No, not performance as in the kind you could buy right off the dealer lot in 1969. Nor the kind of performance that was found on quarter-mile strips of pavement if you knew somebody within the dealer network. None of that.
We’re talking about the kind of performance that you could buy off the shelf (in a manner of speak) and bolt on to you car in an effort to enhance its performance. And for those of you who still think American performance started sometime in 1964, the dates on these go-fast goodies in the gallery below – Getz Gears; Hurst; Judson Superchargers; Mallory; Mileage Minder fuel filters; Dana Corporation; Stewart-Warner (for those who have to see what the engine is really doing); Radatron Radar Detectors (if you’re going faster, why get caught doing it?) – are all from a single issue of Motor Trend: November of 1962.
The other night, I was thumbing through some issues going back to the late Fifties – some of those goodies are likely to pop up here later as well. For now, enjoy the trip to the vintage parts counter (or in the case of some of these ads, mail order).
