Muscle Cars - The raw and untamed beasts

Almost every youth on the planet loves speed, obviously after the “Fast & Furious” and “Need for Speed” movies. But when it comes to defining the Muscle car, the things get a bit complicated.

As the name suggests, the built up of this automobile is taken care, not only from within but also from the exterior parts.

As per American norms, a muscle car can be defined as a two door; rear wheel drive, mid-size cars with powerful engines. These cars are considered as high-performance vehicles compared to other normal ones.

Comparison between a muscle car and a sports car:-

·        Engine:- A muscle car uses a V8 engine while an engine of a sports car may be small but is quick. Thus the engine of muscle car is powerful while the same of sports car is quick

·        Bodies:- The muscle cars are made up with lots of curves while a sports car is built with an aim of reducing the force that is applied on car due to air resistance.

·        The torque produced in a muscle car is much higher as compared to race track vehicle.

·        Handling of muscle cars is poor compared to sports cars which are built with a purpose to excel around the corners.

·        Muscle cars are heavier.

·        The ground clearance of sports car is very less.

To understand better, let’s get to know about some of the famous automobiles of all times that fall into the category of muscle cars

Origin

The 1949’s “Oldsmobile Rocket” is considered to be the first muscle car of all time. It had a high compression; overhead valve with powerful V8 engines. The car was created for public interest along with speed and power and it very much achieved its destination.

Sometime later, a heavy engine automobile named as “Hudson Hornet” was launched into the market. 

It was the lone competitor against the Rocket.

Before the launch of Oldsmobile Rocket; the cars generally used a V4 or a V6 engine that was fuel efficient and eco-friendly. But with the increase in demands for muscle car, that used a V8 engine, the manufacturers began to compete by providing powerful engines year after year.

Cut-throat competitions

Although, the first muscle car is said to have about 135Hp, Gradually, they produced muscle cars with engines rated as high as 450Hp. Not compared to cars that are available today, 450Hp was considered to be very high compared to average street cars used in those days. Also, the prices were affordable.

The popularity and performance of muscle cars grew in 1960’s. This decade witnessed the arrival of famous muscle cars such as Pontiac GTO; Shelby Cobra Super Snake; Dodge Charger R/T; Chevrolet Camaro and above all, The iconic Ford MUSTANG.

Golden era of Muscle cars:-

The decade of 60’s and 70’s is considered as the golden period for muscle cars. All of them competed amongst each other for the supremacy but Pontiac GTO is considered as the pioneer of muscle cars during this era.

 The car had 325 Hp engine and was able to accelerate up to 60mph within 6.6 seconds.

Next is Shelby Cobra Super Snake. This car is the rarest car of all time. Only two!! Yes, only two units were made. One of it was destroyed by the driver when he jumped off a cliff into Pacific ocean. The last available Shelby Cobra was recently sold for whopping $5.1M!!!!

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is considered to have been built for drag racing purpose. This beast had a 500Hp engine that was capable of reaching 0-60 mph in just 5.3 seconds. Only 69 cars of this model were produced.

The Mustang created the “pony cat” class of American muscle cars, affordable sports coupes with long hoods and gave rise to competitors such as Camaro; Pontiac; Chrysler’s Plymouth and Dodge cars.

For a car enthusiast, knowing the history of Ford Mustang is as basic as laws of thermodynamics are to a physicist. The nomenclature of Mustang is quite a complicated one. According to designer John Najjar, The car is named after Mustang fighter plane used in world war-2. The other theory states that there was a trend of naming cars after animals. Thus from a long list of names, Mustang was finalized.

After its arrival into the market, a number of modifications have been done on the model. The first car was launched in 1964 having 101Hp. The Latest generation of this model was unveiled in 2015. Ford began to offer 1965 Ford Mustangs with an optional GT equipment package.GT most commonly stands for Grand Touring or Gran Turismo. A vehicle given the GT designation by its manufacturer generally means the vehicle is high performance and unlike a race car, it features an interior built for comfortable riding.

During the decade of 70’s and after, the automobile manufacturers started to tame muscle cars. As no one likes to watch a tamed lion, same was the case for these machined beasts. They started to manufacture muscle cars for safety.

During the same era, the gas prices began to rise and efforts were underway to fight air pollution.This saw the decline of muscle cars in late 1970’s.

Today, auto manufacturers still make powerful models that appeal to racing enthusiasts. For the most part, they are better but are not affordable as muscle cars of old.

Classic muscle cars, such as Dodge Charger, Ford Mustang and Shelby Cobra have become collector’s items. Some of them have been valued as up as $7M today. Extremely rare models such as Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 are seen as museum-worth artifacts!!

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