When was the first time you heard a race engine?

In reply to 914Driver :

My Datsun sounds similar.

Wally (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

I was also surprised how big an F1 car is. They look like they should be maybe 2/3 the size they are. 

I absolutely agree. 
 

F1 cars are much biglier than I expected. 

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :

I absolutely agree.
 

F1 cars are much biglier than I expected. 

The used to be quite small. We went to over to Caesar's Palace because they had one in the lobby several weeks before the F1 race.

I was shocked at how small they were; that was 1980. They were about the same size as a 32 Ford.

First was a top fuel car in the 70s. It was a physical assault, I still love it when I hit the Nats at New England Dragway.

2nd would be an Audi S1 5cyl ripping it up in the 80s with a bunch of 'tards trying to touch it as it went by screaming the song of 5 cyls.

My current favorite is the banshee wail of my 3.4l flat six Cayman with it's Soul Performance exhaust.

Then there is this 11k rpm flat 6:

In reply to Tom1200 :

I found this awhile ago:

A couple years ago we went to Larz Anderson and they had a fairly recent McLaren there, I was also shocked at how big it was.

I'm guessing the first time I heard a race engine was the first Sunday I was at home after being born.  Our farm is just a few miles away from the ghost track that was Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville, IL, and there were races on every Sunday during the summer.  The windows of the house would be open and we'd hear the cars roar off in the distance as we ate our Sunday meal after church.  
My memories of the sounds didn't stick to my gray matter until I about 3 or 4, though.

When I was born my father had a 1957 BelAir with a 12.5:1 3" forged crank 4 bolt "302", a Power glide with very small, high RPM torque converter, and 4.56 gears and "truck arm" rear suspension that he and my oldest brother drag raced for a very long time. Never in my life have I experienced anything that has replicated that cars shear ability to instantly go from idle (1000? 2000 rpm?) to over 8000 rpm.

He sold that car when I was 14. Dick move, Donald... Dick move. 

Summer of 1964 I was 17 and cruising the streets of downtown Sioux City, Iowa. A two car hauler had parked in a hotel parking lot and the cars on it were attracting alot of attention. Two Ford Thunderbolts ready for the drag races at Thunder Valley Dragway in South Dakota the next day. One of the drivers started one and unloaded it, pulled a couple of hole shots and quickly reloaded before the police arrived. Amazing sound bouncing off the surrounding buildings. Needless to say, I went to Thunder Valley the next day.