Hemmings article on 10 Coolest Performance Cars of the 70s

[Mike Self]

On line Hemmings story about the 10 Coolest Performance Cars of the 1970s.  You may (or perhaps not) be surprised at what shows up amongst a parade of Detroit muscle cars and Italian exotica...Enjoy

 

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2020/08/17/the-10-coolest-performance-cars-of-the-1970s?refer=news&utm_source=edaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020-08-17

 

mike

[SydneyTii]

—and the fuel-injected engine can make the parson breathe hard.”
? very true!

[jp5Touring]

Oh that white Trans Am

[BarrettN]

The article states that the tii has stiffer springs - I didn't think that was the case, am I wrong? 

[coloincaalpine RIP 2021]

A "shorter first gear" ?

[2002iii]

I like that the 2002tii is rated at the same 140hp of the mustang 5.0 and the tii is quicker in the 1/4 mile. The 5.0 mustang was gutless until the mid to late 80s. Why isn't the 2002 turbo on this list it's more inline with the other top of the line models. The tii is the best all around car and best bang for your buck in my opinion. The 240Z would be my second choice only because of the lack of interior room. The muscle cars are all big heavy straight line only cars ( the mustang doesn't really count as a muscle car because of its smoggified small block). The little red wagon was just a stupid impractical promotional truck that wasn't even that fast. And the 3 most expensive cars are out of reach for most and finnicky.

[Mike Self]

8 hours ago, BarrettN said:

The article states that the tii has stiffer springs - I didn't think that was the case, am I wrong? 

There were several errors in the writeup:  tii springs are the same as carbureted cars, and gear ratios in both the transmission and differential were the same.  Neither would be considered "close ratio."  The article also implies that onlly tii's had front and rear anti-sway bars; all US cars had 'em, and they were the same diameter on carbureted and injected cars.  Only the Turbo got larger bars.

 

All minor points, but I hate to see misinformation spread about unnecesssarily.

 

mike

[AustrianVespaGuy]

And I'm pretty darn sure tiis were all rated at 130 not 140HP, vs. carbed cars being around +/-100, no? Euro tiis have 140 maybe?

Also, why is the Fox body on there? Like the worst-of-the-worst in every way, and should be in the same bin as the Pinto.  Who wrote this thing?

Edited August 19, 2020 by AustrianVespaGuy

[Mike Self]

3 hours ago, AustrianVespaGuy said:

And I'm pretty darn sure tiis were all rated at 130 not 140HP, vs. carbed cars being around +/-100, no? Euro tiis have 140 maybe?

Lots of confusion on horsepower ratings back then.  A carbureted US spec 2002 was rated at 113 hp SAE, but only 100 DIN.  Since DIN ratings were not well known in the US of the late 60s, and since 113 sounded much better than 100, Hoffman's ads used the higher figure, as did the sales literature meant for the US.  Euro literature used the DIN rating.

 

On tii's, there was a bit more confusion:  130 SAE, 120 DIN for US cars, but IIRC Euro tiis had higher compression ratios and were rated at a higher DIN (and by extension, SAE) than US-bound cars.  

 

As a result, you see all sorts of hp figures bandied about, depending on ratings and destination.

 

mike

[gary32]

Interesting the Dodge Truck and the Ford Mustang would not be on my list.