re: Driving 100 mph in Older Cars

I did hit 100 in an early 70's Dodge Coronet on I-45 between Dallas and Houston, while getting road head

Had a 79 z28 Camaro. Thought it was going to vibrate apart when I got it over 100 . Drove a 77 corvette up to 115 and it was smooth. So much difference between those two cars

This big car has a lot of weight and will cruise nicely at 100. Of course, it has great tires and I keep the front end well maintained. It floats over rough roads, but in a good way. I also only kick it up on straight roads. Many years ago, I had a run flat at 80 and had no issue bringing it down.

All our ice in NW Louisiana has reminded me about how shitty some people drive.

I drove a '63 Chevy Corvair Monza at 100 mph. It floated a bit, which I was prepared for. I backed off it pretty quickly. It was a pretty cool car, being real engined, and air cooled, but the handling was a bit dicey.

I drove a '75 Chevy Monza (v8) at 100mph numerous times. It was far more solid and handled much better. However, at 100+ (it would do over 125) you had to keep a firm grip on it because a sneeze could change lanes. Coming back from FL once on I-75, I covered over 100 miles in an hour and it was pretty intense.

I drove a '99 V70 (5cyl) at 100-110mph for an hour on some deserted Wyoming roads, and it was smooth as silk. It felt like most cars at 60mph. Just a great cruising car.

I had a 1972 Hurst Oldsmobile in 1981 (Cutlass chasis with a 442 engine). It would do an 1/8 mile in just under 7 seconds, about 70 MPH in just under 7 seconds from a dead stop. It was pretty damn quick but wasn't the quickest car from the factory at the time...not by a long shot. It would do about 130 and it was pretty comfortable around 100-110 for short distances if the road was straight and well conditioned. I had a cousin who had a 72 hemi cuda (426) that would do an 1/8 of a mile in just over 6 seconds. It was quick but it wasn't the quickest car in its era. It would also top out around 130 but it felt safer at that speed than my olds. My uncle had a 1966 mustang with a 289 that he and my grandfather built, it was no where near a factory 289, and it would do an 1/8 of a mile in about the same amount of time as my olds. It would top out around 130 also but it was squirrely at 100. Too light and the wheel base was too short. Had a friend whose daddy had a 426 hemi Dart that he claimed was a factory original but I don't think Dodge ever put a 426 hemi in a dart...they certainly put the smaller hemi in darts but this one was a 426...there wasn't a thing on that 1/8 mile track in Paulding County, Georgia that would keep up with that thing if the driver could keep it straight....I have seen it lose to motorcycles on that track by 100ths of a second....it was like a jet on an aircraft carrier. I doubt it'd do 100 mph for any period of time without Mario Andretti driving it...it was damn near impossible to keep it straight on an 1/8 mile strip. Rail buggies with tuned VW engines could keep up with it. They cheated though because they would only have the back tires on the ground for about 90% of that 1/8 mile. The fastest car on that track was a 4 cylinder twin OH cam twin turbo Ford Pinto Station Wagon LOL. It was street legal in the loosest definition of the word.....it was basically a rail dragster with a the very least amount of sheet metal that would make it resemble a Pinto wagon. It would FLY. I think it would consistently turn mid 5s on that 1/8 mile strip. I don't remember anything ever beating it without operator error involved. My oldsmobile was straight from the factory and had about 130K on it when I had it...that was a LOT of miles for a 1972 GM product.

quote:

---

I drove a '99 V70 (5cyl) at 100-110mph for an hour on some deserted Wyoming roads, and it was smooth as silk. It felt like most cars at 60mph. Just a great cruising car.

---

I drove a 1998 Chrysler Lebaron convertible from Camp Creek Parkway and I285 to the exit for Auburn's Montgomery campus once in about an hour and 20 minutes. About 140 miles, about 105 MPH average. Id have made it faster but the transmission burnt up about 10 miles from that exit and I coasted most of the last 10 miles....Avis was very unhappy with me.....

Not even that old, I hit 100 in a 2002 SS Camaro and backed out of it. Didn’t feel like I was in control at that point. Feel better at those speeds in my ‘21 F150.