I miss the days back in the early 90s when I would go to the book store and read all the car magazines. I didn't have a computer and couldn't afford to buy all the magazines. Good times!
I did the same thing but have recently began subscribing to a few mags including cars, bikes, atvs and outdoors and it's a break from staring at a screen.
@@markovich3605, I've got a slightly modified T/A and just yesterday I've tester some 0-100 (km/h) drags and it reached it in 5.0 sec. I love to fool around some folks with new BMWs and Audis who have no clue what kind of car that is. I'm from EU, so you can imagine ...
"The harder you run it, the better it'll be", easily my favorite Lingenfelter quote. I have this on VHS but I'm so happy to see it on UA-cam. I remember behind the scenes Vortech was bitching about Lingenfelter running without cats and John said, "Well, we can always put a blower on it and see how fast it'll go." 😆
Awesome I noticed he had the SLP FIREHAWK functional ram air hood on it and a very massaged LT-1 it sounded F’in Sick !!! Those F body Pontiacs cut through the air and have better aerodynamics than its counterpart Z-28’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if John pretty much duplicated the “Level 2 suspension option like my Firehawk”!
John Lingenfelter was so great. I miss that guy and so should the rest of the GM guys out there. If I had a great deal of money that is who I’d have mod my cars.
I remember the motor trend mag of Lingenfelter 650hp vette vs Hennessey's 650r Viper.. The viper would have won the top speed battle if it had a longer final gear set up.. The Viper GTS yellow coupe ( p.s the first time seeing a viper with a body kit ) went 214.7 mph I believe before the engine blew, mean while the Lingenfelter vette went 226.6 mph ( c5 1997 red vette ) 😎😎😎😎 I'm team viper all day but I was so upset back then at the age of 12 the Lingenfelter vette beat the Hennessy Viper 😭😭😭
This is the track where the 1990 ZR-1 set its records. I just happen to have #2822 in my driveway. Cool cars , Cool video , great way to spend a rainy day.👍👍🏁🏁
Ooooh man ! I drove one as a kid to park it. It was night time, when I hit the ignition and the dash lit up as the headlights twisted and turned up. I had never seen anything like it. Made it skid by mistake, dont know if it did not have traction control or it was off but it was not easy not to make the wheels spin. I read an article back then making it faster than Lambos and Ferraris of the era.
I so love the ZR-1. The LT5 with its overhead cam, 4 valves per cylinder- back in 1990 I was sure this was the way of the future for Corvette's.... but I was wrong. And most Corvette owners seemed to disagree with me as well.
I miss these types of videos. Now it's all hype and overexagerations mixed in with sponserships for something completely unrelated. Thank you for sharing this with us!
I have a 85 Corvette with a Lingenfelter 383 tuned port injected motor. Ran 11.60 at 118mph in a 1500 DA a few weeks ago. Motor was put in 29 years ago. Still runs great!
I've rode in one of these Firebirds, and they are FAST! It is unbelievable how fast they are for the money. You could by 2 for the price of a ZR1, and still have money for insurance.
Man! That lingenfelter was no joke! 192! Holy shit! He was an amazing engine builder! Shame he’s left us! That car, NA, beat out boosted cars in top speed! Unbelievable! That’s my style! When you’re NA and beating boosted cars you’re really doing something!
They removed the door mirrors from Lingenfelter's car(only car to do that), wonder how much that helped? At those speeds the drag from those side mirrors could easily be worth 5 mph.
@@gdb5448 You know, I didn’t even know the set! Yeah you’re right! That makes sense! Incredible though, unbelievable! Sucker sounded good at full song!
Stock 97 camaro z28 6 speed trick flow elbow cheap spector pie open end k&n 205 1100 flat 6000 rpm in 2 top gears 6200 bottom 4 not my norm to not build to the max car is so fast im not going to build it till it gets beat . took it to grudge night 100 car eliminator half not even street legal Race cars i won grudge night lol 2000 and still cant build car lol
Even today, the C4 is impressive. So many people loved to hate on then. I have an older customer that had a C6. He found a red C4 and dumped the C6. I've seen it a few times. He absolutely loves it. And I absolutely fell in love with it too. Maybe I can convince him to give me first refusal if he decides to get something else. 😍😂
Exactly man, fell in love with Vettes in 3rd grade when i first saw a c3, fast forward to 2012 i was 32 and disabled, when a drunk driver totalled my mustang in my driveway i took the settlement and went Vette hunting, couldn't find a C3 that didn't need restored, so went and looked for the newest i could afford, ended up getting Quasar Blue Metallic 93, and wouldn't trade it for the world, most idiots that knock C4s have never seen one in person, or sat, rode or drove one, Mine is sleek, fast, handles on a rail and i get compliments all the time. love it to death.
@@watchandjewelryloft4713 completely agree….. there’s also the annoying 1-4 shift. The digital dashes that get sunburnt and have to be replace, the crossfire injection that can’t be upgraded in any meaningful way. My Volkswagen Golf would run circles around it in a straight or around turns. Had a C4 for almost a decade. It was just a cheap loud car that looked fast and was mostly annoying. Maybe if I’d had a LT4 version with a 6 speed I’d feel different.
Man.... I still have stacks and stacks of old R&T mags in the garage.. crazy nostalgia of playing R&T Need For Speed on an original DOS computer floppy or 3DO... Wow, i just shot back 30 years.. Never a day in my life i can remember where i wasn't obsessed with cars and motorsport ...
Same here! Nothing like the smell of a new R&T, Car & Driver or Motor Trend Mag ! ! I and the articles and reviews with the likes Brock Yates , Sam Mitada and others ,those were good days, nowadays where a 10 min vid is too long for the new age attention spans, no one has time for that.
I have seen this before, but I love it anyway, one of the few tests done where the comments were at least reasonably accurate. Watching a lot of this type of thing when it was new in the 90's, many of the publications had immense bias towards a couple brands and would make any excuse they thought people would swallow to put things in their "rankings". I will say, the comments they make in the video about the "tweaks" Saleen did are laughably understated. Saleen bought V6 base model coupes, pulled the entire drivetrain out, removed the entire suspension, beefed the chassis, put his own racecraft suspension in, and then dropped a 5.8W supercharged engine in(Ford never had the balls to use a 351w) with custom heads and Saleen designed intake. It took the "everyday sporty coupe" Ford had designed and turned it into a real sports car. keep in mind too, of all of these, only Ford had the idea that their car should be operated in midwestern winters, snow and all. Block heaters, rear window defrost..... look at the cars as the camera pnas by and look at the clearance underneath them lol. Mustang looks like an SUV. I am not hating, I own a 94GT(sold to my boy now) and I love the car, but it almost doesn't belong in this lineup. Oh, and in my area you could buy a year end model closeout Mustang for about $14k. A Camaro, or especially a Firebird? Dealers played the supply/demand game and were charging people up to $35k for a loaded out trans-am. There's a reason Ford sold a quarter million Mustangs in '94. ZR1 is king of the hill. That thing is a marvel. Supercar for 1/3 the price tag. Put GM on the world's radar.
