1980 street racers meet 2005 tech

Last month I went down to the street races in Compton, we went with these young street racers with their sub compact SRT-4. We drove @ 70 miles from Palmdale to get there. We got there and could not get a race with this car. A 2001 Corvette was scared, a WRX and all the other imports were scared too. Well, this little 1980's Chevy Chevette sub compact pulls up. It is very quiot, but you can barely hear a cam in it. They are interested in the SRT-4. This Chevette has a V6 4.3, 7.2 Chevette rearend, but it has Lexan windows and a nitrous unit. We have a Turbo 4 and Slicks. No race can be agreed upon, so we just race for the hell of it and only put up $20 bucks to make it legit. We toss a coin on what the race will be, HEADS-heads up race, TAILS-we give them 3 cars out. Coin toss falls on TAILS. We figure their car is @ low 13's, high 12's, and they feel that we are @ high 13's and they got it in the bag since we are giving them space. Well, both cars try to throw the race, it was so bad it was funny (for $20 bucks each car is just trying to find out what the other car runs to set up a better 2nd race for more money). They come over and want to know if we were hustling them, and we said the same thing, that we are being hustled. So the money stays locked up and we go for double or nothing for another race. Now the race is closer but nobody can agree who won, so it gets doubled again for the third race. So now a $20 race has turned into an $80 race. So now we put the hammer down. This race is for all the marbles. The SRT-4 catches the Chevette right off the start, but the Chevette pulls away, but the SRT-4 catches Chevettte again and goes by him, but he misses a shift, the Chevette gets around him and puts 2 car lenths on the SRT-4 but the SRT-4 is charging hard at the top end and is on his bumper catching the Chevette when they go across the finish line, both cars are holding nothing back, but we lost by a fender. They come over and shake our hand, they said " You guys are good, you hustled the hustlers. You had the money in your pockets, but your driver lost it for you." We told them what are you talking about and offered heads up for $400, and they replyed 10 cars out front and we got that race. We told them why don't we just give you the money and not wear out the car too lose again, we give you 5 and it's a race. They declined. Well the NOS Chevette was closer to a low 12/11.90 car but the SRT-4 was an low 11 sec car posing as a 13 sec car on slicks. The guys we raced are 20 year veteran street racers who play a good hustle on V8's, so to win by luck while getting hustled by a 4 banger was a rareity. We drove this 11 sec car back home, some 70 miles away. Seem's like the muscle car years all over again when 11 sec cars were the norm to drive.  

Nope, not a chance. Muscle cars aren't gonna go away, we will use the same technology stupid imports use. Forced induction vs forced induction  

That explanation sounds like(do i dare say it?) TheFastandTheFurious, how a 1/4 mile race somehow manages to last 5 minutes.

As mentioned, muscle never dies.

--Don't you hate it when american made compacts are referred to as imports?

Muscle never dies, it just gets stronger.  

Tell you what, give me half of the cash you've got in the SRT-4 and I'll walk all over your ass.  New srt-4's are like 15-20 grand if I remember right, 11 second quarters aren't free. I could build a faster car for the same money.  Go preach about compacts somewhere else.

Amen bro.  Take out an 8k loan and see what kind of JY stompin you could lay down on that srt- for AT BEST half the price, and maybe less than that.  Did I hear someone say "Green Fairmont"?  

Nope, not a chance. Muscle cars aren't gonna go away,

Never said Muscle cars were going away, but there are more in the hands of collectors and never see the light of day, then there are young guys driving around in them. 11 sec cars are not the norm import or domestic these days. Now the SRT-4 is not considered an import out here, it sold by Dodge

we will use the same technology stupid imports use.

We invented the tech, the race was between a 4 cyl domestic compact with a V6 transplant and one power adder vs another domestic compact with a production 4 cyl with a factor power adder.

 Forced induction vs forced induction.

No, NOS vs Forced Induction

That explanation sounds like(do i dare say it?) TheFastandTheFurious, how a 1/4 mile race somehow manages to last 5 minutes.

Wow, you need to get out more. If you go to the dragstrip just once this year, you may understand. But if you don't, here is my explanation-We race an 8.90's ET Super Comp Dragster at NHRA events, but we choose not to use electronics in the car but do it the hard way-old school. Now when we are up against an electronics car, he gets out in front of us about 60 ft then his stutter box kicks in, and we go by him for as much as 3-4 car lenths untill 3/4 track when he comes at us with a ton of mile per hour. We hit the lights around the same time, us at @ 148 and him at @ 168+ to hit the win light, both cars run the same ET but one is alot faster but not quicker than the other. 

As mentioned, muscle never dies.

Never said they did, but you see fewer these days unless your at car show or something.

Tell you what, give me half of the cash you've got in the SRT-4 and I'll walk all over your ass.

Deal, he paid less than 10 grand for the car used with all the mods, now you already have a car, list how fast (I think you mentioned it went 13's before) and how much it cost and if you spent less than 5 grand to go low 11's. A nice, decent Muscle car will cost @ 3 grand, not leaving you much for the Motor, Tranny, Rearend, Exhuast, Wheels and Tires to say the least. Now a friend of mine spent @ 6 grand to go 10's on Nitrous, but it was a late model Mustang and not a Muscle car, and he cracked the block on the third pass due to his inexpesive build.

 New srt-4's are like 15-20 grand if I remember right, 11 second quarters aren't free. I could build a faster car for the same money.

