 650 HP - he's Australian - and he's working on a twin wankle with 1,000 HP. He's got humungous slicks on the back end - just fit inside the flared fenders.

He eats Mustangs for snacks between meals. I would suspect he might eat a row of Corvettes for a main dish before the snacks.

So, when I hear stories about fast cars - I think back to my Mazda that would have chewed up my 12 year newer Mustang GT.

Rip Rohring