Interesting historical perspective on the Camaro/Mustang dichotomy of that era as an enthusiast who wasn’t alive during that time, I didn’t really realize that the Camaros were so much more a sports car in design and marketing than the Mustang.
@@Ferraridude13 Absolutely, ford sold the car for everybody. It’s the Honda of America. Albeit with some more issues… Chevrolet has always tried to be ahead of the curve.
@@Kyle-c7i IT'S CRAZY TOO THINK HOW FAR CAR'S HAVE COME FROM THE MID 90a LOL BACK IN THE 90s MY 87 MUSTANG GT WITH JUST 225HP WAS A FAST CAR OF THE TIMES BUT TODAY IN 2022 THE NUMBERS ARE CRAZY LOL MY 2010 900HP GRABBER BLUE SUPER SNAKE IS CRAZY FAST TODAY LOL IMAGINE MY SUPER SNAKES BACK IN 95.
Great video! The 90’s were just starting to pump out fast street cars. I had a vortech V3si equipped 98 C5. That was a very capable and dependable setup. Good power and and as the video stated very linear power. The V3 added 175 WHP at 9psi. Now days a 3200 lb 580 bhp car is just run of the mill in the world of fast street cars. We live in very good times.
Aerodynamics is everything when it comes to speed! The natural breathing Lingenfelter Firebird blew everybody's doors! It wasn't horsepower it was aerodynamics!
When Road & Track was the best car magazine. I used to read them all the time. If it wasn't R&T, I had no interest in it. Always had some RT magazines in my backpack.
Hot Rod mag was always my thing, man. I always looked at R&T as the preppy guy’s mag. Lol. You’d find that mag on the coffee tables in dentists offices and at the golf course club houses across America, and it was most likely read by guys who used their factory warranties to go get their oil changed rather than do it themselves. 🤣. But it was good for testing out the new stuff. Served it’s purpose. But I’d much rather get my hands dirty and build my own stuff. You won’t find that info in R&T. Lol.
@@cammer68oliver2 actually R&T was for people that actually wanted information and specifications on ACTUAL performance cars with power and handling....now fuck off dude go troll somewhere else while real car guys talk about performance...
Lingenfelter was pretty much top dog for Chevy performance. Vortech, SLP? Meh… never heard of Doug Rippie lol! And he did it with a heavy firebird… I’m actually disappointed at the Camaro, I had a ‘92 Z28 that was pushing close to 400 at the wheel naturally aspirated lol
@@dirtyaznstyle4156 Doug Rippie began as a racer in the Trans Am series, then SCCA Escort Endurance Series. He ran teams in the Corvette Challenge, and concluded by winning the SCCA PRO World Challenge Series in 1993. Thereafter, he set his sights on racing a Corvette ZR-1 at LeMans in 1995. He was one of very few racers who built very competitive Corvette race cars, and one of the guys responsible for initiating today's Corvette Factory Racing Team.
I remember going to the video store and renting vhs tapes of shit like this back in the 80s and 90s. My wife would get a movie and I would get something like this about cars.
Lt1s could lay that down 2 decades ago. They are out here shitting on every stock block these days in the stick shift world. Hell they have gone faster than even big cubed aftermarket block lsx shit. ua-cam.com/users/shortsCi-ivw94Xas
Awesome. I own a completely stock pampered low mile '94 Z28 and I absolutely love it!! Great old video.... I remember this on TV and in the magazine! Good times.
@@8bert9 I had it new as a leased car and modified it anyway. I had something changed that stopped the screech/ slippage that occurred 600 RPM before redline and I lowered the thermostat. Take care!
I was blown away by the Lingenfelter Firebird hitting over 190 being naturally aspirated. I was also disappointed in the Hennessey Viper only hitting 174. Regardless, this was a very enjoyable video
That S351 still is a Beast!! I love that car, also the Viper!! Those things are still turning heads to this very day!! Good old Carroll Shelby,, rest In piece!!❤️❤️❤️
@@ricardocorbie6803 buhwahaaa that was not the point but you wouldnt get it any way as it seems your cognitive thinking is somewhat diminished & unable to process simple English skills....typical
I grew up with all these cars and have built so many myself. I now have an Audi RS3 and when stock, I ran a 11.7 stock and 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. Tuned runs low 10’s and 0-60 in 3 seconds flat. Amazing for only a five cylinder and I daily drive in the winter. Technology is an amazing thing. I will always have these legendary muscle cars in my blood. It was my car life.
i own a fast audi myself, i think cars nowadays feels like something amazing is happening and im not there to live it, its 3-4 times faster than back then but little to no fun...
@@retrocompaq5212 Frimly true. There is nothing to write home about these new'ish Audi-Fivecylinder. They are quite lacklaster.......only numbers without emotions.
Having owned a 2002 Firehawk TA ( SLP) and a 98 SS Camaro I can say they were fast cars , particularly the Firehawk that needed a guy to show up at my house in NY dressed in black who did not give his name or a card ( refused actually) and made a deal with me . He would fix the issue I was fighting first with my dealer about and then calling GM who responded quickly by sending the no named man right to my door who said if I dont ask any more questions he would not onky fix the bog I was getting after going wide open cruising at aprox 70 mph . He explained that these Firehawks were over tuned initially and could not meet govt testing so an alternate ECU tune was put on them and the vast majority of drivers didnt notice . He said i will flash the REAL TUNE and not only will the timing pull or fuel or both that were problems for me personally would no longer exist but that I would be much happier all around. He asked that I kindly wait in my house while he did his thing in my driveway if I agreed to ask no more questions as well as that he was never at my house of which I did . He was there for a total of 30 minutes at best . Rang the bell , said you will now be very pleased with engine performance and got in his rental car to go to the airport and back to detroit . That car was a ripper and despite being heavier then my Moms C5 with a live rear axle after I got the real tune that flunked CARB testing and had the denatured denatured one used to allow cars to get to dealers with most owners not noticing the Firehawk as a stock car bought from a Pontiac dealer made C5 owners cry with the larger wheels and sticky summer onky Firestone Firehawk tires put on the SLP car compared to regular TA or the WS6 TAs . Nobody who ever road in that car back in the early 2000s believed that I bought the car from a dealer that way and didnt modify it . Both my F bodies despite the valid knocks on interior plastics , rear bumper panel gaps particular,y on the SS , lack of seats able to hold you great compared to the Gs created when cornering hard and some cheesey styling cues on all pontiacs of that period IMO were really enjoyable stock cars that as street cars handled and braked better then given credit for . Yes , if you lived in NY and hit a sweeper at 90-100 + mph with a bump during the turn the rear end would leave the ground with the live rear axel and land with a little chirp but if you just stayed in it it didnt actuall upset the car and added IMO to the thrill . Extremely easy to drive with right foot and great break away charecferistics to where i never swapped ends in either despite drifting turns before it was a popular sport and throttle modulation and input always broght the car back unlike my previous fox bodies that liked to swap ends at my skill level and one good stop from top speed at 130 whatever would mean redoing the brakes . 6 th gear on Hwy would return well into the 30s on the HWY . Those F Bodies ( Slp cars) fealt like a 60s muscle car and were not refined, crashy , a bit of cabin noise ( which NEVER bothered me) but they DID ACTUALLY turn and stop for what they were and the price and were easy to drive fast and pretty forgiving . If you enjoyed throttle over steer without snap if you had some experience they were fun street cars if you didnt ask more then they could give with repeated braking . You could hustle them pretty well if you trusted the flying rear and found it part of the experience . The Aero was excellent , the Ls1s despite daily workouts never fealt much different with 0 miles or 100k in my experience with maintenance and my clutch and trans worked fine for 100K of all kinds of parking lot high speed drifting , clutch kicks , burnouts and holeshots . They were fun . The Monsoon Stereo was at least loud and good for blasting hard rock / metal soundtrack to cover up noises and they were fun and good value for a factory hoon mobile . Nothing ever went bad with power windows or anything one might expect as I am told about GM cars of the time with miles , i didnt experience those issues . I REALLY NEVER cared about the fisher price interior as i was always driving these cars with no attention to anything but guages and road . The Lingenberry Firebird here was a car i wish i would have owned with the less goofy body style of the formula .
