Flashback to 1987 Pure Stock and Modified Stock Drag Racing, featuring Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge vs Pontiac vs Buick vs Plymouth vs Oldsmobile vs Mercury and more! #Mustangtown #V8ponycars #PureStockDrags #MuscleCars #MuscleCarTimeMachine
I bought a used 70 GS 350 when I was 18 and drove it as a family car for about 12 years. Just like the 455, the 350 was also a torque monster. I loved that car!!
Reminds me of the only "vacation" my family ever took before my parents divorced, we went to beechbend raceway in Bowling Green Kentucky to the Mopar Nationals. Dad was always a Mopar guy, he raced a 69' Roadrunner, and I remember him restoring a pair of GTXs as I was growing up. Great video, I wish there were more like this! As they pull the the line, he gives us a 5 second rundown of driver/car, they stage, greenlight, guy says the driver's name and the time-back to the burnout box. Nowadays watching a drag racing channel is similar to baseball, look at the ball, look at the batter, spit, wait ten seconds, shift nuts around, scratch nose, secretly smell finger, consider the pitch, restart the cycle, 7 minutes later...strike! Restart the process.
I too am a fan of all things Mopar. Back in 1973, there was a civilian out the back gate with a 1970 Buick GS 455, and no one from base ever beat him in the quarter. 😉
This is definitely a battle of beastly muscle cars. The Hemi and the Boss are legends of course, but those dang 455s from Buick are somehow the nastiest cars around!
They almost pulled the front wheels off the ground, I heard the only downfall, was 2 bolt main bearings that would fail when raced hard, if they put 4 bolt, forget it.
Great video and well narrated. I turned 16 in 1969 and lived and breathed muscle cars since I was about 13. My dad was a Buick guy and I had a 67 Buick GS400 with the Super Turbine 400 trans. Kenne-Bell Enterprises out of West Covina, CA were the specialists in making Buicks go fast. It was a partnership between "Pop" Kennedy and Jim Bell and it was rumored that though the two cars were pure out the showroom stock, it was Jim Bell that did the tuning of the two GS455 Stage 1's tested by Motor Trend where the TH400 car turned the 13.38 @105.5 MPH, slightly quicker than the 4 speed. I rebuilt the motor on my 67 and spent hours on the phone with Jim Bell who patiently answered and my questions and provided invaluable guidance. My 67 had the 400 which was part of the 400/430/455 Buick engine series where they all shared blocks, cranks, rods, intakes, etc. The only difference were the pistons and Stage 1's had specific cams, different heads with larger valves, tubular push rods, stiffer valve springs and a modified Quadrajet carb. The 400/430/455 were over-square designs, (bore diameter greater than stroke length) and when they bored the block to 455 inches it breathed better along with the larger valves for the Stage 1 option. My rebuild was mild with the only performance enhancement being a Kenne-Bell "Mark II" cam which was slightly hotter than a factory Stage 1. I also had Mickey Thompson Headers and a 3.90 rear end. The car was heavy with A/C, PS, PB and power windows and I had Goodyear G70-14's when I got two runs in at the local strip in Union Grove, WI. Lot's of trouble getting out of the hole but the better of the two runs was a 14.05 at 101.5. Frankly, there weren't any factory stock vehicles I lost to in street races with the exception of a 66 GTO where the owner swapped in a modified 421 SD who in the quarter from a dead stop got me by a fender. I remember races with a 440 6 Pack Road Runner, a highly modified 383 Road Runner, a 427 Vette, a highly modified Mustang with a 351 Cleveland and the Buick took all by at least a length or two. I nearly totaled the 67 racing that 440 6 Pack and though it was rebuilt I sold it and bought a 70 Saturn Yellow GSX Stage 1 auto with 18K miles from the original owner and paid $2300. Though my street racing days were done there was no question the GSX would've blown the doors off my 67. The massive torque of that engine was to be respected and I found out the hard way. In the first week of ownership I had 3 guys in the car with me when I was showing off and put the trans in 1st and lit up the G60-15's from a stop with the rear sliding sideways. Problem is I waited too long to shift and then the steering went heavy and all the idiot lights lit up on the dash. The 455 threw all the belts when it shifted to 2nd by the transmission over-rev governor. I spoke with Jim Bell after and he said it was a common problem and I needed to use heavier Gates belts as the A/C Delco's didn't hold up. One last comment, for as powerful as the 455 Buick is the engine was never designed for racing abuse like Hemi's, 427/454 CBB or certain Fords. It didn't have 4 bolt mains or the consideration for oiling at high RPM and keeping the bottom end together which was an issue. Above 5000 RPM it was common for the 7 & 8 rod bearings to starve for oil and spin. Kenne-Bell worked with Buick to revise the oiling system and those modifications were incorporated in all of the 455's in the 1970 MY. Another issue is the 400/430/455 were GM's first foray into "thin cast" blocks to save weight and $$. This worked against the motor's durability under high HP and torque and when modifying to get HP over 550~600 the engine needs a girdle or filling to make it a "hard block". This channel is a great trip down memory lane for me and I really appreciate seeing all those cars compete from my youth.
