Muscle Cars

I've been watching "Counting Cars" on the History Channel all day. Danny's a a real muscle car guy, and I know we have a few on the board. Anyway, he got to talking about the death of the muscle car back in the '70s (the gas crisis, etc.), and I started doing a little research and came up with an interesting theory as to why the muscle car pretty much dropped out of site. But beyond the article, does anyone have any favorites?

http://musclecars.howstuffworks.com/muscle-car-information/how-muscle-cars-work7.htm

GTO, by far!

1966 Dodge 426 Hemi Charger! Amazing car!
http://www.foxmotorsports.com/index.php?...da9f72a42392a4b

The Grand National was a nice car, Five. And a real beast. But it came out close to ten years after the muscle car started to fade from view. But that picture really takes me back to the '80s, pal .

Not an expert and don't know if this qualifies for an "official muscle car", but Back in 1970, my husband bought this car, AAR Cuda. It was kind of fun to drive. A real gas hog though.


TIS

Nice, Tis. I can just see you in your culottes and your beehive supporting your hubby at the local drag races .

PB, as the article states, gas shortages and Fed regs pretty much killed the muscle cars that held sway roughly from '61 to early '70's. But, once the industry learned how to mass produce OHC engines that were powerful and met Federal gas and emissions standards, a new muscle car era dawned--just not called "muscle cars." You can have your pick of dozens of mid- to mid-high-priced sedans that have 400-plus hp(net, not gross as in the '60's), but that get well over 20 mpg and are quiet and tractable on the road.

I yearned for a MoPar Hemi when I was younger. But my 2000 BMW M5 sedan has 423 hp@7400 rpm, a six-speed manual, Bilstein coilover suspension--and gets 28 mpg on some highway stretches.

Exactly, TB. That's why I kinda blow off the idea that muscle cars don't exist anymore. They've just evolved.

It's almost like saying that they stopped making music when the reel-to-reel tape recorder went the way of the Dodo Bird.

I always was partial to Impalas. This one has been ever so slightly modified.

When I was in college, I dated a guy who was restoring an Olds 442. Great car, but I don't remember what model year it was. However, since it was around 1980, and the car was pretty old, maybe late 60s, early 70s? We broke up, but would run into one another on campus and he did a great job when he finally finished the restoration.

Dodge Challenger.

It was the star of a decent movie, "Vanishing Point" (the original, 1971 version). It will be airing this Wednesday on the Sundance Channel at 10:00 p.m. If you haven't seen the movie, definitely check it out.

Awesome car (and a good counter-culture flick).

That's just about my favorite too, SC. Not sure if you watched "Burn Notice" at all, but Michael Weston drove a '73 .

In the all-time great car chase scene in "Bullitt," the bad guys are driving a '68 Dodge Charger R/T w/440 Magnum engine. The driver of the Dodge later appeared as "Bill," the despised Fed in "The French Connection." McQueen didn't do all the driving of the Mustang in "Bullitt": I read somewhere that when you saw him through the windshield, he was driving; otherwise a stunt driver was behind the wheel.

Good one, TB. And if you remember "The Seven Ups" historic car chase scene, I believe those were both Pontiacs. Different models, though.

my first car was an '85 regal t-type, so i have a soft spot for these cars. regardless, they have endured only because they have it where it counts! black is beautiful!

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ePvjj36LB8[/video]

on a side note, why is it that no youtube videos will embed anymore?

You have to omit the s from https

This is wrong: [video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ePvjj36LB8[/video]

This is right:

Loved my 65 GTO the most. Had a 63 Chev 409. Still have my 1964 Jaguar XKE which isn't exactly a "Muscle car" but still a great one. Wife has a new Dodge Charger which sometimes feels like a muscle car.

Damn Big boy got big wheels

409, and the 348 before it, were Chevy's first big-block motors. 409 dominated stock car drag competition in the early Sixties. But, evidently, Chevy didn't sell many of them. We have lots of car shows here, and lots of hot rods on the roads because there are no vehicle inspections in our county. But, I've only seen one big-block Chevy hot rod in all the time I've lived here.

"She's real fine, my 409"

Let's not forget the 1969 Camaro ZL1, less than 100 were made.

Five even though I was 4 when these first started coming out they quickly became a favorite of mine when I started driving at 13. Then at 16 over the summers I worked at a car dealership that my brother painted cars at and I worked in the service department. Well one day a guy pulls up in a Buick GN and of course it was my job to drive it around back so the techs could change the oil or whatever there was to do with it. Luckily my boss wasn't around as he would generally drive the badass cars around back so I wouldn't dog them. My face lit up like a kid at Christmas and as soon as I turned the corner the peddle went to the floor. Was one of the scariest rides I have ever taken. I still didn't know anything about turbos and seen that gauge and I thought "wonder what happens when it hits the + sign?" and then I quickly found out. To be a 3.8 that was one badass car flat out. I would still like to own one.

One of the vehicles I want that you never hear about? The GMC Syclone. 4.3L turbocharged TRUCK that came out in the 90's. Ran a 13.6 quarter mile on Car & Driver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMC_Syclone

TIS the reason why the AAR sucked gas is if I'm not mistaken it was a 340 6bbl! And yes TIS that baby IS considered a muscle car. A true classic. That thing would be worth a pretty penny today. Anyone that is a big Mopar fan I suggest you watch Graveyard Carz on Velocity (281 on DirecTv). All they do is restore Mopars back to factory quality and are damn good at it. They just done an AAR Cuda the last season and are working on a Daytona and Superbird this coming up season. Watching that show has really made me fall in love with Mopars when as a kid I was always a Chevy guy.

My dream car would probably be a red 66 Chevelle. I just love that body style. 70 1/2 Camaro Z28 split bumper is also a favorite, of course the 70 Chevelle SS454, 69 GTO The Judge model, the old Hurst Olds 442's I liked too.


I know these days the HP ratings are kind of moving back up even with Flex Fuel and Ethanol coming, but I own a F150 Supercab (2011 model) with the 3.5L EcoBoost and it doesn't play either. 0-60 in 6.5 which is not playing as big of a truck that it is, it has twin turbos and when you floor it you REALLY feel it. I only had it a week when I went to go to town and my cell phone rings with my wife saying the house was on fire (just the hot water heater taking a dump) and I turned around and jetted back home. I took a small curve at about 30mph when I stomped it to go up the hill right before our house and I could have peeled the rear tires off of it if I wanted to. That impressed me. 365hp and 420ft/lbs of torque out of a 3.5L V6 is nothing to play with!

I know exactly what you mean, Dixie:

When I was a kid in Brooklyn, the older guys who hung out on the street corner had muscle cars: Allie had a '59 Bonnie w/TriPower; Paulie had a '59 Olds 98 with a 4:11 rear. I wasn't old enough to have a driver's license (18 in NYC). Then one day we had a visit from an uncle from upstate NY who got a new Chrysler New Yorker every two years. He let me drive his brand-new '59 New Yorker, w/413 V8, past the corner--and I floored it just when Allie and Paulie were looking over at the car.

Andy Warhol once famously said everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. I guess that was my 15 minutes.