Battle of the Big Blocks! 440 Barracuda vs. 396 Camaro vs. 428 Mustang
[This story first appeared in the premier issue of MotorTrend Classic in 2005] If H.G. Wells Enterprises Inc. advertised time-machine test-drives tomorrow, it'd be tempting to hop in and twist the dial back 35 years to the end of the golden age of horsepower. In 1970, the trend lines charting engine power, torque, and cubic-inch displacement were reaching their zenith. Gas prices were still down in the 30¢ range, and the first Earth Day wouldn't be held until April 22 of that year. Government regulators had yet to turn their magnifying glasses on the automobile, so mandatory smog and safety gear accounted for less than one percent of the $3800 spent on the average new car. And most of the cars Americans bought were designed and engineered in the industrial heartland around Detroit.
Carefree twenty-somethings composed the widest slice of the driving-age population (over 20 percent) in 1970, and a long hood stuffed full of go-fast engine, a short deck with weekend-for-two trunk space, and a back seat used primarily to reduce insurance rates appealed to them most. Ford pioneered this formula with the Mustang, and by 1970 every competitor offered a variation on that popular pony theme.
The idea of putting full-size engines in midsize cars in the early 1960s had long since led to the even better notion of jamming jumbo motors into even smaller ponycars, which resulted in a dizzying array of powertrain options. In 1970, each of the leading contenders-Ford's Mustang, Chevy's Camaro, and Plymouth's Barracuda-offered at least nine regular production engines. A price-leading straight-six or two headed a long list of V-8s sized and carbureted to fit any budget or racing formula.
While the Big Three sent their intermediate-size musclecars out to battle one another in NASCAR, the ponies faced off in the Trans-Am road-racing series. SCCA's displacement ceiling for the series was 5.0 liters, and each pony offered such an engine: Ford had the Boss 302, Chevy the Z/28, and Plymouth the AAR (a triple-carbureted 340 for the street, but a racing crank de-stroked it to 303.8 cubes). All three were conservatively-and perhaps conspiratorially-rated at 290 horses.
These lighter small-blocks powered the best-handling ponies, but cornering prowess and braking balance didn't concern most customers. Many simply wanted to vaporize their rear tire treads at every stoplight and thunder down a quarter-mile dragstrip on the weekends. For that duty cycle, only a big-block will do.
An ultra-exotic headline-grabber topped each company's engine range. Rated at 425 horses, Chevy's all-aluminum 427-cubic-inch ZL-1 could only be special ordered by certain dealers supporting drag-racing teams. The option price? An eye-watering $4160! An iron L72 427, good for 400 horsepower and priced at $489, also had to be special-ordered. Plymouth offered its awesome 425-horse Street Hemi 426 to anyone willing to lay out $871 for it. Ford's Boss 429 was a NASCAR homologation engine rated at 'only' 375 horsepower. The option cost $1208, but Ford reportedly lost money on every car.
The big-block ponies gathered for this time-warp cruise-in stand one rung down on the power and affordability ladder. Our Camaro SS396, tuned for 375 horses and 415 pound-feet and priced at an affordable $316, runs the L78 engine option. (An aluminum-head version of this engine with the same output rating was available for a whopping $711.) The 1970 Mustang Mach I packs a reliable and under stressed 428 Cobra Jet engine, complete with shaker ram-air hood scoop. Rated at 335 horses and 440 pound-feet, it added $376 to the original sticker. And this bad-in-black 'Cuda boasts a 440-cubic-inch wedge motor topped with three two-barrel Holley carbs, good for 390 horses and 490 pound feet-a steal at just $250 in the day. The flashing lights and smoke have subsided; let's open the time-machine and step out into 1970.
Six years after Ford started the ponycar craze, the segment had burgeoned to more than a half-million cars per year, and the Mustang was still the best seller. While the basic proportions and design language remained familiar, the original pony gained inches and pounds with each restyle. Nevertheless, reviewers in the day praised the small-block Mustangs for their nimble handling and strong, assured brakes. The big-blocks drew criticism for packing almost 60 percent of their weight over the front axle-far from ideal in a rear-drive car, even if its pilot only wants to blast straight down a dragstrip. Most tests of the high-output models noted the impossibility of applying full throttle at all in first gear without smoking the rear tires.
Our bright yellow Mach I arrived with only a couple hundred miles on a fresh mechanical restoration, and its drivetrain felt solid and tight. Shifts were executed quickly and with authority, though the C6 automatic seemed loath to kick down-not that an engine with 440 pound-feet of torque on tap needs to change ratios all that often. A deep and vocal basso rumbles from the exhaust the instant the 428 fires and the hood scoop starts quivering. It's borderline unpleasant at idle, but as revs build it sounds as mellow as Paul Robeson singing "Old Man River." It's the most relaxed engine of the three, never straining at the leash as the other cars do.
