’61 FORD SHOWROOM SUPERCAR

Posted on September 7, 2025September 7, 2025 by MartynL

Ford hits the street, drag strips, and the high-speed ovals with a slick new ’61 FORD SHOWROOM SUPERCAR, and the most powerful single-four-barrel and tri-power big-blocks yet. By 1961, Henry Ford was coming under pressure internally as well as from dealers to pull out of the restrictive 1957 Automobile Manufacturers Association’s racing ban. Most of Ford’s racing activities, like those at Chrysler and General Motors, were being run out of Dearborn’s “back door,” and successes on the rac...

RPO Z11: CHEVY 427 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Posted on May 17, 2022 by MartynL

By checking off RPO Z11 on a 1963 Chevrolet new car order form, you could buy a factory-built racecar. Only 57 people made that choice before GM pulled the plug. Hemmings’ Mike McNessor writes about the rare RPO Z11: CHEVY 427 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT. She’s so fine my… 427? Clearly not 1960s radio gold. But among Chevrolet W-engine enthusiasts, more poetic words were never written. The 427-cubic-inch Mark I big block was part of the factory-lightweight 1963 Z-11 package built to win rounds in quarter...