sunburnwilly Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I didn't know that. I wonder how fast he would have been going with an extra 320 ft on the throttle. 400? Probably not much faster. The cars, whether 1/4 mile or 1000 foot, are set up right on the edge of disaster for their respective distances. Try to run a 1000 ft car for an extra 320 and it will probably break in a most spectacular fashion. Which is why they quit doing it in 2008 after Scott Kallita's death . That last 320' was responsible for lots of parts breakage and stuff going wrong . These old guys in their era were particularly dangerous/deadly . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Yugo also made convertibles believe it or not. They sure did. I was at a working at a dealership at the time when they came to the US and our owner thought it would be a great idea to offer a brand new car for $3995. We had the first franchise in the area. The stories I could tell. Our owner did however unload the franchise about a year or two before Yugo America went belly up. They were no worse than the Chevy Chevette but got a bad reputation quickly. I went to the Chicago auto show the year they came out and already they had people handing out pamphlets telling people how unsafe and unreliable they were. My mother was driving our family-mobile (68' Dodge Polara Wagon) and was t-boned by an old man in a 76' Chevette. The old man died on the spot and the wagon just had the door replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Today many modern street cars are faster. Drag strips have "tuner" days. But it's not like the days when the radio blasted, "SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY .. . see Tom The Mongoose McCewen go against Don The Snake Prudhomme. See TV Tommy Ivo's Buick powered four engine four wheel drive dragster at beautiful U.S. 131 Dragway." Did that include Go-Go the Gorilla?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentcroy Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 There are many like it, this one is mine [emoji16] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 kentcroy- What do you think of the MX5 based Fiat 124 Spider? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 In the old days I was driving a 1968 Corvette with an L-88 motor. (The old motor was a 435HP 427) Now I would be happy with a red Smartcar with all wheel drive. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 (edited) kentcroy- What do you think of the MX5 based Fiat 124 Spider? I like the styling of the Fiat. It has that Italian flare to it. The Fiat engine is the 160 hp@5,500 rpm - 1.4L turbo used in the Abarth but has slightly better torque specs of 184 lb-ft@2,500 and a 6,250 redline. The Mazda uses the 155 hp@6,000 rpm - 2.0 L naturally aspirated engine with torque of 148 lb-ft@4,600 rpm and a redline of 6,800rpm. The Mazda weighs 2,332 lbs, and the Fiat 2,436 lbs. Power to weight ratio (higher is better): Mazda 0.0664665523 Fiat: 0.065681445 The much higher torque of the 1.4 and a much lower rpm looks better to me. I drive a super high RPM Honda S2000 which has some crazy numbers, but I really miss the low rpm torque you might get with something like a BMW Z4 3.5is. I test drove Mazdaspeed5 once and felt it was lacking in power. The lack of power reminded me a lot of the Toyota MR2 my father had. Drove like it was on rails, but not enough power coming out of the corners and on the straight for my taste. Edited July 21, 2016 by mustang guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentcroy Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Fix it again Tony[emoji12] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Fix it again Tony Those Fiats were not built in Hiroshima, this one is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max2 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Any thoughts on the mid-engine Vette they are working on? Photo just a rendering, but one is coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Fix it again Tony Those Fiats were not built in Hiroshima, this one is. The Fiats running around on the roads today are anything but inspiring. I haven't seen where the Fiat influence over Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep is anything to get excited over either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Those Fiats Caveat Emptor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I haven't seen where the Fiat influence over Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep is anything to get excited over either. The best rated engines in dodge trucks seem to be fiat designs, from an article I saw about the ten best engines of today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Some of my dream cars other than the caddy:Audi RS7 in blue 65 Mustang convertible, candy apple red with a white top and white interior 68 Mustang coupe in Brittany Blue black 69 Mach 1 fastback 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I haven't seen where the Fiat influence over Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep is anything to get excited over either. The best rated engines in dodge trucks seem to be fiat designs, from an article I saw about the ten best engines of today. I wasn't aware Fiat designed diesels. I believe they get their diesels from an Italian manufacturer that Fiat recently purchased, VM Motori. Prior to Fiat purchasing the company, they specialized in marine diesel (I believe that's correct). It was either marine or light industrial application. I'm going from memory, google may prove me wrong. I wouldn't expect the Fiat influence over VM Motori to be an overwhelming positive one in the future though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Audi RS7 in blue I like that blue, it's very similar to the blue on my wife's S.U.V. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I haven't seen where the Fiat influence over Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep is anything to get excited over either. The best rated engines in dodge trucks seem to be fiat designs, from an article I saw about the ten best engines of today. I wasn't aware Fiat designed diesels. I believe they get their diesels from an Italian manufacturer that Fiat recently purchased, VM Motori. Prior to Fiat purchasing the company, they specialized in marine diesel (I believe that's correct). It was either marine or light industrial application. I'm going from memory, google may prove me wrong. I wouldn't expect the Fiat influence over VM Motori to be an overwhelming positive one in the future though. Can't say for sure but their purchase of Alfa Romeo must have helped the engine department as well. Italian cars have a deserved reputation for issues, but the engines themselves are not the problem. My last Alfa sedan had fewer quirks than the contemporary BMW I was driving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Some of my dream cars other than the caddy: Audi RS7 in blue 65 Mustang convertible, candy apple red with a white top and white interior 68 Mustang coupe in Brittany Blue black 69 Mach 1 fastback You got my attention! I love the 7 series Audi's. That RS7 is a rocket. I would be just as happy with an S7. Look at the BMW B7 Alpina too. Another beautiful German rocket. I had a 65 Mustang, and frankly I didn't like that much even though it was a K-code - HiPo 289 triple black 4 speed. The 65 is a tiny car compared to the 67 which is smaller than the 69. It didn't handle well, either. I like the 67-68 better than any of the 60's stangs. I would love to have a Boss 9 some day, but that will never happen as the prices are out of this world. Frankly I'd rather have a well built 67 resto-mod with full suspension, brakes and A/C. I have a 67 right now that would be a nice donor for such a project. Maybe I will do that if I don't just sell the car. Anybody interested? Some pics I just now took. Car is dusty as heck. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 (edited) A few of my favorites that I'd like to own. 1950 Cadillac Hearse I'd chop, drop, and do the interior in a burgundy velvet with a burgundy carpet with jet black paint, and flames. The one with the flames was actually for sale near me many years ago and was owned by a rock band. We were about $5000.00 apart in pricing at the time. 1949/1950 Merc chopped and dropped. Edited July 22, 2016 by Jim 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 That's FINE Craig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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