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Original Message
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| FE versus 409 Chevy |
| By P - 12/22/2000 12:01:19 PM; IP 63.169.28.113 |
In evaluating the FE engine I think it is important to keep things in historical perspective, especially on a year to year basis because things were being changed so fast and frequently back then (by all the manufacturers).
The Chevy 409 grew out of the Chevy 348 "big block" that trumped the FE by one year. The 409 evolved into a "so called" 425-HP machine that won a lot of races. However, in 1963-1/2 something happened that would kill the 409, and that was the introduction of the 427 FE.
These are "round numbers" and if anyone really cares, I'll look up the exact numbers...........but in 1963 Chevrolet sold 17,000 409's. In 1964 the number dropped to 8000, and in 1965 it dropped to around 2500. Fact of the matter is, the Ford 427 was kicking butt, and many people didn't want to buy a "second place" performance car. The 409 couldn't keep up with the continuing evolution of the FE 427. Just look at the NASCAR racing records for wins..........the 409 was essentially a "no show". The FE literally dominated the series during the 4 years of so after the intro of the 427, so badly in fact, that it appeared that there was no competition.
Chevy tried to stroke and bore the 409, and actually built 57 of them pumped out to the magical number of "427 cubic inches", but the Chevy 409-based version of the 427 was a flop. It took them several years and a total redesign to eventually introduce the 396/427 version, and by then the Ford version had undergone so many refinements, including winning LeMans, that it would have killed the Chevy version in any kind of a real confrontation.
That's my opinion, what's yours!!
P |
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