Yahoo Autos What Makes a Vehicle a Muscle Car?
The term “Muscle Car” is not clearly defined, but there are common traits a car must possess to earn muscle car status. Every car enthusiast would agree a muscle car is always a high-performance vehicle with a powerful engine. And most would agree a true muscle car is an American car with at least a 300 cubic-inch V8 delivering impressive acceleration and quarter-mile performance, either between stop lights on a public road or at a drag strip.
The term “muscle car” was coined during the original muscle car era, which is generally defined as 1964 through 1974. The first muscle car to define the term was the 1964 Pontiac GTO, a midsize, two-door coupe that Pontiac equipped with a large 389 cubic inch V8 normally reserved for its full-size models. This became a core component of what defined a muscle car: a midsize or smaller model with a large (or “big block”) V8 engine.
The result was what you might expect – faster straight-line acceleration – and Pontiac is generally credited as the first car company to combine this tactic with a specific, performance-oriented marketing campaign built around the 1964 GTO’s enhanced performance. While the 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 and the1955 Chrysler 300 also combined a relatively lightweight midsize body with a powerful V8 engine, it was the Pontiac GTO that kicked off a horsepower war between Detroit automakers, resulting in the original 1964-1974 muscle car era.
A long list of iconic muscle cars were launched during this period. They range from the Buick GS to the Chevrolet Chevelle SS to the Dodge Charger R/T. While they all had their own personalities, every one of them shared the following characteristics:
Classic Muscle Car Traits:
V8 Engine making at least 300 horsepower
Rear-wheel drive
Two-door body
“Midsize” or smaller chassis
American Made
Produced from 1964 and 1974
All vehicles that have the above traits are muscle cars and define the original muscle car era. Additional examples of iconic muscle cars include the Ford Torino, Oldsmobile 442, and Plymouth Road Runner and GTX. Many of the best muscle cars saw success in professional drag racing and NASCAR competition, with famous V8 engines like the Chevy 427 Rat motor, Dodge 426 Hemi, and Ford Boss 429 being installed in the street cars to qualify them for competitive use.
Are Pony Cars Muscle Cars?
All the previous models were midsize cars, but a smaller set of performance-oriented American cars, called “Pony Cars”, also qualify as muscle cars. This group started with the 1964 Ford Mustang GT and was quickly followed by the AMC Javelin SST, Chevrolet Camaro Z28, Dodge Challenger R/T, Mercury Cougar, XR7, Plymouth Barracuda Formula S (later called ‘Cuda), and Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. The Barracuda actually beat the Mustang to showrooms by a few months, but it was the Mustang that generated headlines, sold in the hundreds of thousands, and launched the pony car segment.
These pony cars still followed the core muscle car philosophy – powerful V8 engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door body, midsize or smaller chassis. So yes, the original pony cars were also muscle cars.
What About the Corvette and Cobra? Are They Muscle Cars?
It’s true that another set of American performance cars existed during the original muscle car era, represented by the Chevrolet Corvette and Shelby Cobra. But unlike pony cars, these were two-seat models with even smaller, lighter bodies. Because of their focus on handling, instead of straight-line acceleration, along with their two-seat passenger capacity, the Corvette and Cobra are considered sports cars, not muscle cars, despite their V8 engines, rear-wheel drive, two-door body styles, and American nameplates.
