Ford Gran Torino vs....Vauxhall Corsa 1.2

[Flip Martian]

Just watching some prog on Sky 3 while surfing - something to do with "shameful secrets fo the 70s". 1 of which is the Starsky and Hutch 1976 Ford Gran Torino and the fact that it really wasn't much of a sports car at all.

So they proved this by lining it up on a race track against a 1.2 Corsa. The Ford's 0-60 time is over 12 seconds and top speed 102 mph. The Corsa won fairly easily - just a standard Corsa, mind...

I knew the Torino wasn't that quick but just shows how times have moved on...

[F Body]

Quoting: Flip Martian

I knew the Torino wasn't that quick but just shows how times have moved on...

Must resist Ford jokes

On the other hand some cars from the early 90's such as the Sierra Cosworth etc are still way quicker than many of today's performance cars, mainly due to extra weight of all the safety equipment & extra strength  crash resistant materials used today  

Colin Chapman was right

[nick69]

Its like racing a Tank against a Go-Kart. Not really fair.

[Gator]

and the torino was never a sports car it was a grocery getter

[Flip Martian]

A tank/grocery getter with a 5.7 litre engine apparently. Very funny watching it being outpaced. No point in having a big engine unless its going to move... Still, not the point - the real point is which would you rather HAVE?

[ianjpage]

not surpising really - torino = very heavy, corsa= piece of paper!!

still would have the torino though!!

[philoldsmobile]

so if you wanna make it fairer, why not put a charger R/T up against an astra VXR?

you'd be VERY suprised on the outcome..

there are some seriously quick small cars around now..

[HardRockCamaro]

Hmm...

A quick Google suggests the 1.2 Corsa does 0-60 in 13 seconds so it should be close but in the Torinos favour (although to be fair 30 years of engine wear won't help it).

The thing is the Torino was never a muscle car anyway, it was a grocery getter.  So a grocery getter today does the same 0-60 (yes with a smaller engine but it's a smaller car so...)

And they did pick a mid 60s model which would be slow due to the post 73 legislation.

Starsky and Hutch's Torino wasn't stock though...


Times move on.  A late 80s Camaro is virtually identical in performance to a late 80s Cosworth.  But a modern Focus ST will out run both (certainly from a roll) but then that's 20 years of improvements for you...

[nick69]

Quoting: Flip Martian

A tank/grocery getter with a 5.7 litre engine apparently

What about the 4dr 'Driving Miss Daisy' I had, it had a 5.2l v8. Everything had a v8 back then, it was the law

[art b]

engine technology is amazing these days,
tiny engines putting out awesome power,[small motorcycle engines putting out 200 bhp]
light weight materials and clever thinking is gonna keep the automobile around for years, in one form or another