The Madness From Detroit

"What were they thinking? Those manufacturers in Detroit are mad!" Without delving into a bunch of research pertaining to mid 60's high performance automobiles and racing in general, it wouldn't surprise me in the least that some government, consumer or safety group uttered those statements. I hopped on this train of thought a few days ago when I had a chance to review my coffee-table book on muscle car advertising before it heads off to the publisher. Usually I don't get a chance to touch on the subject of classic 1960's automotive advertising, but it is a crucial cog in hot rodding history. If it weren't for the madness coming out of Detroit and then blatantly throttled by Madison Avenue, it a reasonable assumption that many of the high performance models we hold near and dear to our gear-head hearts wouldn't exist.

Long before the Internet existed, the manufacturers from Detroit used television, billboards, and print media as the staples of their advertising - and magazine ads were their own entity. The 1950's were very sedate when compared to the swinging 60's. Muscle car advertising in general, until almost the mid 60's, was almost all black and white. 1964 was a major turning point in muscle car advertising due to the release of the Pontiac GTO as well as big block engines like the Chrysler Hemi. Before it was acceptable to promote power, speed, and everything else that goes along with it, advertisements for the GTO and the Hemi were already in performance buff magazines. In later years, concepts of sex, being a "winner", being the envy of everyone else, and who knows how many others, were played with and used with numerous muscle car advertising campaigns. In many cases, it was a statement of, "If you owned one of these, you'll get a whole lot of that".

Advertising wasn't the only madness coming out of Detroit by 1964. We've mentioned this before - when it came to drag racing, the NHRA, and the AHRA, nothing escalated or changed more radically and quickly then A/FX class racing.  Lasting only four racing seasons, from 1962 through 1965, cars went from being basically stock with big engines, slicks and ET's in the low 12's, to running massively altered wheelbases, nitro, injectors, with quarter mile times in mid 9's.
So, what exactly was Factory Experimental? The NHRA rulebook for 1965 stated that FX class cars were reserved for 1965 model year cars only. These vehicles could use factory optional equipment which didn't have to be necessarily be factory assembly line installed. In laymen terms,

Factory Experimental was just a showcase for Detroit to sell built high performance cars with non-production modifications and parts. The "A" classification (one of three in FX), was in regards to the vehicles weight divided by the total cubic inch displacement of the engine. In A/FX, that meant 7.50 to 8.99 pounds - the lightest weight possible. While the NHRA also had some fine print to keep these race cars as stock as possible, Chrysler was the first manufacturer to throw the rule book out the window starting in early 1965. This was largely in reaction to Ford stuffing a 427 cubic inch motor in a lightweight Mustang - which turned out to be even quicker than the Fairlane Thunderbolts. By moving the both axles forward - the front 10 inches and the rear a whopping 15 inches - Dodge & Plymouth A/FX cars now had a scant 44% of the vehicles total weight over the front - and that included the heft of the 426 Hemi motor. With better vehicle weight transfer and a rear over-hang the size of a football field, any advantage Ford had with their Mustang

vanished in a heartbeat. The NHRA promptly banned the altered wheelbase Mopars, but the AHRA welcomed them with open arms. Ford, Mercury, as well as independent racers representing GM, had no choice but to follow suit and build A/FX cars using the Chrysler blueprint. It wasn't just a quest for winning, faster times, and more horsepower. By the end of the 1965 racing season, stock car and FX class racing were the most popular with the fans.
If A/FX and Altered wheelbase drag cars weren't enough, adding insult to injury were wheel-standers like the Hurst "Hemi Under Glass" Barracuda and Bill Maverick's "Little Red Wagon" Dodge A-100 pickup truck.

Not to be left out of the madness picture was the after-market. While not based out of Detroit - most were based either in California or Florida - there was no shortage of, in some cases, pure insanity. Case in point; the legendary Turbonique Company and their Drag Axle that was highlighted and tested an a ultra-rare 1965 Z-16 Chevelle SS... one of only 201 built. Hey - either go big or go home. If you're not familiar with, at minimum, the product, you should. What the Drag Axle was, in a nutshell, was a small 850 horsepower rocket engine that attached to any rear differential of any vehicle. The rocket created thrust that spun a turbine, that was attached to planetary gears, which were attached to the rear axles. The final gear ratio in the differential determined the final turbine speed... which was usually in the tens of thousands of rpm's. Easier than nitrous to operate, just hit a separate power button for the rocket while the vehicle was running, and hang on for dear life. Advertisements for the Turbonique  Drag Axle (which ran for years in automotive performance buff magazines for years) claimed mid to high 10 second quarter mile times on pretty much an ordinary car. Far out, man. (Photo courtesy of Hot Rod).

Does this madness from the automotive manufacturers continue today? Yup - Ford has teamed up with Google and their anti-car autonomous vehicle program. Hybrid and electric cars are iffy enough. Save from Tesla, no other manufacturer to date has produced one that is worthy of high performance. It's been all bread and butter. So blah. So boring. So why is Ford's decision to hook up with Google madness? Ford says "... they strive to make driving fun." You do the math.

Until next time, peace out.
Dave