Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best Muscle Cars of 1969

My dad was a drag racer in the 1960's. I lived and breathed this stuff for the first 20 yrs of my life.
He was Chevy guy, so naturally I was also. I had a 1969 El Camino SS 396 in high school. Unfortunately on the trip home from purchasing it, it spun all the bearings.
Worked two summers trying to earn enough money to get it on the road. When I did I had to sell it to get enough money to live.
Fast forward a couple of years I worked in a hi performance 4X4 shop, as my interest was in jeeps at the time.
Well the shop built built some really high performance motors. We built a 440 for a 1970 Challenger, complete with the pistol grip Hearst shifter for the 4 speed.
I was a 18 yr old kid and my boss said take the Challenger to the parts store.... wow, really ? oh yeah, it was a beast, you had better be pointed forward before hitting the throttle, otherwise you would lose control.... rethought my Chevy bias at that point....

Wife and I had a lot of fun taking this to shows and Sunday drives. Sold it a few years ago. Had another when we got married but needed to send it down the road. Good memories.

I bought a 1967 Ford Fairlane 390 GT. It was rated a 335 HP. Weight 3400 pounds. Close ratio 3 speed with 4:11 rear end.
Only thing that gave it any problems was mopars with 440 engines. Hasbeen

Great car. Did you have this 302 or the 350? I had a 68 SS 350.

I love the 429 Boss but was real surprised that a A 340 Dart or Cuda wasn’t on the list.

Yep. 400hp is easy in a smaller engine where 50 years ago you had to work to make 400hp in a big engine.

These newer engines with fuel injection and different valve train setups make serious power and very easy to make that power.

Seems like the vid was looking at the cars with the biggest baddest motors along with what they bring at a high end auction these days. A shame they wasted several slots comparing so many cars that were basically the same. The Dodges & Plymouths were all alike, different fenders, badges, etc. Show a 440-6 pac & a hemi in one & be gone. The same with two 1969 Camaro's.

Buick, Pontiac, Olds, & AMC should have gotten mentioned. Not sure about the 69's, but a 70 Buick Gran Sport 455 Stage I is considered to be near the peak for muscle in the day. The 401 AMC AMX wernt no slouch either.

Oh well, interesting times for sure. Glad I got to experience a part of it. And.... damn lucky to have survived it. 500 horse power dropped into cars with schit tires & brakes. The handling of a marsh mellow on ice.

No kidding. I had a AMC 390 AMX motor in a 1978 Jeep CJ-5 , talk about squirrely

Thanks! It was the DZ302, matching no's drive train. 60's and 70's were great times to own a muscle car.

Yeah they were!

It was originally a 396 car. Yes, He bought the engine from the dealer and made the Camaro into a Saturday night special, complete with wheelie bars. At the strip, it would pull the front wheels 2’ off the ground when it hooked up. Had a 5500 rpm stall converter in it. It was a wild ride. He got it in the high 10’s when he put a Holly Dominator on it. No that’s not exactly factory.

Main point was there was a ZL1 Camaro (Aluminum version of the L88) in that video lineup around #6 and an aluminum headed 396 as #2. There’s just no way that’s true.

Pic of the vette.

Thanks for the info. I drag race now and it is amazing what we can get out of the cars with current technology and the constant erosion of the rules from the NHRA. Stock Eliminator isn't anywhere close to Stock. The valve spring rule was the beginning of the massive changes.

I’ve been out of that since the 90s. My uncle campaigned a 69 Camaro back in the 70’s in Super Stock class. You couldn’t have a spool in the diff so we shimmed the limited slip clutch packs so tight that it effectively made it a solid diff. Might have shimmed the sheet out of the factory valve springs too and kept them just short of coil bind to get as much load as possible out of them. In the 90’s, guys were using acid to port their iron heads so they didn’t look like they were ported.

Mine was a bit unique in that it had the chrome Camaro type hood louvers instead of the black Nova version. Folks in town could spot me pretty easy as a result.

I had a few fast cars in those days- a 68 GTO 400 hp High performance 400, a 64 Chevelle, a 63 Impala SS, and a couple others that were home builts, including my V8 Vega... my buddies also had some very fast cars including my buddy who had a 69 GT500 Shelby Cobra, sold that and got a Cuda 340 six pack, and several other dream cars.

They were all beasts for the time but the funny thing is there are lots of cars being built right now that would humiliate any of those cars in the quarter mile or on a road race course.... and you don't even have to tinker with them- just go down and pay your money and play boy racer... great times we're living in...

I have had a 1971 Mustang Mach 1 with a built 351 Cleveland and a 4 speed, A 1968 Chevelle with a 350, a 1973 442 with a Rocket 350, 1976 Trans Am with the 400, a 1978 Z28 Camaro with a built 350 and a 1981 Turbo Trans Am. Lots of neat cars, none of mine were particularly nice, but that Mach 1 and the 68 Chevelle will always be my favorites. The 81 Turbo T/A was kind of fun to run around town in. Pedal to the floor from 28 mph or less would burn rubber and kick out sideways. Couldnt beat a bicycle of the line though.

Today, we have snowmobiles as hot rods and a 2020 Dodge Challenger 392 Scat Pack in the color Sinamon Stick, with a shaker hood. Its a looker, and pretty damn fast too. With an 8 speed automatic, it is always in the power band. Once the torque starts pulling, it doesnt let up.

I wonder how much tires played in those 1/4 times. Our 21 Mustang GT is 465 HP and should do mid 12's in 1/4. My 77 vette with a 383 should be close to the same HP as our Mustang should still be in the 12's, at least it was a tad faster than the mustang when we raced to 100 someplace in mexico. But newer radials hook up a lot better than the old bias plys.

Will a 70 do?