[6T5 Cat]

I took my dusty and nasty Catalina out for a ride for the first time in about 6 weeks. I had a total blast stomping the guts out of some turd in his new 426 hp hemi challenger. Oh well, I was always told that I don't play well with others.

I need to get off my lazy butt and start working on painting it, but it's too hot. Here's some pix.

[63 Pontiac]

"I should be ashamed of myself"

Yes you should, for only having had that ride out once in six weeks! Forget the paint job for now and drive it.

[The Boss]

Looks great, the "Patina" just adds to the insult.

Drive it more!

[Deadhead]

It's a tough job but somebody's gotta kick all those butts.

Keep up the good work!

[marks73ta]

They all say our full size Pontiacs are big heavy boats. The sleak modern Challenger probably weighs more than your Cat. I love it. Nice car. Do you have any times on it yet? Always loved '65's and the sedans are neat. MArk L

[65FATCAT]

How dare you do that! You know that guy spent atleast 32k on that plastic challenger, the car that doesn't really look old but doesn't really look new, satisfying no one.

[Deadhead]

Originally Posted by 65FATCAT

How dare you do that! You know that guy spent atleast 32k on that plastic challenger, the car that doesn't really look old but doesn't really look new, satisfying no one.

I was following one down the interstate yesterday and the bottoms of the rear quarters were flapping in the breeze at 75MPH.

[marks73ta]

Are you sure that it wasn't a rusted clapped out old real challenger, you know they made the new ones look SOOOO much like the old ones, HA!! Mark L

[BIGBLUE]

Originally Posted by marks73ta

They all say our full size Pontiacs are big heavy boats. The sleak modern Challenger probably weighs more than your Cat. I love it. Nice car. Do you have any times on it yet? Always loved '65's and the sedans are neat. MArk L

Generally speaking, I like the challenger, but I have to laugh when people think my 67GP eats gas like no tomorrow and weighs more than a Mack truck. A fully loaded big Mercedes or BMW 740i is just as heavy as my ride (740i curb weight = 4,381 lbs + 180 lb driver = 4,561 lbs with one driver !), and as for gas mileage, I get 10 MPG 100% local driving, and 16 MPG on the highway, and all that driving is punctuated with many rapid accelerations.

I saw a road test of a Mercedes SL 500 a few years back, and the magazine got 10 MPG in mixed driving ! I'm sure they were lead footing it most of the time, but I've driven V-8 cylinder rental cars in the past, that only got 12-12.5 MPG in the city, so that sounds about right for a powerful car driven aggresively.

If I had to make a guess, I would say that my 67GP gets only 15%-20% worse gas mileage than an average V-8 car does today, and that's provided the driver of the new car doesn't floor it constantly, which is exactly what I would do when driving a new car, due to the lack of torque.

[Deadhead]

Originally Posted by marks73ta

Are you sure that it wasn't a rusted clapped out old real challenger, you know they made the new ones look SOOOO much like the old ones, HA!! Mark L

Right. I had to look twice. New car with no apparent damage anywhere that would explain it. Really burst my bubble of thinking how cool a car they had come back with. I am going to look under the next one I see in a parking lot to see what the deal is.

Big Blue: Check out the '0X GTOs. Nearly 4000lb car with loads of power gets 23 MPG. Some of the big Caddies are the same. I would rather own the 500 S class though.

[Cheesehead]

My 2006 R/T Charger gets around 16mpg mixed driving. The rear flapping is a known problem with the bumper catching the wind. Mine does it too, wore the paint off where the trunk lid meets the bumper.

BTW, the 426hp Challenger is closer to $41,000.

[BVR421]

Im happy you are having fun! I need to get out more too.
Did the guy in the Challenger know he was supposed to be racing? Maybe he was simply puzzled by your antics? LOL

This was going to be the year I drove my 63 more often, havent even registered it yet this year. Im ashamed.

[poison heart]

Those challengers are over 4200 lbs without a driver and think of all the emissions vs your old cat with no emissions and obviously not stock. Great kill none the less, those challengers will run low 13s right off the lot

[65FATCAT]

For 32k plus plus, it should do that and cook you breakfast.