@@alonzahanks1182 My 67s were both Merc cougars . 289 4 SPD and a 390 4 SPD . Also had a 68 Barracuda Fastback but it was a 318 auto pegged leg . Loved my 67 cougars . But yes I DO LIKE THOSE 67 Firebirds . 70s TAs etc . All the f - bodies from that Era 1st and early 2nd gen , split bumper Camaros and early 1st gen firebirds which are less common then the Camaros . I had a fallout with FOMOCO and stopped buying anything from them no matter how good or how much I might like it but have a sweet spot for 67 cougars buying my first one at 17 in 84 . Basically a long wheel base mustang and for me a nicer car then regular mustang , but some of that is cuz it was my first car , I liked that they were a bit less common and kinda classy looking muscle / pony car. Mine had no power steering and I loved that as I hated old school sloppy power steering and manual steering made it feel at least like it was better for driving fast from the feel . No AC roll up windows etc etc so quite lite and with some BF Goodrich tires and being so light it handled good for a car from era . My biggest issue with muscle cars was the weight and handling etc . Today people put new chassis or subframes and brakes etc etc . But my 67 289 was fun to hustle for what it was . I would love a light weight resto mod 67 . I would love any midsize or pony type resto mod . Loved my Barracuda because of the flat floor in back , practicality and although arguably ugly , ugly in a good way and I would like a resto mod of one of those with the rear set up like a bed ;) . Loved the super flat surface in the back . Getting laid in a 67;cougar was always a leg cramp in that back seat ;) . But a 67 Firebird is the shit .
The Doug Rippie modified ZR-1's / LT-5 engines didn't receive much publicity- I only heard about them over a decade later but he did some masterful work on this platform. I remember his 440 cu/in engine package putting a smile on my face when I saw the specs & watched a few videos of this rare & powerful performer-
I had this tape. Been lookin for it for years. The formula and saleen were my favorites in this video 🤘🤘 I'm a Ford guy. But I'd love to own the lingenfelter personally. Saw it at the world of wheels here in Boston back in 1995. It's a nasty car 🤘🤘
Thanks for posting this. Brings back memories of reading these magazines and getting lost in the stories they told about the car they wrote about. Good times
This was a fun video to watch,some nice cars. I have a neighbor that has 2017 Dodge Viper he says has 650 hp. I can't quite wrap my head around why a car needs that much power and why he would pay that much money for a car he hardly ever drives. I've gotten a couple of rides in it over years and it is a mind blowing experience to say the least. 0 to 60 in 3 seconds he claims.
I get why he'd pay the much for a car hardly ever drives. Its like that nice suit that hangs in back of your wardrobe. You only get it out for special occasions and when you get all dressed up you have a smile from ear to ear and feel like million dollars.
"he says" and "he claims" is all backed up by countless articles and easily read dyno numbers. it certainly is one fast car, even with those long gears!
My buddy had an 86 Z51 'vette with the lingenfelter boxed intake 383. He also had a Viper with the 450 HP motor. Told me the 'vette was easily faster through the 1/4 mile than the Viper even after giving up 105 cubic inches.
Can't believe I'm just now seeing this for the first time! I wasn't aware this was ever available on VHS. I remember this run, though, and I still have the magazine from when this came out. In one of the other tests, Lingenfelter's Bird did a little over 193 MPH.
I miss a lot of things from the 80's and 90's. Horsepower ratings are definitely not one of them though. People actually thought Mustangs and Camaros with smog choked 200hp engines were fast...
@@generalkayoss7347 But that's my point... the early/mid 90's is when all that started to turn around. The LT1 Vette, Camaro, & Trans Am, the Viper, and even the turbo Supras & 300ZXs were just as fast as pre-smog performance cars in the late 60's early 70's. Except they handled better & got better gas mileage.
I own the 1995 DRM-600 ZR-1 in this video - I still pinch myself. It was the only car driven to the event, and was taken up to 196 mph on I-10 en route to the event. Doug Rippie believes Phil Hill short shifted at 6,000, vs. 7,200, and never achieved the car's true top speed. Disappointed with the result of the event, the ZR-1 was taken up to 198 mph, again on I-10 in West Texas, on the trip home. The second owner, SW, was a close friend and customer of John Lingenfelter. He had the 385ci rebuilt by John to produce 620 hp / 500 tq on motor only. It's an incredible car - with the best of both worlds: Doug Rippie's racing chassis modifications and the fastest 385 ci LT5 John Lingenfelter ever built.
@@y2j1490yahoo but corvettes are so bland and boring looking. It's like they don't put any effort into designing corvettes. That and corvettes are an old man's car.
@@firebird5288 I have never heard anyone call a Corvette boring looking , look at a z06 And try calling it boring. The only people who still like firebirds are over 45. Better handling, faster, way better mpg.
@@y2j1490yahoo Corvette=Boring. The new Z 06 isn't too bad at all, but look how many decades it took to make the Corvette look rad. Every car show I go to, Corvettes rarely get a second glance. They're so painfully bland. I'm not even in my 40's and I'll take a 4th gen Firebird anyday over an overrated Corvette. If you're bashing the bird so much, why do you have/had one?
When 400hp was "full potential" and "impressive" lol. Now I have a 2.3L turbo mustang making 315hp from the factory while getting 28mpg. Technology is awesome
@@MyMotherTheCar Depends on Driver. I can keep up with GTs in my 95 Vette, and have beaten Focus RS's from roller. I have yet to drive a car that delivers power as instantaneously as the LT1 C4 and I've driven newer, more powerful cars.
@@idontlikecops1 I'd love a gt or V8 Camaro but I can hardly afford the payments on the Ecoboost and no way I could afford V8 gas mileage with gas prices now
@@Itsjamilagain I think you're talking about the older vette's throttle response. It's a cable throttle and the old LT1 is a low rpm grunt so it has a very snappy throttle. All new cars are electronic throttle plus new cars run lots of on the fly calculations to keep emissions and mpg as good as possible so there is a slight delay in throttle response. It's possible to fix that though with a custom tune
Those times are pretty suspect. I can stock SN95 mustangs in the 90's. I had a 94 and a 95. Both trapped over 90 in the 1/4 and both could get very near the 150mph range. I even remember another article in a magazine that had the cheapest cars that could go 150mph and the mustang could with some tape on the front. Over all the 1/4 time for all the cars were pretty substandard
Perfect video! I dig it and can relate to every single car here: Folks had a 01 yellow Mustang GT convertible I had a 383 stoker Firebird in my cars playlist Viper is my dream car and have old SuperSnake vid from TNN here, etc!
