[17rsvert]

Just watched the documentary "Ferrari: Race to Immortality" on TV. It's about Ferrari racing teams in the 1950s. Wow, those guys were insane! Anyway it got me wondering how the performance of today's factory stock Camaros would compare with the Formula 1 cars of that era. Couldn't find anything online comparing them directly, but I did see that a 1957 Ferrari 801 weighed 1433 lbs. and had 275 hp.

I would assume today's ZL1 1LE power and handling would have no problem against F1 cars of that era, so the question is: what trim level of today's Camaro would be a fair match to those old F1 cars?

[ULTRAZLS1]

275 hp at 1400 lbs is quite a bit better power to weight than even a zl1

At 4000 lbs a zl1 needs nearly 800 hp to be on par with that old f1

Not sure about handling. But I’m guessing it would be no slouch

[17rsvert]

Originally Posted by ULTRAZLS1

275 hp at 1400 lbs is quite a bit better power to weight than even a zl1

But how well did that power get transmitted to the road? I'm sure there is no comparison between 1950s tire technology and today's. And what about the improvement in steering, suspension and cornering?

[GuywithL86]

A 50's f1 car would get murdered by a zl1


The old f1 cars are not even coming close in the braking, suspension, and tire department.


Early 50's f1 especially would be a joke


Road and track raced a 1967 lotus f1 car vs a 2013 corvette zr1 around the circuit of the americas


zr1 - 2.20.65

Lotus - 2:17.51




Just so you know how much faster that lotus is than a 50's f1 car, here are f1 pole position lap times around silverstone
1967 Lotus 49 - 85.30

1952 Ferrari 500 - 110.00


25 second difference!, that's massive on a track that short



Cliffs - you'd dominate a 1952 f1 race with a honda accord

[17rsvert]

Originally Posted by GuywithL86

A 50's f1 car would get murdered by a zl1

Cliffs - you'd dominate a 1952 f1 race with a honda accord

Agree with you there about the ZL1, not so sure about the Accord.

So here's something interesting to consider... What's the latest year a ZL1 1LE could compete in Formula 1? How about a SS or V6 or T4 with or without 1LE?

Anyone have informed opinions? Any performance stats?

[GuywithL86]

Originally Posted by 17rsvert

Agree with you there about the ZL1, not so sure about the Accord.

So here's something interesting to consider... What's the latest year a ZL1 1LE could compete in Formula 1? How about a SS or V6 or T4 with or without 1LE?

Anyone have informed opinions? Any performance stats?

Well a c6 zr1 is a little slower than pole position for 1967, and a zl1 1le is slightly faster than a c6 zr1. Suffice to say if you went back in time to a 1967 f1 race and drove a zl1 1le, it would be a good race.

[17rsvert]

I'm surprised there wasn't more interest in this discussion. I thought there would be a bunch of people on this forum with informed opinions to let the rest of us have some idea where our Camaro configurations would rank on a comparable performance timeline.