Were 1980s cars really that bad?

[novadude]

Originally Posted by Lynn

Computer controlled carbs? What a joke.

A CCC Q-jet worked very well and required minimal maintenance. The "dancing needle" concept they incorporated was pretty ingenious, given the technology of the time (in development in the late 1970s, released in 1980-1981).

It's easy to bash the 1980s cars looking through a 2017 window, but many of the 60s muscle cars weren't all that great either.

Don't forget that the 325hp 396 was a slug with the little 198 deg @ 0.050 cam and .398 lift, stock, as-delivered 302 Camaros weren't exactly fast, etc. The 1984 HO 305 in the ad above could give either one of these cars a good run. A '79 Z28 responds to typical heads / cam / exhaust bolt-ons just like the 2 examples above.

[Lynn]

Originally Posted by novadude

A CCC Q-jet worked very well and required minimal maintenance. The "dancing needle" concept they incorporated was pretty ingenious, given the technology of the time (in development in the late 1970s, released in 1980-1981).

It's easy to bash the 1980s cars looking through a 2017 window, but many of the 60s muscle cars weren't all that great either.

Don't forget that the 325hp 396 was a slug with the little 198 deg @ 0.050 cam and .398 lift, stock, as-delivered 302 Camaros weren't exactly fast, etc. The 1984 HO 305 in the ad above could give either one of these cars a good run. A '79 Z28 responds to typical heads / cam / exhaust bolt-ons just like the 2 examples above.

We may just have to agree to disagree on that. Yes, the dancing needle was ingenious, and it worked well... for about 18 months. The it turned to crap. I owned a small four bay independent shop in the 80's. I rebuilt one or two A DAY for several years. Most shops at the time wouldn't touch them. I don't understand why they didn't just bite the bullet and go to computer controlled fuel injection. The cost difference wasn't that huge. The computer (first c in ccc) was the biggest cost involved. They were just clinging to the old technology

You are absolutley correct about late 70's Z and espcially into the 80's. No doubt, they could keep up with most of the 60's muscle as delivered with bias ply tires.