Ram Air IV GTO vs Chevelle SS 454 LS6 - 1/4 mile Drag Race Video and Massive Burnout - Road Test® 

Those cars were everyday drivers when I was a kid. I love seeing people run them the way they were built to be run... That was the beauty of the muscle car era. Race em on Sunday and drive em to work on Monday...👍

No boost, no bottle, just my foot on the throttle.

NO MATTER HOW YOU SLICE..... IT WAS A DAMN GOOD RACE.... YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU WERE IN THE DRIVERS SEAT OF EITHER CAR....IT DONT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT!!! PURE CLEAN FUN...

I was one of the people that bought a new LS6. 2/70. It was more than fast. The problem was getting traction no matter what tires I used.

The GTO gave away 54 cubic inches and 80 horsepower and still showed it could hang with the Chevy. Mid 12 second times were very close and the GTO's trap speed hints he was chasing him down at the end.

Dang, I though that burnout was gonna have a "to be continued" or a part 2 coming soon.😄👍

Great race. That ram air IV is a highly underrated engine and gave that Chevelle all it could handle even a higher trap speed...

man i was born in the wrong era. cars and music were the best in the 60s and 70s

It's just a car! Hats off to these folks for risking these rare cars. Can't park it forever. These cars want to play! Cool channel and straight to the point videos! I like.

Those A bodied GM cars of 68-72 sure looked nice.....went fast too!

I had a pure stock Ram Air IV in '69. It ran 13.9 out of the show room. Skinny little bias ply tires. Great car... Easily got it down in the high 12's.

My brother used to buy Pontiac 421 blocks and them put together by his mechanic using Ram Air Fours. His 1967 GOAT turned the quarter in the mid 11 second. His fastest car was a 1965 Tempest body that used to be a strip car, it was also a 421 bore out to a 434, with a bottle in his trunk. Its best time was in the low 10 seconds. The best part of it for me is, he would let me take his car out and I would have the pleasure to race for money.

Wow for the Chevelle having 80 horses more and a larger block... I am impressed with the GTO!

Kids today will never know whats REALLY badass

Ponitiac 400. Most underrated big block ever. Gotta love em.

I'm a Mopar guy from way back, but a few friends of mine had LS6's in Chevelle's and those things were fast. Always liked them. True today's muscle cars are much faster but you'll never forget a 1/4 mile run in one of the original muscle cars. Wonderful experience of sight, sound, and smell.

Guy in the Chevelle won the burn out contest for sure.

Growing up as a kid in that era my heart has always been torn between the two, I wish I could own them both.

That little underpowered GTO girl nearly walloped that might LS6.

This does show exactly how underrated the GTO Ram Air IV really was. The times were so close, that the horsepower was nearly identical.

The 455 GTO engine in 1970 was nothing compared to a Ram Air IV. The Ram Air IVs on the dyno consistently shows 450 Horsepower from only 400 cubic inches. If you can find a Ram Air IV with factory 4 speed and 4.33 gears take a ride and experience one of the most powerful Muscle cars ever produced. They can beat any other A body GM car from the same era and put most of the Mopars on a trailer. Pontiac always was ahead of the crowd when it came to performance.

Got to give that Pontiac credit! It was gaining on the big end...

I just think it is so cool that these cars from over 40 years ago are able to hang with and beat many of todays high performance cars with all of their technology and fuel injection etc....American Muscle was really ahead of its time.

I had a gto 455 1970 good car

If these cars are running 12's with 1960's tech, all factory, minus steel belted radials, then that is great. People can brag about 7-10 second 4 cylinders and small blocks, running NO2 and turbo's, but you do the same mods to these big blocks the big blocks will win EVERY TIME.

OMG that Chevelle Burn out was awesome!

My God this really brings back memories. Those were real machines back then.

