Shelby Maverick Build on Discovery Channel

So I was watching Fat & Furious on Discovery Channel just now and saw that there next weeks episode will feature a Maverick build to make a Shelby Maverick. Thought it was cool and would like to share it!

 

Interesting, I'll have to set up the DVR.

 

I saw this too. I watched the first episode, and it was amusing. There is some good comedy in it. It was fun to watch.

But it also is the typical TV thing... they have to make things a bit hokey to make what they are doing seem better. They took a 454 71 Chevelle that was original and "ran 15s" at the track (even though "it had a few things done to it") and the owner stated his main goal was that he wanted it to "run 13s". The owner gave them a $50,000 budget to do that.

OK .... in my mind, a 454 Chevelle "with a few things done to it" should already be knocking on the door to 13s. It probably just needed a bit of tuning and someone who knows how to get it down a dragstrip. No wonder the owner is not happy with it as is.

On their way toward their goal of getting into the 13s, they changed the color of the stripes, put pretty gauges in it, and put modern wheels and tires on it...huh? These aren't good ways to go quicker.

They also put a 572 motor in it. It went 12.5s .... seems slow for that much motor. They did make it pretty though....

In their defense, the owner did mutter something about that he wanted to modernize it, but the show made such a big deal about making the car only a bit faster than it should be anyway, it had me rolling my eyes a lot. What I am getting at here is that the goals were mis-stated. I would hope you could throw a 572 into most cars and if your goal really primarily is to go fast, a well-sorted out car could run somewhere in the 11s... I mean with a $50K budget, please buy two more wheels and some slicks, maybe some rear suspension stuff ....

As usual, "reality TV" ... sigh ....

Enough ranting .... I do fully intent to watch and enjoy the next episode. There will be a 68(?) Mustang and the Mav. I suspect a lot of guys here will have a good time watching it.

We'll have an even better time shredding them to pieces afterwards too. They seem to be heavily Chevy-biased, so Maverick Myths ought to fly like crazy ...

 

The owner of that Maverick contacted me about my blue Shelby Maverick. They had seen pictures of mine floating around and wanted to build a car similar. He told me they were doing the show and he seemed real excited about it. His daughters name is Shelby and it was being built for her. I thought that was pretty cool.
I saw the show with the Chevelle and saw the previews about the Maverick. I contacted the owner to see how everything came out and he's not real happy. He said those guys know nothing about cars and he's going to have to redo most everything that was done. He said it'll probably look okay on tv but he's not a happy camper. I figure this show is going to be short-lived because real car guys aren't going to put up with crap work being done to their cars. I'm still curious and want to see the show. It's not every day we get to watch a Maverick on any kind of show unless it's an oldie and then it's usually just a glimpse.
The owner IS a car guy though and I'm sure he'll get the car right and make his daughter proud to drive it.

 

I've seen a few TV tears in person! they never look as good as they did on TV. I don't know why they just make a show, with real car guys, and no stupid drama.

 

It's also a heavy car, and would need some good slicks to hook up. 12.5 is damn quick for a (street legal) car like that.

 

Typical TV car shows. Most of it is fake.

It's all entertainment, but people will watch it and think their P.O.S. is worth a fortune because of what they saw on TV.

 

Nobody would watch that. The more drama...the more ratings. Bigger ratings....more dollars for the ads in the show.

 

Yup, like I said .... with a $50K budget, you would think slicks would be in the mix as an accessory.

Also, the dragstrip "testing" was filmed at "an airstrip where everyone hangs out" and was clocked by stopwatch so there is a huge BS factor there. I prefer places with timing lights and some track prep.

 

Car Craft put a new '71 Chevelle SS 454 thru the quarter in exactly 14.00 seconds at 100 MPH. You have to remember this was the first year for big compression reductions. They dropped the 454 from 10.5-11.0:1 to around 9:1. They weighed around 3400# with a big block. Most cars weren't as fast then as we remember them being now.

I would think a good back tire, a good tune and a good driver would put the car into the low 13's easily.

Most TV car shows make me want to pull my hair out.

SPark

 

Anyone know date, time, channel of this show? I would at least like to DVR it, and biatch about it later.



EDIT--found it. Discovery Channel HD 7/7 9pm central time. Set to record.

 

They weighed 4400 pounds.

 

Give me 50k and I'll be a hell of a lot faster than 11's! Weighing in at 3980 pounds my GTO went high 11's with an out of the box Holley and 6 degrees total advance with an $800 455. Gears and convertor, they make all the difference in the world.

Depends on the options but you are right on, they were whales!

 

Not that it matters on a Maverick forum, I guess.. but most '70-'72 BB Chevelle's weighed around 4,000 lbs.. WITH a driver.

 

yeah but did you notice the name of the show "FAT and the Furious" .... If you get a look at those guys all bets are off on a final weight including driver ....