Holy shit! That silver Z/28 running 178mph AND stable as hell with nothing but a roots type charger, intake, headers, exhaust and fuel pump! Oh yeah,and ignition, but all that put it right at an even 400hp, which almost every sports car owner would scoff at today when those numbers are actually pretty damned impressive! I GUARANTEE I could scare the holy shit out of a lot of average sports car owners in the little 400hp Z/28....
Yeah ...kinda a cheap move IMO ...i mean 99.9% of potential owners/buyers would've keep mirrors on their cars. I mean its almost like pulling all the glass out and replacing with fixed light weight composite b4 testing.
I can only imagine how much one of those firebirds would sell for now. Had no clue they made. Lingenfelter model for that year. Prob of one the rarest cars I've never heard of.
C4 had great aero. Mine would start sitting down past about 80 and the faster past that the more stable it felt. Complete opposite of most other cars I’ve driven. The major downside was poor rigidity, which became almost laughable with the targa off. LT4 engine was plenty and had same characteristics as the first LS. Would have loved a go in the LT5 ZR1!
I miss the days back in the early 90s when I would go to the book store and read all the car magazines. I didn't have a computer and couldn't afford to buy all the magazines. Good times!
I did the same thing but have recently began subscribing to a few mags including cars, bikes, atvs and outdoors and it's a break from staring at a screen.
Oh wow, I forgot about those days.
Use to go Barnes nobles to read or check them out for 7 days at library.
Kids thought i was a nerd living in the library lol
Same... And I miss the days when the 01 muscle car numbers blew my mind 🤯 600hp ws6? 🤯🤯🤯🤯
Fire Bird doing 190 in 1995 on a LT1. Insane
People are still sleeping on 383 LT1s today too
@@markovich3605, I've got a slightly modified T/A and just yesterday I've tester some 0-100 (km/h) drags and it reached it in 5.0 sec. I love to fool around some folks with new BMWs and Audis who have no clue what kind of car that is. I'm from EU, so you can imagine ...
"The harder you run it, the better it'll be", easily my favorite Lingenfelter quote. I have this on VHS but I'm so happy to see it on UA-cam. I remember behind the scenes Vortech was bitching about Lingenfelter running without cats and John said, "Well, we can always put a blower on it and see how fast it'll go." 😆
Ultimate comeback
Awesome I noticed he had the SLP FIREHAWK functional ram air hood on it and a very massaged LT-1 it sounded F’in Sick !!! Those F body Pontiacs cut through the air and have better aerodynamics than its counterpart Z-28’s.
I wouldn’t be surprised if John pretty much duplicated the “Level 2 suspension option like my Firehawk”!
@@Firehawk-205 like those late 90s early 2000s mustangs the most aerodynamic muscle cars ever made those 2.
Yup 💪🏼
John Lingenfelter was so great. I miss that guy and so should the rest of the GM guys out there. If I had a great deal of money that is who I’d have mod my cars.
Rest in Peace John Lingenfelter. All our heroes are gone.
Gale Banks is still kicking it.
Is that who was speaking?
@@jessemurray1757 I thought about that after I posted. He's a beast.
I remember the motor trend mag of Lingenfelter 650hp vette vs Hennessey's 650r Viper.. The viper would have won the top speed battle if it had a longer final gear set up.. The Viper GTS yellow coupe ( p.s the first time seeing a viper with a body kit ) went 214.7 mph I believe before the engine blew, mean while the Lingenfelter vette went 226.6 mph ( c5 1997 red vette ) 😎😎😎😎 I'm team viper all day but I was so upset back then at the age of 12 the Lingenfelter vette beat the Hennessy Viper 😭😭😭
Willie Nelson is still alive!
I'm amazed that with only 400hp the camaro hit pretty much 180mph. Impressive even for now.
"Only"? The Ferrari 360 Modena did 183 mph with 400 bhp in 1999.
Ferrari F355 with 380 hp does 295 kmh or 183 mph, some magazines reported 297 or 184 mph
True. It must be somewhat areo dynamic.
@@Jinsun202 yes but that was '99.
"only" 400 hp 😂
That's a great deal of power
Shoot I miss the 90s so much.
I wholeheartedly agree.
This is the track where the 1990 ZR-1 set its records. I just happen to have #2822 in my driveway. Cool cars , Cool video , great way to spend a rainy day.👍👍🏁🏁
That's a very special car. Take care of it and keep driving it forever!
Nice, man! Such an impressive car even now! That thing is still fat by today's numbers!
Ooooh man ! I drove one as a kid to park it. It was night time, when I hit the ignition and the dash lit up as the headlights twisted and turned up. I had never seen anything like it. Made it skid by mistake, dont know if it did not have traction control or it was off but it was not easy not to make the wheels spin. I read an article back then making it faster than Lambos and Ferraris of the era.
@@jesterokjones4954 IT IS SPELLED FAST NOT FAT.
I so love the ZR-1. The LT5 with its overhead cam, 4 valves per cylinder- back in 1990 I was sure this was the way of the future for Corvette's.... but I was wrong. And most Corvette owners seemed to disagree with me as well.
Gotta love those Pontiac Trans Ams! I had many of them the last 45 years & never lost to a crowd surfing rustang
never lost to a mustang with my chevy cobalt, dont think mustangs are acheivements
I miss these types of videos. Now it's all hype and overexagerations mixed in with sponserships for something completely unrelated.
Thank you for sharing this with us!
I have a 85 Corvette with a Lingenfelter 383 tuned port injected motor. Ran 11.60 at 118mph in a 1500 DA a few weeks ago. Motor was put in 29 years ago. Still runs great!
Yea I call 🐴 💩
Those S351's are still beasts today, very cool car.
I knew they were hella fast but didn't know they were that fast back then..
yeah no, the 2008 chevy cobalt with the 2.0t factory stage 1 has better performance in every aspect
@@retrocompaq5212 that's a good comment... Nobody but Cobalt people care about your Cobalt. Now go play your retro video games...
I "put" my $ on the modded ZR1 to be fastest then the Hen.Viper 2nd but the firebird blew me away!
That was really cool to watch
I've rode in one of these Firebirds, and they are FAST! It is unbelievable how fast they are for the money. You could by 2 for the price of a ZR1, and still have money for insurance.
Same
Man! That lingenfelter was no joke! 192! Holy shit! He was an amazing engine builder! Shame he’s left us! That car, NA, beat out boosted cars in top speed! Unbelievable! That’s my style! When you’re NA and beating boosted cars you’re really doing something!
They removed the door mirrors from Lingenfelter's car(only car to do that), wonder how much that helped? At those speeds the drag from those side mirrors could easily be worth 5 mph.
@@gdb5448 You know, I didn’t even know the set! Yeah you’re right! That makes sense! Incredible though, unbelievable! Sucker sounded good at full song!