Warm them not burn them off the rims genius !!! Wow I couldn't believe what I just saw!!!

the Ram air iv engine had a four bolt main block, high lift long duration cam, special high flowing round exhaust head porting, , special anti-pumpup lifters, an aluminum intake, a forged steel crank, 1.65:1 high ratio rocker arms, stiffer valve springs, swirl polished valves, and a few other internal goodies that gave the ram air 4 engine about 425 high rpm hp/torque numbers. essentially nothing from the factory in 69-70 in a ABody car could touch the Ram Air iv in the qtr mile. this car was designed from the factory for the qtr mile. It was a beast!

My Stock 1970 Ram Air III Auto A/C GTO ( non-Ram Air open scoops ) performed ( Atco) 1974- 14.2's at 106 mph with Goodyear Bias ply tires and a 323 Posi. ( Cheated ) Dual point Distributor , NHRA approved manual ( twist off ) cutouts, spare tire removed. Front tires at 60 psi , rear H-70-14's at 16 psi and a set of Vice grips to on the rear Power Brake line Hose. Old School Secrets Revealed. Loved the Video !

lol at the haters of the Chevelle's awesome burnout...yet he still runs a low 12sec pass in a relatively stock 40+ year old car! I'm sure he knows what he's doing. ITS ALL IN GOOD FUN FOLKS.

Much closer than I though it would be. Than Goat really took off about half way down the track.

After that John Force Burn Out i’m surprised he had enough fuel left to get down the quarter mile😂🏁👍🏼

OUTSTANDING RUN, these new cars barely running these numbers today just CAMS & HEAD WORK & REAR-END = RAW POWER‼️

My Dream Car. : 1970 Chevelle SS 454 ! 🇺🇸

I love both these cars. In the super car era [60.s], I had 2 GTO’s, 65 and a 67, both ragtops. Never had a LS6 Chevelle but I’ve ridden in a couple of them, and all I could say was WOW. The Chevelles really boogied. Both my GTO’s were pretty quick. Traded them all in sorry to say. Still have lots of fond car memories of that era [60’s] !

Never opened the hood of the chevelle but the GTO had those cast iron manifolds.

I want the gto

Mid 12's for what looked like two mostly tock cars...without slicks...that's damn impressive...I knew guys that had GTO's in H.S., they were definitely running cars.

That was a well tuned GTO,

I will still take the GTO all day long. You look at Mecum and every 3rd car is a Chevelle. Plus my first car was a 72 Pontiac Lemans two speed hydra glide.

I thought the outcome. Poncho is super clean and tough! gotta say that might be bout the best damn burnout I plum seen. I might have lay some twin rubber down myself, back in the day. Kinda neat to come back later and admire the street art. lol

Road Test TV: You bring back some groovy memories from my youth. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK ! ! !

Raced a 1969 GTO "The Judge" 4 spd, don't remember if it had Ram Air or not, but it did have 2 hood scoops. I had a 1969 SS396 Chevelle, L-34 engine, Turbo 400 hydramatic trans, left the goat at the gate and he couldn't catch me. The L-34 option was a 350 hp (slightly under-rated) engine.

Don't know what is was. I missed something, but kids in the late 90's- 2000's went from a car sounding like a saturn rocket taking off to a super charged leaf blower!

I'm still hating myself for selling my LS6 Chevelle after I got married. What a freakin mistake!

Our memories are always faster than reality. 440 Cuda 4- speed pistol grip! Shaker hood, 3.91gears. N- 50's on Cragers and traction bars. Headers and glass packs dual exhaust. Now that's a Muscle car! Enough said! Shawn

Talk about a burnout, lol. Suppose he was going to decide the tires were hot enough by the time he got to the shutdown strip? Cracked me up! I learned to drive on a '70 She-velle! :)

i bet these cars went head to head many times back in their hay day

Both cars are powerhouses that did well

I didn't know that John Force drove an SS. That was one hell of a race.😎

Makes you wonder about a high compression SD-455 with the RA IV cam. That's what Pontiac initially planned back in 70 for that motor.

