by - Mecum is auctioning an original 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air 409 at their sale in Indianapolis.
- The 409 cubic inch (6.7-liter) V8 helped spark a wave of popularity for mass-market cars of the 1960s.
- With a power output of up to 409 hp, the 409 cars could complete a quarter mile in less than 15 seconds.
Muscle car enthusiasts will still argue about who first gained access to them, even after the world’s oil wells have dried up. Was it Olds with their Rocket 88, Chrysler letter cars, or ? You could argue for all these cars and many others, but one car that has a real claim to have started the golden era of muscle cars is the Chevrolet 409.
The 409 was not a separate model but just an engine variant for the full-size Chevrolet sedan, which was brand new in 1961. The brand’s 348s (348 cubic inches / 5.7 liters) V8 showed a solid 350 hp (355 hp) with an available three-muffler setup, but opting for the 409 variant increased the engine displacement to 409 cubic inches (6.7 liters), giving an aggressive compression ratio of 11.25:1, forged aluminum pistons, solid valve lifters, and 360 hp (365 hp). A four-speed manual transmission was mandatory.
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A year later, with a new distributor and heads, the 409 extracted 380 hp (385 hp) with a single four-barrel carburetor. But by spending $60 on dual Carter carburetors, you got 409 hp (415 hp), a remarkable 1 hp per cubic inch, first promised by its 1957 fuel-injected 283 counterpart.
These are true “gross” power ratings (Detroit switched to more realistic power figures in 1972), but the 409 was seriously fast at the time and could still outperform several modern cars. A 0-to-60 mph (97 km/h) time of less than 7 seconds was achievable right out of the box, and amateurs later found they could break 13 seconds for the quarter mile with minimal modifications. The 409 was so hot that the Beach Boys wrote a song about it, inspiring a wave of car-themed pop hits from them and other groups.
Unlike the muscle cars from the late 1960s, which emphasized their performance credentials with spoilers and graphics essentially based on mid-sized cars, the full-size muscle car pioneers like the 409 were all modesty, with only small “409” emblems on the front wings to reveal their cards. You could even get this motor in a four-door sedan or station wagon, although the bubble-top coupe you see in this example heading to the Mecum auction in Indianapolis in May is what most people prize today.
It doesn’t have the ultra-rare aluminum panel package or the show car-grade SS trim package, but it does have the desirable dual-carburetor setup, a four-speed manual transmission (a three-speed was standard in ’62), and it is offered for sale without reserve.
You can click to view the Mecum listing and check out the full gallery of this car and other classics Mecum has planned for their April 4 event.
