I actually owned one of those shitboxes....
Me too! Mine was a 1980 Impala. It had a 3.5" bore (3.48 stroke) small block Chevy 267 engine, smog pump, low compression, AND 2.45 HIGHWAY gears!!
The chevy guys told me that that particular motor (60ish HP) wouldn't do 130+ mph, it did. It had less horse power / acceleration than my worst 1.5 Civic engine, it had
some torque to move that mammoth 4k lb car around, but you could not pull out in front of traffic because it could not move out of it's own way.
I paid $600 to my cheapskate uncle, for it and thoroughly appreciated no car payments.
When people tell me that 2.25 gears won't work with a small block, I think back to this vehicle, and well/bad it drove with such a terrible engine, gear combination, and weight.