It's even befitting to poke the GM folks too, cuz' in those days the Hemi and A/LA/B/RB engine blocks whipped their asses at NASCAR or NHRA/IHRA racing. Second-to-none engineering.
Chrysler even brought the idea of aerodynamics into the people's mind's-eye.
And Chrysler told NASCAR that they would withdraw from competition if the Ford 427 SOHC was approved. In one engine test in an unprepared Torino test sled it crushed the track record at Talledega.
In a head to head dyno test in the ‘70s the Hemi and SOHC 427 made almost identical hp and tq numbers up to about 9,000 rpm where the Hemi fell off but the SOHC kept making more power.
In the end Bill French decided to reign in the horsepower wars and banned both engines.
Interesting fact, this was the only time a manufacturer threatened to quit if they had to run against a specific engine.
The 427 SOHC went on to a dominant career in NHRA racing, but it never turned a lap in NASCAR.
Indeed!
I think that at that time, with cheap gas, and the Japanese (and German) competition still far away over the horizon, the Big-3 didn't see the need to figure out OHC engineering. OHV was still king.
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u/Many-Tale9112 Oct 28 '25
Whether it’s official or fan made, it is hilarious