20 Muscle Cars That Made History

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I'm going to have to throw in some weird American powered hybrids,
Detomaso pantera-uncomfortable but fast and sounded mean
Sunbeam tiger- I own one so I'm a bit partial
Shelby Cobra
Jensen interceptor- kind of a dog on power
Gt40 of course as said above
There are several more that are a bit unsung in the sports car/muscle wars
 
No ,

1964 427 Cobra
1967 427 Corvette
1968 427 Corvette
1967 396 Camaro
1969 Z-28 Camaro
1970 454 Chevelle
1967 427 Fairlane
1969 Boss 302 Mustang
1970 Boss 429 Mustang
1962 413 Ramcharger Dodge
1964 426 Max-Wedge Plymouth
1966 426 Street Hemi Plymouth
1962 421-SD Pontiac
1957 283 Chevy
1961 409 Chevy
1968 AMX
1969 Rambler-Scrambler
1966 4-4-2 Oldsmobile

Below the 'Odd-Ball Best'

1964 Studebaker 304/335 HP 'R-3' Super-Charged

ngordonwilliamsjayhamilton-vi.jpg
 
michformulaS said:
"20 iconic, influential American muscle cars that have inspired stoplight drag races, riveting movie chase scenes and hot rod culture across the country."

I would argue that this is more 20 cars the author likes. 2009 CTS is a nice car but it does not meet any of the criteria the author listed in the quote above. Its more of a nice car that 50+ people like to have but rarely drive fast.
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I'd be the one out there smoking the tires off that ***** in a heartbeat :burnout:
 
gtmopar said:
I'm going to have to throw in some weird American powered hybrids,
Detomaso pantera-uncomfortable but fast and sounded mean
Sunbeam tiger- I own one so I'm a bit partial
Shelby Cobra
Jensen interceptor- kind of a dog on power
Gt40 of course as said above
There are several more that are a bit unsung in the sports car/muscle wars
Click to expand...

Don't forget the MGB and GT with the Buick V8 in it...
 
75slant6 said:
No offense but those CTS-V's can kick some ***! They got supercharged corvette motors in em! My brother has been wantin one since the first one came out. IMO they're one of the best all around cars, you got the incredible luxuries of a caddy and the power of a supercharged V8!!

Actually I'm not positive that the first ones were sc'd but I know the new ones are!!
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There's a guy at the local track who has one, he runs 11.90s & hasn't even touched the engine yet. I think it's just exhaust,tires & a tune.
 
I'm in agreement with earlier statements . If not for the Daytona , the Superbird would never be :Max Wedges , Hemi Darts , 427 Fairlanes , GSX's , Z-11 Chevelles and Mercury Marauders . The FIRST musclecar was the 1955 Chrysler 300 . So whats so iconic about 49 Oldsmobiles ? Nope , this survey was rigged from the start by opinions not from someone who lived in the era , or had knowledge of the true meaning of the phrase musclecar . And by the way , one stipulation for musclecar is that it has the capability for a back seat . Corvette is automatically out . Yeah , I know the Hemi Dart didn't have one , but it at least had room for one .
 
Sports Car or Musclecar

1967 Sunbeam Tiger MK II {with the Cobra MK II 'option'}

289/306 HP in a #2560 lb. 'Pocket Rocket'

1967 NHRA Class 'D/SP'

Very dangerous to drive, unless you had the sub-frame members fabricated with
frame-ties, and installed 'Panhard Rods' for the rear-end.

And the front suspension would require stiffer-springs, plus heavier steering
components.

With 3.73 Street-Gears, capable of 13.30's at 106 MPH.




 
I don't consider any car without a back seat a muscle car. That is a sports car.
 
MTmopars said:
I don't consider any car without a back seat a muscle car. That is a sports car.
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I would agree, as the NHRA Classed these cars in the D/SP Sports Class.

