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Now this little one would fun to have the lights with an odd BMW etc

Author Topic: Now this little one would fun to have the lights with an odd BMW etc  (Read 12924 times)

Offline Bruce

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Elephants on parade:
Street Hemis featured at Hemmings Concours d’Elegance



Quote
It was one of the most feared engines to come out of Detroit, a legend in its own time, and has served as the basis for more drag strip records and bouts of auction fever than perhaps any other V-8. The Street Hemi proved that sometimes size does matter, and this weekend the seventh annual Hemmings Concours d’Elegance will feature cars powered by the storied elephant engine.

Chrysler Corporation’s foray into the realm of performance engines dates back to 1951 when the company released the 331.1-cu.in. V-8, which also happened to be the first V-8 developed by their engineers. It was unique right from the start, employing hemispherical combustion chambers, free-flowing intake and exhaust ports, and sizable corresponding valves linked to dual rocker arm shafts atop each cylinder head. Called the “Fire Power V-8,” they were impressively powerful in both production vehicles and, in the mid-Fifties, between the wheel wells of specially-prepared Chryslers competing in NASCAR races across the country. Unfortunately, they were also complex and expensive to manufacture, leading Chrysler engineers to release the polyspherical “semi-hemis” later in the decade. By 1959, the first generation of Hemi engines had vanished from dealer literature, but not for long.

Intense competition in NHRA and NASCAR races, which in turn spurred showroom sales, prompted the parent company to reexamine the Hemi in the early Sixties. Born into this ring of high-horsepower fire was the “Max Wedge” 426-cu.in. Hemi, complete with a cross-ram intake and dual four-barrel carburetors. This boded well for quarter-mile conquistadors; however, NASCAR rules adopted in the late Fifties prevented multiple carburetors, supercharging and fuel injection. In short, the Max Wedge with a single four-barrel was no match against Pontiac’s circle track dominance.

Mother Mopar’s solution was a freshly designed intake manifold and corresponding deep-breathing hemispherical cylinder heads. The new Hemi made its debut at the 1964 running of the Daytona 500. Richard Petty dominated the event in his Plymouth, while his Mopar brethren claimed second, third and fifth places. During the NASCAR season, the Hemi would claim 26 Grand National (now Spring Sprint Cup) victories. The only catch was that NASCAR claimed the engine was not “stock,” meaning available to the general public, so the Hemi – and Ford’s SOHC 427 – were banned from 1965 NASCAR races until an agreement was eventually reached between Chrysler and NASCAR late in the season (Richard Petty and the Hemi engine did compete late in the 1965 NASCAR season). Part of that agreement was making the engine available in street-legal production vehicles beginning with the 1966 model year.
More...http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/09/25/elephants-on-parade-street-hemis-featured-at-hemmings-concours-delegance/?refer=news
"I refuse to be what you call normal." Lemmy Caution

Offline Glen73

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Re: Now this little one would fun to have the lights with an odd BMW etc
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2013, 06:48:06 PM »
even more fun when you see who can corner faster  8)

Offline Bruce

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Re: Now this little one would fun to have the lights with an odd BMW etc
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2013, 10:54:21 AM »
even more fun when you see who can corner faster  8)

now your just being picky!  ;)
"I refuse to be what you call normal." Lemmy Caution

Offline Glen73

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Re: Now this little one would fun to have the lights with an odd BMW etc
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2013, 11:41:48 AM »
even more fun when you see who can corner faster  8)

now your just being picky!  ;)

If I was being picky I would have brought the subject of brakes into the debate.

Offline Bruce

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Re: Now this little one would fun to have the lights with an odd BMW etc
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2013, 12:25:51 PM »
even more fun when you see who can corner faster  8)

now your just being picky!  ;)
ahh, the enemy of speed  :o
"I refuse to be what you call normal." Lemmy Caution

Offline Bruce

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Re: Now this little one would fun to have the lights with an odd BMW etc
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2013, 01:03:58 PM »
And while we are on the subject of great cars  ::)


Quote
1961 De Soto Hardtop Coupe. Photos by Owen Fitter, courtesy of RM Auctions.

Chris Binder of Spencer, Iowa, had such a love of De Sotos that his last wish was to be carried to the cemetery in the back of his 1958 De Soto ambulance. Understandably, he had amassed a collection of multiple De Sotos – in fact, a collection of at least one example from every model year – and the youngest of those, a 1961 De Soto two-door hardtop, will head to auction next month.

In 1957, De Soto was atop its game as a mid-priced division of Chrysler. Sales had grown from 109,442 units for the 1956 model year to 117,514 for the 1957 model year, spurred on by the success of models like the new Firesweep and the ongoing Firedome and Fireflite. By 1960, however, the end of the division was in sight for anyone paying close attention: Sales of 1958 models plummeted to 49,445, and by the 1960 model year De Soto was selling just over 26,000 cars annually. The 1961 models debuted in October of 1960, and 47 days later Chrysler announced that its De Soto brand would be shuttered at the end of the 1961 model year. That makes the De Soto that Binder bought in November of 1960, chassis number 6113112247, one of just 911 two-doors De Soto built that year.

For its final model year, De Soto did away with model lines and offered just a single trim level, in two- and four-door hardtop configurations. Each was based on the previous year’s Fireflite model, though the styling was similar to the modestly updated 1960 Adventurer models. All 1961 De Sotos came powered by the 361-cu.in. V-8 previously seen in the Fireflite, rated at 265 horsepower and typically mated to a TorqueFlite three-speed automatic transmission (though a manual transmission could be special ordered at a reduced price). Underneath, the De Soto Coupe used an independent front torsion bar suspension, with a live rear axle and leaf springs in the rear. Drum brakes were used in all four corners.

Looky here! http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/09/27/final-model-year-de-soto-hardtop-coupe-to-cross-the-block-in-hershey/?refer=news
"I refuse to be what you call normal." Lemmy Caution

Offline BJSRacer

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Re: Now this little one would fun to have the lights with an odd BMW etc
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2013, 09:37:34 AM »
And while we are on the subject of great cars  ::)

Don't the Japanese catch them for "research" only :D

 

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