1968 Match Race ~ Barracuda 340-S vs. Camaro SS 350

I'm a little surprised by the results. I guess it shows the worth of the extra gear in the tranny and the torque superiority in conjunction with the transmission advantage of the Barracuda. It seems to me that to make a 2-speed work in the ¼ mile you build for either the start or the finish of the race. The engine has to have a wide powerband. If not the jump from 1st to 2nd to allow the engine to recover rpm.

When we switched from the Ford FE to the SBC, we lost a bunch of weight and torque. Our experience with the SBC back in the day was the lower end was the weak link. When Chevy came out with the 350, they fixed the problem by giving the engine larger main bearings than its predecessors. IIRC the 68 through 70 327s had the large bearings as did all of the 307s. By the time we switched for the '73 season, the large journal sbc was available in quantity in salvage yards.

As a scrapyard scrounger, I'd definitely take the 'Cuda over the Camaro. The 67-69 F-body (Camaro and Firebird) used the same front sub-frame as the X-body(rear drive) (Nova, Phoenix/Ventura, Omega, Apollo/Skylark). I saw too many of these cars with the front ends ripped off in collisions to have a great deal of confidence in them.