The Top Muscle Car Hood Scoops: Muscle Car Of The Week Video Episode 242 V8TV

The Top Muscle Car Hood Scoops: Muscle Car Of The Week Video Episode 242Show more

One of the coolest features of many Muscle Cars is a big honkin’ air scoop sticking up through the hood. Today, we’re taking a look at some of the more memorable fresh air intake systems installed on Muscle Cars.

Engines need air to breathe, and they also like fuel. Hot air intake air is less dense than cooler air, which also means it will suspend less fuel. So cooler air can hold more fuel vapor, which in turn makes more power in an internal combustion engine. This is one of the main benefits of an outside air induction system, as you provide the engine with cooler air outside of the hot engine bay.

Another reason for air scoops is the “Ram Air” effect, which is honestly a little sketchy. The idea is that driving fast will force air into a scoop and down into the engine, providing a form of forced induction, and then more power. The truth is that the car would have to be going reaallly fast to have a noticeable impact on performance. Consider this: Engines suck air and fuel in through the intake manifold thanks to the “syringe” effect of the pistons drawing air down into the engine. Carburetors have a flow rating in cubic feet per minute or CFM. If you have a 500 CFM carburetor, it can allow up to 500 cubic feet of air to pass through it in a minute before it becomes a restriction… A 500 CFM carb is suitable for a small block V8 engine, and after the air enters the carb, it’s mixed with fuel, and then it is pulled down the intake runners. If the mixture is pulled into a 1” x 2” intake manifold runner, the air speed in the runner could reach 36,000 FPM or 409 mph at the full 500 CFM flow of the carb. This is a huge simplification of the intake dynamics, but you can see you’d have to drive pretty fast to “force air” into the cylinders with any real effect on power.

But that didn’t stop the car makers from calling these “ram air” systems, primarily because those names sold cars! Scoops help for sure, with fresh air being the main benefit, and they look cool as well. Here’s a quick look at some of the coolest factory installed Muscle Car scoops ever offered.

Ep 152 A12
This first car on our list is the 1969.5 Plymouth Roadrunner with the 440 6-barrel A12 package and the factory installed fiberglass hood. This hood had no hinges, so it required 2 people to remove, but the huge open snorkel hood scoop pulled in tons of fresh air to the 3 carbs below. Try selling a new car with no hood hinges today!

Ep 28 L88 Roadster
Next up is the 1967 Corvette Roadster we featured in episode 28. There were only 20 1967 Corvettes produced with the high-strung code L-88 427, and the hoods on these cars were a bit deceptive. It looks like a forward-facing hood scoop, but the opening actually points to the base of the windshield in an attempt to suck in the clean, still air at this low-pressure region. These made over 500 HP and needed all the air they could get!

Ep 169 Hemi Shaker
Next up is one of the all-time favorite hood scoops, the Plymouth Shaker! This scoop mounted directly to the engine and moved at idle and when you floored the engine, hence the “shaker” nickname. This one is sitting on a 426 Hemi, but they were available on 440 and 383 powered cars as well. We think it’s one of the meanest looking scoops ever made!

Ep 84 Boss 302
Ford also played in the shaker game, and this time, it’s on the 1970 Boss 302 Mustang from episode 84. The Ford shaker stands tall on top of a full-size air filter housing, with a racy looking black cast aluminum housing topped with fins and wrinkle-black paint. These also came on a variety of engines, ranging from the 302 seen here to 351s, 390s and 428s. Ford called it the Ram Air setup, and it was a functional option that looked great.

Ep 106 ‘69 TA
Speaking of Ram Air, Pontiac engines wore the name Ram Air on a variety of cars. This 1969 Pontiac Trans Am features the Ram Air IV 400 engine making 370 HP and inhales through the two forward facing scoops in the original steel Ram Air hood. These hoods feature scoop inserts that feed the 4-barrel carb, with the goal to stack pressurized air into the engine at speed. Did it work? I don’t know, but it sure looks cool!

Ep 63 71 Road Runner Air Grabber
The last scoop on our list has a ton of things going for it. It’s the Air Grabber found on the 1971 Plymouth Road Runner feeding a 426 Hemi V8. This one comes to life with a cable-operated system letting people know the driver was ready to rock. Bomber-style graphics on the side warn the world that there was a hungry V8 under the hood, and it went back to flat and boring after the race. It is a rare treat to see an air grabber in action!

Here’s The Scoop: Muscle Car Of The Week Video Episode 242 V8TV

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