Super Rare 1969 Chevrolet COPO Camaro ZL-1 Hits the Drag Strip 25 Feb 2021, 9:51 UTC ·
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The 1960s not only spawned the greatest muscle cars ever built, but those years also gave America the first super stock drag racers. Every Detroit-based manufacturer had at least one back in the day, and the Chevrolet COPO Camaro is among the rarest and most desirable. 1 photo
The COPO is now a drag-ready Camaro that you can t drive on the street, but the original concept was a bit different. Since GM didn t allow Chevrolet to install engines larger than 6.6 liters in small-than-midsize models, the brand found a way to meet dealer requests for a bigger mill. It did that by using an ordering process usually reserved for fleet and special orders.
It's fascinating to watch modern supercars like the McLaren 765LT and Ferrari F8 Tributo pull quick runs on the drag strip, but nothing compares to a good old-fashioned muscle car race. Let's face it, you just can't beat classic American muscle.
There is no god, but it does make for a convenient explanation why Boeing is asking for airlines to ground some Boeing 777 jets after a chunks of an engine fell in someone’s yard. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Feburary 22, 2021.
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1st Gear: 777 Not Entirely Grounded, Not Quite
This all started the other day when a Boeing 777 began shedding some weight over Denver, as we reported over the weekend:
United Flight 328 suffered a little bit of a problem just after it took off from Denver International Airport yesterday: The right-side engine failed, leaving nothing but a glowing core on the plane while pieces of debris rained down on yards, soccer fields and homes in the Denver area.
The SSC Tuatara recently set a new production car top speed record with a two-way average of 282.9 mph (455.3 km/h). However, the company isn’t stopping there.
After last year’s controversy where SSC inaccurately claimed it had hit a two-way average of 316.11 mph (508.73 km/h) with the Tuatara, the company decided against using the same strip of arrow-straight Nevada highway and has instead been testing the car at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds in Florida. This is where the 282.2 mph two-way run was made and will likely be the location where the carmaker tries to surpass 300 mph (482 km/h).
SSC Planning Next Tuatara Top Speed Run, Aiming For 300 MPH In 2.3 Miles
Feb 21, 2021 at 5:00am ET ++ Yes, Jarod Shelby, that s definitely a statement.
With regards to being the fastest production car on the planet, SSC Tuatara has certainly set the record straight at the John Bohmer Proving Grounds – an average of 282.9 miles per hour (455.2 kilometers per hour) for two passes. That speed was faster than the Koenigsegg Agera RS s outgoing record in 2017 and definitely discounting Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ s one-pass run at the Ehra-Lessien test facility in 2019.
Now, that s official, but there s one elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. SSC fell short in proving its initial, controversial claim in October 2020 of reaching speeds above 300 mph (483 km/h). As that Nevada run was showered with doubt, naysayers still weren t impressed with the Tuatara s capability despite its record-breaking run in Florida.