These times are more in line with what I remember back when these cars were new. I’ve never seen so many Mercury Cyclones at one time. Great races.👍👍🇨🇦
@@Gwhitebeard , I had a new ‘71 Duster 340 automatic with 3:23 gears in the diff. The car came with E70x14 polyglas tires. I took it to the strip bone stock and it turned 14:03 @ 100 m.p.h. I loved that car it was fun to drive. Only took it to the strip that one time.
I was 15 in 1987. I bought a '77 Nova Concours Coupe in '89 and with help from my late dad and late older brother, made it street/strip in '93. Raced it '93-'95. I really appreciate this 1/4 mile video time capsule!!!
My brother bought a '77 Nova Concours in '87. A few years later he gave it to me and I drag raced it with a 350 and Muncie running low 12's as my daily driver. Makes me feel better seeing it was a lot faster than these legendary muscle cars.
If you follow this all the way through, you'll see that the black '70 GS Stage 1 was seriously sandbagging until the final rounds where it ran the quickest et of the event when it had too. I was there and saw it all. That GS was very quiet and docile ... not cammed up at all like some of the other entrants. It looked factory fresh and stock under the hood and even had factory a/c.
Buicks,,, fast with class, and so underrated! Buick lover since childhood! I've owned just about every muscle car produced,,, chevelles, gto,AMC, 442, mustangs, buick wins my heart.. I'm always for the under dog, I currently own a 70 gsx, that I drive on the street,,, 10: 49 @ 128 m.p.h. chevy boys hate it.. l. o.l.
Buicks always "accidentally" have the fastest cars. From the badass late 60/early 70s 455 GSXs here to that killer V6 Gran Nationals in the late 80s. They were always like "oops" about it...
@No Name The 1970 GS 455s were 13.4 cars off the showroom floor and the low compression ones were good for about 14 seconds flat. A set of sticky tires could probably get a stock 1970 Stage 1 into the 12.90s. I saw plenty of modified MOPARS that had slicks and other mods and the Buicks were spanking them.
My 2018 Regal 4-banger.(with factory turbo) ran 14.3 @ 96 exactly the way it came from the factory. Unbelievable. Huw times have changed. Manual transmission are not ideal for drag racing nowadays unless they're.sequential.
My brother and me were there that day. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 19 and my brother was 18. Now I'm 56 and my brother will be 55 in two weeks. My... how time flies!!!😎🍻
Crazy how time feels so long or slow when you’re young. Then time starts to speed up when you hit 30 and REALLY speeds up when you hit 40. I am in my 50s as well and the last 15 years felt like 5 years. Time goes by scary fast 😔
"My brother and I". Maybe you should have stayed in school that day instead of cutting class and sneaking off to the track. :) Relax, I'm just bustin' your chops. I'm allowed to because I've got a few years on you. You're right about time though. "Time flies like the wind; fruit flies like bananas."
Wonderful format, with cameras at start and finish. The narration great as well. I don’t think I’ve seen a video formatted like this on any drag strips.
This is REALLY a nice video! All of these cars seemed to run honest times, as if they were driven straight out of 1970 to the present. A few clunker runs and slow starts... but as nice as it gets. Good to see the big boys come out and play.
