[VintageMusclecar]

The power figures are legit. The wink was a nod to the efficiency of the package, that's all. When the vehicle itself is scienced out to the "nth" it doesn't take that much power to run quickly.

I have a friend with a Fox body Mustang that used to be a magazine project car. At the starting line it weighs right around 3000 lbs. The engine is a ridiculously mild carbureted 302, and at the time it was backed up with a prepped OEM 5 speed and a Ford Motorsports Dana rear with a 4.5X gear. On 26X9 tires it ran 11.80's at 110-ish. On a chassis dyno it barely cracked 300 HP. (It now runs a prepped C4 and is a tad slower due to other issues)

Remember, stock eliminator cars literally leave nothing to chance, every inch of the car is scienced out to provide the most efficient use of power possible. If you took that engine & trans out and put it into a similar weight streeter it would probably be at least 2 seconds slower just because the car doesn't work as well.

FWIW, another well-known racer I know once ran a 283 in Super Stock trim--i.e. fully ported/welded heads, roller cam, any intake (but OEM carb), every trick in the book internally, etc. and it made ~480.