Stock 97 camaro z28 6 speed trick flow elbow cheap spector pie open end k&n 205 1100 flat 6000 rpm in 2 top gears 6200 bottom 4
not my norm to not build to the max
car is so fast im not going to build it till it gets beat .
took it to grudge night 100 car eliminator
half not even street legal Race cars
i won grudge night lol 2000 and still cant build car lol
Even today, the C4 is impressive. So many people loved to hate on then. I have an older customer that had a C6. He found a red C4 and dumped the C6. I've seen it a few times. He absolutely loves it. And I absolutely fell in love with it too. Maybe I can convince him to give me first refusal if he decides to get something else. 😍😂
Exactly man, fell in love with Vettes in 3rd grade when i first saw a c3, fast forward to 2012 i was 32 and disabled, when a drunk driver totalled my mustang in my driveway i took the settlement and went Vette hunting, couldn't find a C3 that didn't need restored, so went and looked for the newest i could afford, ended up getting Quasar Blue Metallic 93, and wouldn't trade it for the world, most idiots that knock C4s have never seen one in person, or sat, rode or drove one, Mine is sleek, fast, handles on a rail and i get compliments all the time. love it to death.
Meh we had a C4 for years… it’s so hard to get in an out of and they’re slow as piss compared to v6 Camrys
@@robertburton8055 There's more to a car than "fast." 👍
@@watchandjewelryloft4713 completely agree….. there’s also the annoying 1-4 shift. The digital dashes that get sunburnt and have to be replace, the crossfire injection that can’t be upgraded in any meaningful way.
My Volkswagen Golf would run circles around it in a straight or around turns.
Had a C4 for almost a decade. It was just a cheap loud car that looked fast and was mostly annoying. Maybe if I’d had a LT4 version with a 6 speed I’d feel different.
I have a C4 and it's still an insanely fun car. Very mechanical, like driving a 60s race car. No extra bs like in modern cars.
Phil Hill is a legend! Very cool to se him driving some of my favorite cars!
Have you seen that vid of his son in that 250 GTO , what a life that must be.
still downplayed camaros brought the slowest ones
Man.... I still have stacks and stacks of old R&T mags in the garage.. crazy nostalgia of playing R&T Need For Speed on an original DOS computer floppy or 3DO... Wow, i just shot back 30 years.. Never a day in my life i can remember where i wasn't obsessed with cars and motorsport ...
I can remember as a kid in highschool living on Road and Track and Motor Trend Magazines
NFS on DOS was a personal favorite of mine.
Same here! Nothing like the smell of a new R&T, Car & Driver or Motor Trend Mag ! ! I and the articles and reviews with the likes Brock Yates , Sam Mitada and others ,those were good days, nowadays where a 10 min vid is too long for the new age attention spans, no one has time for that.
That was a fun blast from the past! Cool to see Phil Hill also.
I have seen this before, but I love it anyway, one of the few tests done where the comments were at least reasonably accurate. Watching a lot of this type of thing when it was new in the 90's, many of the publications had immense bias towards a couple brands and would make any excuse they thought people would swallow to put things in their "rankings".
I will say, the comments they make in the video about the "tweaks" Saleen did are laughably understated. Saleen bought V6 base model coupes, pulled the entire drivetrain out, removed the entire suspension, beefed the chassis, put his own racecraft suspension in, and then dropped a 5.8W supercharged engine in(Ford never had the balls to use a 351w) with custom heads and Saleen designed intake. It took the "everyday sporty coupe" Ford had designed and turned it into a real sports car.
keep in mind too, of all of these, only Ford had the idea that their car should be operated in midwestern winters, snow and all. Block heaters, rear window defrost..... look at the cars as the camera pnas by and look at the clearance underneath them lol. Mustang looks like an SUV. I am not hating, I own a 94GT(sold to my boy now) and I love the car, but it almost doesn't belong in this lineup.
Oh, and in my area you could buy a year end model closeout Mustang for about $14k. A Camaro, or especially a Firebird? Dealers played the supply/demand game and were charging people up to $35k for a loaded out trans-am. There's a reason Ford sold a quarter million Mustangs in '94.
ZR1 is king of the hill. That thing is a marvel. Supercar for 1/3 the price tag. Put GM on the world's radar.
And yet that vette still couldn't touch the viper
Interesting historical perspective on the Camaro/Mustang dichotomy of that era as an enthusiast who wasn’t alive during that time, I didn’t really realize that the Camaros were so much more a sports car in design and marketing than the Mustang.
@@Ferraridude13 Absolutely, ford sold the car for everybody. It’s the Honda of America. Albeit with some more issues… Chevrolet has always tried to be ahead of the curve.
@@Welcometofacsistube the Vipers were slower than the Vettes…
@@Kyle-c7i IT'S CRAZY TOO THINK HOW FAR CAR'S HAVE COME FROM THE MID 90a LOL BACK IN THE 90s MY 87 MUSTANG GT WITH JUST 225HP WAS A FAST CAR OF THE TIMES BUT TODAY IN 2022 THE NUMBERS ARE CRAZY LOL MY 2010 900HP GRABBER BLUE SUPER SNAKE IS CRAZY FAST TODAY LOL IMAGINE MY SUPER SNAKES BACK IN 95.
I couldn't wait for Saturday so TNN would air Road and Track
Great video! The 90’s were just starting to pump out fast street cars. I had a vortech V3si equipped 98 C5. That was a very capable and dependable setup. Good power and and as the video stated very linear power. The V3 added 175 WHP at 9psi. Now days a 3200 lb 580 bhp car is just run of the mill in the world of fast street cars. We live in very good times.
Unfortunately the sun is setting on fast street cars thanks to overbearing elites and the climate change hoax.
@@michaelangelo5783 - you may be right. I hope not but see the world as you do.
No door mirrors on the Lingenfelter bird. Made it a ringer 😎
Nice catch. His was no dummy. Surprised they allowed that.
Blew the doors off the other cars...
total race car
Damn its been over 25yrs since ive seen this video way to make us feel old. Lol
Aerodynamics is everything when it comes to speed! The natural breathing Lingenfelter Firebird blew everybody's doors! It wasn't horsepower it was aerodynamics!
That or… lots of power helps too. C4 Corvettes are more aerodynamic than F-bodies.
yeah no side mirrors on the black firebird either, although the stock firebird did pretty well considering
@@Kyle-c7i weren’t 3rd gen firebirds the most aerodynamic? 0.299 cd I believe
In Tuners: OHV 2 valve 383" Firebird faster than DOHC 4 valve 385" Corvette...
@@iankleckner350 Good catch ! That alone was probably worth around 4 - 5 mph at that speed.
I wonder if the also added a belly pan and other cheats.
When Road & Track was the best car magazine. I used to read them all the time. If it wasn't R&T, I had no interest in it. Always had some RT magazines in my backpack.
Hot Rod mag was always my thing, man. I always looked at R&T as the preppy guy’s mag. Lol. You’d find that mag on the coffee tables in dentists offices and at the golf course club houses across America, and it was most likely read by guys who used their factory warranties to go get their oil changed rather than do it themselves. 🤣. But it was good for testing out the new stuff. Served it’s purpose. But I’d much rather get my hands dirty and build my own stuff. You won’t find that info in R&T. Lol.
