I'm an old cowhand now, but I recall back in the '50's it was always a competition between the greatest rivals in automobile dom...Ford vs Chevy.

Whether it was official racing, street racing, sales...you name it..it's been Ford vs Chevy as the premier competition in the North American car / truck world.

Any greater rivalries that you are aware of..or would you agree...Ford vs Chevy ?

 

I'm kinda young, but I would agree. But in the 60's, form what I've read, Nascar was all Ford v Chrysler. At least after 62 or 63. Chevy was shut out most of the other seasons. Hope I dont get bashed for saying that! Its just what I have read. My ford total performance book, basically gives the victories from each season. I think GM backed out of sponcering maybe?? I remember the 64' impala mystery machine that was fast as hell but DNF. I love the Ford v Chevy thing on a respectable level. Cant stand the haters!!

 

Yup, GM corporate, in an early bone-headed move, pulled out of racing then. 1962 was GM's peak market share of all time. It declined ever since. Chrysler, on the other hand, was left for dead in '62 (and several other times before and since), but recovered sales because of the performance image from racing, not because the cars were pretty, that's for sure.

I think the Chevy-Ford thing dates back to the 1930's, OHV six vs flathead V-8. Ford pretty much "won" until the mid 1950's with first the Corvette, and then the first Chevy V-8. Dodge (then a mid-priced car) had the Hemi V-8, but Plymouth was still stuck with the ancient flathead six.

Jim

 

I agree.

That's why I'm ALWAYS in the market for a Mustang to show the Bowties what's going on.

In all fairness, Ford has yet to compete with the LS motors from GM but when I drive a GT500, that's easy to forget.....

 

I wear a Blue Oval belt buckle and I hate GM. The End.

 

I might just be wherein the same blue oval buckle as yourself. Chevys suck. There "trucks" are cars with a pick up body. Ford for Life.

 

I'm a die-hard Ford man, but I'm intelligent about it, because the Moparded and Chubby guys have built some decent things that deserve respect.
And sadly I do have three GM's in my fleet. A 75 Impala, a 76 Buick 225, and my 80 Chevy Wagon, but don't worry I'm destroying them as fast as possible, the wagon is already draggin its back bumper after the last show, so its probably toast.

 

Completely untrue.

 

Shocking.

A Ford Leg Humper such as yourself disagreeing with the fact that GM might have one upped Ford.

Completely shocking....

So what is your take on the LS motors offered by GM?

 

For me, it's not a war. I have owned a couple chevy trucks. The latest one was an 80 "Big 10". In the 3 years I owned it, I learned a few things. Always try to start it before attempting to shut the door, since starters were very prone to sudden failure. If it started, then came the battle with trying to get the door(s) to shut fully. Once that battle was finally won, it was still a crapshoot actually getting where you wanted to go before another HEI module decided to retire early. Never went anywhere in that truck without a spare starter and HEI module, and the tools to swap them out. But, I did go many places with the doors only half latched due to just giving up, since the trip was less time than getting the doors to shut properly......
On the other hand, my current 80 F150 has never had the starter replaced, though it does occasionally grind. The factory DSII ignition module is still under the hood. Shutting the doors requires about 1lb of force, if you just push it till the latch touches the striker. A simple push from there, will reward you with 2 clicks, and doors that are solidly latched, as god intended.
Quality build really shows, even after 30 years. The chevy I owned that was the same vintage, was less than 15 years old, and had less than 1/2 the miles on it my Ford has, and was worn out.

 

My own experience with GM products was on a professional level. I hated fixing their vehicles. I hate imports more, if that's any consolation. I'd buy and repair any GM product before having to fix foreign junk again. Unfortunately, I did that at work too. I don't really enjoy fixing anything anymore, but if I have to do it, I'll take a Ford any day, followed by Dodge, followed by GM, then the junk the rest of the world is producing comes last. And yes, I charge less for fixing your Ford then I would for fixing your junk.

 

Man, I love that cummins powered bronco. Makes me want to undertake a 4BT swap in my F150, should the trusty old 300 give up the ghost.......
The 4BT would be plenty for me, the 6BT would just be overkill.......

 

Overkill is the best policy!
If you're waiting for that old 300 to die before you get a 4BT, you'll probably be waiting a long, long time.. 300s are as immortal as a 600 lb slab of iron can get.

 

You compare one 1980 vintage Ford and GM truck, so that is the forever answer. I could do the same with 1994, and get the opposite result. The C1500 was nearly flawless, while the F-150 was nothing but trouble, was slower and got worse gas mileage. One word that still strikes fear, E4OD.

Jim

 

Well, considering that the chevy was less than 15 years old when I bought it (12, IIRC) and had all those problems, and the ford was 17 years old when I bought it, and has only failed me once since (C6 finally quit pulling, after 5 years & 60K of advance notice), I'd say the comparison speaks quite well.
I was comparing a 30 year old truck now, to a less than 15 year old truck then. Even with 15 additional years, and 200K more miles, the ford is still in way better condition, mechanically speaking, than that chevy was back then.
Granted, the engine and trans in the ford have both been rebuilt in the last 15 years (only once each in 30 years), but the chevy was already on it's 3rd engine, and the trans needed rebuilt again after about 14 years. When I finally managed to sell off that chevy, the first thing the new owner did, was replace the engine and trans, again.....
The 90 S10 I had for a short time had a major issue in the EFI system. Dealer couldn't figure it out, but it cured itself. Engine would race to 5-6K for a few seconds when stopping at a traffic light, if the motor wasn't fully warmed up. It's self-cure, was the engine exploding, at 14K. the 12/12 warentty had expired, and even though it had been in the shop at least 5 times between 5k and 12K for this issue, without being resolved, GM refused to cover the problem. Lemon law kicked in, and I was at least relieved of the balance due. I swore never again at that point, and haven't owned anything GM since.