Jump to content

This is the USA...


Uncle_Buck

Recommended Posts

...and thats how we let everbody know whats under the hood....!!

Hats off to Chrysler for putting the cubic inch displacement of the Hemi under the hood on the new Challenger. Ford gets a nod too. The re-introduction of the Boss Mustang 302. Thank you very much Chrysler & Ford.

GM, your turn. Loved those flag emblems from the mid-sixties...!!

Beer comes in oz. and quart containers - not litres. Litres are for measuring wine in Europe - not engine displacement in the United States...

post-67240-143138470446_thumb.jpg

post-67240-143138470449_thumb.jpg

post-67240-143138470454_thumb.jpg

Edited by Uncle_Buck (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ummm, GM's 7L and 6.2L V8's are at the top of the entire game beating anything from Mopar or Ford in terms of HP/TQ, they don't need a different number just to be the same like Mopar and Ford. Although I agree that putting 427 on the Z06 would be sweet :D

Anyway, God bless America just for us having cars like this in this day and age!

As far as the metric system lol, that's a different discussion entirely...

Edited by 92GTA (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest DagoRed
Did we really run out of 25 year old cars to talk about?

I don't think Uncle Buck was talking exclusively about cars of today, but rather, the link from the past that that can't be suppressed or taken lightly - even today.

Good post Uncle Buck...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ummm, GM's 7L and 6.2L V8's are at the top of the entire game beating anything from Mopar or Ford in terms of HP/TQ, they don't need a different number just to be the same like Mopar and Ford. Although I agree that putting 427 on the Z06 would be sweet :D

Anyway, God bless America just for us having cars like this in this day and age!

As far as the metric system lol, that's a different discussion entirely...

Umm, this post IS about the metric system, not horsepower and torque. Yes it is nice to see cubic inches instead of liters. Gives them a more American feel and link to the past.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess you'll have to forgive Pontiac for putting 6.5 L on the GTO emblem going back to 1964, and those T/A's with 6.6 on the shaker scoops.

Don

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And yet....

This emblem came on a 1966 Ford Galaxy.

a162567_large%2B1966_Ford_Galaxie_7_Litre%2BEmblem.jpg

Joe, My husband had one of those when they were new. Bright copper color and I believe it had a black vinyl top. His favorite car EVER.

I know that if he ever finds one in good shape he will be wanting to get it. He always looks for them and at them when he finds one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Kingoftheroad

Whether its cubic inches or Litres, you can't help but love these powerful old machines....

Although, I admit, I prefer the cubic inch designations better....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess you'll have to forgive Pontiac for putting 6.5 L on the GTO emblem going back to 1964, and those T/A's with 6.6 on the shaker scoops.

Don

Yeah, a few cars in the mid-sixties wandered from the reservation, such as the 7 Litre Galaxie and the GTO.

I do know the Beach Boys could not find a rhyme for She's real fine, my 6.7, so the song came out as we know it, She's real fine, my 409.

And finally, when I see a Mustang with the 5 point Oh on the fender, I'm conditioned these days to think of software levels, such as Windows Explorer 7.0...

I'm ready for the good old days. Cars with V-8's and rear wheel drive should have cool flag emblems with their engine CUBIC INCH displacement proudly displayed to honor the linkage to the heady days of Detroit Muscle and give a nod away from the mistaken direction to the metric system

post-67240-143138471758_thumb.jpg

Edited by Uncle_Buck (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rob McDonald

Ya can't argue with cubic inches, even in Canada. Litres are fine for milk and bitty engines of under two of them. However, I still think in terms of c.i.d. as applied to big pumping pistons of about one quart each.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, a few cars in the mid-sixties wandered from the reservation, such as the 7 Litre Galaxie and the GTO.

------------------------------------------------------------------

How so? If they were the first to use the designation in regards to the metric system here, sounds like they were leading and not wandering. Everyone uses it now. I work with both systems no problem, but metric is easier. I get the feeling that it's more a European/Asian beef you've got going.;)

Don

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest billybird
Oh yeah...just doesn't have the same ring to it as "BOSS 428" or BOSS 429".

