As an engine guy, there is one more area about those cars that flat amazes me. If you open one of those engines up what do you find? A bunch of cast iron junk is what you find in there!! How in the heck those little engines stayed together and made that kind of power and much more with stock rotating assemblies defies logic. Cast crankshaft, cast rods, heavy full skirted pistons, iron heads, small valves. You look at it assembled and swear it will be a pile of cast iron kitty litter at 150 HP! But I don't recall any significant engine issues while those cars were popular and being serviced under warranty. The same can't be said for the rear ends. They would literally explode the second you bolted a pair of slicks on them. I remember one being brought in on a flat bed tow truck. Rubber all over the rear quarters but now with stock wheels on it. White haired lady said, "I just don't know what happened?" We opened the trunk and found a bowling ball sized hole right in front of the gas tank! The entire center section had blown apart and the pinion and front of the housing went through the trunk.
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