Jason Oldfield asked:
>>> "What did it cost to build a car in the 60's that would run in the mid-9's? Adjusted for inflation, would that really be much different than today? I'm not sure..." <<<
That question has a problem associated with it.
The problem is, due to the quantum leap that performance took due to technological changes between 1960 and 1969, it becomes very complicated to try to say what it would cost to run 9.50's.
By that, I mean, what did we have to work with in terms of motive power in 1960? 348 Chevy motors, FE Ford motors with no really good heads, and 413 Wedge Mopars with mediocre heads. The 392 Hemi was available, of course, and was actually running some high 9-second passes (Big JOHN MAZMANIAN's '41 Willys A/GS car), but it would be a couple of years before he, or anybody else in A/GS ran a legitimate 9.50. I think.
The A/G Supercharged engines had stroker cranks, girdles, gobs of porting, and a 6:71 blower to propel their 2,400-pound doorslammer bodies to what were then, considered astronomical times (high 9's.)
So, in 1960, you'd need an A/Altered (25% engine setback) and probably a blower to run 9.50's on gasoline. This would in no way be a street-legal car. Also, the blower and high-gear-only clutch (dual-disk) setup would be pretty expensive.
Fast-forward to 1969.
By then, the 426 Hemi had made its appearance in the '64 Mopars, and Ford's Hi-Riser FE 427's were in Fairlanes, Galaxies, and certain Mercurys, while Chevrolet had gone through the 409's, Z-11's and the 396 "Mystery engine" in 1964 that became the canted-valve "Rat Motor" that is still very much with us today in everything from Stock to PRO Stock.
So, going 9.50s in 1969 was a WHOLE LOT easier than it had been just 9 years earlier, due to the new engines that were available.
So, the answer would be pretty different, you see...
Of course, this "new tech horsepower" wasn't necessarily CHEAP, but it was widely available, and deals could be found.
I'd say that by 1969, a 9.50 car could be built for probably five or six thousand dollars. That would be a '62 Nova with a blown 427/Turbo 400 drivetrain, for instance...
That computes to about $27.500 "2007 dollars."
Of course, that is pure speculation on my part, but that's the way I remember it.
I suppose that today, if you took a 5.0 Mustang and turbocharged it to within an inch of its life, you could probably go 9.50 with it for a lot less than that... once or twice, but the short block would die unless you spent some real money on strong stuff.
So, maybe the cost of speed hasn't gone up as much as I'd thought....
This has been an interesting exercise, I think.
Hey, Jason, I'll bet everybody asks you the same thing, ("Any relation to 'Barney' Oldfield???")
Bill