[VIDEO] 1970 Olds Cutlass Pace Car Takes on a 1974 Corvette in a Pure Stock Drag Race

The “Old Timers” may take a little longer to get the job done, but don’t they look sharp going down the drag strip?

The funny guys at the Cars and Zebras channel on YouTube recently shared these drag races between a couple of unlikely “old geezers” – a 1974 Corvette and a super rare 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Pace Car.

The two vintage cars squared off in a Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race series event that pits muscle cars from 1955 to 1979.

In case you’ve never seen a Cutlass Pace Car from 1970, that’s not surprising. Only 358 of them were built by GM for the Indy 500 that year, and this is one of only about 60 to sport a 350 V8 engine that makes 310 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque. The other roughly 300 cars had the more powerful 455 engine under the hood.

These Cutlasses have aged gracefully, in our opinion, and their white paint with dual black racing stripes and wide Ram Air hood scoops really set them apart from the less desirable but era-representative brown paint of its Chevy opponent in the drag race.

Speaking of the Corvette, by ’74, it had been emasculated down to 250 horsepower and 285 lb-ft of torque, though that figure is somewhat misleading when compared to the Cutlass because GM had changed over to net horsepower ratings by then instead of the gross figures of the Olds.

Continuing the comparison, the Corvette holds a significant weight advantage at 3,800 pounds, though, compared to the 4,120 pounds of the Cutlass.

Based on paper and reputations, you might think the Chevy would have an easy time of it, but check out the video and you’ll discover that the Olds actually won two rounds before the ‘Vette said enough is enough and presumably threw in the towel.

Be warned that the times are not very impressive compared to today’s unreal figures from factory cars.

The Olds wins the first race with a time of 16.16 seconds at 82.73 mph, compared to the Corvette’s 16.28 at 87.13.

The second-round performances yielded even slower times but the same winner and loser – the Olds running a 16.20 at 82.41 mph to the Corvette’s 16.47 at 86.04 mph. A third round featuring a solo run by the Olds yielded a 16.23 at 82.30 mph.

An ordinary boring sedan from today would run circles around these vintage muscle cars, but the old timers still win in the looks department, don’t they.

Source:
Cars and Zebras via autoevolution.com

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