Match Race 1972 ~ 'Duster 340 vs 'GTO 400'

I also wonder what some of you guys take is on the tests from back in the day? I know that the drivers experience and conditions played a huge role, but how much stock would you put into how "new" the tested cars were? Meaning were they broken in, loosed up?

After a huge amount of prodding to buy a new 74' Dart Sport 360, a friends Mom settled on a 74' 400" 2dr Malibu Classic. Biggest stone on the planet...lol. He took it to the track when it had just 600 miles on it, and went a blistering 17.70 @ 73mph. About a year and a half later with 14k miles on it, he brought it out again just for grins and it went 17.20's @ 78mph :banghead:. Absolutely nothing was modified other then a dealer tune up. Granted it still couldn't get out of it's own way, but how can you justify that kind of pickup other then the engine just "loosened" up? We were stumped!

One of the reasons it was so slow was that the 400 2bbl was pretty much dead past 4300/4500 rpms. Add to that, while letting the trans shift on it's own, the governor didn't let it shift until at least 5k, and the top of each gear was flat at best.:D