Drew Hardin explained that Car Craft’s John Raffa was obviously frustrated while testing Chevy’s all-new A-Body at the Irwindale dragstrip in November 1967. That frustration boiled right to the surface in the paragraph above, which opened his Drag Test in the magazine’s Feb. ’68 issue.
“Oh, the horses are there all right (just witness that ‘drive-in idle’ of the L78 engine option), but somebody back in Detroit forgot to couple ’em up to the drivetrain in the properly prescribed quarter-mile manner; so instead of a clean break away from the line and solid punch from the green on, we got a big jump, then a letdown—like ‘Bog City.’”
Raffa’s assignment wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill driving impression. One of his goals was to determine “where the Chevelle fit into NHRA’s 1968 plans.” Mounting a set of 8-inch Casler slicks meant the test Chevelle “would have to be placed … in SS/D, while it would fall into A/S if prepared for the Stock classes.” New NHRA rules for 1968 classified Stocks, Super Stocks, and Sports cars using the “aforementioned Performance Rating method, not according to weight and advertised horsepower figures as in the past.”
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
Dress it Up
HOW TO MAKE AN LS ENGINE LOOK AND PERFORM BETTER
Solid & Striped
The Lokar/Street Rodder ’34 Ford 3-Window Coupe 25th in a Long Line of Road Tour Hot Rods
Is It Better to Change Oil Hot or Cold?
It seems intuitive that if time is not a factor, the most thorough way to change engine oil is by letting the car sit overnight, then next morning allowing the oil to drain out of the sump for several hours.
EBONY ICON
Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop Builds the Ultimate LSX-Powered Chevelle
WHEN CHEVROLET INTRODUCED THE “ALL NEW” 1958 IMPALA, IT REALLY WAS!
We take a look back at the introduction—and road test—of the 1958 Chevy Impala.
Classic Car Rust Prevention: How to Seal the Floor Pan of Your Ride with POR-15
So, you bought a “new to you” project car and want to start the build right. That means tearing out the interior and making sure the floor pans are sealed and rust free. If you find Swiss cheese, check out “How to Fabricate and Install Replacement Floor Pans” on hotrod.com on how to replace your floor pans. If you find minor surface rust and the occasional pinhole, keep reading and we’ll show you everything you need to know about classic car rust prevention.
COYOTE COUPE
This 1967 Mustang Is the Perfect Blueprint for an Engine Swap
California Coastal Road Trip
Like many people around the country, we have had little occasion to travel this year. With car shows and events like the Power Tour and Drag Week postponed and rescheduled due to the coronavirus, we’ve mostly been stuck at home. I recently had occasion to travel to Santa Rosa, California, for a photo shoot with Scott Birdsall, owner/builder of Old Smokey, the Cummins-powered Ford F1 that beat the diesel-engine record at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. Motor Trend’s William Walker was the shooter, with me serving as assistant and camera car driver. It seemed like as good excuse as any to make a trip out of it.
25 Years of the Crusher Camaro
I’m gonna tell the story of the Crusher Camaro because it’s celebrating 25 years as a project and because it’s presented me with a fresh dilemma. The story begins in 1994 when California law allowed gasoline companies to crush older cars in exchange for smog credits that allowed continued polluting from wells and refineries.
What Is Cylinder Head Swirl and Tumble, and Why Is It Important?
We think of electronic engine management systems and multiport electronic fuel injection (EFI) as primarily responsible for the improved air/fuel distribution and performance as Detroit clawed its way back in the mid 1980s, but—good as they were for that day—initially the new electronics were just Band-Aids grafted onto carryover engine designs. The big change started in the 1990s, when the OEs started tinkering with cylinder head design to induce swirl and tumble in internal combustion engines.
AMANDA KNOX'S NEW NIGHTMARE!
HER ROOMMATE’S KILLER GOES FREE — COULD TELL ALL
Raffaella Carrà
Niña prodigio, estrella de la música y la televisión, rompió los moldes de una época en blanco y negro.
AMANDA KNOX WHERE IS SHE NOW?
INSIDE THE LIFE OF ‘FOXY KNOXY’ FIVE YEARS AFTER HER RELEASE
EATING WITH Nicole da Silva
The actor on standout auditions, Nutella doughnuts and working with the UN.