The 1960’s were filled with fast cars from major brands like Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge all fighting to be the fastest car. While Europe was building cars to take on winding circuits America focused on raw power. It was a time when powerful cars were affordable and not limited by rising restrictions. Let’s begin our journey through the Ten Fastest Cars of the 1960’s!
1964 Porsche 904 – ~6.4 Seconds
Porsche’s introduced its first fiberglass bodied car with the 904. A purpose built race car and a production run limited to meet FIA requirements. This mid-engine car came with two engines offerings, a 6-cylinder producing 180 horsepower and an 8-cylinder producing 210 horsepower. The 904 started it’s racing career with an outright win at the 1963 Targa Florio and went on to dominated the 1964 and 1965 seasons in the 2 liter class.
The Porsche 904 0-60 is estimated at 6.4 seconds making it the slowest time on this list.
Reference from supercars.net.
1963 Shelby AC Cobra 289 – 5.8 Seconds
The 60’s are not complete without the iconic Shebly Cobra. A roadster with a heart of fire. 271 horspower breathed out of this 289-cid engine propelling it to a top speed of just under 150 mph. You won’t get any luxuries with this car as it lacks a heater, windows, and insulation but the fun you will have driving down the road, wind rolling through your hair, will be unmatched.
When motor trend tested this car they clocked in at 0-60 in 5.8 seconds but couldn’t get the traction to the ground with the tires on the test car.
“During our quarter-mile acceleration runs, we were bothered by excessive wheelspin in first gear and think that with more rubber on the rear, our 0-60-mph times could’ve been dropped from 5.8 seconds down to around 5 flat.”
Motortrend, Road Test: 1963 Shelby Cobra, Jim Wright, Dec. 24, 2003
Reference motortrend.com.
1969 Chevrolet Corvette 427 – 5.7 Seconds
The 1969 Corvette L88 rolled in with 430 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. It is an unruly monster that can kick some ass! It was built as a no frills performance car getting rid of things like power steering and the radio. A car built for enthusiast. Stingray styling and side exhaust gave the Corvette a love it or hate it look.
Zero to sixty comes in at 5.7 seconds but suffers from a common problem on this list… the tires struggle to stay connected to the road.
Reference superchevy.com and caranddriver.com.
1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 – 5.3 Seconds
Built for speed, the Z/28 makes impressive runs with a 290 horsepower 302 cid motor, although, that 290 horsepower is likely closer to 400. It used large 4 inch pistons and a short 3 inch stroke allowing it to rev into the 7,000 rpm range and maintain reliability.
Car and Driver was able to push 60 mph in 5.3 seconds and 0-100 in 12.3 seconds.
Reference hemmings.com and howstuffworks.com.
1966 Plymouth Satellite 426 Hemi – 5.3 Seconds
Plymouth held nothing back with this 426-cid 12.5:1 compression ratio motor. The race version developed 550 hp while the street version fell to a mere 425 hp. Sleek styling and amazing body lines this is what muscle cars are about. Drop in a large engine and see how fast you can go! The Satellite boasts a 5.3 second quarter mile out of a fat 3,800 lb car.
Reference howstuffworks.com.
1967 Ford GT40 Mk III – 5.3 Seconds
As with the Porsche 904 the Ford GT40 was built to win races. Born out of a rejection from Enzo Ferrari, Henry Ford II set out to beat Ferrari at there own game. The GT40 is an iconic race car that dominated the 1960’s racing scene winning the 24 hours of Le Mans in 66, 67, 68, and 69.
5.3 seconds will have this beauty screaming by at sixty.
Reference: topgear.com
1969 Plymouth Road Runner 426 Hemi – 5.1 Seconds
The smell of burning rubber, unburnt petrol, and late nights on the back roads racing friends to see who had the fastest car. Open windows, fresh air, and 5.1 seconds to 60. A signature beep-beep blaring as you pass!
Reference caranddriver.com
1968 Dodge Charger 426 Hemi – 4.8 Seconds
A standard Dodge 440 made 375 horsepower but if you wanted to go out and drag race your friends you would opt for the 425 horsepower 426. A zero to sixty of 4.8 seconds would leave them back at home begging for nitrous. Order the 426 and you end up with a beefed up chassis built to excel on race day. However, if you want to find one of these you better get in line. Only 475 R/T’s were sold with the 426 Hemi making it exceedingly rare.
Reference motortrend.com
1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427 – 4.7 Seconds
4.7 seconds is all it would take, few modern cars can do battle this devil. 435 horsepower propels the 67 Vette to the front. Sleek styling and retractable headlights create a refined monster looking for her prey.
Reference caranddriver.com and corvettemueseum.org
The Fastest Car of the 1960’s
1965 AC Cobra 427 – 4.6 Seconds
Drop a 427 in a tiny car and you get this hellion. 0-60 in 4.6 seconds, a time that took Mustang until 2011 to achieve. In 2015 one of these sold for an astonishing $1,595,000.00 at the Barrett Jackson auction. A classic car that any red blooded American would love to have in their garage.
Reference caranddriver.com and motortrend.com
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