Morris, That's pretty much the way I remember it as well. The VW's, whether dressed as a Beetle or Carmen Ghia, were very slow. I drove home from college in one in '65, a thousand miles. Either the gas pedal was floored or you were on the brakes. My son has a '75 Corvette now and even the stock small V8 beats 21 seconds 0-60mph. Regards, Bob S.
On Sun, Jul 3, 2011 at 6:57 AM, Morris Galloway <morris-gallo...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > De-Lurking again regarding that well-known hot-rod, the Volkswagen flat-four > engined 1.1 liter (later increased incrementally by a tenth of a liter from > time to time.) > > It was/is rumored the little chassis housed a power-house of an engine. A > Tire-Shredder in acceleration. (PDML 2 July, 4:47 pm. "A stock'74 Ghia would > do 0-60 faster than a Corvette of the same era.") Sure wasn't that way > where I lived in the 1950's, and 60's and '70's. The VW Ghia or Beetle > could barely pull it's shadow away from the curb. (O.K. Kerb for some.) The > 'VW Werkes' published 21.30 seconds zero to 100 kmp, or 62mph for the Ghia > in 74, and top speed of the Ghia, 138 km/h or about 84. Hmm. Compared to the > oft cited slow-basic-stock 195 hp 1974 'Vette was around 9 or 10 seconds. > With a stock-basic 350 CI engine (Or 5.7 liters.) Most people optioned up to > the 250 hp in 1974. My father and I owned Three brand-spanking New Corvettes > between 1963 and the early 80's. Granted the U.S.A. began to limit nasty > auto emissions around 1968, but the limits affected everybody, even VW and > Karmann. Every auto suffered a performance decrease. If someone owned a 7 > to 8 second Stock '74 Ghia they need to call the Guinness world record > people. > > At the age of 17, with a Brand New Corvette Sting Ray 1963, I'm here to > state with the 4.11 rear end, 11.5 to one compression ratio and advertised > 365 hp, All Stock, you could see 146 indicated. And 0-60 in the sixes. And > yes, the tires wore out pretty quickly when inflated to 40 psi. And yes, the > high school / college girls fell all over you. Ahem. > > Oh, Red. Convertible. And No. Never got beaten by a Karmann Ghia bodied > Volkswagen, stock or otherwise. Remember 'There is no substitute for cubic > inches' which may have been first attributed to Big Daddy Don Garlits or > maybe Mickey Thompson. The 1974 Corvette, 350 CI, or 5.7 liters and up to > 454; the VW started in 1938 with 1.1 and ended with 1.6 liters when > production stopped. > > Now, shutting up and getting ready for Choir Practice. And Re-Lurking. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
