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TB Muscle car thread.

What is the true definition? Realistically speaking, a '94 RX-7, Supra, 3000-GT VR4 or 300ZX would smoke a '70 Chevelle with a 327 and a Powerglide in a long stretch. They'd also, beyond any shadow of a doubt, out handle and out comfort their old counterparts.

IDK, are we talking about fast cars, or small cars with huge engines, or just classic cars.

A '70 Chevelle can be had with a 454 in it muahahaha. I'd like to see a Supra beat that in a long stretch.
 
What is the true definition? Realistically speaking, a '94 RX-7, Supra, 3000-GT VR4 or 300ZX would smoke a '70 Chevelle with a 327 and a Powerglide in a long stretch. They'd also, beyond any shadow of a doubt, out handle and out comfort their old counterparts.

My personal definition of a muscle car is that they were American-made, two-door, mid-sized, rear-wheel drive cars that were relatively inexpensive, had factory performance optioned V8 motors and were made from around 1962-1974.

This definition works pretty well for me.

There are an awful lot of cars that are far faster than the old Muscle Cars and just about anything made in the last twenty years will out handle and certainly out brake one but they just don't fit my (and a lot of other's) definition.

My '86 442, by my own definition, isn't a real Muscle Car, but is a bit closer than most.
 
What is the true definition? Realistically speaking, a '94 RX-7, Supra, 3000-GT VR4 or 300ZX would smoke a '70 Chevelle with a 327 and a Powerglide in a long stretch. They'd also, beyond any shadow of a doubt, out handle and out comfort their old counterparts.

True definition?..... A Pony dar is the smaller of the offerings detroit produced.. aka Mustang Camaro. Athough also avalible with the larger more powerful engines, which often made these faster than theyre larger cousins, they are classified as pony cars.

Muscle cars, were based on the "intermediate" body styles. Chevelle .G.T.O. Charger etc. Those cars as offered with larger than (and more powerfull) engine's were muscle cars..

Chevelles.. 327..standard engine ..get it? Not a musle car.

No one mentioned the Rx7, Supra, 3000gt, or 300zx:hmm:
And for good reason.. they are not muscle cars. Fast cars in they re own right though. And by no means do I take anything away from these cars.. I own 2 300zx's.. Turbos..

I have a Buick Gran National.. Ill get a pic.. loaded.
 
My personal definition of a muscle car is that they were American-made, two-door, mid-sized, rear-wheel drive cars that were relatively inexpensive, had factory performance optioned V8 motors and were made from around 1962-1974.

This definition works pretty well for me.

There are an awful lot of cars that are far faster than the old Muscle Cars and just about anything made in the last twenty years will out handle and certainly out brake one but they just don't fit my (and a lot of other's) definition.

My '86 442, by my own definition, isn't a real Muscle Car, but is a bit closer than most.


Pretty much covers it.. But My 87 GranNational Buick Regal, is listed in the National Muscle Car Association, as a legitimate muscle car. And has competed in several of they're events.
Including a 3 rd place finish in head to head runoffs in the Bigblock category. ( Classified as Bigblock, as per rules. Turbo cars have a cubic inch factor times 2) 231 cu in +turbo = 462.

Muscle cars Ive sold over the years, including pony cars.
69 G.T.O.-400 -@ 12.20's quarter mile
68 Camaro -427-@ 9.30's "" ""
69Camaro-SS 396-@ 11.90's "" ""
68 Firebird-400-@ 12.50's "" ""

note.. all cars modified for drag racing..
 
I know this 2 european playboys have been modified to have proper handling and cooling, so i guess it can be done to muscle cars too.

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A muscle car will out-grunt most modern cars easily, but trying to make something like a Charger out-handle something like a Skyline can't be done, and, IMO, is pointless anyway - totally different animals. The Skyline has all sorts of technology that makes it a great-handling car - 4WD, 4-wheel steering, traction control, stability control, launch control, etc, and is also somewhat lighter than something like a Charger. You'd have to totally replace the steering and suspension in a Charger to do it, and there's only so much you can do - you can't really replace the rear live axle with independent suspension, fitting 4WD would be impractical and as for all the electronic aids, forget it. Let the Charger be what it is, and let the Skyline be what it is.

I saw the tricked-out Aston and E-Type on Top Gear, awesome work, but you're not changing the essence of what those cars are. Fast, smooth and luxurious classic grand tourers. They just took what was already there and made it better. They're not trying to be muscle cars or high-tech, corner-hugging Japanese drift machines.

A muscle car is what it is - a big, insanely fast beast of a car that goes like stink in a straight line. Something like a Skyline is a different beast entirely. So is a DB5 or an E-Type. And they're all great. :D
 
Toyota Crown fast back, '71 me thinks
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ahh I wish I had pics of my old car!!! Maybe I can dig some up and scan them.
It was a metallic blue 1969 Olds 442, with a replaced 455, daul exhaust, killer shift kit.. That thing was a beast. I'm not sure what it would top out at, but when I was younger and exceedingly stupid I had the speedometer pinned at 120 on more than one occasion (that's all it went up to). This was in the late 80's early 90's. Something like a Mustang GT of the day would probably take it on the high end, but NOTHING would take it off the line. The thing had so much torque that it was disgusting.
 
Did anyone see the Top Gear show where Clarkson, Hammond, and May drove some current "muscle cars" from San Francisco to Bonneville? (I just watched it again last night.)

I saw that one. Was nice to see Clarkson actually admit that America can make good cars. :D May and Hammond were already converts, though...

Funny thing is, Clarkson used to like American cars - I remember watching an old show of his, Motorworld, from about '97, when he was talking enthusiastically about the Chrysler LHS and how it'd go down well in the UK! (incidentally, only one Chrysler LH-platform vehicle ever made it to Europe - a Chrysler-badged version of the Eagle Vision, and even then, they never made it in RHD so it didn't get to the UK).
 
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(not my actual car. mine was midnight green with the gold rims.)

I loved her so..... I worked 6 summers to get the money. After 2 glorious years together I ran into a tree and killed my car. I replaced the rear tires 3 times before I replaced the fronts. Too many Smokey and the Bandit burnouts.