In addition to well-stocked fitness areas, many sports clubs have expansive facilities with large lap pools, racquetball and squash courts, full-service spas and even indoor climbing walls. Wearable technology is everywhere now, and one of those devices might even improve your uppercut. Now, as Lincoln-Mercury general manager, a post he’d held since 1958, Mills and his staff put the first-generation Comet through a number of hoops for publicity purposes, the most dramatic being a 100,000-mile run at Daytona International Speedway. Now, suddenly, the 1966 Comet became available with 390 cubic inches, whereas before, the Comet’s biggest engine had been Ford’s small-block 289-cubic-inch V-8. The 202’s overall length was 195.9 inches, and its trunk capacity was 15 cubic feet versus 17 in the Capri, Caliente, and Cyclone. The 1966 Comet line came in four series: 202, Capri, Caliente, and Cyclone. Maximum horsepower went from 225 with the hottest 289 to 335 horsepower with the top 390 in the 1966 Cyclone GT. The two-door sport sedan 1963 Catalina was rated at 370 horsepower at 5,200 rpm. This left GM to pioneer the concept in anything approaching significant volume, though Kaiser spun off an interesting variation the same year with its Virginian «Hard Top,» basically that firm’s convertible sedan with its curious little fixed, glass-filled B-posts, to which a canvas-covered steel top was welded.
But if anybody doubted that «business» was exactly what Plymouth intended, they had only to read about the exploits of a pre-production 1956 Fury that ran on the sands of Daytona Beach, Florida, on the same Minnesota Vikings Game Day Store the new model was being shown in Chicago. Features such as dual exhausts helped the 1956 Plymouth Fury exceed performance expectations. Plymouth gave it a try, fitting a higher-lift cam, new heads with close to 10:1 compression, and a Chrysler manifold carrying twin four-barrel carbs. To this basic block the engineers applied a high-lift cam, solid lifters, domed pistons, a four-barrel carb, free-flow dual exhausts, and 9.25:1 compression. In addressing Fury performance, Plymouth engineers did not soup up an existing V-8 like Ford and Chevy. During its first iteration, the 1960-1965 Comet played second fiddle to America’s best-selling compact car, the Ford Falcon. Some car companies seem so sober that it’s difficult to imagine them producing a sports car, or even a sporty coupe. These overprotective parents may even have attitudes that are discouraging to a child’s athletic development.
Arriving in Fairbanks, race-car builder Don Bailey told the press, «Mechanically we didn’t even adjust the carburetor for altitude, didn’t suffer a single breakdown, didn’t replace so much as a sparkplug.» Comets, God bless ’em, were durable. This sales value naturally encouraged other divisions to think similar thoughts, and each had a limited-production, high-performance special available for 1956. Dodge offered the D-500 option for any model in its lineup, while DeSoto added the Adventurer hardtop coupe and Plymouth fielded the Fury. The 1956 Plymouth Fury’s instrument panel. The 1956 Plymouth Fury nearly set a record at Daytona Beach’s annual Speed Week. On the sharply finned 1956 hardtop body, all this looked rather dashing indeed. The 1956 Plymouth Fury was essentially the same body as the Belvedere. In any case, the Plymouth Fury would have been beaten: A Mercury prepared by Bill Stroppe soon turned in a 147.26 mph average in the same class. Though it shared the same body used for the ordinary Savoy and Belvedere two-door hardtops, it sported several distinctive styling features that set it apart decisively. Here, four 1964 Comets set 732 FIA endurance records at an average speed of more than 105 mph. The 202 series cars stood 7.1 inches shorter than other Comets due to their shorter rear decks.
Both cars were new from the ground up that year, and upsizing made a lot of sense. The Capri, which took the place of what had been the 404 series in 1964-1965, offered a lot of little standard touches, like bright wheel-lip and rocker moldings, a deluxe steering wheel, all-vinyl or vinyl-with-cloth upholstery, and a locking glovebox. Standard equipment included simulated woodgrain interior trim, loop-pile carpeting, deluxe armrests with courtesy lights and paddle-type handles, lighted heater/defroster controls, plus full instrumentation and remote driver’s-side mirror. Simply wander around the aisles, and see what kind of equipment speaks to you. The Iowa Xplosion women’s team makes recruits run a 40-yard dash at every tryout to see if hopefuls maintain or improve. Once a child serves the ball, the opposing team must return it in no more than three hits. We’ve already covered the basics of a good defensive stance and outlined a drill to help your players master it, so now it’s time to talk about team defense.