[fastball]

I know back then no one ever thought of half the things modern cars have. But forget the Bluetooth and 63 speaker sound systems and blind spot beepers, and you still should be glad you were born in this era and not the 60s. Old muscle cars were fun but not necessarily a driver's delight. You had limited adjustments for your seat, steering wheel was not adjustable at all, and you had a luxury option of you had a passenger side view mirror. Forget power steering, steering ratios were tall and the response was vague. The ride was truck- like.

Again it's not a knock against them it's just how things were due to what the technology of the time was. Nobody knew any better.

[Number 3]

Right NOW is the best time to be an auto enthusiast. Great choices of many great cars.

Don't get me wrong, Woodward Avenue in the 60's would have been something special to experience. But the cars then, although they seemed quite special at the time, couldn't hold a candle to the choices you have NOW.

Keep in mind, early 80's Camaros got a whopping 165 HP out of the crossfire injected engine. 145 in the base V8. My mom had a Trans Am that when floored for many miles would top out at...........................105 MPH. Emissions destroyed most of the 70s. So that era really sucked. For a short stretch the Citation X11 was Chevy's fastest car.

Enjoy NOW where GM has 3 cars with 650 HP, Fiat has 707 HP and Ford certainly has something up their sleeve with the GT500 replacement.

You are enjoying the best era we've had. The only thing NOW doesn't have? Nostalgia.

[Shultzy]

Originally Posted by Quiksilver16ss

Wrong era yea right!! One day of driving without AC, no power steering, no power brakes, no rev limiter, no Bluetooth, no wifi, no power door locks, no power windows..and 2SS features ..No blind spot assist, heated cooled seats/steering wheel, I mean it's endless...

Now u sure u could handle the 1960's?

I mean it's easy to look back and see how far we came technology wise but i probably would have never known what I was missing out on. It just seemed like things were more relaxed and a lot of people enjoyed cars as opposed to today. Now it seems like all anyone cares about is lap times instead of having fun and enjoying the car. Just my 2 cents

[LT4Greg]

Ditto Number 3!! Totally agree. This is the best time to be a gear head now. The old cars are good but the late models coming out now are way much better. I remember as most people posting when the 1979 Z28 had 175 hp and we thought that was a lot and usually would put speed parts on to maybe get 200 hp or a little more. Yes these are the best of times for performance. Enjoy it while we can!

[Shultzy]

Originally Posted by Heavymetal454

Having grown up and owned many fast cars as was the case for my family in general it wasn't as awe inspiring as one might think. You have to remember that cars like this were a common sight. The roads were filled with classic muscle but at the time they weren't classic. They were the current models. They take on a more unearthly status as they begin to disappear. Look at any old photo these days. What was in the background is now more interesting than the subject of the photograph at the time.

In my town everyone knew who had the fastest car. It was the stuff of legend. I remember a guy named Scott with a wicked Nova. Another guy with a 69 Firebird that he put a Dana 69 under. Friends of mine had SS Chevelles, a dude my sister dated with a Blue a Charger and perhaps the fastest car in town was Pauls Roadrunner.

Tragically there were accidents too. A couple of kids in a 57 Chevy that gambled at a railroad crossing and lost.

The biggest difference is I don't believe anyone will look back at a photograph taken today and say, "Wow is that a hybrid car?" Man those things were sweet. For that matter car shows of the future are unlikely to have people taking selfies in front of the Eco Boost or trying to find parts to fix up their Kia Sorrento.

Just my two cents. Well maybe a quarter.

Right on! That last part couldn't be more accurate

[Co2SS]

Anyone remember the 1987 Porsche 959? It was the most incredible production car you could buy. Today our SS has more HP and as good of brakes, if not better than the 959. The handling is also probably as good. Today is an amazing time to be into cars, who cares if most other people are into PokemonGo instead. Enjoy your MR shocks, and NPP, and RevMatch, and..........it is so much better now. Just don't buy an "ordinary" car.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by Co2SS

Anyone remember the 1987 Porsche 959? It was the most incredible production car you could buy. Today our SS has more HP and as good of brakes, if not better than the 959. The handling is also probably as good. Today is an amazing time to be into cars, who cares if most other people are into PokemonGo instead. Enjoy your MR shocks, and NPP, and RevMatch, and..........it is so much better now. Just don't buy an "ordinary" car.

