MW - bet it really "rocks-it" with the 440 under hood, not that the 383 was a bad engine. The poor 383 so often times considered the "Red Headed Coke Bottle Glasses wearing Stepchild".
I was finally able to take the GTS out for a cruise the other day. I will say it will take some time before I have the courage to drive this thing anywhere close to what it is capable of. Cruising at around 30mph and stomp it to the floor comes with a sudden head jerk to the rear and an immediate awakening complete with tire smoke and the car sliding it's hips to the side! With manual steering.....it can be a handful! The manual brakes are surprisingly impressive though! It brought a huge smile to my face and I tipped the odometer to just over 20k original miles before parking it back in the garage. I just love this car. So happy I was lucky enough to find and buy it! I will say stopping anywhere will add at least 10 more minutes than usual to your stop as it draws a lot of attention.
A girlfriend of mine, from way back 75-76, had a 69 Road Runner, 383, auto, column shifted. One night I was driving and the fastest car in town (69 Chevelle SS 375 horse auto, with some work) came up next to us at a 1/2 mile straight, I looked at her sitting next to me on the bench seat and she said "go for it". So, we rolled to a stop and she signaled 3, then 1, 2, 3 and off we went. I couldn't believe that car got him out of the hole and pulled away from him, not like he was standing still mind you, but we "walked him" until both of us let of the throttle. BTW: I just left it in drive, foot on brake to keep it from rolling and on 3 matted the go pedal. Ah the memories...