Muscle cars... vroom vroom

[Wozza]

I Don't see what being debadged has to do with being a Muscle car, charges have badges and they're easily one of the most "muscle" cars out there.

weight reduction

 

[Hertz Donut]

Actually to me thats the equivalent of putting an A group or C group spoiler kit on, whilst in the muscle car era it kinda missus the mark to me, plus its so ugly only its mother could love it

Oh hellz yeah they're ugly, but at least it's actually functional. I consider them muscle cars, just not one I'd own other than to sell to someone else and make a bajillion dollars to build a '69 Charger with a 502ci Keith Black Hemi and 8/71 poking out of the bonnet.

 

[Hangman]

Muscle cars came about due to nascar racing, in the early days GM ford and mopar used their big block high output V8's only in their high end cars which weighed tons and were huge (they had a power to weight limit they used in new cars) these where also the car they raced...They were running out of power as the weight also increased with each new model.Then some bright spark decided to put the biggest big block in a lighter mid range car that only ever had a small block in it...long story short the muscle car was born...Muscle cars have a look to em but basically a light weight mid/low range chassis with few options and the biggest V8 they had available shoe horned in After the factorys stopped making them due to government and fun police jumping up and down to save little Johnnie from hurting himself the rev heads continued to build them in secret and so we got the sleeper

You left out the seppo quarter mile stuff. That pushed the whole factory big engine/light car thing along as well.

 

[Wozza]

You left out the seppo quarter mile stuff. That pushed the whole factory big engine/light car thing along as well.

Yeah but its seen more as a flow on effect..nascar required I think min 500 production models for the car to be raced...in the early days muscle cars were made by optioning, so little johnny would go down to the local dealer order a base model with the meanest options and basically have a competitive drag car..

 

[Towcar]

have to disagree, i've always seen muscle cars as big hulking brutes or i guess little hulking brutes, the VS-VR range really doesn't fit the bill, yes VRSenator065's car has a big block in it, but the overall shape and feel of the car doesn't impact the same way, The new challenger, camaro and Mustang all come to mind with modern muscle, i'd even maybe say the VE (VF is a bit to euro styled to be muscle)

But agree with most of what has been said on here, 60-70's cars with a few from after that (Buick GNX comes to mind) I think it's a lot more to do with the styling rather than just car and big v8.

Actually the hulking brutes were not the muscle cars, the muscle car started with the Mustang, that was a smaller car that had a big engine shoehorned into it, a lot of people believe this started with Nascar but it was actually drag racing then transam that started the muscle car era, Nascar was still using the bigger cars at that stage but soon came around.

You are right to say the VR-VS don't count as muscle cars, but that is due to them being the "full weight, full size" cars, a muscle car would have been the next size down from that with a big block.

VR Senators car would be a hotrod by comparison.

That's my take on muscle cars anyway.

Have a look up of the COPO special order versions of factory cars if you want to cream your pants, then look at the Yenko versions

 

[VS 5.0]

Yenko Camaro FTW

 

[Darren_L]

I think originally what differentiated a big block from a small block, was bore spacing.

As for what defines a muscle car, well I guess it's really down to the individual. Question - Is a Corvette a muscle car or a sports car ?
Of course the term was born in the 60's & 70's with American cars like Mustang, Camaro, Challenger etc
Australians adopted the term for cars like GTHO's, Monaros Toranas, Chargers.
A V8 was usually a mandatory requirement, but I don't think there would be many Australian car enthusiasts who would rule out the Aussie Hemi powered Charger as a muscle car simply because it was powered by a 6 pot.

Some would say the 70's, maybe early 80's is where muscle ended.
Others might debate that muscle cars simply evolved with time and we indeed have a new generation of muscle cars.

To me, a muscle car is a working mans performance car. It's not a light weight, high tech sports car. The car tends to be on the big side, fairly traditional in it's style & technology, usually powered by a V8 & rear wheel drive of course. It has a certain 'muscular' appearance, low, wide wheels etc. I think we also tend to relate it to older cars, so as time goes on, some cars from later generations tend to assume the title. For example I now consider some of the Commodores/HDT and Falcons from the 80's as 'muscle cars'.

 

[Reaper]

What defines a muscle car differs for everybody. For me, it's what was(is?) a performance car relatively cheap/affordable for it's day, usually a V8 bolted to what would otherwise be everyday transport. It does leave some interesting anomolies though - is a corvette a muscle car?? For me it is (particularly C1, 2, 3 & 4). Modern day HSV Commodores?? Yes. EVo Lancers and WRX's muscle cars??? not for me. I'm sure there are plenty of people who will disagree with my assessment and post vherement arguments why some cars should/n't be classed as muscle cars but meh. It's a personal thing like weather red cars look better than blue - everybodies opinion is correct

 

[uniacidz]

/end thread

I dunno how but I squealed and fainted when I saw this.

Muscle cars to me are the era up to 1980 and V8 and well kept

 

[Samshaks]

V8 vehicles can be modern muscular but I don't think they have that same attraction as the old version of cars.