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BACKFIRE
Letter of the Month: CJ Memories
I enjoyed the article on the ’70 Cyclone 429 SCJ (“The Muscle Mercury,” HMM #221). I had a ’70 Torino 429 CJ with P/S, P/B, A/C, and C6 automatic. My father ordered the car new from Metz Ford in Farmington, Illinois, in March of 1970. He had always been a Galaxie 500 man with 390 four-barrel engines in a ’61, ’64, and ’67. He really liked the new Torino body and told me he wanted the biggest engine he could get with A/C and an automatic. Being 15 years old, and well-informed with the car magazines, I said, “Dad, I can fix you up.” It reminds me of Jay Leno’s father letting him pick the engine in their new 1966 Galaxie.
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Ours was red with a laser stripe and the shaker scoop option. The car was a 144-mph animal, as certified by the Illinois State Police. Dad was driving at the time; he knew the policeman and it was reduced to 96 in a 75 zone. I still remember the look on the Illinois state driving instructor’s face when we walked out to the Torino for the exam to get my first driver’s license in 1971 (I passed). Come to think of it, that wasn’t the only first in that car, but that’s another story for another time.
I inherited the car in 1980, did some bodywork and a repaint, but having no indoor storage for the next few years, mother nature claimed it again. The car was sold to a fellow who wanted the drivetrain for a Cobra kit car in 1998. It seemed like a fitting end for the rest of the chassis. Keep up the good work at Hemmings— it’s one of the best magazines still in print.
Mike White,
East Peoria, Illinois
Mr. Moody’s 1968 Barracuda (“Reborn to Race,” HMM #221) is a sleeper. Looks “stock as a stove,” but my whiz-bang power-speed calculator tells a different tale. Rhett’s blast down Maryland International Speedway at 11.76 seconds at 116 mph shows that ya don’t wanna mess with this ’Cuda. I calculate 371 rear-wheel horsepower and 412 hp at the flywheel, if the car weights 3,400 pounds with driver. Nice car and great build! Hemis beware!
Wayne Wolfe
Atlanta, Georgia REAL MUSCLE
“I’d buy that for a dollar!” is one of the best stories I’ve ever read in HMM (February 2022, #222). Sometimes I’ve been disappointed with an issue because no real muscle machines are covered. I’ve thought about not reupping my subscription, but then an issue like this arrives and it takes my 77 years of loving muscle cars into happy land again!
I owned a 1962 Impala SS, convertible with the 409/409, 4.56 Posi rear, and four-speed that one of my cousins special-ordered. He died in January 1965, and I bought it from his parents. I had also owned a 1963 Chevy Impala, 327/300-hp four-speed with Posi, and a 1966 Buick Skylark 401/325-hp three-speed on the floor. But in 1964, I’d never heard of a Fairlane 500 Thunderbolt. If I’d known of that car, I think I’d have tried to own one in 1964! Congratulations, Milo, for your exceptional life of racing.
R. Peede
Raiford, Florida MARAUDER MEMORIES
The Marauder you featured in the March issue (HMM #223) is, to me, the most beautiful NASCAR racer ever. As a recent high school graduate in 1963, I was blown away by that car, and even had the privilege of meeting Joe Weatherly at Nelson Mercury in Columbia, South Carolina. A few years later I visited Bud Moore’s shop in Spartanburg. My first impression was noticing how clean his shop was. Both men were kind enough to listen and answer my dumb questions. I love that car and many times would drive to Darlington from Columbia to see it and the many other race cars and the race memorabilia. That 427 had a unique sound that would give you chills. What a thrill to open my March issue and see her in all her glory.
Thank you for allowing me to see that car again.
David Tate
Via email
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