Cars And Zebras I love all the videos, whenever you post them. I grew up as a teen during the ‘60s. Love the humor, the specs on the cars and prices. Good stuff.
That Olds is from Ontario that's where I'm from. My buddy Art brings his 1971 Dodge Duster 340 over there and races it once in a while it's Hemi Orange with a white stripe and white interior all original #'s matching bought it new in 71 when he was 18 or 19 years old
I would say more guys over 50 know how to power shift a muscle car than most 20 yr olds driving little rice burners. I doubt most 20 yr olds today have legs strong enough to pedal the clutch in an old muscle car......lol.
@@howabouthetruth2157 Yeah, as someone who grew up in the late 60's and early 70's, I could tell he had lots of experience, knew what he was doing, and how to do it.
I can relate. At 16, when I got my driver's license & didn't have my own (used '55 265 Belair) car yet, a friend of the corner gas station's younger mechanic taught me to power shift my Father's '62 Impala 327/250 3-speed column shift. The guy had the almost the exact same car as my Dad's, color, interior, etc. except for a 327/300 4-spd. Also taught me to double-clutch 2nd to 1st, no 1st gear synchro then.
@@ralfie8801 I know what the hell "never lifted means"........and it's awful strange that someone would replace the term POWER SHIFTING with "he never lifted". Get a clue kid.
In high school in the early 70's, a friend found a '55 Chevy that had been retired from the drag strip. It had in it (guess what?) the dual quad 409, with headers, a 4500 lb racing clutch, 4 speed, in front of a stock rear end. Damn, it was fast! Even the guys with 427 Camaros, 396 Novas, or anything else wouldn't take him on. Took it to the strip once, turned 11.71. I saw it crack a windshield once when he hit second gear due to body flex (yeah, in a'55 Chevy, those things were tanks). And the paint job looked like an old junker. I'll never forget that car. Oh, the memories.............
Joseph Abbott - Know exactly what you mean by $1.65 an hour. Made the same after school and drove a ‘66 Chevelle SS396/375 HP. Damn expensive to fill up with 260.
Really like that W-31 Olds but the 409's are among my favorite Chevy's ever made. That's a really sweet 63. What a sleeper. I'm a Mopar guy but the big body Chevy's of the 60's are some of my all time favorites
Grampa could take most car guys to school on how to properly bang some gears......Damn that was amazing, he has that car sorted out real nice. Thanks for posting this up Zebra.
Grandpa goes rowing on the weekends . Grandpa rows reeaal good ! Plows right through them gears ! Oh yeah, Grand Torino is a way under rated movie ! Ok, I Watched video and Grandpa spanked him hard. Reaction time wouldn't have mattered , Grandpa had this one . He should've had a handicap tag hanging off the mirror as a finishing touch !
He runs that car quite a bit too, and goes to a few different events every year. I know he’s owned that car since at least the 90s, but probably even longer
My dad used to street race as a teen in the early 60s. He was a Mopar guy, but used to tell me about a couple sleepers that a few guys had from neighboring towns. A 63 409 4 speed Impala was 1 of them. Dad said the guy used to change out the rear tires to a 9 inch Butal-Aire mounted on wider rims, at a gas station before a race. Rated as a rain tire they were super soft and became known as the poor man's slick. Pretty soon, the only guys that would race him was a guy with a 421 Poncho and a rich kid with a Max Wedge. Dad claimed that the only way those cars could beat the 409 was if that driver missed a shift.
I was 13 years old when my dad bought a new ‘64 Impala with a 250hp 327 4 speed. I thought that was fast at 0-60 in about 10 seconds. Without posi though, it just spun one wheel off the line. Really smoked that Kelly Springfield! It was a bench seat Daytona blue coupe. It had a few minor options and he paid $2843 out the door. He kept it 15 years until it finally rusted out.
79tazman Long Island! The floor rusted out under the carpet and the trunk as well. He didn’t drive it too much. He went through the dual exhaust mufflers every year. Midas Muffler didn’t get their money’s worth with him.
Grandpa knows how to shift. Love it. Both of these cars are very unique. I knew that 31 was quicker than the first match, they were screamers, and under rated. I own a 63 SS and a 70 442. LOVE these big cars!