Let us not forget 440 SIX PACK.......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's funny how manufacturers played the cu.in. game. For example, because Pontiac was not aware until after tooling was made that the 1964 GM "A" body cars were limited to engine size no more than 330 cubic inches. When the 63 Tempest engine was originally cored it was to have a bore of 3.78. With Pontiac's 3/4" stroke crank it gave a displacement of 336 cu. inches. They still badged the car with 326 emblems. The 64 Tempest bore was cut to 3.72 giving 326 inches. Pontiac circumvented the whole rule with the Tempest-LeMans GTO 389 engine by making the GTO a option on the LeMans.You see options by each division did not require corporate (14th floor ) approval. The corporation was furious at Pontiac, but could not turn a blind eye to the profit, so they told Olds, Buick and Chevrolet to make their own version of the GTO. The Pontiac 350 engine really isn't a 350. The engine has a bore of 3.88 and with that 3/4" stroke crank gives a number of 354.71 or 355 inches. The Pontiac 428 has a bore of 4.12 and a stroke of 4", that gives a displacement of 427. Finally the Pontiac 455 has a bore of 4.1525 and a stroke of 4.21 which isn't a 455 it's a 456.

Now wouldn't it be much easier to do calculations in metric? Now instead of saying 389, just say what the GTO badges have said -6.5 L;) When the 389 became the 400, we called it 6.6L, it's on the shaker hoods of T/A's and Can Am's and Grand Am's. To confuse people Pontiac put 455 on T/A shaker hoods, they should have put 7.5L to keep it consistent.

Don

Edited by helfen (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the sixties, the Beach Boys harmonized about the '409' and Ronnie and the Daytona's were excited about the '389', then Paul Revere and the Raiders sang about their '396'.

In the intervening 40 some years, nobody has ever sung a song about their 6.6L or 7.5L or for that fact, pick any number and insert here: n.nL - to this day, no song has surfaced that waxes nostolgic over their something or another Litre car...

Just sayin' :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robin Coleman
I was going to mention the 66-67 Ford 7 liter when I read this thread last night. I always use it to convert liters into cubic inches: 7 goes into 428 about 6.1 times. so a liter is about 6.1 inches

Dave... I'm not trying to replace your math teacher way back when, but I think you need to move the decimal point one place to the right (61 ci instead of 6.1).. Otherwise your 7 liter engine has a displacement of around 42.7 cubic inches, not the 428 it is said to be.

If it is indeed 42.7 inches, man oh man are they squeezing some power outta that thing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the sixties, the Beach Boys harmonized about the '409' and Ronnie and the Daytona's were excited about the '389', then Paul Revere and the Raiders sang about their '396'.

In the intervening 40 some years, nobody has ever sung a song about their 6.6L or 7.5L or for that fact, pick any number and insert here: n.nL - to this day, no song has surfaced that waxes nostolgic over their something or another Litre car...

Just sayin' :rolleyes:

When I grew up a liter was something a hog had....:D .and BTW, they don't right songs about Volvo's

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was going to ask how the 389 Pontiac could be a 6.5 liter engine while the new 392 Hemi is a 6.4 liter... :rolleyes:

As the famous Pontiac racing and technical historian Pete McCarthy one said about the Pontiac 350" engine really being a 355; " Why is it called a 350? Probably a nice round number". I expect the 6.5 on the GTO applique was just a nice round number. I wouldn't sweat it as most people today wouldn't look close enough to know it's there. It was the first or near the first American car to do it.

Don

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I grew up a liter was something a hog had....:D .and BTW, they don't right songs about Volvo's

------------------------------------------------------------

After the Beetle's Sargent Peppers album nobody hardly wrote about cars. Not in the way it was done in the 50's early 60's. The exception would be a song in the 80's by the Stray Cats about a injected 57 Chevy. Yes there were a few, Springsteens' and Natalie Cole's pink Cadillac or Trisha Yearwood who had a some country song with a Pontiac LeMans in it. But no songs like 409 or GTO or Hot Rod Lincoln, Hey little Cobra, I get around, Little Honda, Fun Fun Fun, Shut Down, Shut Down Vol 2., In the parking lot, Little Deuce Coupe, The little old lady From Pasadena, Drag City, ect. . After the British invasion car and surfing music plus some types of love songs went away. Music just went in another direction. Songs like Psychotic Reaction and People are Strange, not to mention Whole Lotta Love and the Lemon song were just not the same.

