Let’s go racing! Our dragstrip showdown today is between a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport and a 1971 Buick Gran Sport 455. Remember, this is a Pure Stock Drag Race, Factory Appearing Stock Tires. The cars are allowed only minor variations from stock equipment. Let’s take a look at our competitors.
1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport
Our first car is the 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport. It is equipped with the L78 396 cubic-inch Big Block V8 rated at 375 horsepower and a stump-pulling 415 pound-feet of torque. Getting that power to the ground is a four-speed manual transmission and a 4.10 rear gear. With its driver, the Chevelle SS tips the scales at 3,885 pounds. Of the 63,000 Chevelle Super Sports produced in 1967, only 612 had the L78 396. In 1967, Motor Trend tested a Chevelle SS equipped with the L78 396, a four-speed, and 3.73 rear gears, and managed to lay down a 0-60 mph time of 6.5 seconds and a 14.9-second quarter mile at 96.5 mph.
1971 Buick Gran Sport 455
Our other racer is a 1971 Buick Gran Sport with a 455 cubic-inch V8, rated at 315 horsepower and an asphalt-rippling 450 pound-feet of torque. It is equipped with a three-speed automatic transmission and 3.73 gearing. The Buick GS with driver comes in 3,754 pounds, giving the Buick a 131-pound weight advantage. There were 8,268 Gran Sport coupes built in 1971.
Let’s see how it all turned out when the dust settled!
First Race
The Chevelle SS had some sort of issue coming off the line, so both cars did a slow pass. The Gran Sport clocked a 15.34-second run at 83.61 miles per hour, and the Chevelle SS did a leisurely 24.77-second stroll down the track at 44.79 miles per hour. Clearly, this was not the Chevelle’s best effort. WINNER: Buick GS.
Second Race
The Chevelle SS got a MUCH better start this time, and laid down a smoking fast 12.88-second time at 110.24 against the Buick’s 15.55 at 83.79 mph. Winner: Chevelle SS.
Third Race
The final pass was a much better competition, as the Chevelle SS managed a 12.91-second pass at 109.10 mph versus the Buick’s pass of 13.03 at 104.62 mph. WINNER: Chevelle SS.
You can check out all the action in this video from Cars and Zebras.
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Comments
67 Chevelle baby!! 😍🤪
I did own a 67 Chevelle with a 4 speed transmission and a full bench seat. I heard that the full front bench seat was a rare item 67. It had a 396 with a 375 solid lift cam. It to had a 410 positive traction. It run in the low 13’s with street tires. I was happy with it, idiots like to steal them back then.
Not a fair fight … put a 4 speed in the Buick and say Bye bye to the Chevy …
Not fair on the rear end either , unless you do a 5 mile race … then again the Buick will win with that 373 gears ….