An old machinist I used to go to had bought a new 1963 Impala SS with the 409/425. He had just graduated High School in 1963 and had some money saved and his dad told him he would add to that so he could get anything he wanted. He went to his local Chevy dealer and ordered one with the 409/425 and a 4.11 rear gear. He told me he would go down every couple of days to see if the car was being built yet. After a couple of months the dealer told him that the 409 was in high demand and it might take a couple more months. The dealer said he could get him any other engine Chevy offered, including the Fuel Injected 327 and have it there in 3 to 4 weeks. My friend refused and said he'd wait on the 409. It finally arrived and he said he left black marks all over his town for months. On a side note, I've never heard of a Fuel Injected 327 in a '63 Impala. I wonder if many were made of if it was just some special order that the dealer could get through to try and make a customer happy? It would have been a really cool car with that engine.
A good friends nephew bought a brand new W30. At 55mph,he'd floor it & when passing gear kicked in,that 455 would throw you back in the seat! All that torque! Liked to have seen a W30 & the 409 raced!😎👍
I have a feeling the Oldsmobile owner didn't really want to flog on his engine. 3700 pounds that Cutlass must've been loaded up with options. The secret to Oldsmobile tearing up the drag strip on Sunday and selling on Monday was, wait for it. Local dealer would order W-31 package on a bare bones f-85 no options, bench seat, rubber floor mat, radio delete, no side moulding. Car weigh from 3250-3300 pounds. Plus those W-31s were factory blueprinted and hand assembled by the cats that designed the engine.
Goodday C & Z, My heart voted for the W 31 my head said the Impala would win. As you know I am a huge Oldsmobile fan in particular the W 31. You think about it 325 Hp out of 350 cubic inch. Better than anything Ford or Mopar small block at the time, only the L79 327 Chev & later the LT 1 in the 1970 & half Camaro. That's the thing everyone talks Chevy small block this Chevy small block that, but no one talks or remember the W 31. I wouldn't even think there is one here in Australia. Anyway another great video with my favorite A Body GM, your 69 Chevelle is nice but Oldsmobile are a nicer looking semi fast back look. Great video really enjoyed it. Your number 1 Fan in Australia Louis Kats from Melbourne Australia ☺ 👍 ❤
@@CarsAndZebras 3 more than I have seen in my lifetime. How about this fir a quick story. I little old lady from Port Melbourne where I live makes a living from being a seamstress. She is in her mid 70's & her husband passed away 3 weeks ago. Yesterday I dropped off some clothes to get altered. Anyway she asked me if I would be interested in the car in her backyard. Her husband bought it back in 1962, it has been sitting under the shed since 1972, with all spare parts, original documentations, original cross ply tyres, original paint, rebuilt motor never run etc etc etc. 1958 Pontiac Strato Chief 4 door sedan with number matching Pontiac 6 cylinder engine. Also it was assembled here in Australia because it's right hand drive. Also a great friend of mine about 10 years ago imported from New Mexico a 1 owner number matching 1968 Pontiac Bonneville 2 door fastback. Absolutely gorgeous with the highest output 428 cubic inch Pontiac engine. Only thing whilst getting transported to Australia the freight company put a fork lift blade through the fuel tank. Since thenit has been sitting in his shed, just can't find a tank. Wants to sell it now, so if anyone is intrested in the Bonneville happy to help out. Contact me on louiskatanos@yahoo.com.au. I know how much you love those full size muscle cars. Your number 1 Fan in Australia Louis Kats from Melbourne Australia ☺ 👍 ❤
I'd love to see that '63 Chevy take on a 1962 Pontiac Catalina 421 Super Duty (I once owned a 1968 Pontiac Catalina convertible painted GM Sunburst Yellow).
An experienced driver could get that W31 into the mid to high 13's. Easily. If it had the optional 3.91 posi, low 13's all day. Then, we'd have a race. Oldsmobile 350 v-8's, when tuned correctly, could run impressively.
@@gary9426 No w31 is gonna hit 12's with a stock 350. None. Mid to high 14's is their territory. Even a 1970 W30 442 is only a mid to high 13 second car with 4.11s. Not going to argue with you about it because I subscribe to reality.
