While my fastest "short run" was in the Mercedes (think coming off the gas, looking down, and seeing it come below 150, and the ex's fingerprints are in the dash), my most famous (notorious) run was in my father's 1979 Ford pickup back when I was in HS. The summer before, the engine had blown, and he rebuilt it, blued and balanced. That thing SCREAMED. And yeah, I know that Cleveland engines weren't put in Fords as standard equipment since '72, but he checked the numbers, and damned if that wasn't a 351 Cleveland in it.
Gillette, Wyoming, to Farmington, New Mexico. 750 miles, through Cheyenne, Denver, and over Wolf Creek Pass. 9 hours.
Yeah, back then, it was the 351M and 400M Ford engines. I knew a guy that had a F-250 with a 400M. It got better mileage than my (at the time) 1975 C-20 with a 350 and SM465 4-speed.
I didn't do quite that good speed-wise as you did. My mom and I drove from Chilton, WI, to Wytheville, VA, (800 miles) in 12 hours and 10 minutes in a 1988 Ford F-250 Diesel. Thru Milwaukee (I-43), around Chicago (Tri-State Tollway. We even paid some of our 40 cent tolls with pennies). We stopped once near Jamestown, OH for fuel (LOVE those dual tanks!) and some eats.
Left Chilton at 12:15pm, got home at 1:25am. Averaged 22.3 mpg and 60 mph for the trip. Would have made it faster if it weren't for the fog and traffic going 45 on US35 between Point Pleasant and St. Albans, WV.
