Tweet
As I've posted before...my brother bought the Chevelle I now own brand new in Aug of '71. He was 19 and "over his head", (payment $125 per mo...insurance $125 per mo) but we enjoyed having it as a our sole transportation. Let's face it, cruising in a brand new Cowl Induction SS-454 was more than a couple "country" guys could ask for. He was somewhat disappointed in the performance, since '71 was the year they dropped the compression to 8:5-1 even though the gross hp rating was 365....but it was a damned nice road car and it was just plain fun to drive. He bought the Chevelle after his '65 Malibu SS was totaled in a fluke street event. More about the '65 later...
One Saturday afternoon in '72, we decided we wanted to go to a dragstrip to spectate. There were actually 6 of us in the Chevelle (on guy was sitting on the console). We were heading north on US route 45 to Harrisburg Ill where there was an 1/8 mi track. US45 north of Metropolis, Ill had nice straight stretches of 2 lane road perfect for what we were about to engage in. We're cruising along at about 70 when an older guy driving a '69 Z-28 pulls along side and gently passes us. The car was yellow with black vinyl top and black stripes. He had his wife with him and her blonde hair was done up high and fancy as if she were a movie star. You could tell he had probably a 4.10 gear in it as it sounded like he was at least revving 3500 rpm. Our adrenaline also headed north as we watched this beautiful Z with the healthy sounding SBC/wife pull in front of us.
The Chevelle had 3.31 gears and felt like it was itching to test out the Z. None of us had to say a word because we knew there was gonna be a sparring contest. The Z-28 increased his speed and you could see him glancing in his rear view mirror like the guys did in the Charger in the movie Bullitt. My brother put the nose of the SS-454 near the guys bumper as if we were going to make a move to pass him. We're now up to over 80 and waiting for the first one to make his move. All of a sudden we could hear the secondaries open up on the Z and at the same time the Quadrajet and the Cowl Induction flap opened on the SS. The Z pulled away from us by 2-3 carlengths. We look down at the speedometer in the Chevelle and it was pointing straight down and the Quadrajet sounded as if it had peaked...we had reached top end. Unable to keep this pace due to his gears vs our 3.31's, the Z eased off and we backed down to over 80. He opens it up again with the same result. I told my brother that if he continued, the Z was going to blow his motor. A couple more times and the Z slowed down...the driver held both his hands up and gave us the sign that he had broke.
We pull on the side of the road, left the SS-454 idling...4-way flashers on and walked over to the guy. We were in awe of this beautiful work of art Z and got a closer look at the wife who was just as beautiful. lol He said his engine had revved past 7500 and as high as 8000 for longer than he had planned and his oil pressure had dropped. He started it up and his engine sounded wounded but at least it ran. He pulled the air cleaner off and we could see quite a bit of oil in the Holley. He shook my bros hand and said it was good fun and said he'd "limp" it back to Paducah KY.
Later that night, he walked up to us at the track and said hi. He had taken his Z home and drove back in his daily driver Vega.
Another Southern Ill story by Baster.
One Saturday afternoon in '72, we decided we wanted to go to a dragstrip to spectate. There were actually 6 of us in the Chevelle (on guy was sitting on the console). We were heading north on US route 45 to Harrisburg Ill where there was an 1/8 mi track. US45 north of Metropolis, Ill had nice straight stretches of 2 lane road perfect for what we were about to engage in. We're cruising along at about 70 when an older guy driving a '69 Z-28 pulls along side and gently passes us. The car was yellow with black vinyl top and black stripes. He had his wife with him and her blonde hair was done up high and fancy as if she were a movie star. You could tell he had probably a 4.10 gear in it as it sounded like he was at least revving 3500 rpm. Our adrenaline also headed north as we watched this beautiful Z with the healthy sounding SBC/wife pull in front of us.
The Chevelle had 3.31 gears and felt like it was itching to test out the Z. None of us had to say a word because we knew there was gonna be a sparring contest. The Z-28 increased his speed and you could see him glancing in his rear view mirror like the guys did in the Charger in the movie Bullitt. My brother put the nose of the SS-454 near the guys bumper as if we were going to make a move to pass him. We're now up to over 80 and waiting for the first one to make his move. All of a sudden we could hear the secondaries open up on the Z and at the same time the Quadrajet and the Cowl Induction flap opened on the SS. The Z pulled away from us by 2-3 carlengths. We look down at the speedometer in the Chevelle and it was pointing straight down and the Quadrajet sounded as if it had peaked...we had reached top end. Unable to keep this pace due to his gears vs our 3.31's, the Z eased off and we backed down to over 80. He opens it up again with the same result. I told my brother that if he continued, the Z was going to blow his motor. A couple more times and the Z slowed down...the driver held both his hands up and gave us the sign that he had broke.
We pull on the side of the road, left the SS-454 idling...4-way flashers on and walked over to the guy. We were in awe of this beautiful work of art Z and got a closer look at the wife who was just as beautiful. lol He said his engine had revved past 7500 and as high as 8000 for longer than he had planned and his oil pressure had dropped. He started it up and his engine sounded wounded but at least it ran. He pulled the air cleaner off and we could see quite a bit of oil in the Holley. He shook my bros hand and said it was good fun and said he'd "limp" it back to Paducah KY.
Later that night, he walked up to us at the track and said hi. He had taken his Z home and drove back in his daily driver Vega.
Another Southern Ill story by Baster.
Comment