Power-to-weight and gearing
What the numbers on a classified listing actually mean once you divide them by each other, plus the road speed your gearing gives you at any engine speed.
Power to weight
Gearing and road speed
Advertised power is gross power on most pre-1972 American cars. Gross figures were measured with no accessories, no air filter and open headers, and the same engine rated 300 hp gross typically reads somewhere around 230 to 250 hp net. Comparing a 1970 gross figure against a modern net figure overstates the old car by roughly a quarter, which is why the numbers never match the stopwatch.
Weight is the number sellers get wrong most. Dry weight excludes fluids, and published curb weights ignore the sound deadening, air conditioning and later-model bumpers on the actual car in front of you.
The pre-purchase inspection kit for your vehicle
Numbers tell you how the car should feel. The kit tells you what to check before you buy this one: where the model rots, what the paint gauge should read, and the findings worth walking away from.
See the inspection kits