Idle thoughts/ What is a Supercar??

[COPO PETE]

Casey; Never seen one but in the Dec/Jan 98 issue of MCR, the one with my three cars on the cover, Tom did an interview with Jim Mattison. He talks briefly on this subject. I'd like to see you Dodge boys outrun that unit.
Peter

[DarrylD]

Idle thoughts? Thats not Supercar talk. It should be W.O.T. thoughts!

[bowtie3168]

NWYENKO,
Great Question. I have always wondered about the same question. I think that the most of the group here is primarily interested in Chevrolet COPO and dealer prepared cars from 1967-1972. There are members that have different interests in the group, like Yenko Corvairs, Motion Vettes, and cars like the Yenko Turbo Z, Yenko Vegas and the later Motion cars (I by the way like them ALL!). I have always wondered if people are interested when I bring up topics on Z-11 Impalas, special order Z-28s, L-79 cars (Chevelles and Novas) and really ground breaking cars like the '65 Chevelle SS Z-16. Bill Jenkins' '66 L-79 Nova (a non-SS car by the way) was a really intersting car, that was probably special ordered through Ammon R. Smith Auto Car Company (Chevrolet) York,Pa.. Why wouldn't that car be considered a Supercar when a '69 COPO Camaro would? The HP to weight ratio on the L-79 cars were comparable to the L-72 cars. My definition of a Supercar is a Chevrolet that was avail from the factory or dealer for special ultra high performance use avail in limited quantity.

[NWYENKO]

Great analysis!! I like it!

[Belair62]

Bowtie....feel free to bring up all that stuff....One day I hope to have me one of them thar Z-11 Impalas....and a Z-16 Chevelle.Never had an interest in "normal" hi-po cars.I like the oddball rare stuff.I doubt I am alone on that.Wouldn't you love to go down to your connected dealer and pick up an altered wheelbase car ? Damn.The modern horsepower wars just aren't the same without a little aluminum and a hole saw ! I talked to the original owners wife if my SD Pontiac...she recalled her husband being very P.O.'d when he found out she took the thing down to the store ! She recalled walking into Allens Pontiac in Covington Indiana (a town of about 2500 people) and ordering up the only Kimberley Blue SD car built.They took delivery AFTER the official GM racing ban...Sorry for the long post..I must be bored ! By the way Pete when I was in high school acouple towns over in Skokie Illinois they had 2 "chase" cars, a 69 427 Bel Air and a 69 Hemi Polara or Fury. I had a ride in the MoPar once !

[Edited by Belair62 (05-15-2001 at 10:17 PM).]

[JoeC]

The term "Supercar" was being used in the mid 60's. I do not know when the magazine "SPEED AND SUPERCAR" formerly SPEED and CUSTOM published its first issue but I have one from Dec. 1966. It has an editorial by Dean Parker called "the Supercar Scene." I think "Supercar" was derived from the TV show Superman. Many of the 1961 to 1964 factory Hot Rods like the 409, 426 Wedge and Hemi, 421 Pontiac, and 427 Fords were bought as plain looking low cost bodies with the biggest available engine. They looked like Clark Kent but when you stuck your foot in them Superman came out of the phone booth. They were hard core Supercars that were made stripped for racing. 1964 was a turning point between the Supercar and the Muscle car. The 64 GTO and the musclecars that followed were a different concept. It was still a supercar but it was also designed to be a cool drivers car for the youth market not just for the racer. Then around 1968 the factories discovered that winning races was selling cars so the hard-core Supercar was back in the form of wild cars like 427 COPOs, L88s, Hemi Darts @ Cudas, ZL-1 Camaros, Cross Ram JL8 Z/28s, 428CJ, Boss 302 @ 429s, Hurst 442 Olds, GNX, Superbirds, AMX, etc.. Everyone has their own opinion but to me a Supercar is a stripped down high horsepower car built to race by a factory or a dealer even if it lost its Clark Kent disguise with stripes and scoops it still had to have the heart of Superman. Faster then a speeding bullet, able to leap........

[Belair62]

Agree,well said.I like 'em all.Timing was exactly right for the Muscle car.Young guys didn't want to jump into a big barge anymore no matter how fast they got.Pony/Muscle/Supercars were faster and cooler looking. Something special about a giant behemoth of a car coming away from a light sideways ripping thru the gears with all 8 barrels open!Real drivers ed. class !

[NC Guy]

Howdy all,
I'am a newbie on this sight and am trying to follow the definition of a Supercar. You all have posted informative replys that have been helpful.
My question is:
Will the Dale Earnhardt Intimidator SS be considered a 'Supercar'? The folks at D E Chevrolet recently informed me that I should receive mine sometime next week.
Thanks for any answers/replys.

I TOO OWN A EARNHARDT INTIMIDATOR SS CAMARO. I CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THESE ARE A SUPERCAR. THE ONE THAT WAS ON THE HOTROD POWER TOUR DYNOED 398 HP AT THE REAR WHEELS! THESE ARE TRULY A MODERN DAY MUSCLECAR/SUPERCAR. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WILL LOVE THE CHAMBERED EXHAUST!!!

[Charley Lillard]

I can't believe that car Put out that much HP. They are Rated 381 hp at the flywheel. Maybe he had Nitrous hidden somewhere ? The same company that builds it and the Berger SS is gonna do a ZL1 Camaro with a Vette ZO6 engine. Oh Boy....