I guess here would be the perfect place to use the ancient saying “Pride comes before the fall” I mean look at the facts. I'm speaking of course about the Muscle Car era we had here in America for just under a decade. The 1950's were essentially dominated by the “Family Sedan” the four door touring sedan were room was the biggest factor. Over the years a few amenities of course were added as they were developed some as standard options others came along as features (extra). Although there were a few bonafide sports cars around in the 50's such as the now infamous 1955 Chrysler C-300 well known as “America's most powerful car” at the time. Although known as the family car decade the 1950's (late forties) did give us something we still treasure to this day, the V-8 engine.
Many claim the very 1st muscle car was in fact the 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket “88”shown here. It was theone of the first if not the first to feature the V8 engine. Oldsmobile actually changed the dynamics by stuffing the new V-8 into a smaller body actually built for 6 Cylinder engines of the time. This laid the seeds for what would become in just a few years a national pastime, going fast!
Some would say the origins of Muscle Cars and Hot Rods came from the illegal bootlegging of alcohol which presented the need to outrun the Police Cars of the time. Many believe this is when some of the first modifications were made to increase horsepower thus increasing speed. While another school of thought is that Drag Racing simply spilled out into the showrooms eventually out into the streets. As the early 1960's were a time when the titans of the American automotive industry often battled for supreme on the Racetrack. With drag racing, the ¼ mile becoming by far the most popular her America.
The early to mid 60's it was discovered that Muscle Cars attract young customers and the Hot Rod craze take here in America took off! The general trend towards higher performance in factory-stock cars reflected the importance of the youth market. A key appeal of muscle cars was that they offered the American car culture relatively affordable and powerful street performance in models that could also be used for drag racing. Major advancements in Automotive technology also aided greatly to the ever increasing Muscle Car movement. With such groundbreaking innovations as Mopar's Hemi engine displaced at an at the time unheard of 426 Cubic inches, a 7.0 Liter.
Slowly companies started to increase carburation, tinker with exhaust manifolds and build heavier Transmissions to bear the load. They started releasing beast straight from the showroom floor and the Muscle Car slowly took shape. In 1963, General Motors' Chevrolet division produced 57 full-size Impala coupes equipped with option package RPOZ-11 They were the only automobiles the division ever built expressly for drag racing. The package included a specially modified W series 409 engine, now displacing 427 cubic inches, and was officially rated at 430 hp. With awesome Actual horsepower at a whopping 520. The Muscle Car era had officially begun.
Then in 1966 an at the time young and upcoming division president for Pontiac named John DeLorean decided to break the rules a little. He put together The Pontiac GTO, which was an option package that included Pontiac's 389 cu in (6.4 L) V8 engine, floor-shifted transmission with Hurst shift linkage, and special trim. GM had a long standing rule of limiting their smaller cars to 330 Cubic inches and the GTO had clearly exceeded that. Unexpectedly sales took off and the GTO became a very popular model in high demand. GM allowed the exceptional for a brief period eventually removing the limit altogether.
By now the saying itself “Muscle Car” had been clearly defined and was now accepted automotive jargon nationwide. This in fact was the time when many of us as Americans had to make a choice. Back then consumers where heavily brand oriented meaning if you drove a Ford you were a Ford Man! So as you poked and prodded and rebuilt engines in the process you had to chose since each system was slightly different. If you ran a Dodge then you drove Dodge, you learned how to fix Dodge and you bought Dodge. The Muscle Car era was now in full swing. As all of the major U.S. Auto companies competed heavily to build the next best Muscle Car.
The late 1970's saw an explosion of Muscle Cars come onto the scene from every Automotive Company in America. Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Buick, Mercury, AMC, Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Pontiac all of them! And the more Horsepower one company stuffed under the hood the Horsepower the others added more Horsepower as well to compensate.
I'm often asked which year do I personally think was the best year was for the Muscle Car, hands down. And without hesitation I always respond “it was 1970 of course” Whether asked or not I go on to explain the fact that ironically it was the last year of the Muscle Car it was also the year everyone went for the speed record. The next question of course is always which Car do I think was the Zenith of the Muscle car era? Not just 1970 but the entire era essentially the epitome of Muscle Cars? My answer the same as always is the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 the total package the complete machine. It's 7.4L engine was rated at 450 Horsepower the highest rating at that time of anything on the street. The car itself was in perfect proportion as far as size, weight and power goes. And of course an absolute beauty to look at 90 MPH or at a dead standstill in all regards a beautiful car booth inside and out. Today A very sought after collector's item fortunately there are still a few around. I tend to see one every so often on a Saturday of Sunday morning, cruising. What happened ? As the technological advancements of the muscle car continued to grow at a breakneck pace during the 1960's. As everything was a bout bigger and faster how get even more Horsepower into the showroom. It was all seemingly going to become an accepted American Tradition. Where car companies would produce Muscle Cars as a part of their regular line up each and every year. As the industry grew throughout the later part of the 60's Muscle Cars became few companies best sellers outselling the other models by a large margin. America was in a Muscle Car lifestyle it was the thing to have. The most inexpensive way of reaching for 200 Miles Per Hour.
Then just as suddenly as the Muscle Car had burst onto the scene one thing changed that sealed it's fate just as quickly as it has risen to the top, public opinion. In the early 1970's Social Attitude abruptly shifted mainly in part to the OPEC lead Oil Embargo. Now Muscle Cars where seem as evil gas guzzlers overnight a menace to society. Fuel which many believe is the real reason for the decline in Muscle Cars. This was directly related to the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970, octane ratings were lowered to 91-due in part to the removal of tetraethyllead as a valve lubricant. Unleaded gasoline was phased in as a result. Since the majority of muscle cars came optioned with high-compression power plants some as high as 11:1 the “new” fuel just would not have the same effect, not even close. Prior to the Act 100-Octane Fuel was common. Once the Clean Air Act was passed Octane levels were capped at 91 were they remain to this day. A few other factors also contributed to the demise of the Muscle Car things like the now extremely higher insurance rates required now insure “Muscle Cars” one of the factors that few people relate the the downfall also was the nations new attitude on air pollution which effected emissions. Automotive Companies were now government ordered to focus on Emissions, Speed was now a thing of the past. A few tried to continue making the fast car but the majority of the 1970's models look just like that scrawny little kid at school at sick and weakly and the 80's only seemed to get worse. As we all know the 80's as some of the ugliest cars ever designed. Not until the 1990's did we take a look back and remember something we had been missing for close to a decade, speed. Only this time as a nation we had learned an important lesson, moderation. We did in fact bring back the Muscle Car experience just a few years ago. Only this time we know better than go into it with such all out no-limit recklessness. Today we more than consider many of the important factors that we blatantly ignored the first time around.
Thanks for taking the time to park on my Blog hopefully you too will go 200 miles per hour! Peace
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