Thursday, December 21, 2006

100% unadulterated horsepower

This is what I quite possibly love most about muscle cars. Don't get me wrong, the styling is some of the best in history in my eyes, but even it is trumped by the power factor, power to the 10th degree. It's that very power that has been responsible for my less than splendor driving record back in the day. I never racked up more than 5 or 6 points before they began dropping off, though as luck would have it, every time my record was completely clean, I'd tack on a couple of tickets. I wasn't always guilty, so at the time I didn't see much reason to try and fight them in court.

Posslibly the most entertaining was the two I got during Woodward's Dream Cruise on two seperate years. The first was simply a $90 fine, labeled on the ticket as "an exhibition of power." I was coming to a complete stop, powerbraking the car, and once the white smoke was pouring off the tires like a 5 alarm fire I'd ease off the brake, feathering the throttle until the hot, sticky tires finally found adhesiveness to the street. I told the girl with me at the time that I wasn't gonna stop doing burnouts until I got pulled over, which was after I did a good half dozen or so. The crowd took up a collection as the officer wrote the ticket, paying for more than half of the fine.

Then next time I wasn't as lucky, as I was tagged with a careless driving, though a court battle got it dropped to an illegal lane change, which greatly reduced the points and prevented my classic car insurance policy from dropping me. During that exhibition of power I had a touch over 500hp on tap, and almost equal amounts of torque. I may have left the scene with a ticket in hand, but it didn't break the smile on my face.

There is just something about trying to control something that is out of control, something that possesses more power than a vehicle could possibly ever need. That same desire drove me to park the car, as it still sits in a rolling state, in order to build something more radical. Now, equipped with a 12 point roll cage, the beast awaits it's engine that will make an estimated 650-700hp on the engine alone. The 250hp nitrous kit will be on tap for when it's needed. Insane? Perhaps, yet it's the desire to push the envelope a little bit further that keeps us gearheads striving for more power.

Here are just a few clips I found on youtube the other day that got my blood pressure pumping, sent goose bumps up my arms, chills up my spine, giggling like a school girl, and cussing like a school boy....fuck yeah baby, that's what I'm talking about! Enjoy.


Got Torque?


You asked for a morning wake up call?


Scotty, give me warp speed!


Special on Donuts!

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