Classic American Muscle Cars

The muscle car era gave us some of the most powerful and collectible cars in American history. The definition of a muscle car is an American manufactured midsized car with large, sometimes very large V8 engines, generally produced between 1965 and 1973. The cars usually had extra trim and other "sport" packages to go along with the extreme horsepower. The first generation baby boomers wanted powerful cars, and the only way before the muscle car era to achieve this was by chop shop modifications or after market modifications, but these were very expensive options. By having the car manufactured with a large engine, it lowered the price dramatically.

The 1964 Tempest had the "GTO" option, starting the muscle car era. This mid sized car had a 389 cid engine, and over 32,000 were produced in 1964, blowing away the projected sales of 5,000 units. GM policy at this time only allowed for full sized models to have large V8 engines, but engineers got around this by allowing the large engines be options rather than a standard. A floor shifter, special trim, and GTO badging made the first GTO memorable and classic. The GTO would eventually become it's own model.

With the debut of the Ford Mustang in 1965 and selling nearly 1.5 million models in less than two years, the muscle car race was on. The Ford Mustang in technical terms is considered a pony car, not a true muscle car, but these terms can be blurred. The exact definition of a pony car is a small sized car with a large V8 engine. Many people lump pony cars into the muscle car group. Generally pony cars did not have the largest engines available (like the 454), due to the small frames not being able to handle the horsepower and torque, nor was there room for them in the engine bay. Not to mention that this setup would be highly dangerous.

The muscle car era was short lived due to a few reasons, all happening at the same time. Insurance companies raised prices sharply on muscle cars, due to the fact that most owners were very young. Emission control became a priority in the early 1970's with new EPA standards, and engines had to be detuned to use unleaded fuel, creating less horsepower. The 1973 oil embargo was the last straw, and the muscle car era was over.