Enjoy Learning About the Best Muscle Cars
Just what is the best muscle cars that have ever been produced? Well, it all depends on the individual’s choice. According to some, the first “intentional” muscle car was introduced by GM in 1949. This particular car had a 303 – cubic -inch (5l) Rocket V8 from a full-sized luxury car “98 model” into a smaller and lighter “Olds 88 model”.
Even though GM has been credited by some to have introduced the first muscle car, the term was unknown until 15 years later in 1964. So, many, many types, shapes and sizes of high performance cars have been produced since this first family car was built.
Then, Chrysler installed the 331 cu. inch (5.4L) Chrysler Hemi engine in the mid-range Chrysler Saratoga in 1951 that had normally been installed in a full-sized luxury sedan Chrysler New Yorker.
Later, in 1952 Ford’s luxury brand Lincoln came out with 317 cu. inch (5.2L) Lincoln Y-Block V8 and the rivalry began just as it continues today…basically a different day and circumstances but still a rivalry to produce the fastest, best selling vehicles between car manufacturers.
The Horsepower War Began
The Lincoln Capri – was entered in the Pan American Road Race in 1952 and 53, ranking 1st and 2nd place in 1954 (by the way, that was the year the car guy was born…a good year). Then, the Olds 88 and Chrysler Saratoga were in NASCAR races around the USA in stock form (the way the car came originally). Who would have thought?
So, the name muscle car was originally labeled to the special editions of mass produced cars of the mid 1960s and 1970s. One of the 1970 muscle cars is the Plymouth Hemi Superbird which was designed for Nascar Racing. Today, the Plymouth Superbird is rare and very pricey to buy. After that, car magazines and automobile marketing would use “muscle car” to describe street driving cars which were “performance” oriented to the delight of many. This way, people could have the high-performance at a real reduction in cost.
Basically, these cars had extremely powerful engines being put in considerably basic, intermediate cars at real affordable budget prices (who wouldn’t go for that?).
As a result, the 1968 Plymouth Road Runner (mine was a 1969 Road Runner – Orange/Black vinyl top and Black interior/ 383 engine-automatic transmission…I ran the soup out of that car…Awesome) and the Dodge Super Bee, one of the Dodge muscle cars, were produced to be sold at lower prices than the more costly, more appealing cars made by GM and Ford.
There were a slew of them counting the ones that could have fallen in this same category, but to name a few, the Pontiac GTO (1964) sweet…and one of the Chevy muscle cars that was so popular is the 396 Chevrolet Chevelle SS (1965)…sweet repeat (my brother-in-law had a 1967 that would stroll). Another favorite is the 1970 Plymouth Charger as pictured below…woah!!
As far as the Mercury brand, two favorite muscle cars were the 427 Mercury Comet Cyclone (1964) and the 390 Mercury Cyclone (1966)…awesome. Buick came out with a 400 Gran Sport in 1965.
Dodge and Plymouth didn’t get out of the horsepower war either back then since Chrysler got it going on with the full-sized 300L. The 300 “letter series” were built after World World II and those were built to focus on performance. Therefore, Chrysler can be considered as producing the first muscle car. These letter series were stopped being produced 1965.
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Modern Muscle Cars
Today, auto makers are producing modern muscle cars that will go even faster than the popular muscle cars back in the day due to technology. Some, look strikingly similar to the ones of the past, such as the Dodge Challenger. For example, the 2023 Challenger has the highest horsepower of ANY production car – 807 ponies (Horsepower)!
The 2023 Challenger is the world’s 1st and ONLY muscle coupe with available all-wheel drive. But production of this type of vehicle is coming to its end along with the 4-door Dodge Charger this year. Some things seem dumb, but it’s not my call.
If anyone that may be reading this article is fortunate to have one, perhaps some extra care could be bestowed on it since no more will be produced after this year. Can you imagine what they will be worth in five years time or less?