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Define Muscle Car......

dolfan
On the "Favorite muscle car" thread, Doug posted:

Muscle cars are mid-sized cars, built between 1964 and 1971, which have big block engines.

The rest may be muscular, but they ain't muscle cars. Doug

*****PER Wiki and the car rags "Motor Trend & Car & Driver, Doug is correct. A Corvette by definition IS NOT A muscle car.



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Pontiac GTO is a classic example of the muscle car.
A muscle car is a high-performance automobile. The term principally refers to American, Australian and South African models and generally describes a 2-door rear wheel drive mid-size car with a large, powerful V8 engine and special trim, intended for maximum torque on the street or in drag racing competition. It is distinguished from sports cars, which were customarily and coincidentally considered smaller, two-seat cars, or GTs, two-seat or 2+2 cars intended for high-speed touring and possibly road racing. High-performance full-size or compact cars are arguably excluded from this category, as are the breed of compact sports coupes inspired by the Ford Mustang. Other factors used in defining classic muscle cars are their age and country of origin. A classic muscle car is usually made in the US or Australia between 1964 and 1975. Notably, the term "muscle car" did not enter common usage until after production of the cars had essentially ended. During their heyday, print media usually referred to this class of vehicle as "supercars".



American muscle cars

Motor Trend identified the following models as "musclecars" in 1965:

1962-1965 Dodge Dart 413/426 Max Wedge/426 Hemi/Plymouth Fury 413/426 Max Wedge/426 Hemi
1964-1965 Ford Thunderbolt 427
1965-1969 Buick Skylark Gran Sport
1965-1970 Dodge Coronet/Plymouth Belvedere 426-S
1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS
1965-1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442
Road & Track identified the following models as "musclecars" in 1965:

1964-1965 Pontiac Tempest Le Mans/GTO
1965-1975 Buick Riviera Gran Sport
1965-1969 Buick Skylark Gran Sport
1965-1970 Dodge Coronet/Plymouth Belvedere 426-S
1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS
1965-1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442

Car and Driver also created a list of the 10 Best muscle cars for its January 1990 issue. The magazine focused on the engines and included:

1966-1967 Plymouth/Dodge intermediates with 426 Hemi
1968-1969 Plymouth/Dodge intermediates with 426 Hemi
1970-1971 Plymouth/Dodge intermediates with 426 Hemi
1966-1967 Chevy II SS327
1966-1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396
1968-1969 Chevy II Nova SS396
1969 Ford Cobra 428
1969 Plymouth Road Runner/Dodge Super Bee 440 Six Pack
1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS454
1969 Pontiac GTO

Other muscle cars include the following:

1968-1974 AMC AMX, AMC Javelin AMX
1969 AMC SC/Rambler
1970-1971 AMC Rebel AMC Matador The Machine
1970-1974 Buick GSX
1965-1973 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454
1958-1985 Chevrolet Impala SS
1970-1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS454
1963-1974 Chevrolet Nova SS
1970-1974 Dodge Challenger
1966-1974 Dodge Charger
1968-1976 Dodge Dart GT, GTS, Swinger, and Demon
1969-1970 Dodge Charger Daytona nose cone, goalpost wing
1968-1971 Dodge Super Bee
1966-1969 Ford Fairlane GT, GTA, and Cobra
1968-1974 Ford Torino (GT, Cobra and Ford Torino Talladega)
1967-1973 Mercury Cougar Cougar Eliminator
1968-1971 Oldsmobile 442
1964-1974 Plymouth Barracuda aka 'Cuda
1970-1976 Plymouth Duster
1967-1971 Plymouth GTX
1968-1974 Plymouth Road Runner
1970 Plymouth Superbird with nose cone and goalpost wing
1966-1974 Pontiac GTO
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Comments

57 comments

Date Votes
  • mustang
    yes, the new Mustang Shelby rocks! I would love one!
    I would have to agree with Doug W. as to what a Muscle car is, but i do think the lines are sometime's blurry. But in the end its the enjoyment of the car that maters.
    I do know from personal experance the more I work on cars the more I learn what books and reading will never will teach.

