The 10 Quickest Muscle Cars Of 1965

Pontiac wanted to make a statement that all their models were performance cars,so they made up a ringer for a Car and Driver test,along with 3 other cars from various makes that were stock,,,this 2+2 had the 421 @376 HP and TriPower,which was set up by a dragracer for slightly more power ,,all tri powers had problems right off the assembly line,one of the reasons they were dropped,also the distributor was reworked and the timing advanced for more power,,the car had no carpet or insulation or undercoating , manual every thing,no heater, no radio,wide ratio 4 speed trans,and a 3.33 or 3.08 rear axel gear,, and a posi trac, 2 1/2 exhaust pipes, duals ,no mufflers..a team from firestone was there with some Super Stock drag racing street legal tires ,,basically 7 inch wide slicks with a couple of grooves in the tread..this car was made for 0-60 in the fastest time,, no shifting, it hit 60 in first gear..the lowest was 3.7 seconds ,after 4 runs the average was 3.9,, a world record that stood for 45 years for a production line assembled vehicle..and yes you can buy a old Car and Driver magazine from 1965 ,with the test, if you want to read it yourself..

I know it's not the fastest but that Riviera is just beautiful

While I was happy to see the Z16 '65 Chevelle, you omitted another option for that year....the L79 327/350hp. I owned a '65 hardtop with that engine and 4spd. I think it was made on a Monday, as that car was perfect in every way. I still believe it was the best small block engine Chevy ever made. I embarrassed a lot of other GM and Mopar owners with that car. You also omitted the '65 Nova with the same engine/tran combination. Another screamer.

My uncle had one of those Catalina's. Damn nice car.

Like your videos. The '65 Z16 Chevelle is/was called the L-78, not L-37 as you stated. Also, for '65, Chevrolet rated the L-78 at 425 horse power, not 375. But for 1966 to 1970, when it was a .030 over 402, Chevrolet rated it at 375 horse. I'm lucky enough to have a '69 L-78 396/375 that I got dirt cheap way back in high-school! Still searching for a nice body. Your videos are great thanks.

1965 Impala SS 4-speed 425hp 396 ran 15.1 quarter mile times. Only year for that HP in a 396.

I had a 65 GTO with the 389 tri-power that I bought for $500 back in 1979 when I was 16 and fixed it up and drove it to high school for 2 years before I sold it for $400 in 1981 before going into the USAF.

I love this stuff. I wish I had every one of them.

I had a 65 barracuda. With a few tricks I could run the high 13 s without any trouble. Gave some of those boys fits . They were fun cars.

I like this video apparently 👍

In late '62, a local guy ordered a '63 Ford 500 XL convertible, red/red/white top, 390/3-2bbls with 4-speed. I've seen that motor in the '63 T-Bird roadsters but never in a full-size Ford. Think it was rated at 340hp. The owner kept it for a very long time & it had low mileage. No idea what happened to it but I'd bet very few were made like that.

How did you come to these rankings?

It's too bad Crysler didn't hide Valiant roots to the Barracuda like ford did for the Mustang's Falcon roots. It actually beat the Mustang to market. I guess we'll never know how that would've panned out.

In 1965 I bought a new 65 GTO, 4 speed, no PS or P Brakes, posi, AM radio, no a/c. $2,380, out the door. In 1967, bought a new 67 GTO, vinyl top, a/c PS, PB, 360 hp/quadrajet, posi, tint windows, AM/FM, out the door $4,100.

Hey what about the 65 Chevelle SS with the L-79 327 CI 350 horse engine

Buick Riviera = Lead sled

oops - no 3 speed auto in any gm intermediates til next year...

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Do Corvette C1s not qualify as muscle cars? Surely the top optioned Corvette would have beaten all.

So damn cheap if you're making $100k today.😥