Today's the final day of the second round of March Muscle Car Madness. Wednesday's outcomes were like that scene in A Clockwork Orange when the main character gets his ass kicked by a gang of old guys.
Now we've got a new crop of fights — let's see who gets to be the last group to break through to next week's Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight match-ups.
Wednesday was triumph of age over youth, at least in three of the four matches, and in the one where the newer car won, they were both geezers, anyway.
Here's how it breaks down: 1970 Marcury Cougar barely won for the Zombies by 51.9%, the Rod Ragers picked the 1970 Buick GSX decisively (70.5%), the '68 Goat took the Classics (62%), and the Denny's-menu-sounding Superbird, of 1970 vintage, won the Drag Queens with 65.7%.
Today, we're closing out round two with some exciting battles. Here they are:
Zombies: 1970 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler vs. 1968 Old Cutlass 442. This one has an icon up against a relative unkonwn. The Spoiler, named because of a flaw in its design that caused it to give away the ends of movies, was based on the Torino but actually got its own distinct body, unusual for a Mercury. Under the hood was Ford's potent 429 motor making a respectable 370 HP. The Olds was famously raced in the 1969 Baja 1000 by James Garner, so that says all you might need to know right there.
Rod Rage: 2002 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am vs. 1985 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. 2002 was the last year of the Firebird Trans Am (did you know they paid $5/car to the SCCA for use of the name?) and it went out on a high note, making 325 hp and getting to a mile-a-minute in 4.7 seconds. The Reagan-era Monte Carlo was an interesting aero-tarted up take on an aging platform, but even in SS guise with some handling upgrades and a 5L V8, it only made 180 HP. Same as a 2002 Turbo New Beetle. I don't think we'll be seeing Monte next round.
Classics:1966 Shelby Cobra GT350 vs. 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee. Wow, this one's rough. The Shelby is, well, sort of the Shelby, and is a legend. The Super Bee is no slouch, 335 horse-bees and a great logo to complement a solid classic look. Yes, it's a likely win for the Shelby, but at least it's almost a fair fight.
Drag Queens: 1972 Ford Mustang Mach 1 vs. 1968 Dodge Hemi Dart. Now this is a good matchup. Lots of folks deride the bigger '71 and up Mach 1 body, but, after much consideration, I think I like it better than the earlier one. It's huge and ponderous, sure, but it has massive presence. It's like a huge bouncer at a club, oozing gobs of implied mayhem. With Ford's 429 making a horse per day of the year, it could move, too. The Hemi Dart is something special, though— only 50 made by Hurst for drag racing, these are among the fastest production cars made. They weren't even really made to be general transportation– which could be a plus or minus here.
Oh, and sorry about the wrong year on yesterday's Shelby — it should have been 2009, like on the brackets. Okay! Let's vote!
UPDATE:Polls fixed! Sorry for the delay! Now, vote for realz.
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