Re: [FWDLK] WHY DIDN'T THEY RUN 1/4 MILE IN 1ST & 2ND.????????

The stick shift gearbox may have been a heavier type of transmission in 1958 because it was fitted to a 350 Golden Commando engine and not a 318 engine? ( in the test you are quoting with the 15.5 second 1/4 mile.) I am not 100% sure about the transmission differences, because although I know, as a rule of thumb, sticks are suppose to be faster then automatic. However that does not hold true with the torqueflight transmission with the same rear end ratio as the stick shift car. I would find it more interesting to see what the difference would be in all three gears ratios comparing the stick shifts to the automatics!!!!!!! Magazine road tests are not that reliable, the guys that do them in most cases only had the cars for the weekend and did not know hardly anything about the drag strip, starting techniques , lane choice, shift points. etc,etc,etc. A pro or even a semipro driver can knock more than a 1/2 second of the time in the quarter mile over a man off the street. Then after the pro drives it though the 1/4 mile a few times he tweaks the engine a little and gets another 1/4 to 1/2 second lower 1/4 mile elapse time. Remember these guys that are road testing these cars for magazines are WRITERS, THAT WENT TO COLLEGE TO LEARN THEIR TRADE and they are good at it. However you would never dream of asking your doctor to wire your home or asking your electrician to operate on you. I will not even go into the fact that most of the time these road test cars are brand new and the engines and transmission are so tight and that alone can slow them down. Danny Ames and Arnie Beswick were super pros that knew their trade and did their homework. In closing let me say, No matter what you do for a living -------there is no learning substitute for experience!!!!!!" (and that is why it would be hard for them to replace you where you work every day.)