@@cammer68oliver2 actually R&T was for people that actually wanted information and specifications on ACTUAL performance cars with power and handling....now fuck off dude go troll somewhere else while real car guys talk about performance...
I still have this issue and many more. I have an extensive collection of R&T Motor trend and Car&Driver magazines from '93-2010
Car Craft ruled! What's wrong with u guys
@@midsouth2strokes185 I forgot all about that magazine
RIP John Lingenfelter, I knew his car would be the fastest
I didn't.. but it sure was! If I was a betting man, my money would have been on the Hennesy Viper. I'd have lost. hehehe
I "put" my $ on the modded ZR1 to be fastest then the Hen.Viper 2nd but the firebird blew me away!
Lingenfelter was pretty much top dog for Chevy performance. Vortech, SLP? Meh… never heard of Doug Rippie lol! And he did it with a heavy firebird… I’m actually disappointed at the Camaro, I had a ‘92 Z28 that was pushing close to 400 at the wheel naturally aspirated lol
@@dirtyaznstyle4156 Doug Rippie began as a racer in the Trans Am series, then SCCA Escort Endurance Series. He ran teams in the Corvette Challenge, and concluded by winning the SCCA PRO World Challenge Series in 1993. Thereafter, he set his sights on racing a Corvette ZR-1 at LeMans in 1995. He was one of very few racers who built very competitive Corvette race cars, and one of the guys responsible for initiating today's Corvette Factory Racing Team.
I remember going to the video store and renting vhs tapes of shit like this back in the 80s and 90s. My wife would get a movie and I would get something like this about cars.
Funny to think the first NFS game was Road & Track Presents: The Need For Speed. Different time for sure.
Was the most realistic. Everything else after became more arcade style.
Just think In 2022 a viper can push 2000hp and even the LT1 can lay down 1000hp. Gotta love where the technology has come from.
Lt1s could lay that down 2 decades ago. They are out here shitting on every stock block these days in the stick shift world. Hell they have gone faster than even big cubed aftermarket block lsx shit. ua-cam.com/users/shortsCi-ivw94Xas
Awesome. I own a completely stock pampered low mile '94 Z28 and I absolutely love it!! Great old video.... I remember this on TV and in the magazine! Good times.
I had a new 94 Z-28 auto,pulley. With 44 psi it 'only' topped out at 152 mph.Wish I kept it! Enjoy!
I also own a 94 z28 6 speed. I am the second owner. I can't believe our cars are 28 years old now.
@@8bert9 I had it new as a leased car and modified it anyway. I had something changed that stopped the screech/ slippage that occurred 600 RPM before redline and I lowered the thermostat. Take care!
Good man keeping it a Time Capsule
UNBELIEVABLE that I was able to find this. I used to have this on VHS
There is no way in hell I would've ever taken my 97 WS6 to 192 mph lol. Holy christ man
yeah, that's "poop your pants" levels of sending a vehicle.
"Extensive engine work"...your factory ws6 won't obtain that speed
@@ZLwh1ne Who said it was factory?
Cojones
@@ZLwh1ne nope the 96-97 6 speeds are quicker .2 fast burn race heads
they will break 200 stock Cold air intakes
Z28 Ws6 2sec 60 mph easy 1.35 60 fts lol
The LT1 Firebird Formula will always be my favorite body style of 4th gen. Very sleek and simple design
That’s definitely the ugliest one
@@Borat42093 I dont care i like the design, Its not over the top like the rest of them. Id drive it over a catfish camaro of that generation
@@misterbuklau4053 I like them too👍👌🏼
@@ThatLoud3v Ive got two base models of that body style theyre really solid. Im just waiting to do a 5.3 swap
@@misterbuklau4053 sounds badass man
I was blown away by the Lingenfelter Firebird hitting over 190 being naturally aspirated. I was also disappointed in the Hennessey Viper only hitting 174. Regardless, this was a very enjoyable video
188
This was at the Firestone test track in Fort Stockton, TX. I remember buying the issue as a kid and seeing my hometown on the cover. Was really cool!
This old man is just spitting out wisdom. all the vipers sure aren't hurting him just setting him up lol 😅
Saleen 351 Mustang 🤗😎
It's bittersweet seeing old John Lingenfelter again....🥲
Those are impressive numbers ever for todays standards!
Viper lover here. All of these cars are beautiful.
That S351 still is a Beast!! I love that car, also the Viper!! Those things are still turning heads to this very day!! Good old Carroll Shelby,, rest In piece!!❤️❤️❤️
I think he was still whole when they buried him so rest in "peace"
@@SquirminHermanthe1eyedGerman Buhwahaa so you’ve never misspelled a word in your life😂😂😂😂😂 yeah I did that😁
@@ricardocorbie6803 buhwahaaa that was not the point but you wouldnt get it any way as it seems your cognitive thinking is somewhat diminished & unable to process simple English skills....typical
@@SquirminHermanthe1eyedGerman okay,, well have a nice day!!
@@ricardocorbie6803 I will & you have a great night
I grew up with all these cars and have built so many myself. I now have an Audi RS3 and when stock, I ran a 11.7 stock and 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. Tuned runs low 10’s and 0-60 in 3 seconds flat. Amazing for only a five cylinder and I daily drive in the winter. Technology is an amazing thing.
I will always have these legendary muscle cars in my blood. It was my car life.
i own a fast audi myself, i think cars nowadays feels like something amazing is happening and im not there to live it, its 3-4 times faster than back then but little to no fun...
@@retrocompaq5212
Frimly true.
There is nothing to write home about these new'ish Audi-Fivecylinder.
They are quite lacklaster.......only numbers without emotions.
25 years from now some younger guy will say the same abour your Audi !`
I always loved those OZ Montecarlo rims on that Camaro...
I was there with Doug :). Great memory and a great time in American Performance.
That must have been amazing 👍
Having owned a 2002 Firehawk TA ( SLP) and a 98 SS Camaro I can say they were fast cars , particularly the Firehawk that needed a guy to show up at my house in NY dressed in black who did not give his name or a card ( refused actually) and made a deal with me . He would fix the issue I was fighting first with my dealer about and then calling GM who responded quickly by sending the no named man right to my door who said if I dont ask any more questions he would not onky fix the bog I was getting after going wide open cruising at aprox 70 mph . He explained that these Firehawks were over tuned initially and could not meet govt testing so an alternate ECU tune was put on them and the vast majority of drivers didnt notice . He said i will flash the REAL TUNE and not only will the timing pull or fuel or both that were problems for me personally would no longer exist but that I would be much happier all around.
He asked that I kindly wait in my house while he did his thing in my driveway if I agreed to ask no more questions as well as that he was never at my house of which I did . He was there for a total of 30 minutes at best . Rang the bell , said you will now be very pleased with engine performance and got in his rental car to go to the airport and back to detroit .
That car was a ripper and despite being heavier then my Moms C5 with a live rear axle after I got the real tune that flunked CARB testing and had the denatured denatured one used to allow cars to get to dealers with most owners not noticing the Firehawk as a stock car bought from a Pontiac dealer made C5 owners cry with the larger wheels and sticky summer onky Firestone Firehawk tires put on the SLP car compared to regular TA or the WS6 TAs .