    The favorite muscle car is the 64 Chev Impala SS. I love it's lines. and ya, I know about them and I don't own one (YET):)
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  • strokn47265
    My definition of a MUSCLE CAR= Any factory made, or dealership converted car made from the years of about 1964- 1972, that would make u grin from ear to ear and at the same time make your a**hole pucker from the ear splittn sound of unrestricted power as u got planted in the seat when runnin in the proximity of the 1/4 mile.
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  • strokn47265
    Pretty much a car of the era in straight line performance. The pony cars can be considered muscle cars if they had the cubes. Other than that muscle means.........BRUTE FORCE[:D]
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  • heliman
    Sounds like a lot of people are not from the muscle car era. The term has loosened up over the years to include any car with a big motor. Still, a muscle car in the day was a mis-size car with a big motor, NOT a Corvette, Mustang, Camaro, Cuda, etc. Those are not mid-size. Chevelle, Cutlass, Fairlane, GTO,etc. ARE muscle cars and are mid-size.[8D]
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  • allen griggs
    The Judge
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  • catpealer111
    A muscle car is any family grocery getter or other plain jane car that has been turned into a fire breathing barn burner.
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  • Colt Super
    quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
    The Judge


    A Pontiac GTO/big motor LeMans.

    Judge was a very garish option decor package. At the end of the Muscle Car era.

    Very cool.

    Doug
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  • Zebra
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 1964 1/2 GTO was the 1st heavy muscle car to be offered in the USA and the rest followed.
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  • Colt Super
    It was introduced during the 1964 model year, but I don't think it was ever an official designation(1964 1/2) like the 1963 1/2 Ford Galaxy 500 Fastback/Scatback, winner of the Daytona 500 - 1,2,3,4,5 - with the 427 side-oiler.

    Doug
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  • SG
    (G)ot(T)he(O)riginal.

    GTO (gee tee ooh) noun:
    A high performance car that seats four adults and is capable of scaring the crap out of three of them.[:D]
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  • David Nunn
    When I was in my mid-teens, my Sunday school teacher had a pretty serious muscle car. It was a 1966 or 1967 Ford Fairlane, pretty mundane looking 2-door hardtop, with bench front seat and automatic transmission with the selector on the column.

    He mentioned one day that he liked to race it, and I said, "You race THAT?"

    He raised the hood, and there was the factory-installed 427 with two 4-barrel carburetors.

    The engine was also fitted with tube headers. I don't know if they were factory, but downstream were two huge mufflers that silenced the big engine's bark. For racing, the owner could unbolt the pipes from the headers and rotate them out of the way. In the trunk, he had a pair of wheels with drag slicks on them that he could install quickly when needed.
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  • staind460
    i know this is a way late entry into the discussion but, Dolfan you have listed the Chalenger, Javeline, Couger and Cuda/Baracuda as Muscle Cars. they are all in the same class as the mustang and Camero.

    just thought i would throw that in
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  • yoshmyster
    Where would my 1994 Chevy Caprice fall under these guide lines? She has a 350 LT1 engine (like a Corvette of the same year) with a body of a 4 door Sedan which is capable of 145MPH (been there to see for myself).
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  • Colt Super
    Your Caprice was built after 1971/72 - not a Muscle Car.

    Doug
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  • iceracerx
    quote:Originally posted by Zebra
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 1964 1/2 GTO was the 1st heavy muscle car to be offered in the USA and the rest followed.


    This is going to be open to more debate.

    Some might say that a 1958 Chevy with a 348 Police Interceptor Engine was the first "Heavy Muscle Car", but that's the differences between old guys and the "Fast and Furious" crowd.

    There were plenty of cars with BIG engines that predate the first GTO.
    For example, a 62 Chevy Impala with a 409 and Plymouth and Dodge coupes with 413s or 426 MAX WEDGES. And of course FORD had entered the fray in 1960 to combat the 348 with their 352 "Special Power".