That LS6 has slicks after that burnout!

Might have been a Tenth or two faster without that john force burnout

My brother had one I rode in it when I was 10 years old man I tell you what laid me back in the sea love it bring back memories

I had a 70 with ls6 it brings back lost memories almost forgotten these kids today need to have things like that ❤

454BB will run for sure... Pontiac was coming on !!

Got to be final drive. How were the cars geared? Also looked like the Chevelle needed more rear tire. But the Pontiac was fast. No doubt.

That twitch it did before the burnout! You just can't go wrong with that 454 big block.

I just saw this video and I was shocked. I thought I saw my car. I bought a new ’69 GTO, RAM IV, 4 Speed, Forest Green with Red Stripe Sidewalls. I would run Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays thru-out the season. I blew clutches, and rear ends. I trophied every time but twice, once missing a gear and once running a bracket race against ‘Q’ stock. I ran at the dragstrips in and around Pittsburgh and eastern Ohio. I would eat the Chevelle SS 454 for lunch every time. If I know it was a rare of only 759 build, I wouldn’t have totaled it.

The GTO was just building up a head of steam when it trapped at 114.

The goat was catching the Chevy when they crossed the line by 4 mph. If the race had been, say another few car lengths, the goat would have won.

Excellent work! Bring on more.

I had a 69 Ram Air IV Firebird, it was a fun car to drive. If I had known what its value was today I would have never sold it!

Very close times but remember it often comes down to driver skills and shifting ability not just HP.

Buddy of mine had a Chevelle SS with the LS6, it turned a 12:3 in Denver at over 5000 feet. It had a 4.56 final diff, and the transmission had been regoverned to shift at 7200 RPM all on belted bias-ply tires. I figured the goat probably had a higher rear end 4.11 or 3.93 that's why it was slow out of the hole. The Chevelle was probably running out of Rs on top.

My first car was a 70 GTO judge .... lot of fun ... wish i still had it

My older brother had the LS6 Chevelle 454 in the early 70's. He changed the rear end. It had a 3 speed on the floor. Not sure if that was stock or normal. I was young. I remember sitting in that car and when it was idling would just shake/rumble. Nothing like that feeling. He would take me for a ride and I remember my head being tossed back against the seat when he'd punch it. Good memories!

Oh look. That car with almost 100 more horse power won. Didn't see that coming.

i love GTO 🎼my🎶 lil GTO🎵

Lots of folks mentioning the Ram Air V engine. The Ram Air V was the automotive equivalent of a pipe dream. It was an engineering exercise for the remote possibility of racing a 303 cubic inch engine in Trans Am circuit. The handful of viable engines were given to people like Nunzi Romano to test and tune. In other words, it was never for sale.

That was a 2 million dollar LS-6 ( That is the going price for a matching #'s LS-6) this dudes hammering on. Awesome!

I can smell the burning rubber that the chevelle made through my phone👌

To all who may not know: G.M. muscle (especially Pontiac 400, Olds 350+455) are the most potent power plants ever produced! The LS-6 had 50 more cubes and auto and if the ram air had one less coat of paint he would have won!

Now this is what Classic racing, is all about ! A CLASSIC 1970 CHEVELLE V.S. ANY CAR, IS DEFINITLY, REALLY SOMETHING TO SEE, BUT AGAINST A G.T.O. !

God that was the sickest, quickest and nastiest burn outI have seen of the +40 plus of these I have watched! Man those tires smoked the absolute second that pedsl hit wood. Damn! Before that it was the mighty 442 455 that seemed the most effortless! And man do I love a show off!!!😋😎😍🤗

Love the sound of a 454 screaming!

