1973 Sinistra Savage 662 MCI
Released as a brutal response to pressure from Bogliq and Ardent in the late 60’s, the Sinistra Savage started out as a FWD muscle car that could handle with the big guns. 464ci of big-block V8, and early adoption of the Radial tire, gave the Savage a leg-up on competition. High starting costs kicked it back down, though it didn’t fair too badly in Motor World Review’s 1969 article, despite the quirks and price.
With continued pressure being applied, Luke Sinistra took the same chassis and gave it a mighty 662ci power plant, which was initially planned on just being a rally special. The ‘prototype’ mechanical fuel injection system was refined enough to make it feasible to mass-produce, and while the Savage 662 isn’t exactly rare, genuine examples are a little harder to find. With Sinistra selling 662ci power-plants as crate motors, often complete with transaxles, to anyone who was willing to pay the price, many 1973 Savages had their 464ci engine replaced with this unit. And many others, often originals, had their engine and transaxle pulled for unique engine swaps with other cars.
But, for a short time, the worst thing you could see at a stop-light was the tell-tale triple-tipped exhausts and the “Tri-Valve Injection” badge, right next to “662ci” as your only warnings to lighten your foot, because you won’t win this.