The competition suspension feels a tad stiff-legged, with a bit more front roll control than might be ideal. Overboosted power steering squelches every last scintilla of data coming from the road, but then the news probably wasn't all that good anyway-especially as transmitted by the original bias-ply tires (radials have mercifully been retrofitted). Ford's power brakes, by contrast, offer great pedal feel and straight, reassuring stops.
This fully loaded Mach I's two-tone interior with white woven-vinyl seats, black dash, and faux-teak wood accents is by far the dressiest and most comfortable of the three. For owners like Mary Treat, who want vintage cool in a strong, easygoing driver, the Mach I 428 Cobra Jet delivers.
GM stood smugly by in 1964, expecting Ford's Mustang to fall flat on its face. When it didn't, the General scrambled to build a competitor. Chevrolet introduced the Camaro in 1967 and gave it a makeover for 1969-a model year that lasted for 18 months while awaiting the delayed launch of the all-new 1970 Camaro.
Chevy rolled out a broad array of engines, each of which trumped its closest Ford counterpart-especially the state-of-the-art 396 (see sidebar). The press expected great things from the lithe Camaro, but many reviewers came away disappointed. We decried the handling as unpredictable, with understeer that transitioned to snap oversteer with minimal warning. The similarly overboosted power steering required constant correction in turns, and on one test car the optional front-disk power brakes pulled to the right. Even the shapeless bucket seats were criticized. An SS350 tied for dead last in a five-way MotorTrend test in March 1969 and another magazine ranked a 1968 SS396 fifth out of six, citing an out-of-tune test sample.
Maybe the press fleet cars were poorly prepped. We borrowed this freshly restored Olympic Gold SS396 from Corvette Mike's of Anaheim, California. Slipping behind the delicate, thin-rimmed steering wheel, we had to agree with our predecessor-the bucket seat's backrest angle is not adjustable and is set too far reclined. But one twist of the ignition, and the L78 bursts to life with a lumpy idle that suggests big cam overlap. Drop it into "Drive," and it lunges forward, ready to rumble. Stick your foot deep in it, and you might be surprised to find that for such a big engine, it's a breather that needs to rev. The stated power peak is at 5600 rpm, but if left in °D,° the TurboHydramatic shifts up well before that, meaning that for serious dragstrip work the tranny must be shifted manually at the 5700-rpm yellow line. Working the funky basket-handle shifter requires patience, practice-or both.
Still, just tooling around with the windows open in this brute is a treat for all the senses-a whiff of hot oil and incomplete combustion for the olfactory, the baritone wail of an open four-barrel for the ears, and the look and feel of a padded and plastiwood-paneled GM interior hark to that simpler pre-Watergate, pre-Beatles-breakup era.
Plymouth knew the Mustang was coming and beat it to market by a couple weeks with the Barracuda, a two-door Valiant with a fastback greenhouse grafted on. The fact that we call these cars 'ponies' not 'fish,' speaks to the splash that the 'Cuda made with the public. Plymouth's second try in 1967 looked the part, but its biggest engine option was an outclassed 383 that couldn't be had with power steering until 1969. The third restyle was the charm in 1970, bringing an aggressive, muscular interpretation of the cab-rear look using the wider firewall and front frame-rails of the B-cars (Belvedere/Road Runner) to ensure that any and all Mopar engines would fit comfortably.
In May 1970, we sampled three 'Cudas (as the high-performance variants were then officially badged) a 340, a 440-6, and a Street Hemi. Our reviewer fell for the lighter 340, was mildly bemused by the mighty Hemi, and had nothing but vitriol for the heavy-handed 440-6's manual steering and four-speed stick. He might've been driving this very car, but what a difference 35 years makes. Today, those are the car's two most endearing features.
You have to work the steering wheel (5.3 turns lock-to-lock), but the effort isn't excessive, and the 'Cuda's helm suffered way less freeplay on center than the others. Similarly, the pistol-grip shifter moved with an unexpected level of precision. Reverse is tricky to find, but a lamp on the dash illuminates when you get there.
If the Ford and Chevy engines felt strong and brutish, this one's a chariot hitched to 390 Clydesdales. The sound and thrust unleashed when the fore and aft Holley carbs open up will get you laughing. Without tubbing the rear wheel wells and fitting gigantic drag slicks, the 440-6 and Hemi are traction-limited at launch (especially on their original F70-14 bias-ply tires), so they run neck-and-neck to about 70 mph. By the quarter mile, the Hemi opens up a two-mph, 0.4-second lead-thin bragging rights to justify what is now a huge price difference.
The 1970 'Cuda was arguably Plymouth's best pony ever, and yet the Mustang and Camaro each outsold it four to one. So, today, 'Cudas are far more rare at cruise nights and car shows. Maybe that's why this car feels extra special.
