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Originally Posted by keith k
My inner voice tells me you're jerking everyone's chain with this request in the first place, but all in good fun either way, IMO.
I think you nailed it with regard to why the '71s got no respect. In general the world doesn't really care how hard automotive engineers have to work to overcome the obstacles (fuel quality, emissions, safety, etc.) that are thrown at them. And anyway, increasing displacement wasn't rocket science. Fact is the car was (within driver capability and car-to-car tuning variability) no quicker than a '70. And the 455HO was the "standard" engine (at least in a T/A). The fact that the air flowed through round shaped passages instead of D-shaped passages probably didn't excite too many people back then. Low compression, milder cam, calmer idle, lower RPM.... zzzzzzzzz.
By '73 everyone knew the musclecar was a dying breed, and the SD was clearly the "last gasp". That's why there are so many more low mileage SDs around than HOs. People knew when they bought them that they were the last of an era, even if they weren't necessarily quicker than the '70-'72s.
As for the separate forum thing... I actually migrated from CP over to PY because I liked the segmentation by model. But lets face it.... there aren't many '70-'73 birds or owners/enthusiasts around, period. Don't really need to try to cut it any finer, IMO. There's only a couple of new/different posts that pop up on most days anyway... is that too much to have to sort through?
cheers-
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I think Keith hit the nail on the head as far as why HOs were overlooked at the time. Also SDs were put on a pedestal because they were the only really fast cars made in 73-74. The SD mystique only intensified at the time because of "limited availability". As we know the '73s were held up because of internal politics at PMD, and then released at the end of the model run. In 74 there were far more orders submitted than cars built. I have a friend that is an original owner of a 74 455 non SD auto car. He ordered the car as an SD 4 speed, and waited and waited. The dealer finally told him around 5/1/74 that he better change it to a non-SD or he would end up with a '75!
When I went searching for my first car in '76 I found my '71, but would have jumped at an SD if one presented itself. In those days you searched the classifieds, Hemming's and dealer lots and took the best of what you could find. Over the years I have kept an eye out for a clean SD and they have always been "pricey". I thought $12k, for example, was ridiculous in about '82 for a '73 4 speed SD. Hindsight.......
I'll weigh back in on the SD-HO debate....I don't think that an HO is "definitely" faster (and I own an HO!)
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...=534639&page=2
I think that the two are so similar in terms of producing torque and HP that the level of bluepriniting and quality of assembly can make the difference.