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Original Message
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RE: Don't forget trans. availability (409, 4-speed) as a major factor. [n/m] |
By P - 11/04/2003 5:28:08 PM; IP 66.89.75.42 |
GM had a torqy motor and a 4-speed transmission in a lighter weight car.
GM had the wisdom to build a car for the streets. Ford was busy satisfying his own ego by wiping the racetracks of the world with his FE. Ford only got into drag racing in a casual way. Yes, they did spend money, but generally only on the Cammer after it was banned by Nascar, and then that was very short lived.
GM in the meantime, had a "409" with 425-advertized horsepower and it did make a hit on the streets and on the drag strips. It was a combination of good power, good transmission, and lighter weight. Ford in the interim, was building a "racing-only" series of FE motors called the 406 and 427, and these were ONLY released on the streets to satisfy the NASCAR requirements. Without that, I doubt if we would have seen many of them, or any of the Boss 429 Shotguns either. Yes, once they got into mandatory production, Ford did make a relative bunch of em, and I'm really interested in how many.
The 409 was a carry over from the 348, which was badly trounced by the 352. It was just a less effective engine design than the FE was. When the FE was able to be bored out to 406 and then 425 (427) cubes, it was OVER for the heavy obsolete GM boat anchor.
P |
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