Chevy's option code Z11 ($1245) bought an aluminum front clip and bumper, stripped interior, and a W-motor stroked 0.1 inch to 427 cubic inches and 430 hp. Both Chevy and Ford offered lightweight 427 drag-racing packages for 1963 as well. Unfortunately it's impossible to know how many win-on-Sunday/sell-on-Monday deals Ford reclaimed from Chevy as a result of this impressive track record. Ford won 23 races that season, clinching the title for 1963, and defending it every year through 1969. So too did the overstressed Pontiacs, meaning that by midway through the race, Chevy and Pontiac attrition and strong, consistent Ford performance left the Galaxies leading the pack, sweeping the top five positions. Little is known about bore, stroke, or power output, but on that day in that race, the engine proved fragile and failed to go the distance. The vaunted Mystery Motor shared little with the 409 and its Z11 drag-racing cousin, but rather formed the basis for the Mk II 396 big blocks of 1965 and later. Rated at 410 hp and 476 lb-ft with the single-carb NASCAR setup, the 427 boosted lap speed to 161.3 mph in the same Hot Rod test, and in full Homan & Moody race trim the 427 topped 500 hp.ĭan Gurney won the NASCAR season-opening Motor Trend 500 race at Riverside in just such a Ford, but by the Daytona race Chevy had readied a 427 of its own. Taking full advantage of NASCAR's new 7.0-liter displacement limit, Ford bored the 406 out 0.1 inch and strengthened the engine considerably with impact-extruded pistons, stronger connecting rods and cross-bolted main-bearing caps, improved cylinder heads with bigger valves, etc. But that roofline wasn't the only trick Ford had up its sleeve. Drag was reportedly lowered by 28 percent. Available only on top Galaxie 500 and 500 XL models, the new roofline lowered the top by 2 inches and elevated the car's lap speed at Daytona from 155 to 159 mph, according to tests conducted by Hot Rod magazine in February 1963 in a 406-powered prototype. The fix: a crash program to design the Galaxie Sports Hardtop (aka slantback, fastback, or scatback in the day), which made its production debut in mid-March as a 1963 model. NASCAR OK'd it for that race, Ford won, and NASCAR instantly kiboshed the cheater top. At the Atlanta 500 in 1962, Ford and the Holman & Moody team showed up with a "Starlift" removable hardtop shaped like the aero-sleek '61 Starliner coupe that bolted onto the convertible and was allegedly available over the counter, though the stock convertible windows didn't fit the top's openings. These mighty 409s became the engines to beat in the Super Stock class on NASCAR circuits and NHRA dragstrips.įord's power may have been competitive, but a 1962 restyle dropped the slick, curved Starliner roofline for a formal Thunderbird-style notchback that cost the Blue Oval dearly in aerodynamic drag on the big tracks like Daytona. Many musclecar enthusiasts point to the 1961 Impala SS409 (only 142 built) as the first true musclecar, but the one that got the Beach Boys singing was the solid-lifter dual-quad 11:1 compression variant that arrived for 1962. On December 17, 1960, Chevy announced a new Impala SS package for 1961 that would be available with a bored and stroked version of the big-block displacing 409 cubic inches and producing 360 hp. GM President Harlow Curtis suggested the ban in hopes of averting government regulation of motorsport, but while Ford adhered to the spirit of the ban, dutifully selling its entire inventory of racing parts to race shop Holman & Moody, the Chevy folks winked at the letter of it, and continued to engineer new racing hardware for sale over the counter at dealerships. The Bow Tie brand's racing success stemmed primarily from its interpretation of the voluntary ban on factory racing support the Auto Manufacturer's Association had agreed to in June 1957. In truth, Chevy's domesticated truck motor wasn't that great a competition engine.
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