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The Death Of The Muscle Car - My First Case
By Warren Newson
How could muscle cars, the most powerful affordable cars the world had
seen, lose their oomph so quickly? What caused them to disappear? I'm
not a private eye, not remotely like one, but this was one case I had
to solve.
It happened back in the 70's, but the evidence was still there. It was
the case of the disappearing horsepower and this is what happened.
In the era of the muscle car power was everything. It didn't matter
what it was, sports car, family car, pickup; it had the biggest V-8
possible stuffed under the hood. Cubic inches were king and advertised
power was astronomical. These cars could kick sand in the windscreens
of anything else on the road.
But then horsepower seemed to disappear overnight!
Take my favourite muscle car, the Ford Mustang. The macho models had
V-8s, though meeker models came with an inline six. The biggest six had
200 cubic inches and 155 hp in 1969/70.
What did the V-8s punch out? The most powerful 351 gave 300 hp in 1970
and the 427 gave a massive 390 hp in 1968. But by 1973 the most
powerful Mustang had a 351 V-8 with just 156 hp. Almost half what it
had in 1970, and only one horsepower more than the 200 cu in six of
1970! As for the Mustang II of 1974, we won't even go there.
The story was similar with the other manufacturers. What was going on?
It just didn't add up. Could I trust the figures?
My detective mentor, Agatha Christie, taught me that when you're
solving a case you can't trust anyone. Murderers do lie. In this
case it wasn't murder though it was the death of the muscle car, and it
wasn't so much of an outright lie as not telling the whole truth. And
outside forces were at play.
I had to dig deeper. I had to find the facts. Why would horsepower
virtually halve?
It turned out there were a few reasons. Salesmanship was one.
Horsepower was everything so why not measure it in a salesman friendly
way? Gross SAE horsepower was used. Power was measured at the flywheel
with no power-hungry accessories attached. Only the bare essentials
were used.
In 1972 SAE Net measurements were phased in. Power was still measured
at the flywheel but all the accessories were installed including the
full exhaust system, emission controls, all pumps and the alternator.
SAE Net can't be compared exactly to SAE Gross because there are just
too many variations in measuring, but it is down around 80%. So power
ratings dropped. In 1973 horsepower ratings went down again as power
sapping emission controls were tightened.
Gross SAE horsepower had pushed the listed power up. So did the
advertised horsepower some car companies used. What's wrong with a
little rounding up of the numbers for the brochure? Surely that would
help sales too.
All this horsepower galloping around got noticed and not just by young
guys.
Safety legislators noticed, and so did insurance companies who started
charging more for insurance. The word on the street is that in 1967 a
young guy under 25 with a clean driving record would have paid $700 a
year for GTO coverage. Ouch!
Some car companies lowered their advertised horsepower ratings.
Muscles peaked in 1970, and by 1971 they were starting to get flabbier.
Engines were being detuned and within another year bigger engines were
being dropped.
In 1973 many muscle cars were a shadow of their former selves. And they
were finished off by the oil crisis of late '73. Long lines at gas
stations and soaring prices were a real shock, and so was a 55 mph
national speed limit. Gas guzzlers were irresponsible, expensive and
unwanted, it didn't matter how much fun they were.
So there you have it. I now knew what had happened to all that brute
power. Some exaggeration had pushed listed horsepower up. A fairer,
more accurate measuring system brought it down. Emission controls
brought it down more, and soaring insurance costs made ground-thumping
power too expensive to own. The oil crisis finished the muscle car
off. This case was solved.
About the Author Warren Newson is editor of the-classic-sports-cars.com , where you'll find sports car articles, pictures and gifts.
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/19508.html
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Some other articles by Warren Newson | |
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