Nobody who ever road in that car back in the early 2000s believed that I bought the car from a dealer that way and didnt modify it . Both my F bodies despite the valid knocks on interior plastics , rear bumper panel gaps particular,y on the SS , lack of seats able to hold you great compared to the Gs created when cornering hard and some cheesey styling cues on all pontiacs of that period IMO were really enjoyable stock cars that as street cars handled and braked better then given credit for . Yes , if you lived in NY and hit a sweeper at 90-100 + mph with a bump during the turn the rear end would leave the ground with the live rear axel and land with a little chirp but if you just stayed in it it didnt actuall upset the car and added IMO to the thrill . Extremely easy to drive with right foot and great break away charecferistics to where i never swapped ends in either despite drifting turns before it was a popular sport and throttle modulation and input always broght the car back unlike my previous fox bodies that liked to swap ends at my skill level and one good stop from top speed at 130 whatever would mean redoing the brakes .
6 th gear on Hwy would return well into the 30s on the HWY . Those F Bodies ( Slp cars) fealt like a 60s muscle car and were not refined, crashy , a bit of cabin noise ( which NEVER bothered me) but they DID ACTUALLY turn and stop for what they were and the price and were easy to drive fast and pretty forgiving . If you enjoyed throttle over steer without snap if you had some experience they were fun street cars if you didnt ask more then they could give with repeated braking . You could hustle them pretty well if you trusted the flying rear and found it part of the experience . The Aero was excellent , the Ls1s despite daily workouts never fealt much different with 0 miles or 100k in my experience with maintenance and my clutch and trans worked fine for 100K of all kinds of parking lot high speed drifting , clutch kicks , burnouts and holeshots . They were fun . The Monsoon Stereo was at least loud and good for blasting hard rock / metal soundtrack to cover up noises and they were fun and good value for a factory hoon mobile . Nothing ever went bad with power windows or anything one might expect as I am told about GM cars of the time with miles , i didnt experience those issues . I REALLY NEVER cared about the fisher price interior as i was always driving these cars with no attention to anything but guages and road . The Lingenberry Firebird here was a car i wish i would have owned with the less goofy body style of the formula .
I know that feeling as I had a new 1998 Firehawk, was a bad ass beast
your jaw would hit ground if you did walk around on 67
Firebird
@@alonzahanks1182 My 67s were both Merc
cougars . 289 4 SPD and a 390 4 SPD . Also had a 68 Barracuda Fastback but it was a 318 auto pegged leg . Loved my 67 cougars . But yes I DO LIKE THOSE 67 Firebirds . 70s TAs etc . All the f - bodies from that Era 1st and early 2nd gen , split bumper Camaros and early 1st gen firebirds which are less common then the Camaros .
I had a fallout with FOMOCO and stopped buying anything from them no matter how good or how much I might like it but have a sweet spot for 67 cougars buying my first one at 17 in 84 . Basically a long wheel base mustang and for me a nicer car then regular mustang , but some of that is cuz it was my first car , I liked that they were a bit less common and kinda classy looking muscle / pony car. Mine had no power steering and I loved that as I hated old school sloppy power steering and manual steering made it feel at least like it was better for driving fast from the feel . No AC roll up windows etc etc so quite lite and with some BF Goodrich tires and being so light it handled good for a car from era . My biggest issue with muscle cars was the weight and handling etc . Today people put new chassis or subframes and brakes etc etc . But my 67 289 was fun to hustle for what it was . I would love a light weight resto mod 67 . I would love any midsize or pony type resto mod . Loved my Barracuda because of the flat floor in back , practicality and although arguably ugly , ugly in a good way and I would like a resto mod of one of those with the rear set up like a bed ;) . Loved the super flat surface in the back . Getting laid in a 67;cougar was always a leg cramp in that back seat ;) .
But a 67 Firebird is the shit .
I'd take em all still till this day!!! Those are gems! Straight up unicorns
The Doug Rippie modified ZR-1's / LT-5 engines didn't receive much publicity- I only heard about them over a decade later but he did some masterful work on this platform. I remember his 440 cu/in engine package putting a smile on my face when I saw the specs & watched a few videos of this rare & powerful performer-
under rated and corked for insurance
I had this tape. Been lookin for it for years. The formula and saleen were my favorites in this video 🤘🤘 I'm a Ford guy. But I'd love to own the lingenfelter personally. Saw it at the world of wheels here in Boston back in 1995. It's a nasty car 🤘🤘
Thanks for posting this. Brings back memories of reading these magazines and getting lost in the stories they told about the car they wrote about. Good times
The good ole days of comparison test with the heavy hitters of customizing.
Dude stayed unbiased to the very end
Hah. This is great. I actually still have this vhs video tucked away in my closet. Bought it brand new in 95.
The viper being 3 mph slower than the Camaro and Mustang!😂😂😂
weight plays a factor
i used to skip lunch and buy road and track magazines once a month for 4 years in highschool lol. i love hearing these guys talk about cars
I've never heard of A Rippie Corvette before. My '02 Camaro SS is fun enough for me. That 'Felter Firebird really made me smile.
That stock ZR1 hitting 178...damn
@robvas stock ZR1 beating the stock AND tuned viper 😂
@@fonz454 ZR-1 is the most underrated car of all time. You can pick one up for less than 40k now, and embarrass similarly priced cars.
Look up the Hagerty video on the ZR1 hosted by Jason Cammisa. Gave me such a huge appreciation for the ZR1.
That was just amazing. God bless the 90's
Man, did the LT5s ever sound great. Maybe the best performance engine ever built.
The production was so cheesy back then. 🤣
But I miss the 90s.
This was a fun video to watch,some nice cars. I have a neighbor that has 2017 Dodge Viper he says has 650 hp. I can't quite wrap my head around why a car needs that much power and why he would pay that much money for a car he hardly ever drives. I've gotten a couple of rides in it over years and it is a mind blowing experience to say the least. 0 to 60 in 3 seconds he claims.
I get why he'd pay the much for a car hardly ever drives. Its like that nice suit that hangs in back of your wardrobe. You only get it out for special occasions and when you get all dressed up you have a smile from ear to ear and feel like million dollars.
"he says" and "he claims" is all backed up by countless articles and easily read dyno numbers. it certainly is one fast car, even with those long gears!
14:09 best part of video. the sound is to die for
LT1 and LT5 dominate
stock Z28 camaro 155... solid performer in my book. LT1 was one of the best in it's day.
I actually think those cars are governed at 155mph. I had a 1996 Z28 six speed. You could tell it would cut power at 155
@@markball7028 Currently own an LT1 Vette. Top speed is somewhere between 168-171, so I'm sure your Camaro was governed.
Basically a stock Firebird stable at 192, amazing.
…I take it you are referring to the stock bodywork
My buddy had an 86 Z51 'vette with the lingenfelter boxed intake 383. He also had a Viper with the 450 HP motor. Told me the 'vette was easily faster through the 1/4 mile than the Viper even after giving up 105 cubic inches.
