# Car people, can you explain "Little Deuce Coupe" lyrics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841 "2017-01-10T22:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/101 "2017-09-05T17:51:31Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > Fuelie heads was actually a mistake, they were only for the small block Chevy engine, not the big block 396. Maybe, like Johnny Cash, he made them fit “with a little help from an a-dapter kit”. 🆒 A little drillin’, a little filin’, and a lotta sealant - sure, they’ll fit… ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/102 "2017-09-06T01:35:17Z")
> [@CWeb44](#): > > To put this to rest once and for all, the lyric is Big Slip Daddy, 60s hot rod slang for posi-traction, also know as a limited slip differential. Please provide an authoritative cite (i.e., not mere assertions found in discussions) that “big slip daddy” is a term for a limited-slip differential. Frankly, I don’t believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/103 "2017-09-06T15:54:04Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Frankly, I don’t believe it. Probably because Google can’t seem to find anything about “big slip differentials” that dates from the Sixties. The only dated mentions I can find are from this millennium, claiming that “big slip” is slang from the Sixties. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/104 "2017-09-06T16:28:10Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Probably because Google can’t seem to find anything about “big slip differentials” that dates from the Sixties. The only dated mentions I can find are from this millennium, claiming that “big slip” is slang from the Sixties. “She’s my little blue scoop you don’t know what I got” A “scoop”? That’s '60’s slang for a hot rod, don’tcha know. If you don’t believe me, just google the term this time next year. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/105 "2017-11-06T23:29:56Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > They didn’t. It was still on loan, or it was really Dad’s extra car that Sonny fixed up, or something like that. Very, very few teenagers (and we are talking over 18 here) would actually “own” their car outright. You’d still owe somebody some money somewhere. Having a paid-off car of your own was something to brag about. This is my take on it. “If that ain’t enough to make you flip your lid, I got it all paid for too!” He’s bragging on himself as well as the car. Re the ‘big slip’ interpretation, it seems to me that compared to the other major and expensive modifications he had made to the car, the addition of a limited slip differential would hardly have been enough to make anyone ‘flip their lid’. If anything, I’d think it would be more or less expected. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/106 "2017-11-07T06:50:27Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > In addition to “shorts,” there are a number of other things in **Shut Down** I am unfamiliar with: > > What does it mean to “ride the clutch”? You ride the clutch to increase traction. If you dump the clutch (slide your foot off and let the spring pull the clutch to full engagement-and probably an extra stiff spring at that; if you are making difficult and expensive engine modifications you have certainly spent the $3.25 for a stronger spring that will engage the clutch and therefore the drive train faster) the increased torque will be wasted by “burning rubber”. In other words, the tires will go around and around really fast (but since objects at rest- say a 2,300 pound automobile- tend to stay at rest) but the car itself will only slowly accelerate until the friction builds up to the point where the torque is fully accelerating the forward speed of the car. Feathering the clutch is an art and a skill that is learned when one is trying to maximize acceleration in a race situation (or say, driving on black ice!!) when the horsepower of a frontend engine is significantly greater than the traction of some skinny, bias-ply stock tires under very little weight in the rear of the vehicle. Once they start spinning, the more gas you give it—the faster they spin (and the longer it takes to gain traction). In the song, the singer not only has the possibility of losing traction “out of the hole” (from a standstill at the start of the race), but each time he shifts to a higher gear. If his vehicle has a top speed of 140 MPH, he is shifting into 4th gear around 80 MPH in a race situation (certainly over 65MPH). If his ‘Deuce’ has so much torque that he is chirping his tires at that speed . . . . Well, that is quite a machine and I would not want to race against him under any circumstance; definitely not in the teenager car I co-owned with Valley National Band in the mid seventies (by the late 70’s I owned it outright) ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/107 "2017-11-07T16:39:44Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > You ride the clutch to increase traction. If you dump the clutch (slide your foot off and let the spring pull the clutch to full engagement-and probably an extra stiff spring at that; if you are making difficult and expensive engine modifications you have certainly spent the $3.25 for a stronger spring that will engage the clutch and therefore the drive train faster) the increased torque will be wasted by “burning rubber”. In other words, the tires will go around and around really fast (but since objects at rest- say a 2,300 pound automobile- tend to stay at rest) but the car itself will only slowly accelerate until the friction builds up to the point where the torque is fully accelerating the forward speed of the car. > > Feathering the clutch is an art and a skill that is learned when one is trying to maximize acceleration in a race situation (or say, driving on black ice!!) when the horsepower of a frontend engine is significantly greater than the traction of some skinny, bias-ply stock tires under very little weight in the rear of the vehicle. Once they start spinning, the more gas you give it—the faster they spin (and the longer it takes to gain traction). > > In the song, the singer not only has the possibility of losing traction “out of the hole” (from a standstill at the start of the race), but each time he shifts to a higher gear. If his vehicle has a top speed of 140 MPH, he is shifting into 4th gear around 80 MPH in a race situation (certainly over 65MPH). If his ‘Deuce’ has so much torque that he is chirping his tires at that speed . . . . Well, that is quite a machine and I would not want to race against him under any circumstance; definitely not in the teenager car I co-owned with Valley National Band in the mid seventies (by the late 70’s I owned it outright) This. In fact, we’re told as much in the previous verse: “My Stingray is light; the slicks are starting to spin/But the 413’s really diggin’ in.” Although this line is from “Shut Down,” not “Little Deuce Coupe,” and the car in question is a fuel-injected Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/108 "2017-11-08T03:11:03Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > This. In fact, we’re told as much in the previous verse: “My Stingray is light; the slicks are starting to spin/But the 413’s really diggin’ in.” > > Although this line is from “Shut Down,” not “Little Deuce Coupe,” and the car in question is a fuel-injected Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray. Yes, my mistake. Thank you for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![Truckerman84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Truckerman84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truckerman84)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/109 "2018-02-13T17:05:11Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > Sometime around 1982 from what I’ve read, and they weren’t common by that time. I have “three on the tree” on an old pickup. Modern day theft prevention, nobody under 40 would know how to drive it. Um I’d beg to differ with you on this one I’m 33 and I sure do know how to drive a 3 on the tree I can also drive twin stick Mack’s you know the duplex the triplex and the quadraplex trannys, how many of you can say that​:joy:😂😂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/110 "2018-02-13T19:28:05Z")
Well, that told him! ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/111 "2018-02-13T20:11:40Z")
> [@Truckerman84](#): > > Um I’d beg to differ with you on this one I’m 33 and I sure do know how to drive a 3 on the tree I can also drive twin stick Mack’s you know the duplex the triplex and the quadraplex trannys, how many of you can say that​:joy:😂😂 None of us can say tranny anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/112 "2018-02-19T03:15:09Z")
“Shut Down” always bugged me a little. A ‘62 Superstock Dodge was an awful street car. They idled rough and stalled, were loud because they were missing much of the insulation that a normal Dodge had, were weak at low RPMs, needed the highest octane gas available, and probably never got more than 10 mpg. Also one of the ugliest cars ever made in America. It was good for only one thing: drag racing. Any of the Superstockers made by Dodge, Ford, Pontiac, or Chevrolet would eat that fuelie ‘vette and poop out little fiberglass turds. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/113 "2018-02-19T03:43:34Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > “Shut Down” always bugged me a little. A ‘62 Superstock Dodge was an awful street car. **They idled rough and stalled, were loud because they were missing much of the insulation that a normal Dodge had, were weak at low RPMs, needed the highest octane gas available, and probably never got more than 10 mpg**. Also one of the ugliest cars ever made in America. It was good for only one thing: **drag racing**. Any of the Superstockers made by Dodge, Ford, Pontiac, or Chevrolet would eat that fuelie ‘vette and poop out little fiberglass turds. Isn’t that pretty much the point? ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/114 "2018-02-19T11:35:51Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Isn’t that pretty much the point? Maybe I missed it. Isn’t ‘what’ the point? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/115 "2018-02-19T14:22:18Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > Maybe I missed it. Isn’t ‘what’ the point? Drag racing. Why be surprised that a street-legal drag racer (in that era) would be a terrible street car? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/116 "2018-02-19T15:21:50Z")
Yea, they aren’t driving it because it’s a cushy living room on wheels, but because it’s a killer race car. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/117 "2018-02-19T16:35:39Z")
The cover picture for the single is of [Clarence ‘Chili’ Catallo’s 1932 (deuce) coupe](https://www.google.com/search?q=Clarence+%27Chili%27+Catallo&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiCkojRr7LZAhUJWa0KHd2lAdoQ_AUICigB&biw=1094&bih=486), which had an oldsmobile overhead valve engine with an (8-71?) supercharger. The car in the song had a Ford flathead. Ford flatheads carried through well after the Chevy small block was introduced. They were common and well understood by rodders. They were also light, and being a flathead meant that they wouldn’t bend a valve if run at too high of RPM. This made them popular for dry lake racing, where the focus was on top speed and not acceleration as in drag racing. [Regarding porting and relieving](https://www.35pickup.com/mulligan/images/headwka.gif): Porting refers to cleaning and modifying the intake and exhaust passages to promote higher airflow and better filling and scavenging of each cylinder. Relieving involved [grinding and polishing the deck of the engine block between the valves and the cylinder](http://enthusiastnetwork.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/sites/21/2009/05/0905sr_04_z-ford_flathead_myths-shape_of_relief.jpg) in a flathead in order to make a larger passage for the air/fuel mixture and for the exhaust gases. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/118 "2018-02-19T16:43:48Z")
(On edit: Catallo’s deuce had an Oldsmobile 344 engine and a 6-71 supercharger, not an 8-71. The 6-71 makes sense considering the smaller engine. I think that the bigger 8-71 supercharger was used mainly on the big dragsters, or simply for looks.) > **[Chili Catallo's '32 “Little Deuce Coupe” - Hot Rod Deluxe Magazine](https://www.motortrend.com/features/hrxp-1203-chili-catallo-1932-ford-three-window-little-deuce-coupe/)** > > How HOT ROD and the Beach Boys made Chili Catallo's three-window the most-famous Deuce coupe of the '60s. Check it out at hotrod.com or the March 2012 issue of HOT ROD Deluxe magazine. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/119 "2018-02-19T18:18:00Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > A ‘62 Superstock Dodge was an awful street car… Also one of the ugliest cars ever made in America. Made in the USA, but with Chrysler’s Patented European Styling! I had a 64 Dart named Betsy by the previous owner. I always wondered what European car they were trying to emulate. I bought a new 1971 BMW Bavaria while I still had the Dart. Both had “slant-six” engines of similar displacement, but you couldn’t find two more dissimilar engines. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841/120 "2018-02-20T02:03:36Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Drag racing. Why be surprised that a street-legal drag racer (in that era) would be a terrible street car? Yeah, but that wasn’t my point. In the song, the Corvette wins. Not only does it win, but it does so in the least likely manner. When driving a more mildly tuned street car against a race car, one might expect to pull ahead from the start, then lose ground as the race car reaches higher RPMs. While I don’t expect perfect historical accuracy in a pop song, the Beach Boys knew enough about cars to know better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-people-can-you-explain-little-deuce-coupe-lyrics/776841.md?page=7)