I worked every night after high school at a local garage (early 1960's). I ran Y block Fords, so the Chebie guys gave me a hard time. I had fun, I just was not as fast as the fastest Chebie's
I had two cousins about the same age and they ran Chebie and ??? both were quick. One of my best buds ran a 63 Galaxie with 406 tri-power and 4.11's on the street. The ??? was my cousin Tony's 57 Ford Fairlane 2-door with a 383/TQ-flite under the hood out of a rolled police cruiser. That TQ-Flite fed into 3.70's ...
None of us opened a hood before a race. You heard it, you saw it, and you ran. On occasion we got beat, but not often.
So the fastest one I had was a G-2 Paxton blower 312 Y block in a 56 ranch Wagon with 4.11's. Had a C5AZ all-synchro three speed out of a pick-up (fairly wide ratio tough 3-speed).
My cousins Chebie was a 57 two-door with an honest 375 HP 327 with Rochester FI and four speed.
On a good day at Fremont Raceway, we could just barely touch the 12's. The 406 Galaxie was a solid 12.80 car. None of us had stock heads, cams or induction (except the FI 327). All the motors were clean-up bored and swinging 10:1 or better pistons. This was when you could buy 100+ octane Chevron White Pump any day, any town, for $0.35/gal
Our ignitions were stout mostly running 36* advance all in at 2,500 with various fly-weights. Mostly dual point dizzy's. Headers were just becoming a big deal on the street. There were some decent high flow cast iron exhausts over the counter at the dealers and we all had dealer discounts available do to family business's.
So how much HP does it take to run 13's at 100 in a 3,300 ~3,600 pound car? Over 400 any day of the week. None of us shifted over 6,500 because crank breakage was a big possibility. I made it on 8~9 PSI blower pressure. Tony made it on neutral starts with the TQ-Flite and that 383 was a beast. Johnny could launch that 327 at 4,500 and go right to 6,500 and bang shift it 6,500~6,700. We all ran solid lifter cams and pretty big spring pressures (for the day).
These engines required constant maintenance - constant. Driveline and axle breakage were common. Clutch explosions were not unheard of ... These were not Date Night cars. If you wanted to go out on a date, you borrowed Mom's car. No fender liners, spartan interiors, etc.
If the girl was up for it, she could get a cheap thrill out at Capital Expressway (unfinished) or 4-Lanes on Hwy 1 north of Santa Cruz riding a serious street race with you. No wimps need apply. Mostly we rode alone ...
We could beat almost any dealer sold car - GTO's, Road Runners, RT Dodges, Chevelles and Novas. Unless they new how to re-build and tune, it was ours for run ... Occasionally we got beat, usually close. Once in a while bad
Fastest car in the area was a split-window Vette with a big block on alcohol on the street, bright orange and named Plastic Toy. Close was another Buds 49 F-1 pick-up with a 425 Buick and a Muncie. That truck was scary quick and handful to drive.
Point being, that factory muscle cars were nice date-night cars that could pass most folks easily and run pretty good, but they were not serious fast.
Fast forward to today and see what A-bodies are doing in bone-stock classes. There are Buick GS's and Old's 442's running 10's with mufflers. I hear there is a 401 Javelin knocking on the 9's with mufflers. I know two engine builders that can get 550 honest dyno HP out of a reliable streetable 455 Buick for about $18K. They will run down your average dealer show-room hot car today ... It's all about the build. Always was, always will be ...
You want fast, talk to Saleen or folks like that