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Nice truck, Ed. Here's my '71 Chevy that I dropped a rebuilt 350 into 16 months ago.
<IMG SRC="http://ubbpractice2.homestead.com/files/Chevytoo.jpg" border=0>
The late 1960's were the times when Detroit designed engines like big air pumps. The more air you could pump, the more horsepower you could deliver. skuz's link shows a car with a 440 cubic inch engine that produced 215 bhp. By today's standards, those are archaic figures. With fuel-injection and computer-operated everything, even cars with tiny engines (by comparison) produce more horsepower than yesterday's behemoths.
Subaru has a new model named the Impreza WRX. Here's what the NY Times said:
"But this car is an animal. Turbocharged to the teeth, the 2-liter horizontally opposed engine produces 227 horsepower, or 113 horsepower per liter, well above the threshold of 100 that is cherished by the hot-rod cognoscenti. That kind of power-to-displacement ratio puts the Subaru in the heady company of cars like the Ferrari 360 Modena and the Porsche 911 Turbo."
Imagine that - an engine only 2 liters in size that produces more HP than the 7+ liter, 1973 Chrysler Imperial. That, and it gets 27 mpg on the freeway.
JP
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Good lookin' Chevy there, johnpaul!
There's another thing about the big cars / engines, though. Longevity.
Those high hp tiny things just aren't likely to be around for the long haul, while that Chrysler already has 28 yrs under it's belt and may go another 28...
Also, I've got to wonder what kind of bhp that 2.0L would produce if installed in something as heavy as the Imperial... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif
...or would it even move???
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Of course the Chrysler needed a humungous V-8 just to haul its carcass around. Don't forget, too, everything on it was metal, not plastic or composite, like today's models. Gasoline was cheap and everyone expected it to last forever.
You're sure right about longevity, Ed. These old cars and trucks have survived 30+ years. I've owned my truck over 18-years, and my motto is, "Keep it forever."
JP
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Skuz,
You ever try to cut me up again and I'll drive over you!!!
Joe King.
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Hey Justy, I let you go first, didn't I ? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif
