Innehållsförteckning för April 1962 från Hot Rod

That’s what Max Muhleman, of the Charlotte News, told us. It was just after his first test-run in a new 1962 Dodge Dart 440. “The car doesn’t have any trouble cornering or correcting.” “You don’t get the mushiness you feel in most passenger cars,” observed Rodger Ward, of Indy fame, who with Max was among a group of several auto experts we invited to Detroit to try out our new Dart model. “When you go into a turn hard,” Rodger added, “she’s with you all the way. I ran it flat out and that Dart 440 really storms. It’s real stable on the high speed stuff.” NASCAR favorite Buck Baker was equally enthusiastic. “I drove it with two fingers on the wheel and with the other arm in the door,”…

“Frankly, gentlemen, we didn’t believe Bardahi could make that difference!” Those were the opening words of the famous York research engineers when they finished testing the country’s best-known motor oil additive. For 180 days engineers put bardahl to the most exacting laboratory test. On a delicate jewelers lathe, the researchers mounted two finely honed engine valves facing each other. By rotating one valve and pressing the two metal surfaces together, they simulated a friction condition that occurs thousands of times each minute in today’s automobile engine. Day after day, hour after hour, tiny drops of oil—premium grade oil, low grade oil, contaminated oil, and oil samples with bardahl added—were placed between the two rubbing valves. Thousands of test runs were recorded. The valves were cleaned and recleaned. The instruments checked…

Drag racing is many things to many people, but to everyone who is interested in this fascinating sport there is a thrilling feeling when a strong machine specially built for all-out effort makes a sizzling run. At any meet it is naturally the fastest machines that attract the most attention. This is probably due to the basic idea of drag racing; that is, the one who covers the distance in the least amount of time is the winner. This, of course, focuses attention on the dragsters. In the past, many innovations and variations have been attempted, with a sort of “survival of the fittest” showing up in safe, fast machines. Yet there are people who feel that it is more fun to go fast in something that isn’t expected to…

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Bigger, stronger and harder to catch than ever! That’s the ’62 Pontiac Catalina with factory optional 405 hp super-duty engine. This super-duty V8 is a stroker version of the standard 389-inch V8 and has 14-inch more stroke plus .031-inch more bore for 421 cubic inches. Actually, this is the engine that was made optional just in time for last summer’s NHRA Nationals where it copped Optional Super Stock honors. The big difference though is that last year you had to have all the special engine goodies dealer installed whereas for ’62, they’ve made the 421 a factory assembly line item — at a price of course. Actually, there are two super-duty engines available off the assembly line this year. One is still 389 cubic inches and is rated at 395…

During the 1961 model year, Ford Motor Company sold approximately 7000 automobiles equipped with 390-inch high performance V8 engines. These engines were rated at 375 horsepower, or when equipped with optional dealer-installed triple carburetion, 401 horsepower. In the hands of drag enthusiasts throughout the country, they performed quite well in the super stock classes and etched some record speeds and elapsed times on a wide assortment of loving cups. Another group of speed enthusiasts did quite well with the high performance Fords too, as mechanics and drivers chose them to compete in stock car races on both asphalt and dirt tracks throughout the country. A large amount of publicity resulted from wins at such famous tracks as Darlington and Milwaukee but whether on the 1/4-mile drag strips, Darlington, Milwaukee or…

Two of the hottest performing V8 engines in this country in recent years have been the 283-inch Chevrolet and the 389-inch Pontiac. For 1962, these engines should be even more popular than ever because a displacement increase has been made and cubic inches are a sure method of increasing horsepower. The 283 Chevy V8 has a bore of 3 7/8 inches and a 3-inch stroke. An extra 1/8-inch bore and an extra 1/4-inch stroke gives an engine with 327 cubic inches displacement and a bore/stroke ratio of 4 inches 3 1/4 inches. The 389 Pontiac V8 (bore 4.062, stroke 3.750) was enlarged to 421 cubic inches by opening the bore another. 031 (1/32) and adding 1/4,-inch to the stroke. The bore/stroke dimensions for the 421 are 4.093 inches/4 inches. The…

