[garfield]

This was also posted over at TEAM CAMARO

There was just a show on ABC Channel 7 here in Chicago called "I love my car" that gave some info on the 1980 Camaro Z-28 that I never knew about:

They said that the 1980 Camaro Z-28 was factory equipped to go at 130 MPH and had a speedometer to reflect this, but due to the recession and growing concerns about gas prices, sales started to drop. Dealers sought to counter this by changing the factory installed speedometer with one that read only 85 mph. This was done to trick buyers that they were buying a slower car that didn't drink as much gas as a faster car would.


Is this true?

 

[Chevello]

I'd fall for it if a car salesman told me, but then I'm the fool who bought the used car that used to belong to the lady who returned it because she had to have her leg amputated and couldn't work a clutch anymore

I thought there was a fed mandate that the speedos could only go so high back in the 80s. It was supposed to keep people from seeing how fast their junk would go.

Check this out: http://usww.com/homepage/starteam/speed.html#s10

K

 

[Bomber '67]

Good luck getting a factory equipped stock 1980 Camaro Z28 to go 130 mph - don't believe me, just check out a test report of the day: http://www.nastyz28.com/camaro/camaro80.html#z28-test Note that 120 mph was reached with the 4 speed manual trans, top speed was lower with the automatic trans. I actually believe that C&D didn't really test the top speed on the press fleet car, I think they just took Chevrolet's word for it that 120 mph was achievable!

Just about everything sold in the U.S. had an 85 mph speedometer starting in 1980. Some late production '79 cars also got the 85 mph speedo. When I was shopping for a CBX motorcycle in late '79 one of the reasons I went with the '79 was that I couldn't stand the 85 mph speedo on the '80 model.

I think that the 85 mph speedometer was a hair brained idea first proposed by Joan Claybrook, who was the then head of the NHSTA. Any of you who are dissatisfied with President Bush's choices for administrative department heads should go back and revisit the losers that President Carter bestowed upon us (and yes, I actually voted for Carter). Mostly Joan Claybrook was convinced that people were stupid and that she was going to save them. She was particularly against motorcycles, and this is where some of her zaniest ideas were tested - all with disasterous results. She proposed having the rear wheel of a motorcycle be the steering wheel, and the front be the fixed place wheel - she spent millions of tax dollars on this idea trying to prove she was right and all the so called experts were wrong. Every single test rider crashed and broke a leg. She also proposed seat belts (!) for motorcycles. And who could forget her idea of having a pressure sensitive motorcycle seat - that meant you had to actually be sitting down to start the engine. Etc., etc.

Thomas

 

[Dan72]

She proposed having the rear wheel of a motorcycle be the steering wheel, and the front be the fixed place wheel

 

[67shovel]

I think it was Reagan who looked at the 80's motorcycles and asked how fast they went. When he found out that they did 150 or so he asked why this speedo only goes to 85? Not satisfied with the answer he dropped the 85 speedos on motorcycles.

 

[Jonathan]

...and yes, I actually voted for Carter.

Twice?

I've heard that some high-end manufacturers (Lamborghini, etc.) whose main product was a high-speed car, got around the 85 MPH speedo limit by just stopping the numbering of the speedometer after 85. The tick marks were still there, just not the numbers. There was a decal you could buy from the parts department to get the rest of the numbering. Anyone know if that's true or not?