That's still slower than a 2003 dodge truck with a 5.7 😆
Man I love these modern American Muscles 💪 Dodge Viper my dream car !!
That viper is so nostalgic
Thanks for uploading, fantastic film.
Fun fact the formula is faster than the trans/am 😎💪🏻
When he got in the mustang, everybody put on a helmet.
Wow! I had this VHS and it got damaged in late 96 in my grandmother basement, which got flooded. Thanks for the upload.
Can't believe I'm just now seeing this for the first time! I wasn't aware this was ever available on VHS. I remember this run, though, and I still have the magazine from when this came out. In one of the other tests, Lingenfelter's Bird did a little over 193 MPH.
I was born in 95. This is just great !! They don’t make video the way they use to.
Hey thanks for posting this, I have been looking for it for a long time. Phil Hill, was such a great man.
These cars were boss back in the day.
I remember clear as day when this article came out!
Almost 30 years later ... Amazing
I was 1 years old when this came out, and I already loved cars
it would be cool to see 2004 version with Euro cars added in the mix.. E55, M5, Cobra Stang, CTS-V, etc...
This truly brought a tear to my eye
I loved this era!
Man that firebird threw me for a loop, 192 mph 😀
Golden age of modern muscle cars. Loved it! Thanks for posting.
I miss a lot of things from the 80's and 90's. Horsepower ratings are definitely not one of them though. People actually thought Mustangs and Camaros with smog choked 200hp engines were fast...
@@generalkayoss7347 But that's my point... the early/mid 90's is when all that started to turn around. The LT1 Vette, Camaro, & Trans Am, the Viper, and even the turbo Supras & 300ZXs were just as fast as pre-smog performance cars in the late 60's early 70's. Except they handled better & got better gas mileage.
That unassuming white Camaro rocking along at 170, nice.
I've been looking for this video for a few years. Thanks for the upload
I was looking for this. Just found it's way into my recommendations
I own the 1995 DRM-600 ZR-1 in this video - I still pinch myself. It was the only car driven to the event, and was taken up to 196 mph on I-10 en route to the event. Doug Rippie believes Phil Hill short shifted at 6,000, vs. 7,200, and never achieved the car's true top speed. Disappointed with the result of the event, the ZR-1 was taken up to 198 mph, again on I-10 in West Texas, on the trip home. The second owner, SW, was a close friend and customer of John Lingenfelter. He had the 385ci rebuilt by John to produce 620 hp / 500 tq on motor only. It's an incredible car - with the best of both worlds: Doug Rippie's racing chassis modifications and the fastest 385 ci LT5 John Lingenfelter ever built.
What an amazing story!!! Thank you sir!!!
Very cool story!
3 words for you Road and Track a Ford Company
C4 ZR1 will always be King 🐐
Man I miss my 4th gen Trans Am.
I got the chicken formula lt1
just a cheap Corvette. pointless besides to look cool.
@@y2j1490yahoo but corvettes are so bland and boring looking. It's like they don't put any effort into designing corvettes. That and corvettes are an old man's car.
@@firebird5288 I have never heard anyone call a Corvette boring looking , look at a z06 And try calling it boring. The only people who still like firebirds are over 45. Better handling, faster, way better mpg.
@@y2j1490yahoo Corvette=Boring. The new Z 06 isn't too bad at all, but look how many decades it took to make the Corvette look rad. Every car show I go to, Corvettes rarely get a second glance. They're so painfully bland. I'm not even in my 40's and I'll take a 4th gen Firebird anyday over an overrated Corvette. If you're bashing the bird so much, why do you have/had one?
When 400hp was "full potential" and "impressive" lol. Now I have a 2.3L turbo mustang making 315hp from the factory while getting 28mpg. Technology is awesome
Hard to believe, but the base ecoboost will smoke every stock car here but the viper.
Ewww ecoboost mustang gross
@@MyMotherTheCar Depends on Driver. I can keep up with GTs in my 95 Vette, and have beaten Focus RS's from roller.
I have yet to drive a car that delivers power as instantaneously as the LT1 C4 and I've driven newer, more powerful cars.
@@idontlikecops1 I'd love a gt or V8 Camaro but I can hardly afford the payments on the Ecoboost and no way I could afford V8 gas mileage with gas prices now
@@Itsjamilagain I think you're talking about the older vette's throttle response. It's a cable throttle and the old LT1 is a low rpm grunt so it has a very snappy throttle. All new cars are electronic throttle plus new cars run lots of on the fly calculations to keep emissions and mpg as good as possible so there is a slight delay in throttle response. It's possible to fix that though with a custom tune
Those times are pretty suspect. I can stock SN95 mustangs in the 90's. I had a 94 and a 95. Both trapped over 90 in the 1/4 and both could get very near the 150mph range. I even remember another article in a magazine that had the cheapest cars that could go 150mph and the mustang could with some tape on the front. Over all the 1/4 time for all the cars were pretty substandard
These times are not corrected for altitude and air temp. If it was C&D they would publish density altitude corrected numbers.
What an era! The beginning of the horsepower wars that we have enjoyed for the past 28 years.
Perfect video! I dig it and can relate to every single car here:
Folks had a 01 yellow Mustang GT convertible
I had a 383 stoker Firebird in my cars playlist
Viper is my dream car and have old SuperSnake vid from TNN here, etc!
I owned a 96' Z28 so this was very interesting to watch.
The stock ZR1 was impressive
Still is!
@@Kyle-c7i I got to drive a 2011, it's on UA-cam :)
I believe the FIA world land speed endurance records it set with Morrison Motorsports back in 1990 still stand to this day for a production car
Holy shit! That silver Z/28 running 178mph AND stable as hell with nothing but a roots type charger, intake, headers, exhaust and fuel pump! Oh yeah,and ignition, but all that put it right at an even 400hp, which almost every sports car owner would scoff at today when those numbers are actually pretty damned impressive! I GUARANTEE I could scare the holy shit out of a lot of average sports car owners in the little 400hp Z/28....
Just an observation, no side mirrors on the Lingenfelter or Saleen, Ah the good ol days🥲
Yeah ...kinda a cheap move IMO ...i mean 99.9% of potential owners/buyers would've keep mirrors on their cars. I mean its almost like pulling all the glass out and replacing with fixed light weight composite b4 testing.
It’s amazing my stock diesel Golf is almost as fast as a Mustang used to be 20 years ago.
Phil Hill was an awesome guy…..still to this day the only American born F1 world champion.
I can only imagine how much one of those firebirds would sell for now. Had no clue they made. Lingenfelter model for that year. Prob of one the rarest cars I've never heard of.
Wasn’t offered through Pontiac. You bought a firebird and then send it to Lingenfelter in Indiana and modified it as much as your wallet would allow.
@@Kyle-c7i had no clue they offered it in the firebird. Thats awesome. I've only seen 1 lingenfelfter c6 corvette in person. Such amazing cars
C4 had great aero. Mine would start sitting down past about 80 and the faster past that the more stable it felt. Complete opposite of most other cars I’ve driven. The major downside was poor rigidity, which became almost laughable with the targa off. LT4 engine was plenty and had same characteristics as the first LS. Would have loved a go in the LT5 ZR1!