I see doubts here regarding the GTO's performance. I'm going to post an excerpt here of Motor Trends Road Test back in 1966 of 2 1967 GTO's, one a 4Spd car and the other an T400 Auto. Both cars had the Bobcat kit which could be had on a new GTO when ordered and non stock rear tires. This was a 1967 test. The RAIV engine would definitely outperform this. So here you go: Motor Trend : 1967 GTO - Testing 2 Tigers "Without faltering, the Turbo HydraMatic car ran the quarter consistently in the 13.40-second region and recorded speeds averaging 105 mph. It once ran a 13.36-second e.t., and a speed of 106 mph flat. We had hoped it would jump the 4-speed off the line, but only with a little luck could this be accomplished. We had to hold engine rpm down to 1200 at the line because above that there is no provision for stall. With the 4-speed car we could raise rpm to 5200, wait for the green light, dump the clutch and be on our way. Hurst linkage was on both cars, being standard on the 4-speed transmission and optional with Turbo Hydra-Matic. The 4-speed linkage is firm, has a close gate, and appeared strong enough to survive manipulation by Paul Bunyan. The 4-speed car ran consistently in the 13.10 to 13.20-second area with speeds usually around 106 mph. This car recorded one of the fastest 0-60 mph times we've ever seen-4.9 seconds- but with the M&H tires on the back, it's really not a fair comparison with our other road tests."

I had a 67 SS396 Chevelle, bought new for $2,900. It was 325HP, 4spd, positraction. No a/c, no pwr steering or pwr brakes. 355 rear end. I added air bags in the rear coil springs so I could equalize the torque on rear end. 50/50 Cureride shocks on the rear. Added an electric fuel pump and gutted the manual pump. Added a Hurst competion plus shifter. Gutted the vacuum advance and converted it to centrifugal advance. I raced it at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ for about 2 years in 1968 and 69. I ran it pure stock, class C. I came in runner up in the nationals. Loved that car. It was stolen in 1970 from the place I worked. They completely gutted it down to nothing and dumped it. Broke my heart.

I was ten when my cousin bought a brand new 70 judge, when he came back from Vietnam, the car was crazy fast, and my brother's buddy had a ls6 chevelle, they race them, one time it was the gto, next it was the chevelle. I was just a kid being implanted in the back seat, I'm 63 and surely wish I could go back and do it again

Ridiculous burnout by the Chevelle. He overheated the tires. They can only get so hot then you are just burning up the tread. This guy is "showboating"

Nice, take either one.

The Goat was pulling up fast at the end but the Chevelle jumped out ahead just enough in the first half of the run to establish the win. Great race of two hallmark muscle cars.

That 70 LS6 454 450 hp was the largest horsepower motor in a vehicle in 1970

Thumb up for a good race! I wouldn't turn either car away.

“ Hell, she’s a girl “ almost got spanked. Schweeeeeet ride though

I saw all these cars growing up nice to see them still out there

My dad bought me a69 GTO when I was 17 I'm now 60 what I wouldn't give to have that car today!

“I think the tires are finally warm” - Chevelle

Love that Chevelle!!

Many street racers on the Chevelle, would start out in second gear to keep from losing traction and only need 3rd gear to finish a race. That GTO in this did real well considering how it was out Hp'd to start with.

I had a 66 goat in the early 70,s put in high lift cam,750 double pumper,hooker headers,Dyno tuned at 440 HP on the ground,paid 1200.00 as second owner,hi pro parts were around 500.00,did my own install had it 2.5 years before selling it,got beat only one time by a 66 Chevy with a 427

If I can't run slicks, I'll just make some!

Great video

My 68 Mustang C.J. Auto. 4:33 det. Locker turned 12;49 in 1970 at Milan Dragway. Michigan. And the stories continue .

Awesome burnout love that Chevelle good race 👍🏻

great race! both awesome cars. but GTO closing in on 454.

Good race. I was surprised at the GTO's top speed at the end, no doubt it would have overtaken the Chevelle, but we don't know the tranny's or gear ratios in either of these cars. Nice burnout by the Chevelle.

The Goat was running him down at the end, another Tenth and he gets him

What a burn out. That was a great race.