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It's not your imagination that the '75 feels slow. They are definetely not as lively as the earlier versions. The addition of the vacuum and air pumps sap power and the '75 weigh more. The past couple of years I've scrapped a number of cars and looked to maximize the value. Do you realize, that between them, the front and rear bumpers on those early 240 based (incl the 164) weigh nearly 70 lbs. Forty-four lbs of aluminum, twenty-two lbs of rubber-the rest in hardware--not to mention the mounting brackets. That's 2 percent of the vehicle weight. Getting rid of the bumpers would net you the same as an additional 3hp! The early 164 bumpers aren't particularly protective--but they sure look better and don't weigh nearly as much. The '72 164E with OD I owned felt like a rocket compared to the '69 4-speed and the '73 auto we also drove.