Everyone has a soft spot for their first performance car. I found a poem which sums up these feelings: As seasons change and years slip by In the quiet corners of my mind Your exhaust note and engine whine plays, forever 6,000 rpm. strong Those sweet memories of burnouts and drag races will ever last For though we aged and paths have parted We’re forever young, just me and you My first love’s flame can never die.
Those Keystone 5 spoke were a favorite (seems they were partial to pitting relatively quickly though?). Unfortunately it was the beginning of the bumper pads in 73.
Very true. But back in 73 we were thinking about the weekend looks and performance, not so much the long term. I thought about removing the bumper pads but was more concerned about building the 440 and trans.
360-swapped 1971 Satellite that went 127mph uphill on the highway, that, until the red Hellcat, was the fastest I had ever driven. One night, flying up a hill at 90mph, a law eforcement car went by the other way at about a 150mph speed differential, hit the lights and initiated, to my DELIGHT, a three-point turn to turn around to chase. Last I saw it, it was against the curb on my side, having to back up next to complete turn. I lifted for half a second, then slammed the pedal back down, used my custom switch to turn off my taillights, and vanished into the night. Hung right, blasted along a 30mph road so fast that when I thought, "That cross road should be up here" I blasted right through that intersection at around 90mph, hit the road crown, and flew so far and so high that I landed hard enought to scrape the oil pan open on the pavement. Imagine how hard I had to land to get THAT little feat accomplished. I drove home, parked it for a few weeks, and used brake cleaner to clear any remaining oil away from pan bottom, and then filled it the small gap with blue RTV silicone, and drove it until my wife's friend drove it off the road into a ditch to destroy it. However, for performance, the first-gen RX7 with fan removed for the winter absolutely TROUNCED any car I had ever had. I did a powershifting self-timed 1/4 mile two opposit ways in that car, banging it up to 10,500 RPM between gears, and recorded 14 seconds flat one way and 13 seconds flat the way back on the same road. The BEAUTY of the RX was that you could blow hot air at your feet with the ventilation system, while having undisturbed cool outside air blowing at your face with the upper vents. The ventilation sytem of that car was the best I have ever seen, of any car of any price. But, the Hellcat went 180mph and stood on its nose when I hammered the brakes. Those brakes are absolutely WONDROUS.
