[olddog]

There is what Shelby advertised and sold to the public and then there is what Shelby raced.

Some years back I came across an article with a picture of a 289 hipo on Fords dyno showing rpm, torque, and Hp. This was a full out racing engine fully supported by Ford engineers back in the mid sixties. Something that Shelby would most likely had access to. It was all factory castings. From memory it was 450 Hp give or take a few. I'm not sure about the rpm but it was in the 7000 to 8000 rpm range. I think closer to 8000.

Now full disclosure. I have severe sleep apnea which doctors think caused some permeant brain damage in the memory area of my brain. I also have cirrhosis of the liver (about half way to needing a transplant) and the chemical changes to my blood have made my memory problems worse. So although I could be remembering this wrong, it feels like I am remembering it right, as I was so surprised they were capable of this back then.

Going a little further, we all think aluminum heads are required to make the big power today. Not true. Aluminum, I suspect, is mainly used because it is much easier on tools and much faster to machine. Most builders will tell you that iron heads, all other factors equal, will make more power. Top racers back in the day knew how to port factory heads.

A 289 making 350 ft lb of torque is believable. The torque will have dropped off considerably before reaching peak Hp. Let's assume 290 on torque at 8000 rpm, which is 442 Hp. Given that they used different correction factors on dyno charts back then, this would have been well over 450 Hp. Even if I am wrong, I believe it was very possible. I too would appreciate Brent's thoughts on this.

I did do some google searches and could not find what I was looking for