Funny how Buick ( gs455 stg 1's ) were a luxury brand of gm yet enjoyed pimp-slapping street hemis all day long with 6-way power seats, pwr windows & cold a/c.
When your pushing almost 450 cubes to a bit over 400, I'm glad to see Buick has so damn many track records and a legitimate history of being a strip killer and a NASCAR legend.. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@kronk9418 Seems you forgot the word overblown in front of legacy, on the street of course, Buick wasn't into racing or making racing engines, the hemi's we're mostly crap on the street because they were a tuning nightmare for your average back alley mechanic
OHHH YES the buick Grand sports were one of the most underated mussle cars of those days,,,,It greatly miss the one I had,,,mine was the 1970 GSX package saturn yellow with the 455 stage one four speed package that I had built up quite a bit over stock engine wise, and had put a 10.5 inch ring gear 14 bolt rear with 3:73 gears, a spool diff with strange axle semi floater axle conversion,,,that thing was a freakin rocket (and wasn't no slouch by any means before the mods),,,I was just out of highschool a couple years and going to college (actually bought it damn cheap back then,,,,,,35 years ago now with what was supposed to be money from a student loan from my grandfather to buy tools and books and that kind of stuff for the auto repair and other classes I was taking,,,,,put pretty much everything else I owned including my pickup and 2 other cars I owned in hock at a pawnshop then buying the cheapest tools I could come up with from the same pawnshop and elsewhere to get what I needed for the auto course and borrowed books and even rented yes rented the books from other students until I could save up enough money to get my stuff out of hock and buy my own books,,,didn't take too long because I was also working a darn good job is hasmat removal and cleanup making mega good money for the times,,,,,,,eating ramen soup and bologna sandwhiches help save dollars as well,,,not to mention shacking up for a year or so with my girlfriend at the time to save rental costs on renting my own place helped,,,,but that car was totally worth it I used to attract sooooo much attention with that car everywhere I went,,,especially with the all four gear long freakin burnouts that thing would do,,,,I had a guy that I worked with that wanted to race me for the longest time with his chevy shortbed bigblock 454 pickup 1962 I think it was,,,,but I always kept telling him no,,,,then one day I got sick of putting him off and said yes,,,,,,well we never ended up racing after all because the time we were suppose to race on an old side road down by the river in Lewiston Idaho where I lived at the time, he showed up about the time I was doing one of my four gear long ass burnouts along with some donuts on dry pavement by simply just turning the wheel and drilling the go pedal and he simply chickened out is what I figure,,,,the tides had turned and now I couldn't get him to race me LOL,,,,that car was impressive to say the least,,,,ohhh how I wish I had never sold it but I had it at a car show about 10 years ago now and a guy also showing a car at the show just made me an offer I couldn't pass up,,,,basically three times the money I had in it and a nice Ford f150 4x4 pickup to boot,,,,,,oh well life rools on I guess.
@@looseballs1966 I actually got to see a street race in the 70s here in Cleveland, was a 69 L-88 vs 70 GSX! Man that dayum Buick launch off and was gone! L-88 couldn’t get that grip that GSX had.
The 455 Stage 1 and the very rare Stage 2 were pretty much the baddest of the late 60s, early 70s muscle cars in stock trim. For years they ruled their class in NHRA super stock and super stock/auto. Back inn '74-75, I hung out with a guy in Colorado Springs with a '72 GS Stage 1. Even at 6200' above sea level, that car was a rocket.
At least we get actual representative times for these kind of cars. Instead of the lunacy I hear from some comments, thinking these cars were all in the 11's and 12's. No they didn't if they were stock.
@@fredc8346 Oh Hell no, lol. I had a very quick 67 GTO, but it took a ton of dollars to get there, plus Lots of work to make it hook up. Suspensions have come a long way, along with chassis tuning. For an old car to beat a new car it needs to be either set up to drag race, or have so much power it an drive by on the top end. And the old muscle cars neither stopped, nor turned, worth a damn.