Hey, not gonna argue with you, my friend....just passing along to you what Cars and Zebras posted....I have to assume it's legit...but even mid 13s is pretty impressive for an intermediate size car with a small block, wouldn't you agree? And I'm not just an Olds fan....I love the 409 Impalas as well!
Old man banging gears was a delight to see. Love your clips you added in. Love the movie Gran Turino. I actually know the guy who was posing in front of the Civic. He runs a channel called Turbro. Keep these videos coming!
These cars were popular when I was a kid. The'63 I mean. Grandpa got game on that 4 speed. I just found and subscribed to your channel. Thanks for sharing these. Takes me back
Had a friend who had a W-31, but I remember it having a 455 with turbo 400 trans, Hurst shifter. It might have been a year or two newer. He did 13s at 6k altitude, Bandemere Speedway, Golden Colo. Absolute rocket.
Gramps wasnt playing with them gears! Had me tearing up with passion and excitement,cant teach a old dog new tricks. Im just a old school car fan,they were made with so much heart.
73? Kids. This weekend I'm gonna try to keep up with my 77yo dad on his new KTM rc390. He used to run flat track back in the day , so I'm pretty much screwed if he decides to hammer on it.
Can’t believe that was the mayor of Rhode Island that was racing his 63 Impala that he may have had since he was a teen. A 1963 Ford Galaxie 427 dual quad 4 speed 9 inch 4:10 rear would’ve been a much better opponent against that 409
@@gordon4385 shows what you don’t know about motors/carbs. When properly built & calibrated a q-jet is a great all around perf & street carb that can reliably go 100k miles with proper timely fuel & air filter changes,can support a 550-600hp big block Chevy or olds,pontiac or caddy too.
one of my favs of your vids. full size muscle is one of my many kinks. luved the story on the chev owner...good to see he's still bangin' on it, and bangin' very well. also great to hear the followup on the Olds driver...thought maybe he missed a gear as he was really bogging there in the vid. If the olds had the gears the chev had, it prob would be evened up quite a bit. good stuff
There was a clean 69 W31 four speed running around my neighborhood back in the early 80's. Same color as this one. It sounded wicked going through the gears.
GM was good at sneaking those little high output 350s in. I had a 69 Pontiac Lemans with a 350H0 making 330 horsepower and 380 pounds of torque. It also ran low 14s in the quarter after several practice passes.
I've read the main difference twixt the 340 & the 400 were head gaskets. The 340 had double head gaskets per side so if you wanted the 400 version all you had to do was pull the heads & install 1 gasket per head. Read that in Hot Rod, etc in the '60s.
Is everyone forgetting the early days of NHRA S/S, F/X, SS/S, ect and the team of Bill Jenkins/Dave Strickler "Old Reliable 2 & 3" (although 3 was the rare COPO/Z11 car). These cars were setting class records in the LOW 12's and have been seen deep in the 11's match racing!
Now this is my most favorite make and model of car made by GMC and Cheverlet but I had a 1968 impala I called her my sleeper with the usual 327 cubic inch motor but with a Holley 4-barrel double pumper , a posi track rear end with 410 gears but the funniest part is whenever I won against the nova’s and camera’s they would ask me man what’s under that hood and I would say I don’t know it’s my mom’s car AKA my sleeper !
The Olds missed a shift on that run. He was fairly close through low gear, but then dropped way back. Trap speed was way off, too. That he later ran a second and a half quicker and almost 20 mph faster shows what it was capable of. Of course, he still would have lost to the 409, but it wouldn't have been embarrassing.
Almost always they were doing an awesome job but don't be surprised what the Oldsmobile types are capable of doing as well of with a little more tinkering with I know the difference in what you can do with some other factory high performance Oldsmobile motor parts installed like putting on the w30 Cam shaft and use the factory high performance c casting 455 head's on a 350 small block olds motor and don't think I haven't tried it out yet because I have done it buddy and you must use the Edelbrock performer rpm intake and Big block olds heads to improve on the air flow improvement factor's of my ideas just so you know it's been doing just fine on the streets every day 😂 so take that into consideration people
Cars from the 60's that came with dog dish hub caps or no caps at all are the ones that you don't want to play with because they will hurt your pride and feelings