Correct me if I’m wrong, now-a-days, engine choices are bundled in packages, no? Whereas, back then, you picked the Road Runner decor group (if you were ordering a Road Runner) then you picked your engine; 383cid was standard in this case, in 1972 it was the 400cid (same damn thing). But then you had the choice of substituting it with a 440, 340, or 426, without really taking on anything else.
And I believe you could also order a Satellite Sebring with a 4bbl big block (not a 440cid), heavy duty suspension, a 727, and - i’m pretty sure – a 3.55 sure grip. (Essentially, a Road Runner, but more expensive; and therefore would make no sense).
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you’d never be able to do something like that today, because the engine choices are in lockstep with the packages. For example, an engine today would come bundled with gawdawful heated leather seats and some stupid infotainment center type thing.
And BTW, everybody says the big detuned-smog year was in 1972, but that’s not correct. It was 1971! Look at the de-tuned 383!