[poison heart]

haha Yes but not for a new car. You're comparing an old modified car to a brand new stock car. Yes, you can make a $1200 car with a $3,000 motor run 11s but not brand new with a warrany and it won't handle like a challenger or have all the options. We're comparing apples to oranges. Now, if you beat a similarly modified 1970 Challenger that would be a more fair comparison. But stock new vs 40 year old modified? Come on, I would be super excited too, those Challengers are quick even stock

Honestly, your best bang for the buck as far as new vehicle performance is probably a 2010 Hemi Ram single cab short bed. 13.75 for $25K MSRP and with discounts and incentives probably at least 3-5K off. 13.75 in a STOCK TRUCK at around 5000 lbs, talk all the crap about hemis that you want. Those things are BAD, and that's only a 5.7 liter. Not a 6.4, not a 6.6, not a 7.5 liter. They're only 5.7liter/345 cubic inches.

This was with my 07 Hemi Ram with an intake, headers and full exhaust and a programmer on street tires with 3.55 gears. I ran back to back 5 flat 0-60s

0-61.5MPH in 5.05 seconds.

There are guys in modified 5.7 Rams cutting 1.5 60's. That's impressive

[Silver Judge]

Somebody's gotta show those pesky and lame hemi cars who is the king of the jungle !
The same thing goes for those anemic and weak ass BBC powered vehicles that are out there.

Did I mention Ford ? Roush? Shmoush !

Some people just don't realize that there is a tiger under the hood of the Pontiac

[66bonne]

Bob - love the 8 lugs and Shaker hood scoop - very nice.
You might not get the Cat out much but you have fun when you do !!

Jim

[6T5 Cat]

Hey Jim, thanks. Good to hear from you.

Poision Heart - FYI the guy screwed with me for about two miles, then at the stop light verbally challenged me. I tried to ignore him, but he addressed me by saying,"hey Old Geezer." Major mistake on his part! He is very, very lucky the "Old Geezer" didn't beat his ass so badly his dog wouldn't recognize him. I have a very low tolerance for A-holes and dickheads. And BTW, his 2010 426 hp hemi challenger couldn't have beat the new 65 421 HO Cat I took delivery of in Jan 66 either, I ran 12.70s in stock form and it was my daily driver. The only non-stock items on it was a set of headers and I ran "cheater" slicks, of course. My race car, in those days, was a 37 chev coupe that I ran in B/Gas, it ran in the 11.00s, well below the NHRA B/Gas record.

[poison heart]

No, it might not have beaten your cat in the 1/4 mile but then again, we're comparing apples to oranges. It also wouldn't have beat your Chevy and it wouldn't have beat my friends souped up deisel, but who cares? haha It probably wouldn't have beat a lot of muscle cars from back in the day either. But no one buys a Challenger SRT8 with the mentality that they are the fastest or the best bang for the buck on their mind. If they do, they obviously have more money than brains. But, yes they're fast, yes they're nice and yes they are expensive.

And again, I'm a Pontiac guy but most of all, an old car guy. I wouldn't take his Challenger over your Pontiac, I'm just saying, these modern muscle cars are capable of a lot with a little work and you have to take account all the emission standards. They're also building stock 13 second machines when 99% of the country is looking to get better gas mileage. They're impressive for what they are and for what is popular in our country right now. We will never see another muscle car era like the 60s. Right now all we have is Mustangs vs Camaros vs Challengers.

I just have to defend Hemis when they are wrongly put down. I've driven mine every day for 3 years. I know what it's capable of and I know what they are capable of heavily modified. There are guys in 5500 lb trucks running 13 flat with a stock bottom end putting over 400 hp to the wheels. That's impressive! Now, imagine in a lighter car, stroker kit and forced induction.

[MOJO Catalina]

That's a bad ass car and it doesn't have a mortgage attached to it.
It's PAID FOR and is an ASSET.



At $40,000 new, then 5 years later and with $5-10K more in interest the 2KXX Challenger ends up costing $45-50,000. I wonder in what year, if kept under 70,000 miles, it will be worth 5-10 times ($250K- 500K) what it was when it was brand new? 2075? Ever?

Nice cars, I'm sure. They were novelties 4 years ago but I don't even notice them anymore (unless it's a cop behind me).

The only things I like about newer cars is AC and power windows and I can live without both or have them installed in my car. I save $35-45,000 and I'll be happier because you just don't see 45+ year old cars 5-10 times a day like you do the new Challenger/Camaro/Mustang.

As far as emissions go, I'm sure someone will come up with an exhaust gas recycling/reclaiming technique for us old skoolers in the next 5 years or so. Maybe even a ring, valve and ignitor kit that will allow our old engines to burn whatever organic snot concoction becomes trendy...