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actually carsand planes, when we street raced in my Vette and other cars we go from rest to top speed, no 1/4 mile stuff, or ran outta road,traffic!
YES i'm kinda like you guys , burned out on Muscle cars(i do respect them BUT i have owned many of the ones from the late 50s/ thru 60s.
another car i should have kept, i ordered a new 1959 Chevrolet Impala convert,white /black top, BUT and this was a big one ,dealership said we got a special one coming in!
Chevy had many engines available, most are familier with the small block 283 or 327 4 barrel Powerpacks.
then comes the 348 tripower PERFORMANCE hydraulic cam engine.
well i wanted the hi-performance solid cam ,10-1 comp , tri-power engine,cast headers etc.
dealer said not available,temperairly sold out,, BUT a car is available with a 348 SPECIAL HI_PERFORMANCE engine,NASCAR UNIT, comes without warrenty,but dont worry for you we can work somthing out!
check out factory specs , special oversize valves large port heads , bigger cam , 11.5-1 compression, hi octane fuel ONLY 104, bigger carburators tri power, much larger exhaust etc.
beefed up trans 4speed , POSITRAC, terrible ratio 3.42-1.
every body said it cant rev high, tach showed over 7000rpm many times , for 1959 the HP war was heating up!
i often wonder where that car is today, and who ever owns it do they know what a special engine it has! truthfully it was not that fast ,it weighed to much and rear gear was not suited to acceleration!
ron
Ronbros wish I knew you way back when. I lived in Central Fla in 70-75, then the AF sent me back to UCF to teach ROTC, retired to Deland in 99. Anyway, could have learned a bunch from you. I got my "Masters" in car repair/building from reading car mags for 50 plus years....but Jags are relatively new to me and late in life. I've grown bored with most American cars having grown up with them. But I still have a 62 Vette I bought in 80 and a 55 Bel-Air HT I bought in 92. The former is undergoing a major upgrade with a new bolt in front end from Martz (finally ditching the old King pin and stamped steel suspension with archaic steering that dates to 1949!). Also gonna add a 5 Tremec Spd. Keeping the stock leaf sprung 10 bolt 3:36 Posi for now. Hopefully it will be "FUN" to drive again like it was when I was much younger. I have the 90 XJS convert about up to snuff, so i'll have my V-12. I'm still building the 64 S-Type, 2 door coupe, and it will be "different" at the local cruise ins. Which brings me to the 92 FL coupe I purchased. I'm not sure if I have the energy to build another car; but if I do, I want it to be fun, and I think it would add to the fun factor by putting an LS3 with 6 speed manual in it.
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HI Steve , you deffenatly got a plate full , lot of people with Vettes are not aware that the early vettes had that frame and suspension from back before 1949,just shortened!!
62 Vette nice car last of the early designs, at that period i worked at a Chevrolet dealership, and i specialized in the vettes, one time the dealer had a Corvette grand party of Corvettes only ' i sent the word to as many that iknew and they invited others, 22 Corvettes showed up , many pix ,and stories!
at that time 1962 i built a 57 Chevy Belair coupe, and ordered in a 1st available 409 crate engine from Chevrolet Performance division, had a spare close ratio 4 speed trans, put it all together , and that car was never beaten untill the 426/427s showed up , to think of it was wild times and things were moving fast,(GAD would i love to have that car today)? wouldnt WE all.
ron
HI MG, how would a light weight 4 cylinder be in your MG, 1600HP, engine 285lbs weight! power to weight!
check out " you tube ", 4 cylinder world record Cobalt , ECOTEC GM engine, from Brazil!
AMAZING?
ron
HEY that engine would make a big hit in an XJS, 285 lbs is way lighter than the V12s at 750lbs!
front springs may be a stumbling change?? donno! back to that "power to weight" thing!
ron
HI MG, how would a light weight 4 cylinder be in your MG, 1600HP, engine 285lbs weight! power to weight!
check out " you tube ", 4 cylinder world record Cobalt , ECOTEC GM engine, from Brazil!
AMAZING?
ron
I’ve played the horsepower race. 1600 is a big number, light weight? Better still.
But, is it pretty like a V12? I like the Old cast Iron Jaguar XKE 3.8 because it’s a very pretty engine. Offenhauser is beautiful.The Duesenburg you spoke about has a spectacularly beautiful engine.
But a modern Ecotec? I’m sorry, when the next new big deal shows up it will quickly fall to the scrap heap. But the engines I’ve spoke about will always be beautiful.
One of the many things that stand out on the E-type is the wonderful looking 6 cylinder. The fact that you can lift the bonnet up and see so much of it is even better - talk about eye candy.
I have always liked the look of the AJ16 in the XJS.
I also like the look of the LT1 5.7L in my 1995 Corvette. The engine sits very low and with the hood up you can see all the engine and front suspension.
i do like the looks of that AJ16 in the XJS ,a good looking 6 cylinder!
Vettes always looked good , i,m American!
BUT and old saying that goes back to 1950s,," if it dont go FAST, make it look good".
ron
12-02-2018 | 04:22 PM
