The definition of a muscle car?

[BMOTOXSTAR]

V8 engine, loud exhaust (headers) ,big fat tires on the ass end that can smoke like a tire fire at a junk yard !

[Brock Samson]

     

The definition of a musclecar is this.
In 1964 industry standards said the engine to chasis ration should be 1 cubic inch of engine per 100 lbs of chasis weight. Well, in 1964 when john delorean decided to put a 389 in a car that weighed 3800 lbs, 90 lbs short of being legal, the muscle car was born. It was an option to a base model. IE The GTO was an option on the tempest model. It was such a marketing success that the big 3 auto makers all jumped aboard. In 1970, insurance rates were going up, so it was common for automakers to underestimate horsepower and torque so the potential buyer wouldn't pay alot for insurance.
In 1975, the federal govt got rid of the leaded gas, imposed pollution controls and added the 5 mph bumper. So, the last year of the musclecar was in 1974.

:

scratchchin:









   Well,.. I belive the Real Muscelcars actually came into being in 1956 along with Rock and Roll,.. case in point the Plymouth Fury, Dodge D-500 and the Chrysler 300, there were others,.. IE: Pontiac had their tri carbed Bonnevilles and such,.. Look at the cars that raced at Daytona back in the late 50s,.. one thing that became apparent was that a smaller body with a bigger motor was a relitivly easy way to win races on Sunday and sell to fans on Monday...

         the GTO was a simple option package,.. seven years later...

BTW i'd say '72 MOPARS were the last real muscle cars, by '73 it was over,.. lower compression, greater weight, strangeled breathing...

    in my opinion...

[hemihead]

Some say the first Musclecar was the 49 Olds 88. Others say it was the 55 Chrysler 300. The GTO was the first to heavily publicize a Musclecar and offer it as a seperate model instead of just an option package. But Pontiac was not the inventor of the Musclecar.

[69CoronetRT]

BTW i'd say '72 MOPARS were the last real muscle cars, by '73 it was over,.. lower compression, greater weight, strangeled breathing...

So what's the difference between a '72 and '73 340 'Cuda or Challenger? So a 73 440 Road Runner/GTX is not a cusle car?

If it was over in '73 it was over in '72....

What about the SD Trans AMs? You'd exclude them as 'not a muscle car'? Take a ride in one sometime.
You'd leave out the 74-76 360 Dusters and Darts?
Ever tangled with a nicley tuned 80's Turbo Buick?

[rav440]

BTW i'd say '72 MOPARS were the last real muscle cars, by '73 it was over,.. lower compression, greater weight, strangeled breathing...

So what's the difference between a '72 and '73 340 'Cuda or Challenger? So a 73 440 Road Runner/GTX is not a cusle car?

If it was over in '73 it was over in '72....

What about the SD Trans AMs? You'd exclude them as 'not a muscle car'? Take a ride in one sometime.
You'd leave out the 74-76 360 Dusters and Darts?
Ever tangled with a nicley tuned 80's Turbo Buick?

right on 69CoronetRT i consider my 73 rr/GTX a MUSCLE CAR ,if not its just friggn RARE  but the fact is the term MUSCLE CAR wasnt coined till the 80s . so nody really knows what exactly a true MUSCLE CAR is . i belive there were MUSCLE CARS WAY BEFORE  the GTO was ever thougth of .

[Brock Samson]

i don't really know for sure but i do suspect that by '72 the bloom was off the rose...    all just my opinion... there were some quick cars but i don't think a '73 or '74  compares to a '71... didnt mean to piss you guys off..

[69CoronetRT]

As there is no definition to a muscle car, I just don't think you can make a clear cut end date as to when things stopped. Yes, things went down hill after '71 in terms of depth of selection and numbers built but there were still cars made after 71 that were similar in design and purpose to the cars built during the peak era. In some cases, the handling and tire technology were certainly better than in previous years.

[Charger1973]

I'll admit my 73 had some things working against it from the factory, but I still consider it a muscle car.  Especially now that I am correcting all the factory's mistakes.