[necdb3]

Did all 71 and 72 SSJ's originate from SJ's? Where they all 455 cars?

[Keith Vrabec]

Actually they all originalted from model J gp, something about pinstriping or something...(Harv? Clarify???)

Not all SSJ had 455, and not all even had sunroofs!!!!

These were custom cars, and really kind of put together rather inconsistantly through the series. Lots of variation.

I had owned the 72 on EBAY, needs quarters and fenders, maybe inner and core support as well, floors solid, might have been hit ina previous life. Original engine ran well, but needs a total redo.

KV

[ssj71]

The 70 SSJ conversion was done on either a J or SJ model, but for 71 & 72, it's was only the J model that was used. As Keith said, it was due to a silly pinstriping conflict, which baffles me a bit (couldn't Hurst undo the factory striping by simply peeling/heating it?).

The upside, however, was the fact that you could order a very loaded J model, so it really didn't matter much. Some J's came equipped as nicely as some SJ's before being shipped to Hurst Performance.

SSJs did have both the 400's and 455's. My current 71 SSJ is one of those 400 cars and my old 72 SSJ was a 455. My brother's current SSJs are both 455 cars. After documenting a number of SSJ's over the years, the majority of them have been 455 cars.

As Keith said, SSJs came with a variety of combinations of engines, options, and even colors in 1972. It appears some came without a sunroof as well. It has become clear through my research that Hurst deviated from the standard SSJ template a few times to likely accomodate special orders, extra cost options, and the wishes of high-level people at Hurst or GM, or whoever ponied up the bucks. It seems they did this more for the 1972 model year than the others.

[necdb3]

thanks guys

[Matt Meaney]

as long as we're on the subject, did all of the cars come with the half padded top?

[ssj71]

Hard to say for sure, and hard to be 100% conclusive on the SSJ's overall. After learning about some of the deviations from the standard SSJ template in 1972, I would say it's possible that some came without the padded top if a customer or executive so desired. This is pure speculation, and until some pictures of the actual Hurst factory conversions pop up, we may never know.

There's just not enough documentation to prove some of these details.