72 455 Trans-Am running 12.0's bone stock?
 

Some guy I know was asking me what my car runs(told him 11's NA) and then precedes to tell me that cars should be a lot faster than that now a days(thinking that my 11 Z28 is stock and the norm?) and that he bought a 72 455 H.O. Trans-Am and that is ran bone stock to the tires that came with it a 12.0 stock.

I told him I might believe mid-high 13's at best, but 12.0's is a wish and he must have read the wrong side of the time slip. I bet he bought the car and was told it ran 12.0's but never ran it to verify.

Some special version that can run 12.0's stock?

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1996 Z28 Camaro
2001 best 1/4 BFG DR's NA - 11.865@113.57 w/1.634 60', 1/8 - 7.563@89.82mph Best 1/4 MPH 114.82 - Best 1/8 MPH 90.73 - 2002 Mid 11's NA, Mid 10's n2o

1989 GMC 1500 truck for work 18.1@73 305
8 cats to feed clean after 1999 V6 Mustang 5 speed
15.358@89.47 MPH w/ 2.227 60'
15.364@90.92 MPH w/ 2.383 60'

Maybe the dragstrip he was at is only 500 feet and then a cliff? There's no way a 72 455 HO was running 12.0 bone stock on stock tires. That was a fast car in its day, but your mid-high 13s estimate is much more in the ball park. Hemi Cudas and GS 455 Stage 1s (arguably the fastest cars of the original musclecar era) can't run a 12.0 bone stock.

he was running the 1/8th mile...

either that, or he actually bought the car used, and the previous owner told him the car was "stock".

I don't think it would even be possible - built engine or not - to run 12's on the stock tires. Back in '72 they didn't run tires that would be considered wide by todays standards, and tread/rubber technology was, well... let's just say it was 30 years ago!

I was thinking the 1/8 at first, but I am sure it would run much better than 12.0's in the 1/8, more like in the 9's.

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1996 Z28 Camaro
2001 best 1/4 BFG DR's NA - 11.865@113.57 w/1.634 60', 1/8 - 7.563@89.82mph Best 1/4 MPH 114.82 - Best 1/8 MPH 90.73 - 2002 Mid 11's NA, Mid 10's n2o

1989 GMC 1500 truck for work 18.1@73 305
8 cats to feed clean after 1999 V6 Mustang 5 speed
15.358@89.47 MPH w/ 2.227 60'
15.364@90.92 MPH w/ 2.383 60'

Those would not be the fastest cars of the muscle era ... the Baldwin Motion Camaros were guaranteed to run 11s from Motion Camaro, or else you could take it back and they would make it so! Wish you could do that now.... "Hey Joe Chevy Dealer, my car aint fast enough, fix it for me, and do it free!"

That would be sweet.

The GS455 Stage 1s ran into the 11s bone stock! Maybe low 12s on a bad day. But, NO WAY is that T/A runs 12.0 stock.

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78 Trans Am
Headman Headers, Dual Chamber Flowmasters, and lots more to come!

Maybe they clocked it using a Timex...

Seriously, I'd love to have one of those cars, but I feel sure that they did no better than mid 13s-to-low 14s. Seems like I have seen the times in an old article somewhere, and I think I would remember a stock T/A running a 12.0 ET. Maybe high 12s with slicks, headers and very fine tuning. I think the BS flag definitely goes up on this guy (or whoever he got his information from). He's probably one of those guys who can't stand hearing about a late-model running good times.

Bill B.

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'69 Camaro SS396 with '81 305:
stock except for Performer intake, 600 Holley vacuum (modded), Perf. Dist. HEI, 1-5/8" headers & 2-1/2" exhaust/turbo mufflers,
beefed TH 400 tranny with 11" street convertor & B&M Quicksilver
3.08 posi 12-bolt
P235/45/17 and P275/40/17 Kuhmos on 8x17 Wheel Vintiques rallys
H.O. Racing front coils, Flex-a-Form fiberglass leafs, Herb Adams VSE body bushings and frt. sway bar, '79 T/A P/S box, power disc front brakes w/metallic pads

I call bigtime BS. For one thing, TAs did not make big power, they weighed alot, and the wheels/tires back then were RIDICULOUS.

With work there were 12 second cars back then, but generally weight, wheels/tires, and not that much power (per cube) kept them down. Serious cars back then put out one HP per cube, like the 425 HP 427s, the Hemis, etc

You ran into a retard, as came stock from the showroom floor or with better tires, I dont see 12 flat.

The Baldwin Motion Camaros ran 11's with slicks. Low 13's @119-120 MPH with street tires.

The guy is just misinformed badly.

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1996 Z28 Camaro
2001 best 1/4 BFG DR's NA - 11.865@113.57 w/1.634 60', 1/8 - 7.563@89.82mph Best 1/4 MPH 114.82 - Best 1/8 MPH 90.73 - 2002 Mid 11's NA, Mid 10's n2o

1989 GMC 1500 truck for work 18.1@73 305
8 cats to feed clean after 1999 V6 Mustang 5 speed
15.358@89.47 MPH w/ 2.227 60'
15.364@90.92 MPH w/ 2.383 60'

I guess I should have made myself more clear, I was referring to factory stock - which the Baldwin Motion cars certainly were not. It would be like comparing a Lingenfelter Vette to a stocker today.

I don't think there was ANY production car from 1972 that could have run an 11 off the showroom floor. Not a Ferrarri, a Porsche, a Lamborghini, nothing.

12.0s? Maybe running down a mineshaft with a strong tailwind.

I seem to remember the 69 ZL1 Vette (only 2 sold) running a low or maybe even flat 12 with slicks, but not a TA http://web.camaross.com/bb/biggrin.gif

the best i ever ran with my 74 455SD was low 13s and it is all stock.

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74 T/A 455 SD
77 T/A 6.6
85 T/A 5.0 H.O

the zl1's ran faster then 12s on slick...try low 11's high 10s..and the (2 off run) was the corvette, 69 of the zl1 camaros were produced...hotrod did a run on the 69 zl1 camaro and got it into the 10s on slicks

You sure about that. I do remember a limited production of Baldwin Wallace Phase III Camaro's running 11.4's@119 MPH with slicks, low 13's@119 MPH with street tires.

I thought those cars were even badder than the ZL1's?

The guarantee on the Baldwin/Motion cars was 11.5 or it's fixed or refunded. (none were). Most ran quicker. This was done using slicks of course.

"Street tires" is a cloudy issue. The regular stock tires back then did suck, but some cars came stock with L60 bias ply tires that could hook up relatively well. Also if you had a 4.56 or 4.88 gear and bought gas every day (or 2 or 3 times even), you really didn't care.

Even still, as the 74 SD guy mentioned, that's what most stock cars ran. In the 13's at best. 14's would be typical. With some tweaking, slicks a person not afraid to beat the piss out of the car and a car ordered for acceleration, you could get your car into the 12's.

Most people with a car that runs 14's thinks he's actually running in the 11's or 12's. Until they get a sanity check on the drag strip.