Muscle Cars: Speed and Power

They're big, fast and from an era when power and performance meant everything: They're muscle cars. For a few years beginning in the 1960s, V8s became the engine of choice, and GTOs, Hemi 'Cudas and Super Sports ruled the roads. These were personality-packed autos that left young hearts pounding as they left black marks on the asphalt.

Classic muscle cars continue to enjoy a rising popularity among collectors. Auto parts for old muscle cars populate the marketplace, while manufacturers are producing new versions of the old favorites. For many people, muscle cars are still the car of choice.

The Era of Muscle Cars

Muscle cars weren't always known as muscle cars. In fact, they were called super cars in the beginning. The term "super car" accurately described these high-performance, power-packed vehicles.
 
While many other car manufacturers had produced so-called muscle cars prior to 1964, it was in this year that Pontiac produced the GTO, which many people consider to be the first true muscle car. The GTO featured a 389 Bonneville engine and a Tempest frame. After the introduction of this car, other big-name car manufacturers embraced muscle cars and began producing their own versions.

Whether it was a desire to look good on the highways or make an impression on the quarter-mile racetrack, the love affair with American muscle cars lasted well into the late 1960s. The desire for muscle cars began to decline in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, as concern for the environment cast the gas-guzzling muscle cars in a negative light.

Muscle Cars: Types of Muscle Cars

Technically, a muscle car is a car with a mid-size chassis and a big-block, or V8 engine. Here's a short list of traditional muscle cars based on classic chassis:
  • Buick GS
  • Chevrolet Chevelle (SS versions only)
  • Dodge Charger (R/T version only)
  • Ford Torino (GT model only)
  • Oldsmobile Cutlass (442 model only)
  • Plymouth Barracuda (Barracudas with 340s are not muscle cars.).

Full-size cars, compacts and pony cars also fall within the muscle car category, but only if they feature high-performance equipment. These include:

  • AMC AMX
  • Chevy Camaro (SS and Z28 models only)
  • Chevy Impala (SS version only)
  • Dodge Coronet (R/T version only)
  • Dodge Dart (383 and 440 engines only)
  • Ford Galaxie (390-plus engines only)
  • Ford Mustang (Boss, GT and Mach 1 versions only)
  • Mercury Cougar (Boss, Eliminator and GT models only)
  • Plymouth Duster (340s only)
  • Pontiac Firebird (with 400 cid engine).

Top-Selling Muscle Cars

Some muscle cars continue to reign over all the others. Here's a list of some of the most popular muscle cars of all time:
  • Pontiac GTO (1966)
  • Pontiac GTO (1968)
  • Chevrolet Chevelle SS (1969)
  • Plymouth Road Runner (1969)
  • Pontiac GTO (1967).

Muscle Car for Sale and Buying a Muscle Car

People looking to buy a muscle car can expect to pay anywhere from a couple hundred dollars for a fixer-upper to several hundred thousand dollars for a top-selling muscle car in prime condition. In general, the buyers of muscle cars arebaby boomers who either owned a muscle car or who drooled over one during their heyday.

If you're in the market for a muscle car, be leery of deals that seem too good to be true. Today, many clones of muscle cars are for sale on the market, and an uneducated buyer could easily pay top-dollar for a knock-off. When buying a muscle car, always ask for original papers on the car. Also ask if the car has had any major work and if it has been in any accidents.