But, 'Back-in-the-Day {1968}, I do remember one of these 289/306 HP Sunbeam Cobra MK II cars putting away a 'hot' 67' Chevelle SS396
at our local Bowling Alley Access Road 'Drag Strip'.

The Sunbeam looked like a 'red missle', without a back seat.
 
69 Cuda 440 said:
Sports Car or Musclecar

1967 Sunbeam Tiger MK II {with the Cobra MK II 'option'}

289/306 HP in a #2560 lb. 'Pocket Rocket'

1967 NHRA Class 'D/SP'

Very dangerous to drive, unless you had the sub-frame members fabricated with
frame-ties, and installed 'Panhard Rods' for the rear-end.

And the front suspension would require stiffer-springs, plus heavier steering
components.

With 3.73 Street-Gears, capable of 13.30's at 106 MPH.




Click to expand...

First off if you have a Mk2 which veery few people have, there's a small chance in hell they ever saw the quarter mile so low 13's I promise you were traction limited. My 289 puts out a shade under 400 hp so 13's I can do picking my nose between all 4 gears. Oh and it's got 2.88 gears but 14" wheels which make hwy cruising nice and sawing whomever I want off easy. Mine is a 65 mk1 which was sopposed to have the 260 but that was long gone when we got it. A friend of mine in the Bay Area has a tiger with a 427 side oiler big block that he built for hill climbing that is a monster. It's a fun car that could use better brakes but I've never had handling issues. Just gotta know your car.
 
Chase scenes??? Then the winner has to be the 76 Dodge Monaco in the Blues Brothers. "Our Mother of Horsepower, don't fail me now. " I think they went through a substantial portion of the model year production making that film.

early movie [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIdGxR-aU6o"]Mall Chase - The Blues Brothers (2/9) Movie CLIP (1980) HD - YouTube[/ame]

end movie [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMagP52BWG8"]Chased by the Cops - The Blues Brothers (7/9) Movie CLIP (1980) HD - YouTube[/ame]

How about the '77 models?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXTePURe9TA"]Dukes of Hazzard chase scene from "Sadie Hogg Day" - YouTube[/ame]
 
I'm no expert on these Sunbeam Tiger's.

Not sure if you could get into the 12.90's with the stock 13" x 4.5" wheel-rimmed tires
and running 3.73 Gears in the Dana 44 with the 289/306 HP Cobra-Kit.

Sunbeam-Tiger-Roadster-with-Hardtop-1966-11EIE564603419AA.jpeg



 
I don't disagree with any of you pointing out the difference between sports cars and muscle cars. But, if the author of the list can expand the definition (by reaching outside the muscle car era) then why not just go for broke and expand the definition throughout?

He also included Pony Cars on the list. If that's the case, then why not include the two seaters?

I would say that the CTS-V hardly fits the definition of muscle car, no matter how much power it puts out. It's a luxury car, no matter how you slice it. Rolls has been putting out high horse luxury cars for decades. That doesn't make them "muscle cars."

And while the modern Challenger, Camaro, and Mustang have high horse capabilities, too, thanks to increased handling, braking, and ride, I doubt anyone would put a $50,000 high end modern car in the same category as a muscle car... "stripped, no frills, high horsepower."

The author's list is all over the place from what his own standards for compiling the list are.
 
ramenth said:
I would say that the CTS-V hardly fits the definition of muscle car, no matter how much power it puts out. It's a luxury car, no matter how you slice it. Rolls has been putting out high horse luxury cars for decades. That doesn't make them "muscle cars."
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exactly- it could be running the quarter in seven seconds flat and it wouldn't be a muscle car.


And I still wouldn't care about it.
 
69 Cuda 440 said:
I'm no expert on these Sunbeam Tiger's.

Not sure if you could get into the 12.90's with the stock 13" x 4.5" wheel-rimmed tires
and running 3.73 Gears in the Dana 44 with the 289/306 HP Cobra-Kit.

