Favorite american muscle car

[69nites]

I can't even comprehend that statement. I've been away from the car scene for a while now, but unless the Dodge Viper is all of a sudden not ridiculously good looking and possesing the power of Zeus....I can not see how this statement would hold up in the court of muscle car law.

it's built more like a supercar than a muscle car. Well except that it handles like crap .

low end torque is a defining factor of being a muscle car. all the viper's power is made on the high end. as far as the motor goes it's closer to a ferrari than any muscle car.

 

[Tegzsa]

Let's hijack the thread just a little bit. Another British car powered by an American motor, and possibly the coolest car name ever: The Jensen Interceptor.

 

[Mike N]

Way down here in Texas, sugah. Driving my Secret Weapon...a '79 Gran Prix with a 301, Holly 4bbl, performance transmission...we tweaked that baby. I got air over the San Isabella Causeway in that car, and beat TransAms in the 1/4 mile.

The sun musta got in your eyes and you didn't see me.

Cherie

I saw you, but was too busy chasing your tail....










..... lights to be able to talk to you.

 

[Fender32]

...
Let's hijack the thread just a little bit. Another British car powered by an American motor, and possibly the coolest car name ever: The Jensen Interceptor.

a.k.a. the Schimitar estate !

 

[Brad Johnson]

I'm not sure I could pick one. I know a lot of people consider pony cars from that era muscle cars, but I've always taken the term to mean "mid-sized car, oversized engine" as first done with the (64?) GTO. To that end, I'm gonna go with the 1969 1/2 440 Super B/Roadrunner. The 1970 Superbird is nice, as well.

The Chevelle looked good for a while, but the first SS396 (again, late 64?) was, in my opinion, probably the best looking. I'm not sure if we're putting a year limit on this, but the early-mid 1980's Buick Gran National/T-Type was nice, too.

Mike

I learned to drive a stick in my first cousin's 70 Road Runner with a 440. Funny how easy every stick I drove after that was

I remember when he sold it in the mid-70's, in excellent condition, for $1200. He was leaving for the USAF. A couple of years later I sold my 66 Chevelle Malibu convertible, also in excellent condition, for $250... I was leaving for the USAF.

I blame the USAF.

 

[hbarcat]

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 and special trim, intended for maximum torque on the street or in drag racing competition. It is distinguished from sports cars, which were customarily considered smaller, two-seat cars, or GTs, two-seat or 2+2 cars intended for high-speed touring and possibly road racing. High-performance full-size or compact cars are arguably excluded from this category, as are the breed of compact sports coupes inspired by the Ford Mustang. 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" -- Wikipedia


According to the strict definition of the term, the Viper is not a muscle car, but rather a sports car. I did say the Viper was the closest thing to classic muscle that you can find new in the showroom today.

If the Viper isn't a muscle car, then the current Corvette certainly isn't.

And the only way to make 600 hp and 560 lb·ft of torque as found in the Viper is through high RPM. I guess to qualify as "low torque" it would need to be detuned to give up about 200 horses.

 

[69nites]

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 and special trim, intended for maximum torque on the street or in drag racing competition. It is distinguished from sports cars, which were customarily considered smaller, two-seat cars, or GTs, two-seat or 2+2 cars intended for high-speed touring and possibly road racing. High-performance full-size or compact cars are arguably excluded from this category, as are the breed of compact sports coupes inspired by the Ford Mustang. 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" -- Wikipedia


According to the strict definition of the term, the Viper is not a muscle car, but rather a sports car. I did say the Viper was the closest thing to classic muscle that you can find new in the showroom today.

If the Viper isn't a muscle car, then the current Corvette certainly isn't.

And the only way to make 600 hp and 560 lb·ft of torque as found in the Viper is through high RPM. I guess to qualify as "low torque" it would need to be detuned to give up about 200 horses.

Do you even know what HP is?

Torque x RPM / a constant.

obviously it would have to make more Torque in order to make the same hp at a lower RPM....that's how the math that tells you the hp numbers you people seem to judge cars by these days....

also you might want to stop looking at peak numbers and check out an actual dyno sheet and note the much flatter torque curve on a the vette's.

peak power means nothing to me when it's out of the useable RPM range for any smaller track in america .

I never really implied that there is a muscle car in today's market.

well actually there was. The ford GT. They did just like the muscle cars of days past. Crammed a truck motor (the motor from a lightning) into a smaller car in the interest of speed.

 

[hbarcat]

Do you even know what HP is?

Torque x RPM / a constant.

obviously it would have to make more Torque in order to make the same hp at a lower RPM....that's how the math that tells you the hp numbers you people seem to judge cars by these days....

also you might want to stop looking at peak numbers and check out an actual dyno sheet and note the much flatter torque curve on a the vette's.

peak power means nothing to me when it's out of the useable RPM range for any smaller track in america .

I have no intention to have a side argument on this thread over this topic. I will simply say that I have a great deal of knowledge gained through both formal training and hands on experience with HP, torque, and how the physics involved in engine management translates into real cars, and I stand by what I've said.

 

[bigfatbass]

I am WAY late on this, but have to throw my 2 lincolns:

'69 AMC AMX with the 343ci V8. A delightfully excessive torque/weight ratio that allows tire smoke in all 4 gears. Gotta love an open diff!

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[Georynn]

Can I get some Poncho lovin! Chief pontiac frowns upon those who do not revel in the brutal convertible's beauty!

To me the 400CID has more thrust to weight when unmodified than the 455's of this era... ...its the Ram Air!!

 

[nik1093]

This is true, however the thread is about favorite, so.. I'll say '69 Shelby gt500 eleanor
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eleanor was 67 mustang

 

[Elrend]

I hate cars in general

mostly because of pollution

 

[bigfatbass]

Absolutely great you opened this thread then. Thanks so much for your input, I don't know how this survived almost 200 posts without you.

 

[fishtx]

My favorite "2" muscle cars have always been the '71 Hemi 'cuda, and the 69 Z/28 with the DZ302...

 

[doctorjazz]

1. '68 Shelby GT500 KR
2. '69 Mustang Boss 429
3. '69 Mustang Mach 1
4. '71 Corvette Stingray 454
5. '69 Camaro SS

I'm a Ford guy at heart, but I do have a soft spot for a few GM products.

 

[MakiSupaStar]

Let's hijack the thread just a little bit. Another British car powered by an American motor, and possibly the coolest car name ever: The Jensen Interceptor.

oh man, you've hit a soft spot in maki's heart. The jensen interceptor is one of my favorite cars of all time. My father before working for what used to be rolls-Royce/bentley/lotus/jaguar used to work for jensen and was one of the engineers that helped put that car together. Ive had many a ride in those cars, and grew up with a framed painting of the car in my bedroom.

 

[Mike N]

My favorite "2" muscle cars have always been the '71 Hemi 'cuda, and the 69 Z/28 with the DZ302...

A former neighbor of mine had a 71 Hemi 'Cuda convertible. One of 7 built, his was one of the five automatic cars.

When he sold it a few years ago, it fetched well into the six figure range.

 

[mothmonsterman]

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wait....what?

 

[69nites]

I hate cars in general

mostly because of pollution

less than 1% of global pollution is caused by cars

 

[MakiSupaStar]

This is my favorite muscle car however. The Corvette Callaway. I've driven one of these. It's juicy. Slams you into the seat when you foot your foot into it at 60 MPH.