@@timclaus8313 Yes you are honest about those cars. Right about the brakes and handling. The GM's were pretty good on both if with disc brakes. The mopars were a step down and the fords (what I started out with) were even worse. That front end was a widowmaker. I can't believe we would build those up with few ways to make them any safer! (Didn't know anything else) So you understand 1/4 mile mph to et. Even with proper gears, trans, suspension and driving you need about 105mph to get into the 12's. I would say many 426, 440, 427 etc cars would do that with open headers, some tuning and all the above but no chance in stock trim. Quick cars for the time but just not what some try to claim. I and maybe you lived those days to know. Bet you wish you still had the Goat. I wish I still had a couple more of the cars I had. We were young and didn't realize things would change!
@@fredc8346 Also had a 63 1/2 Falcon Sprint, 260/4 Spd car. Wish I still had that one too, and even the 62 T-Bird. All were cool in their own way. One thing the Mopars did better with stock suspensions was drag race. Having so little leaf spring ahead of the axle reduced wrap up. Didn't need slapper bars and all, just a couple of clamps on the forward part of the leaf. My Goat used the Moroso upper control arm traction links, they worked like a champ, without ugly Lakewood bars hanging out underneath, lol.
I saw a stock 428 Cougar that was his wife's car run mid 13's with only the exhaust removed in the very early 80s or late 70s. No slicks or anything that I remember. I had a 428 Galaxie but never timed it in the quarter.
I was 14 y/o in 1987 . . . . I had a 1969 Dodge Super Bee poster hanging in my bedroom. Man this video takes me back to Summer 1987 at OHIO "Norwalk" Drag strip 😊
I had a Buick Skylark in high school in the mid 80s. That car was a torque monster. My friends nickname the car Rush. I miss that car it was my first muscle cars but not my last.
I had a 74 trans am with a 455SD it got stolen back in the 80s never got it back and insurance only gave me 3 grand ..now they go for 150 grand ..so upset to this day
This is just pure badass! The cars, the simplicity of the video, NO MUSIC thank god. Hell, even white short shorts dude. :) I think I had a pair of those in 87. Damn!
87? I was 14. Too young to drive but aware of this stuff and have some memories of those days. Used to see this stuff on the street all the time, all the cool kids drove older stuff like this too. Great vid , it gives a little window into how quick some of this stuff was back then.
Stage Is and II's were arguably the best pure street engines of their era. Not so much with Pro Stock, but they ruled their classes in Stock and Super Stock, auto and stick.
Excellent video- reminded me of South Washington Ave in Grand Forks ND in High School! One thing I saw was GM midrange Torque/ HP wins if you nail the lights!
I had a 68 Buick GS,that I wish I had kept. It had 400 ci and had ram air and factory 4 speed with a Hurst shifter. It had a Sun tach in the console that went up to 10,000 rpm s. It had factory air that worked perfectly with a 5 speed fan. Also low geared posi.
Perfect examples of all the cars you would meet on the street in the day. The Black Ghost could not have dominated any scene as proven by so many cars in this video, especially the Stage 1 Buick.
Just love seeing what to many would be sitting in a collection hidden from view. Love seeing the old ground pounders out there throwing asphalt and slamming gears. NO pc to plug in the grab another tune.
These are actually lighter than most people think. 3800 lbs is about as heavy as the biggest here got. A lot are in the mid to low 3000's. Some of the true pony cars are sub 3000, find me a Mustang or Camaro under 3000 lbs today! Fun to watch, and good memories, but cars are so much faster and generally heavier nowadays. Biggest reason for it is tires and suspension. They made good power and power to weight ratio was good.
@@nathanaelcole8466 My '69 Z/28 was equipped only with standard Z/28 options and weighed in at '3032 lbs. w/o me in it and my best friend's faster and well-optioned 1970 GS Stage 1 w/ac was 3882 w/o driver. Both cars with very close to 10 gallons of gas. .That's how we used to race them. I still have the old yellowed DOT weight slips from March 1970.
Norm Diele used to bring that green GS Buick out on the street here in Detroit around 1988 was first time I saw him. Even then the car was a low 12s performer, not much later car was running low 11s. It was ridiculous how quick that car was on the street back then. Everything just worked.
having grown up in the 70s and 80s few people are left that remember the raw juice these cars had even before any modifications. i was fortunate enough to own a few of these cars and i do miss the rumbling thunder these big blocks were known for.
