Muscle car
From Wikislippy
Revision as of 02:54, 10 April 2008
Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high performance automobiles. The term principally refers to American, Australian and to a lesser extent South African models from the late 1960s and early 1970s and generally describes a 2-door rear wheel drive mid-size car with a large, powerful V8 engine intended for maximum torque on the street or in drag racing competition. Other factors used in defining classic muscle cars are their age and country of origin. The term "muscle car" did not enter common usage until after production of the cars had essentially ended. It is generally accepted that popular, widespread usage of the term took hold by the early to mid-1980s. During their heyday, print media usually referred to this class of vehicle as "supercars"
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Origins
The idea of installing a powerful engine in a post-World War II mid-size car was introduced in 1957. The American Motors (AMC) Rebel showcased AMC’s new 327 cu in (5.4 L) V8 producing 255 horsepower (190.2 kW) with a 4-barrel carburetor. The popularity of the muscle car grew in the early 1960s. This marked a general trend towards factory performance, which reflected the importance of the youth market. A key appeal of the muscle cars was that they offered the burgeoning American car culture an array of relatively affordable vehicles with strong street performance that could also be used for racing.
Today
Muscle cars are becoming extinct do to high fuel costs and rednecks. This is causing many manufactures to produce small cheap plastic cars because they have better fuel economy. Therefore, any modern car that is rear wheel drive and can do a standing burnout is considered a modern muscle car.
Examples
This list is far from complete...
AMC
- AMC Hornet
- AMC Matador
- AMC Rebel
Dodge
- Dodge Charger
- Dodge Charger Daytona
- Dodge Dart
- Dodge Super Bee
Ford
- Ford Fairlane
- Ford Mustang
- Ford Torino
- Mercury Cougar
General Motors
- Buick GSX
- Chevrolet Camaro
- Chevrolet Chevelle
- Chevrolet Nova
- Oldsmobile Cutlass
- Pontiac Firebird
- Pontiac GTO
Plymouth
- Plymouth Barracuda
- Plymouth Belvedere
- Plymouth GTX
- Plymouth Roadrunner
- Plymouth Superbird