A Volvo would never fit the equation.......but a home on wheels just might. Can you say Ford Econoline or VW bus. They didn't write songs about them, but we all know a whole lot of stuff was going on IN them.

Today it would be hard to happen because the media and the schools teach kids cars are bad, besides young people have other distractions these days. The term "I get around" dosen't mean " we always take my car cause it's never been beat", today it means I can text faster than you.

Don

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest DagoRed
------------------------------------------------------------

After the Beetle's Sargent Peppers album nobody hardly wrote about cars. Not in the way it was done in the 50's early 60's. The exception would be a song in the 80's by the Stray Cats about a injected 57 Chevy. Yes there were a few, Springsteens'....

Don

I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396

Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor

Respect and my salute to Bruce Springsteen and his great song Racing in the Streets, but, to my knowledge, there are no 'fuely heads' available available for the big block rat motor - this was a small block item.

Forgive me Bruce, even though we went to different NJ schools together...

A nice cannoli and a tip of the hat to Bruce for singing about a car made in the USA indicating its cubic inch displacement thereby keeping this post on topic...

Edited by DagoRed (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I write I'm watching My Classic car. Another featured interview with Jay Leno. One of Jays cars this time is the 7.0L Galaxie ! How ironic uncle Buck!:rolleyes: BTW, both Jay and Dennis introduced the car as the 7.0L and not a 428. I really like that model Ford! it's just 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix all over again. Stacked headlamps, coke bottle slab sides and that concave rear back glass. Ageless styling!

Don

Edited by helfen (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest billybird
In the sixties, the Beach Boys harmonized about the '409' and Ronnie and the Daytona's were excited about the '389', then Paul Revere and the Raiders sang about their '396'.

In the intervening 40 some years, nobody has ever sung a song about their 6.6L or 7.5L or for that fact, pick any number and insert here: n.nL - to this day, no song has surfaced that waxes nostolgic over their something or another Litre car...

Just sayin' :rolleyes:

Uncle Buck: Some of that could be we don't have much real music anymore in my opinion. But thats a whole nuther disscussion!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave & Dave you guys are great! After the Volvo link I found that Buick 59 song the Medallions did. Until today I never heard them before.

Don

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also listened to "Buick 59" by ther Medalions - I've been in the music industry since the early 1950s - never heard that tune before that I can recall. After listening, I understand why! It was not the Medalions' best effort - kind of a stinker, and every eight bars (I think) one bar would have 2 extra beats - musically incorrect, especially for '50s rock or Doo-Wop (one of my specialties).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also listened to "Buick 59" by ther Medalions - I've been in the music industry since the early 1950s - never heard that tune before that I can recall. After listening, I understand why! It was not the Medalions' best effort - kind of a stinker, and every eight bars (I think) one bar would have 2 extra beats - musically incorrect, especially for '50s rock or Doo-Wop (one of my specialties).

"Buick 59" was probably the second overt rock song about specific cars after "Rocket 88". It's one of a very select group of recordings that charted twice more than a year apart, making the Billboard charts in 1955 when it was first recorded & released, and again in 1959 when it was re-released.

"'59 Volvo" was a much less successful followup by Vernon Green (the writer, "The Medallions" was his ever-changing vocal group) actually written and released in 1959. By then car songs were coming out every week and he needed to find a unique subject.

Edited by Dave@Moon (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest rideswithchuck

"Umm, this post IS about the metric system, not horsepower and torque. Yes it is nice to see cubic inches instead of liters. Gives them a more American feel and link to the past."

IMHO We've become anchored to the past in the good Ol'USA. We are in desperate need of a link to the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest 75RivGS

The dealer who imported my '75 Riviera (in 1975) here in The Netherlands added this dealer emblem; 455 for Europeans could mean 4.55 litre (liter) so to avoid any mistake:

dsc06010r.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(BTW, there are dozens of Volvo songs in Swedish. Just click on the links on the YouTube page linked here. :) )

Of course there are lots of songs about Volvos in Sweden. Drugs are legal there, which explains a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...