Love these videos. Hard to believe how "slow" these cars were by today's standards. My 1972 Mach 1 runs 13s (not stock) but is still slower than today's average car...amazing. And my C63S can run high 11s....with every possible creature comfort. I miss the old cars, but there is something to be said about new technology.
You are right on about technology. Crazy what cars today can do. They learned how to balance efficiency and emissions and performance and power now. They started figuring it out in mid-late '80s and just got better through '90s and even better through '00s and now look at it lol. If someone back in the day told you base model GT Mustangs and Camaros would be making almost 500hp from the factory and Dodge would reintroduce a V8 model Challenger you would've laughed at them lol
It's because of gross vs net horsepower. The majority of manufacturers rated their engines' gross horsepower rating. For a quick reference, a 306 horsepower Shelby GT350 made closer to 220 horsepower.
i have the orange gs455 car that was john chamberlins car..buicks are quick but no mph.. the just go...and it has ac...for the ride home.. i miss the real street drags like these were, now 9sec on bias ply tires, but 800hp , but its fun..
Mine started out with a 3 on the tree.....I've never seen or heard of another one configured like that.....I've been called a liar several times....but I know what I had .
Had many a fun race with 1972 skylark. After I installed a 1971 Buick 455 engine with a bigger carb bigger cam headers and a street and strip turbo 400 tranny.
When I turned 17 in 1980 my mother gave me her Buick Skylark that she had bought new. My brother tried talking her into upgrading the GS Version and she said it would burn to much gas. Wished my brother would I pushed the issue more!
ah the good ol days, my 66 GTO use to run 11.7 to 11.8 with 750 holley double pump, hooker headers, high lift cam street 60 series tires on premium pump gas
@@tskraj3190 Yeah right. Beating up on Fox Body Mustangs. What the Hell is a single barrel Edelbrock ? I know Holley made 3 barrel Carburetors, but a single barrel Edelbrock, C'mon man.
This was awesome to watch. So many nice cars.. I have been a Chevy guy all my life because my dad had a 1970 Chevelle SS but I love all of the muscle regardless of brand. Nothing will ever compare to these cars in my opinion. You can see a few video's of my Chevelle on my home page. Thank you for sharing this
Back in the day I owned a 428 Torino GT. So, yeah, I like muscle cars. Now, I drive a slightly modded 08 Civic SI econobox. On my everyday street tires, the car does 14.5@100 mph. Gets 33mpg@75 mph cruise. Depreciates every day, LOL. Luv it.
I owned a few Hondas throughout my 50yrs on planet earth lol. Actually still have a 2.4L CRV that I've given thought to dropping in a cheap mid '90s Civic coupe project lol. The mid '90s Civics are my favs I guess. I owned one almost 20yrs ago. Had a late '80s Prelude before that. But I've owned more muscle cars than I can count on my fingers and toes lol, and that's where my heart is. There's something special about 300+lb-ft of torque, 5 speed and stiff set of gears in a little 2,800lb. Foxbody 5.0 Mustang coupe that gives me the warm & fuzzies lol. But it would be fun to drop that 2.4 liter Honda CRV engine in a super stripped down lightweight Civic.
notoymotor4me: well my friend I still drive the borring old 2001 ford f150 that the guy traded to me in the deal I mention on here when I sold him my 70 GSX,,,that's just life brother,,,,we get old overly matured if you will and painfully simple and borring in time or over time you might say LOL,,,,,Oh and my F150,,,,,,,BONE A-- stock,,,,hows that for plain and borring LOL.
Reminds me of grudge night at st louis international. Ran my 70 charger 383 magnum 4 speed. Won most of my races in 3rd gear. I could pull 105 mph in 3rd when the rest shifted at 100 mph
Ha my 383 4bbl B body. Ran 12.70 and that was in Automatic in 1970. Stock class but built by me from front to back. I worked in the engine lab at Chrysler. ROYAL dodge protested my run with them and retracted it when they talked to me.
