I saw a road test for a 1950 Dodge a few days ago. It had a 0 to 60 time of 25 seconds! Were those cars actually that slow or was that misprint / mistake?

Part of the sluggishness was due to the fluid drive or gyromatic transmissions these cars came with.

So they really are that slow???

That would depend on which car, which motor, and which transmission.
1950 Chrysler could weigh 3500-4200lbs and have a 116hp flathead 6, but was tied to the fluid drive which killed any hope of performance.
A 1950 Plymouth could weigh less the 3,000lbs, and have a 95HP flathead 6 with a 3 speed manual trans. It wasn't considered a slouch back then, but it sure was not a rocket ship. Nothing in 1950 had very impressive 0-60 times, compared to the numbers of today, but most were not far from each other back then. Certainly a different time.

Want a surprise, look up the performance of a 54 New Yorker 2 door hardtop with a 331 Hemi, 4 bbl carb, with the much better 3 speed auto trans. In 1954, that Hemi 4bbl in the 2 door hardtop was considered to be one of the fastest production cars of the year.

It's possible the test guys weren't beating the cars hard back then; and a VW Beetle could keep up with traffic.
Our family car for a while when I was a child was a '53 BelAir six/Powerglide...very leisurely, to be kind...
In the early '60s, stuff that felt really fast would run maybe 14s, and late '60s/early '70s a 12-second car on the street would make you money.
A lot happened between post-WW2 and 1970...and of course a lot has happened since.

You mean they're lying to us from 7:14 to 9:13?

From memory, '53 PG rated 115 HP, '53 std trans, rated 107 HP. The hottest Chevy in town couldn't break 16 secs quarter mile with a friend manning the clock.

The new 6 bangers and ohv V8's were killing the Ford flathead V8 that maxed out at 110 HP.

Dad had a friend in the 1970's who claimed those late '50's hot cars ran 12 second quarter miles.

I've seen photos from US 30 in the 50s. It seems like a 15 second "stocker" was a pretty fsst car.

Interesting? 1953 Corvette performance w/ 150 HP and a PG.

1953 Corvette Performance
Published Performance Results
0-30 MPH: 3.6 Seconds
0-60 MPH: 11.2 Seconds
0-100 MPH: 39.0 Seconds
Quarter Mile: 17.90 Seconds @ 77.0 mph
Top Speed: 108 MPH

Want a surprise, look up the performance of a 54 New Yorker 2 door hardtop with a 331 Hemi, 4 bbl carb, with the much better 3 speed auto trans. In 1954, that Hemi 4bbl in the 2 door hardtop was considered to be one of the fastest production cars of the year. [/quote] I'm pretty sure that the cast iron 3 speed Torqyeflyte type trannies didn't come out and be used until 1957.
My mother bought a used 1949 or 1950 Dodge or Plymouth(CRS) in around 1956, I learn how to drive in that fluid drive tranny with that low power flat head six. You didn't need to use the clutch pedal unless your where going to change gears from forward to reverse or visa-versa. Once you had the shifter lever in the gear you wanted you could let the clutch out and let it sit their idling with no forward motion until you gave it some thrpottle, you coulld shft from 2nd to 3rd without using the clutch pedal also, let off and move the gear shift lever from 2nd to high and away you went at a snail pace
My Father in law owned and drove a 1956 Chrysler 4 door New Yorker sedan that had the pushbutton Powerflyte (2 speed) tranny in it, I bought a 1959 Dodge Coronet in 1964 that had a 326 C.I. Poly motor that was exactly identicle to the 1959 318 Plymouth poly motors for that year only. That car had a pushbutton two speed Powerflyte in it also, that was the last year that Mopar offer that 2 speed tranny, I think

Don't forget, you can fast-forward 20 years and still not get much better. Most Slant 6 / Automatic A-bodies could only run the 0-60 in 21 or 22 seconds.

This one was pretty quick then at 0-60 @ 15.3 sec, but the same for another 10 MPH as 0-70 was 22.5 seconds Seems confusing when you look at the 1/4 mile at 20 seconds and a "devilish" MPH of 66.6 MPH

My old '55 Plymouth wagon with the flathead and 3-sp manual could easily keep up with modern traffic but acceleration was not its strong suit.

That's a slant 6 not a flathead.

I daily drive a 51 Plymouth, pretty much stock. Yes, they are that slow. It'll do 70, but I don't like pushing it that hard.

97 hp, 3.91 rear gears, three on the tree. P255/50R17's in the back. About 3400 rpm at 70, Those old flatheads have a long stroke and massive pistons so high rpm is not a good thing for them.

Dig out the Roger Huntington Hot Rod Magazine articles on the 1959 315 and 335 horsepower 348 tri-power El Caminos.
According to Huntington, they were running gasser times with a stocker.

My '59 "El Savoychero" was the last flathead 6 I owned, and with a "3 onna tree" it was ok, if not speedy. If we're talking slow cars in general, I had a 1986 Olds Custom Cruiser in immaculate condition, and I bracket raced it a lot. No one could judge me at the finish line as it ran the 1/4 in a little over 60 MPH and in the 20's. It actually never had an ET in the teens. THAT was a real pooch but I won many rounds at the track with it because my competition closed on me so fast at the top end they were either standing on the brakes at the stripe or breaking out. All I had to do was cut a decent light and I got pretty good at that.

I knew it was a /6 and not the OP's flat head 6, just posted it as a comparison of how much better the /6 was, a real "muscle 6"

I had no preadjust, I pulled any inline 6 out, flathead or slant, didn't matter. I replaced every one that came by my shop with a V8. Both forms of the inline 6 had the same level of esteem at my place.

And that's how the term belly button came about.

Every one has one.

I have an aluminum high compression head, split exhaust, electronic ignition, Dual throttle body EFI waiting to go on the 230 I am building. No belly button there.

But not everyone can think outside the box.

It's nice to know there's someone out there even weirder than a Slant guy.

The United States Constitution says all men are create equal, not so according to some women I have had the opportunity to entertain
AKA, this is the great U.S.A. were we get to choose what we like and don't like, thanks be to God that not all of us like Chebys
I am a die hard Mopar guy, I had a 1955 Dodge D500 17 ft. long flatbed truck that I haul logs and firewood with, it had a 264 C.I .Dodge fatt head inline six cylinder in it with a 4 speed truck tranny and a vacuum operated two speed rear end (Desoto cars had the same C.I. motor in some of the early models) there was one more bigger C.I. Flat six that came in the cheaper Chryslers cars and the D600 and maybe also in the D700.
That motor had a freeze crack in it along the bottom of the cooling passages on the drivers side before I bought it, I tried all types of stop leak including pepper and other home remedies, nothing help so I would drainit when it got cold and put water init when I wanted to use it.
I ended up changing the motor to a 1957 Chrysler 392 Hemi motor New yorker motor rated at 325 HP. I also switch it from 6 volts to 12V, that was the best thing I ever did to that truck, with the six cylinder in it with a car on the back I had to use the brakes to slow it down going down grades like the Cajon Pass when I let off, it would flat speed up After swapping the motor it would slow down on its own when I let off the gas pedal with the Hemi motor in it, the rear end shifter better under a load also, more vacuum = better truck
It road like a truck with a race car on it, I ended up selling it to a guy who wanted to haul a medium size tractor on it and bought a 1957 dodge one ton converted to a car hauler, same deal the motor was worn out and I had to swap a newer model 318 truck motor into it
My message is live life like you want, screw everybody else and what they think and say