On 5/26/2011 10:51 PM, Robert Green wrote:
(snip) Before the Riviera and the Jag was a 71 Ford LTD
ex-state trooper car. Humongous engine, incredible torque but likely to set
sail at really high speeds because of its very boxy design and high
undercarriage. Prodigious understeer, too. A whopping 7 miles to the
gallon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_LTD_(Americas)

It's "sweet spot" was the ability to catch up quickly with almost anything
that shot past you. Accelerating from 55 to 85 was like having a rocket
assist. But at about 90, it started to lift. With the window cracked the
whoosh kept getting louder and louder until you got to a little over 90.
Then it was clear something had changed aerodynamically - as if I were
passing the sound barrier. (-" That car was very high off the ground and as
enough air got rammed under the chassis the handling became terribly
squirrelly. Squirrelly is NOT what you want at 90+ mph.

--
Bobby G.



Chuckle. For a couple years, as a young immortal kid, I had a 71 ford
full-size wagon, but it only had the 400, not the cop 429. I think it
got maybe 14mpg driven gently on the interstate. But it was still pretty
fast in a straight line. Never did manage to peg the speedo during the
middle-of-the-night interstate banzai runs, but I know I had it north of
110 a couple times. With more road, it might have made it, but even with
stiff shocks and performance tires, it was scary-twitchy by then.

With all the stupid stuff I did with cars back then, it is amazing that
I am still alive, have all my appendages, and never got arrested. Some
of the crowd I ran with back them were not so lucky. I'm a pretty
boring driver now, and drive less in a year than I used to drive in a
month. Of course, with current gas prices, aimless cruising is no
longer a viable option, even in little 4-banger Honda. The only way to
get that thing over 100 would be to drive it off a tall cliff. But for
25mpg in town and 32 on highway, I can live with it.

--
aem sends...