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A star is born! We have just returned from one of the most fantastic automotive expositions we have ever been privileged to witness, and we’ve seen most every type of auto show imaginable. With the rumbling din of a surging crowd still ringing in our ears, we’ll try and describe what has erupted almost overnight as the major hot rod exposition in the nation — the Winternationals Rod and Custom Show. Several months ago we received a call from NHRA show co-ordinator Ron Miller asking if we’d like to tag along out to a site being considered for the 1962 companion event to the Winternationals drags. Enroute, Ron explained that response had been so great to the ’61 edition of the show that it had been deemed necessary to delegate…

Unusually inclement weather across the majority of the nation, including U those strongholds of sunshine, California and Florida, has produced a widespread malady that might best be described as “drag fever.” Rodders everywhere are itching to get back into action on the local drag strips, hoping that work performed on their individual cars during the winter will produce a better top end speed or perhaps shave a fraction of second off the elapsed time. Equally, drag artists are anxious to start the 1962 World Points Championship race with the big desire to win either the Stock or Competition division. Apparently a very large segment of enthusiasts are going to enter the fray with brand new machinery, and from the previews we’ve had at Southern California strips the past few weeks,…

There’s a good deal more to driving than a straight-line quarter-mile, and nobody knows that better than the performance-minded. Which is why Pontiac’s Catalina shows up so often among you people. One of the reasons for this popularity is the choice of engine/transmission teams. Standard equipment is a 215-hp Trophy V-8 hooked up to a three-speed stick, of course. But you can get a storming 405-horse engine and heavy-duty four-speed as extra-cost options. And other extra-cost options blanket the area in between, including automatics. Wide-Track and Pontiac’s own special handling precision come standard with the Catalina, naturally. So does a fat helping of pure luxury, without which you shouldn’t allow yourself to be. The great thing is that a new Catalina goes easy on your bankroll—this is Pontiac’s lowest-priced full-sized…

Part I To obtain maximum results in any endeavor one must do the job in the most efficient manner. This is true whether one is designing a rocket for the moon or going after the world’s land speed record. It is the efficiency of a design that limits performance, and if somehow the efficiency can be improved, performance will be increased for a given size or input. Thus, if man uses his intellect instead of his muscles, he’s generally going to get more for his money, or to put it another way, more MPH for his HP. In the past when a vehicle’s performance was to be improved, one or more of the following three standard techniques were used: A.Increasing the displacement (no substitute for cubic inches). B.Add horsepower giving…

“OK Bud, where’s the fire?” Such a phrase is familiar to apprehended speeders the nation over. But in New York State, the question can lead to all kinds of complications, especially if the vehicle happens to look like a cross between a hot rod and fire truck. You see, New York is the home stomping grounds of some of the hottest fire equipment this side of Hades. And, too, few spectacles compare with the thrilling fire tournament days when these strong-hearted stallions are unleashed in exciting combat. It all started many years ago. Back around the turn of the century, nearly every community relied upon its stouthearted male citizens to man the local horse-drawn fire wagon. Naturally, Dobbin required a weekly workout to unlimber the kinks and the hand-operated water…

Boiling over El Mirage at 160 mph—one of the most beautiful modified roadsters ever to grace the “sands of time.” Unique rear-engined '27 'T' cradled 295-cubic inch Ford flathead in a sprung sub-frame, the back of which was welded to rear axle, its front end pivoted on frame crossmember. Car later ran one-way 202.69 mph at Bonneville with 256-inch DeSoto. Don, now employed as an engineer at Western Gear Corp., still has the urge, having just completed another way-out roadster soon to be seen in Hot Rod. For full details on his '27, dig out an old Sept., '50 issue of HRM.…