    Edit: I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know that Mopar was stuffing 383's ("B" block) with CROSS RAM induction into their products in 1960 (pre 413 "RB" block) - But then again, I've always been a Chevy freak!
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  • mustang
    If you really wanted to go back I THINK (I think)it was 1932 that Ford had a V12. It may have been the first muscle car.
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  • Hunter Mag
    My '66 chevelle. 454-525HP.

    1966W-454.jpg
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  • MVP
    nunn
    I just looked up the advertized HP for the Ford 427 with 2-4bbl carbs and it is listed at 425hp @ 6000 rpm. Pretty impressive... no wonder you can still remember that car[8D]
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  • Colt Super
    X1

    - Mid-size, Big Block, built between 1964 and 1971/2, also a 2 door.

    A1
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  • yoshmyster
    quote:Originally posted by Doug Wilson
    Your Caprice was built after 1971/72 - not a Muscle Car.

    Doug


    So by your statement today's so called muscle cars aren't muscle cars?
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  • zr700
    Muscle Car... Any American carburated v-8 powered, rear-wheel drive car with a manual trans! Nuff said! [8D]
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  • iluvguns
    If it didn't say PLYMOUTH on the hood, it was just pretending to be a "muscle car!" [:D][:p][}:)][;)][:o)]
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  • Colt Super
    Right.

    "Muscle Car" is a clearly defined automotive type category, like "sports car", "sedan", "convertible", etc.

    Check the other recent thread - within the last couple of days.

    Doug
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  • Colt Super
    quote:Originally posted by mustang
    If you really wanted to go back I THINK (I think)it was 1932 that Ford had a V12. It may have been the first muscle car.


    In 1932, Ford released the first low-cost, mass produced V8. Clyde Barrow wrote a letter to Henry Ford, extolling its' virtues.

    There were a number of V12 and V16 cylinder cars in that era, most notably Cadillacs, Packards, and Lincolns, as well as other not so notable marques.

    Doug
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  • Colt Super
    I like cars almost as much as I like guns - but I have more knowledge about cars.

    Darn.

    Doug
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  • iceracerx
    quote:Originally posted by mustang
    If you really wanted to go back I THINK (I think)it was 1932 that Ford had a V12. It may have been the first muscle car.


    The 1936 LINCOLN ZEPHYR was powered by a V-12, but at a whopping 267.3 cubic inches, it was anything but a powerful car, esp when compared to a 452 cubic inch Cadillac V-16.

    +1 on the "Genre" comment A1.
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  • Colt Super
    "Edit: I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know that Mopar was stuffing 383's ("B" block) with CROSS RAM induction into their products in 1960 (pre 413 "RB" block) - But then again, I've always been a Chevy freak!"
    -X1

    The RB was a raised block version of the B block, introduced in 1961 in 350 and 361 cubic inch versions. There was also a 383 B block, not to be confused with the 383 RB block - there was almost no parts interchangeability.

    If I remember correctly, there were some very high compression, plus supercharged, 350 MOPARSs that set a few records at Bonneville.

    The period of time from around 1948 til about 1972 was very exciting in the automotive world. Incredible engine, transmission, and chassis progress was made, as well as advances in tire and electronic technology.

    Turbo-supercharged, flat six, rear mounted engines - Corvair. Turbo-supercharged, all aluminum V8s (Olds Cutlass), 1st 200 MPH lap by a stock car at Talledega, Overhead cam big blocks - 427 SOHC Ford...the Chevy "Mystery Motor" 427/396, mechanical fuel injection and 4 speed transmissions on the '57 Chevvies, fuel injection on the Rambler American, 4 Speed trannies on the Chrysler 300. Chrysler's extension of their HEMI technology from the 392 to the 426, Ram induction.

    And on, and on, and on.

    I love all those cars, and I was fortunate enough to grow up with them.

    Sorry to rave on, here.

    Doug
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