Lots of 'sports cars' from the early/mid 80's are complete slugs compared to 'slow' econoboxes of today. The EPA restrictions enacted from the 70's gas shortages were applied but the manufacturers didn't know how to do it and keep HP.
[TROLL MODE] You mean those copies of Shelby Daytonas powered by Ford station wagon engines? Still just a production version of the 288 GTO Evoluzione...and butt ugly. Did you not see the pic at the top of page 2? The hell with the headlights, that thing is gorgeous. ........... Why we wastin' time talkin' 'bout Ferraris anyways? Everyone knows the GT40 is the absolute pinnacle of the supercar genre then, now and forever! How hard did Ford not have to try? They put a station wagon engine in that, too! [/TROLL MODE]
The restrictions came before the gas crises, due to smog in many cities. Denver had a brown cloud and LA was famous for lack of visibility
That's 1 of 1 production versions, isn't it? Or am I getting the prancing unicorns mixed up? I was thinking all but one F40 was red.
Either way, the early 80's were a vacuum of real performance. Especially when talking about US brands. (ie - GM and Ford... not sure what Chrysler had that would be considered sporty lol) Shoot I remember my Mom's Mustang II .. looking at the specs its a 302 with 129hp/250tq. Gimme a break
The Chrysler K-car was a hot seller because Lee Iacuckoo took a page from the Blew Oval and financed everyone on a car they stamped out as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Remember what the economy was like in the mid-80’s.
IMHO the comments about the F40's looks are misaligned. Its a great looking car and is truly a race car with a few street concessions added. They are bonkers. I have a buddy with one who mods his continually and used to thrash it at high speed rallies in Nevada.
Just for grins and shit I keep a tab open looking for sub-$1k shitboxes. Today saw a 1980 Chevette come across for $500. If it was a runner, I’d take $500 to own. Non-runner, make it $1K.
No question the 308 is better looking than a Camry, Capitain Obvious. It's the Magnum P.I. mobile lol
Just reminded me to go watch Senna drive the NSX in his loafers again. Absolutely love watching his footwork
I remember being in the back seat of one of those, parking brake locked on and the driver dragging it around the parking lot smoking the fronts RWD!
I had a friend who built up a cheap Shelby Omni GLHS...he built a larger Mistsu motor and a BIG honking Turbo , LSD etc.. He just decimated Corvettes and Porsches @ so many autocross events and on the streets I think he was pushing an honest 370 horsepower to the wheels with that thing..God was that thing fun...he even did that street race in Mexico, the Panamera? He also had a Chevy LUV pickup (tubbed ,flared & lowered) with a injected 350 small block...It's was 30 yrs before HOONIGAN.. That thing was terrifying to ride in...If I recall ..it did a 10:65 1/4 mile in 1990
My buddy had one... it was a riot on the street... only thing faster was the 86/87 GNs & T-types. The muted turbo intake sound and those lil 15s just billowing smoke out of the front wheels. Of course I was riding a GPz turbo so I scoffed at all those "fast" 15 sec 1/4 mile cages. These days my stock 1/2 ton 4 dr pickup does 13s in the 1/4 on a soft 1.9 short time