[T Billigen]

I was lucky enough to be in the middle of the muscle car era! I started racing in 1962, in the area that I grew up in (Aliquippa, Pa.) Everyone owned a muscle car, when the GTOs came out in the fall of 63 there was about 10 guys that bought them. Starting in 65 there was every kind of muscle car you could think of running around! Everyone there worked in the steel mills and could afford the hottest cars that were for sale. I bought a 1965 442 which ran very well, the only thing that could beat me was a few Chevies. The chevies were by far the fastest street cars with Olds and Pontiac a close second. The mopars did not run very well especially the street hemi, hard to keep tuned and not very good bottom end. They became much faster with the 440 and could keep up with the chevies. Fords were probably the slowest of the big three, even when they came out with the Boss 429. No bottom end what so ever, deffinately not a 1/4 mile car. I hope I did not step on any toes. (ford and mopar) but that was the way it was in my area.