Yes, but they run better when the temps are around 190 degrees. I would rather have a temp gauge in the middle between cold and hot (at around 190-195 degrees) rather than having one that was at 230-235 degrees, or 5-10 degrees away from boiling over.

The Detroit manufacturers discovered things as they went along, so old road tests aren't the best reference for determining what the engine temp should be. There was an old test of a 1970 Buick GS Stage 1 that was conducted in hot weather, and the car boiled over after every run. Not my idea of a fun day at the track. By 1971, GM introduced closed cooling systems on nearly all of their cars. Before that, Americans were used to having coolant spewing out of their overflow tube on hot days after they shut the car off.

Along came closed systems, clutch fans, and full fan shrouds. When you compare a 1965 GTO system, which had a fan guard (no shroud), overflow tube, and a top tank radiator, those cars were notorious for overheating. But by 1972, they had a closed system, full fan shrouds, clutch fans, and the overheating problems were resolved.