(continued from the previous post)
Charles was plenty impressed by the performance of the Buick Electra. That fact explains what happened next.
Charles had a friend who owned a Corvette. This Corvette owner had “souped up” his already fast car. An engine re-bore enlarged the cylinders to accommodate oversize pistons. (It was a thing back in the day.) If he was serious about achieving more horsepower, there are other things he could have done and perhaps he did them. He was quite proud of his Corvette.
Charles thought the Buick Electra could beat the Corvette, so naturally Charles provoked the ‘vette owner into a race. Charles and Durward met the man on a section of highway that was under construction and therefore not in use. I don’t recall the details, but the Corvette carried only its driver and the Buick carried only Charles. Someone (Durward, probably) signaled the start of the race and both cars took off. The Buick’s transmission had two ranges: Low and Drive. Charles had the transmission in Low, and the Buick jumped out to take the lead. Charles kept the pedal floored with the transmission in Low until his speed hit 70 mph, whereupon he shifted into Drive. Durward said when Charles shifted into Drive, a puff of black smoke came from the Buick’s tailpipes. The Buick stayed ahead of the Corvette until it hit 120 mph, at which point Charles let off the gas to avoid damaging the speedometer. Finally, as the Buick slowed, the Corvette passed it.
We’ll never know how many miles were taken off the life of the Buick’s engine and transmission in that drag race. For that matter, driving a new car from Virginia to Florida at 120 mph is probably inadvisable as well. But as far as Charles was concerned, YOLO. You only live once.
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