Even a base 1SS with no NPP or MRC will be on par with a 1987 959. Tire technology alone has advanced tremendously. It is not out of the question to compare our SS with ANY supercar of the 80s.... In fact, one of the car magazines actually did compare a 2016 Corvette with a 1989 Ferrari and there was no comparison.

[Richard0nee]

Man I love hearing these stories since I love muscle cars and was born in 1980. So I missed out on these.

I wonder how it would be if the 6th Gen SS was around in the 60's? Would the 455/455 be enough to rule supreme?

Keep it coming guys, I enjoy reading every story!

[Co2SS]

Originally Posted by Richard0nee

Man I love hearing these stories since I love muscle cars and was born in 1980. So I missed out on these.

I wonder how it would be if the 6th Gen SS was around in the 60's? Would the 455/455 be enough to rule supreme?

Keep it coming guys, I enjoy reading every story!

I think the 6th Gen SS would likely rule over most rides in most towns in the 60's and 70's and when you take into account the "total package" of 455HP, MR, 5 different heat radiators, Brembo brakes, and the aforementioned tire technology, it would be some "BackToTheFuture" shit from the 60s throughout the 80s.

[merlin803]

I remember when I was a teen in the mid 80's thinking my friends Iroc Z28 was just crazy fast and looking back now at it's 0 to 60 times, I think it is just as close to the 2016 Cruze's times as it is to a 2016 Camaro SS, lol.

The violent bone rattling rides of the past gave the illusion of being faster than they were while the smooth acceleration of these cars make it seem like you are not going as fast as you really are.

While getting on the freeway the other day, I was at 80 MPH before the on ramp merged onto the freeway.

My wife looks at me and says "you know I can see the speedometer, right?"

[fastball]

Originally Posted by Richard0nee

I wonder how it would be if the 6th Gen SS was around in the 60's? Would the 455/455 be enough to rule supreme

Are you kidding? Even the fastest Corvettes of the late 60s, the L88 4 speed, did 0-60 in the very high 5 seconds-low 6 seconds. Once the emissions and fuel economy crunch hit, the Corvette never came near that fast until the late 1980s.

Back then all the high horsepower ratings were in gross. In 1973 the SAE changed it to net. And in 2008 it was again recalculated for net under load.

So a 450 hp rated car in 1969 is realistically 375 hp net.

Meanwhile, the 455 hp rating of our LT1 is a TRUE 455 hp rating!

If you took the 2016 Camaro SS back to 1969 it would be the fastest car in the world. No joke. There was NOTHING that did 0-60 in 4 seconds then. And in SAE gross rating it would have been rated darn close to 500 hp!

With the exception of some rocket engine cars used for beating the sound barrier on the Bonneville salt flats, there was nothing built by any car manufacturer in any country in the world as fast as the 6th gen Camaro SS.

[merlin803]

Originally Posted by Co2SS

I think the 6th Gen SS would likely rule over most rides in most towns in the 60's and 70's and when you take into account the "total package" of 455HP, MR, 5 different heat radiators, Brembo brakes, and the aforementioned tire technology, it would be some "BackToTheFuture" shit from the 60s throughout the 80s.

That's funny! You are right, if one of these cars showed up in the 60's, they would think it was a time traveler coming back in a rocket ship, lol.

[SpookShow'84]

It would beat 90+% of the guys with a hot rod in the 1/4 in the early 70's. The cars it wouldn't beat would barely be streetable. You have to remember the tires limited the cars and performance parts weren't everywhere with a dyno result. To run 11's they had to make up time on the big end of a street race.

In every other metric it would dominate.

We're in a great time for cars now for sure, the car culture is a shadow of what is was though and we're driving in a police state compared to then.

[Heavymetal454]

Originally Posted by merlin803

I remember when I was a teen in the mid 80's thinking my friends Iroc Z28 was just crazy fast and looking back now at it's 0 to 60 times, I think it is just as close to the 2016 Cruze's times as it is to a 2016 Camaro SS, lol.

The violent bone rattling rides of the past gave the illusion of being faster than they were while the smooth acceleration of these cars make it seem like you are not going as fast as you really are.

While getting on the freeway the other day, I was at 80 MPH before the on ramp merged onto the freeway.

My wife looks at me and says "you know I can see the speedometer, right?"

Did you ask her " who told you to speak? ".

I hope Radar Love was playing on the radio.