Sunbeam-Tiger-Roadster-with-Hardtop-1966-11EIE564603419AA.jpeg



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No definitely not getting into the 12's on the pizza cutters. If you look in the top picture that tiger has Panasports which is the wheel of choice due to the narrower track width in the rear due to the Dana. Believe it or not the rear ends came out of the international harvesters. Hey whatever works I guess?lol. It's been a great little car. It's sad that the prices have skyrocketed over the last few years, in the fact that most guys that are buying them are snobby assholes which makes going to tiger events no fun anymore. Like that everywhere you go I guess. Cars been in the family 40 years so its a family member. Found it under a tree in a junkyard in San Antonio Texas ready for the crusher. 5 years later its 95 percent done. Could use a new paint job but its still really presentable, I'm just concentrating on my darts for now. If you think about it Rootes Group was bought out by chrysler in 1966 for the 67 year but they ended up shutting the company down because they weren't going to sell a British car with a ford engine at a chrysler dealership. The 263 wouldn't fit because it was too wide. If you look at the late series 5 alpines 66-67 and tigers they have the chrysler penastar on the lower passenger fender. Kinda cool.
 
Between the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V and the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in today's world............................. what do you have which compares to them Fan o'petty and MoparDaddy ?

 
No 'Cuda?(phantasm)
No 82 T/A(knight rider)
No 76 T/A(Smokey&the Bandit)
No 67 Stang(Ealeanor 2000) - (68 Stang is for Bullit)
No 78' Vette(Corvette Summer)

etc etc. think they missed quit a few on that list that are far more iconic,influential,and rememberable then what they have.
 
Todlich said:
No 'Cuda?(phantasm)
No 82 T/A(knight rider)
No 76 T/A(Smokey&the Bandit)
No 67 Stang(Ealeanor 2000) - (68 Stang is for Bullit)
No 78' Vette(Corvette Summer)

etc etc. think they missed quit a few on that list that are far more iconic,influential,and rememberable then what they have.
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And no 69 charger (Dukes of Hazzard) the General Lee is known world wide!!
 
HotLines said:
Between the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V and the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in today's world............................. what do you have which compares to them Fan o'petty and MoparDaddy ?
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whatever they have, you can bet it isn't as fugly as the Camaro.
 
HotLines said:
Between the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V and the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in today's world............................. what do you have which compares to them Fan o'petty and MoparDaddy ?
Click to expand...

Your gonna pick on a guy that hasn't trash talked either of these cars?! Dude, You really are a piece of work!
 
ocdart said:
Earlier today MSN.com showed an article titled "20 Muscle Cars That Made History". The cars on their list were described as, "20 iconic, influential American muscle cars that have inspired stoplight drag races, riveting movie chase scenes and hot rod culture across the country."
Click to expand...

IMHO if we are going to include Tigers, Cobras, and Panteras (oh my). We should also consider domestic hybrids. Two seminal cars in the movement would be the '32 Ford deuce coupe and the Ford Model T roadster. These cars equipped with the Ford/Mercury flat head V-8, and later by Oldsmobile, SB Chevy and 1 Gen Hemis were the stuff of legend. Although not mass-produced per-se, the numbers ought to exceed the numbers of any of the above mentioned foreign/American hybrids.

My personal all-time favorite in this regard was a '53 Studebaker 2-door sedan with a '62 Hawk interior and a 340/327 SB Chevy in it. It had a 3-speed overdrive unit giving it a top speed of 150+. We fabricated a fuel tank that filled the area over the rear axle and under the rear package shelf that would let the car run from Fort Hood, TX to Nashville, TN at extra legal speeds non-stop. I've seen other SBC '53 Studes but never another like that one.

The car's name was "Suddenly". Near catastrophe struck when the owner had the extra tank out and dumped $5.00 worth of .33¢ gas in the trunk through the flip-off fuel filler the he installed in the rear window/deck lid filler panel. IIRC it took a few days to lose the smell. The re-captured gasoline ran lawn mowers for a while.
 
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