Thread: FE Camaro ???

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I wonder if the Ford guys would buy a Mustang with a 396??? If the answer is no, then you understand why a Camaro with a 428 would be undesireable to most Camaro buyers.

As far as the street rods, I am not as old as some enthusiasts, but things were different in the early "post flathead" days. The "littleblock" Chevy was like the flathead in one sense....racers developed parts for it, and they sold in big numbers, so costs came down. I think the saying back then was that speed parts were always made for the Chevy first.

The fifties Ford and Chrysler engines(other than the Hemi) were not very good as a basis for horsepower. Ford finally put a blower on the 312 to PUSH the air through it! The Hemi was mostly developed for use with blowers for all out racing, and Studebaker never really broke into the market.

Rodders were not as "brand loyal", prior to the sixties muscle car wars, so they built what was less expensive to hop up like the Chevy. Other popular choices were bigger inch motors (over 300 inches), like Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and maybe the Buick.

It's only today that the Ford guys are putting Ford power into more rods, but the brand loyalty and current availability of good power and reliability make that popular now.