5 Drag Racing Icons That Owned The Quarter Mile In The 1970s

The 1970s were a big decade for muscle cars, which dominated the quarter mile with their aerodynamic designs and large, powerful engines. Muscle cars proved their worth by speeding down the track, showcasing their horsepower and performance. 

You may notice this list of fastest quarter mile finishers from The Me Decade is dominated by vehicles from the year 1970. This is because the Clean Air Act Amendment that came out in 1970 led to stricter emission regulations, forcing car brands to lower their horsepower to meet the standards. This included detuning engines and adding emission control features like catalytic converters, resulting in a decrease in power. 

These muscle cars are very desirable now due to their unmatched power, style, and rarity. Let's remember the most powerful muscle cars of 1970 that sported incredible acceleration and couldn't be beat. Here are the five cars to have the fastest quarter mile in the 1970's.

The 1970 Plymouth Cuda has cemented itself as a legendary muscle car thanks to its innovative lighter build and powerful engine — it's one of the muscle cars with the most horsepower from the 1970s. This allowed the 1970 Hemi Cuda to reach a quarter mile in just 14 seconds while going a speed of 102 mph, according to a 1970 issue of Motor Trend Magazine. Its 426 Hemi V8 engine produced 425 hp and 490 lb-ft of torque, allowing the Cuda to reach 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. 

On top of its impressive performance, the Cuda made a name for itself for its sharp lined muscle car appearance. However, you'd be lucky to catch a glimpse of the Cuda (and not just because it's driving by so fast). It was a limited production vehicle — while 48,867 Barracuda were sold in 1970, just 284 Cuda with a Hemi engine and four-speed manual were produced. It's considered very rare today and will cost you a pretty penny. 

Meep, meep. The Roadrunner raced to the front of the pack in the quarter mile in the 1970s. Named after the Warner Bros. character known for its unmatched speed, the Hemi Roadrunner is one of the most powerful Plymouth vehicles ever built. Car magazines often pitted the Road Runner against other drag cars from 1970, its Hemi V8 facing formidable opponents like the Dodge Super Bee's 440 Six-Pack engine, seeing which could dominate in the quarter mile. 

The Road Runner came out on top thanks to its 425 hp and 490 lb-ft of torque. It was said to have completed a quarter mile in 13.7 seconds at 106 mph. With a 0 to 60 of 5.6 seconds, it's no surprise. The Road Runner proved quite popular with speed-hungry drivers at the time — it reached over 80,000 sales in 1969. Only 787 had the Hemi engine. 

Born to compete with the Dodge Daytona, the nearly identical Superbird was designed to be as aerodynamic as possible. With its flat, extended nose and cartoonish 23-inch rear wing, the Superbird was a menace on the track throughout 1970. In fact, it was even banned from NASCAR because winged cars were winning too much. In 1970, 38 of the 48 NASCAR races that year were won by winged cars. NASCAR banned them before the 1971 season. 

The Superbird had a 426-cubic inch Hemi V8 engine that produced 390 horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque, allowing it to reach a record-breaking 200 miles per hour at Talladega. But its acceleration was another impressive stat — it could reach 60 miles per hour in just 5.8 seconds. This allowed it to hit a quarter mile in 13.7 seconds, going 106 mph. This crazy fast car was only produced for two months, but it sure left a mark on the racing world during that time — it's considered one of the most powerful Plymouth vehicles ever made. 

This heavy muscle car didn't let its nearly 3,800 pounds slow it down at all. Hot Rod magazine's testing for a 1970 issue found that the Chevelle could reach the quarter mile in 13.44 seconds while going 108 mph, showcasing incredible speed and acceleration on the drag strip. In fact, this placed it as the second-fastest car of 1970 when using the F70-14 Firestone Wide Ovals, track-focused tires that could handle the car's heavy backside at fast accelerations. 

The Chevy Chevelle SS was introduced in 1969.In an attempt to make the Chevelle SS the most powerful muscle car of the time, it was given a 454 version of the Turbo-Jet big-block V8 engine in its LS6 version. With 450 hp, the LS6 is considered to have the most horsepower produced by a factory-built muscle car in 1970. It's quite rare to come across a 1970 The Chevelle SS LS6, costing upward of $82,000.

You may not think of the Buick GS Stage 1 455 when you think of '70s muscle cars, but it remained one of the most powerful in its category well into the '70s – despite the lowered compression ratios that plagued the auto industry. Back in 1970, when the Buick GS first became a standalone model, Motor Trend magazine announced that it hit a quarter mile at just 13.38 seconds while going 105.5 mph. 

Reaching 60 seconds in 5.5 seconds, Motor Trend dubbed it the fastest muscle car it ever tested. At the time, Buick was hungry for more. The Stage 2 was an upgraded 455 that Buick started working on in 1970. It was estimated to produce 500-plus hp after some engine improvements but the program came to a halt when the decade's new emission standards got in the way. The factory test car has shown up at auction since, going for around $200,000.