If the time machine broke, forcing a choice of one of these three ponies to drive back to 2005 in, the 'Cuda would be the knee-jerk first choice as the fastest and (to these eyes) best-looking of the bunch. Then again, it's a long drive, which would tend to suggest the more comfortable and better-appointed Cobra Jet Mustang. Of course, none of this matters-for 35 years, anyone with enough interest in ponycars to pick up a magazine covering the subject probably arrived at paragraph one harboring a fierce allegiance to one of the brands. 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Cobra Jet 428
Our Take
Then: We think [the 428CJ] engine is too big and heavy for these cars to handle as well as they should. For sheer power, yes. For handling, no. -Bill Sanders, MT, March 1969
Now: The Cobra Jet 428 is a kinder, gentler, less-extreme big-block that delivers its wallop of torque without all the rumble and vibration of its more high-strung competitors.
Ask the Woman Who Owns One
Mary Treat and her husband Jay bought this rare steed in pieces while finishing their graduate bio-chem degrees at Texas A&M. They restored the interior and repainted the body in yellow, Mary's favorite color. It's just reemerged from a 14-month professional mechanical restoration.
Why I Like It: 'The first time I saw a Mustang, I was a Camp Fire Girl. I rode in our leader's light-yellow 1966 convertible, and I just thought that was such a cool car. I love this one because it's so unique-big, fast, and a real head-turner.'
Why It's Collectible: 1970 was the end of the line for the early-style Mustangs and for Ford's factory Trans-Am racing effort, making it a popular year. Just under 3500 428s were sold, and few were as fully optioned as this one.
Restoring/Maintaining: Mustang parts are widely available from multiple sources, and many rare items are being remanufactured. Rare option parts are not cheap, but can be found. Beware of oiling problems with the 428 on engines that haven't been rebuilt or had their oil-pump orifice enlarged.
Expect To Pay: Concours ready: $39,600; solid driver: $22,000; tired runner: $9000
Join The Club: Mustang Club of America (www.mustang.org); Mustang 428 Cobra Jet Registry (www.428cobrajet.org) 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396
Our Take
Then: We thought for sure the Camaro was going to chew up all those mean corners on the road course, but it bit off more than it could chew.Handling response was quite unpredictable. -Bill Sanders, MT March, 1969
Now: We know better than to expect Trans-Am race-car handling from any ponycar today, and in any straight-line dash long enough to redline this deep breather in three gears, the SS396 satisfies.
Ask the Man Who Owns One
Mike Vietro has spent 23 years building an empire, Corvette Mike's (corvettemike.com; 800/327-VETT), selling and servicing new and used Corvettes, hot rods, classics, and musclecars and marketing a line of performance parts.
Why It's Collectible: 1969 stands as the year with the broadest array of high-performance engine options, of which the L78 396 is perhaps the most accessible and livable.
Restoring/Maintaining: Camaros sold well in the extended 1969 model year, and almost 5000 L78s were built, so parts are available. Solid-lifter engines tend to require frequent tuning to run properly. Beware of authenticity-the value is in the engine, so check for matching numbers, and verify engine condition with a compression check.
Expect To Pay: Concours ready: $51,000; solid driver: $29,150; tired runner: $8625
Join The Club: American Camaro Club (www.americancamaro.org); Worldwide Camaro Club (www.worldwidecamaro.com) 1970 Plymouth Barracuda
Our Take
Then: Ah, the 440-6. One trip around the block is better than a week at Vic Tanny's. Giving the steering a close race, however is the "Excalibur sword-in-stone shift linkage (only King Arthur can get it into second). -A.B. Shuman, MT, May 1970
Now: Yesterday's high effort is today's road feel. Too few people took advantage of the 'Cuda 440-6, a musclecar bargain in 1970. The 'Cudas are expensive now and appreciating fast.
Ask the Man Who Owns One
John Laforme owned a rusty 340 Barracuda when he was 19, and he always wanted a decent one. He found this numbers-matching car in the background of a photo advertising a 440-6 clone and talked the owner into selling it.
Why I Like It: "Because of the style of the body, the aggressive look of the grille, I just love the car for that. The horsepower is great, but you can always add horsepower."
Why It's Collectible: The Barracuda 440-6 was the meanest of the mainstream big-block musclecars, and yet Barracuda sales totaled less than 20,000.
Restoring/Maintaining: Most of the parts are readily available, including six-pack carburetor setups, though they're not necessarily cheap-an unused inflate-a-spare runs over $500. Beware of sticking carburetor floats in cars that sit for too long. Rattles, squeaks, and loose trim items also are common.
Expect To Pay: Concours ready: $104,500; solid driver: $55,000; tired runner: $17,000
Join The Club: Walter P. Chrysler Club (chryslerclub.org)
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