RECAPSLETTERS
EMAIL YOUR THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS TO: tmcgean@hemmings.com
GOING BACK TO JIM RICHARDSON’S “Maserati Boogie and Offenhauser Blues” in HCC #203 and Recaps in HCC #206 reminded me of the good ol’ Sixties. My vote, then and now, for the top engine sounds would be (1) any V-8 with flow-through exhausts, (2) Allison or Rolls-Royce MerlinV-12s—28 and 27 liters, respectively—as raced in older unlimited hydroplanes, and (3) Chevy stovebolt sixes with a split manifold.
Most of my cars have been V-8s and the majority of them had no-restriction glasspack dual exhausts. My all-time favorite noisemaker was my 1959 Chevy Impala convertible with the 283 engine. Running it up to about 45 mph in the Powerglide’s low range before lifting off the gas created the most awesome sound — no cracks, no pops, just a smooth, loud, reverberating backoff. My friend, Lloyd, had a similar ’59 Impala with the 348-cu.in. engine, but it was just not the same.
My two favorite sound-off locations are U.S. 1 in Fort Lauderdale, under the New River (watch out for police) and “the underpass” in Newport, Kentucky, where U.S. 27 does a long nosedive under the CSX railroad tracks.
Ask my wife what the coolest sound in nature is and she will say a V-8 with straight pipes!
Bob Theis
Cincinnati, Ohio
time and felt compelled to commend David Conwill for his general comparison of the 1968 Buick