I'm sure many could build or even buy something faster for 20 grand, but have you ever done it? How fast was the fastest car you built?

Go preach about compacts somewhere else.

Who's preaching, I was sharing a story of a car that impressed me. I have a few friends with 11 sec cars, but rarely drive them 70 miles to race, even to race at a track. This car ran good, and got decent gas mileage. Most 11 sec imports show up on trailers, and this domestic compact/ import killer drove there. The imports here rarely race the V8's (The SRT-4 owner also owns an 11 sec LS 1 Camaro he drives everywhere) and want a ton of space from V8 cars.

Amen bro.  Take out an 8k loan and see what kind of JY stompin you could lay down on that srt- for AT BEST half the price, and maybe less than that.  Did I hear someone say "Green Fairmont"?

So, you could build some thing for half the price, this sounds like a good question to pose to everyone- What is the fastest car you built, and what else have you built and how many Muscle cars or even Car Craft projects do you own?  I'll start-

7.90 Dragster

8.60 SBC 69 Camaro

9.40 BBC 67 Camaro

9.70 SBC 68 Camaro

9.90 Honda

10.30  68 Camaro

10.80  69 Camaro

11.50 69 Camaro

11.80 67 Nova

12 Sec 70 Camaro

13 Sec V8 Vega

14 Sec 70 Nova

18 Sec 1ton Chevy Dually Truck

Muscle Cars and CC projects I own today-

3 V8 Vega Hatchbacks

1 V8 Vega stationwagon

2 69 Camaros

1 68 Camaro

1 70 Camaro

1 69 Firebird

1 84 Firebird

3 V8 Luv trucks

1 V8 Luv Tubbed w/Pro Gas electronics (throttle stop, delay box, crossover)

2 RX 7 (1 will be a V8 as soon as I yank the rotary out)

I do believe the turbo was an american invention  

Nope. It was patented by Buchi (a Swiss engineer).  http://www.turbomustangs.com/turbotech/main.htm

Americans have contributed a lot, though. GE's Sanford Moss (an American) did a lot of early development work to make turbos practical and reliable for aircraft applications.  Id.

Cummins (an American company) installed one on a diesel-powered Indy car (first turbocharged race car). http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=7095&page_number=3

GM (a huge multinational corporation) built the first production turbo cars.  Porsche and Saab (foreigners, but now Saab is part of GM), however, built the first SUCCESSFUL turbo cars.

Lots of posts on this in the "We aren't rich but we aren't stupid" thread.

Ethelkilledfred's story was a good read.  Thanks.

Sport compacts and muscle cars are here to stay.  But the laws of supply and demand suggest that cheap cars (whatever they are) will be the most common fodder for Car Crafting.   Emissions regs and fuel prices will also distort the Car Crafting market.

Wow, you need to get out more. If you go to the dragstrip just once this year, you may understand. But if you don't, here is my explanation-We race an 8.90's ET Super Comp Dragster at NHRA events, but we choose not to use electronics in the car but do it the hard way-old school. Now when we are up against an electronics car, he gets out in front of us about 60 ft then his stutter box kicks in, and we go by him for as much as 3-4 car lenths untill 3/4 track when he comes at us with a ton of mile per hour. We hit the lights around the same time, us at @ 148 and him at @ 168+ to hit the win light, both cars run the same ET but one is alot faster but not quicker than the other

What's quick rod got to do with racing sport compacts? Don't give me garbage for just making a comment unintended to be offensive other than to producers of crap movies. You can count on one hand the number of weekly races I've missed at the local dragstrip in the past ten years, and unforunately I only made it to 6 different IHRA tracks this season. As a third-generation racer from both sides of my family, the racetrack raised me, so I'm not a blockhead for drag racing and cars, and I'm sure the same applies to plenty of others you lash out at.

Muscle never dies, fades, or whatever else anyone wants to argue. Our local strip has nearly tripled car counts to between 250-300 cars on most weeks, with one or two sport compacts in street. You can find 40 '69 Camaro's for every neon or honda, and without even attending any car shows.

Ok im confused, You told a simple story of an event you witnessed.  Pretty cool actually all be it not my style of race.  now every one on here is raggin on you like some strange women.  Did you actually say anything about muscle dieing, i missed that part.  cool list of cars built by the way.  everyone keep on runin them and don't fret the rice burners, they cant change the past and american muscle will still rule the future  
- run what you brung, heads up, and quit talking BS

Thanks, I agree.

"Seem's like the muscle car years all over again when 11 sec cars were the norm to drive." is what I wrote but some people read what they want to read reguardless of whats printed.

When I was in High School you had Cal Special Mustangs, Mach 1's, BBF Torino's, V8 Pinto's and V8 Vegas, (I own a 13 sec V8 Vega in High School and got spanked by the Big Block Cars) real Z/28's (69 and 77 out-state 4 spd car), 427 Nova's, SS BBC Nova's and Camaro's, 340 and BB Mopars with Six Packs, 400 Firebirds along with very few RX/3's, 240/Z. There was even a 4x4 powered by a crate motor LS7 that did 4 wheel drive burn outs and ran 12's-11's (LS7 would put a Camaro into the 10's, it was base like an L88 but had a 4" stroke). Today I take my Daughter to High School and do not see any of this era gone by. I see most muscle cars around here in the hands of older guys that drive them only on weekends if at all.