what is a true muscle car ?

[Anonymous]

Had an argument with a Hot Rodder at the NSRA Nats .. now what is the difference between a muscle car (mopar ) and a jumped up tuned yank??..

[vipergts]

Think the term is over used these days.

I always thought it refered to certain US cars of the 60's that were generally known as run of the mill family cars but with kin great lumps under the hood

[Dave-R]

A muscle car was a mid-sized 2-door car fitted with the bigger (big block) engine from a full sized car. That was the original meaning.

Pony cars were even smaller cars designed like the Mustang to look and drive like sports cars. However as the market for big engines increased they made the Pony cars bigger and then bigger again in order to take the biggest engines available.

That was when "Pony Cars" became "Muscle Cars" as well.

[Anonymous]

SEE THATS WHAT I ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD , BIG BLOCK LOTS OF HORSES STRIPPED OUT LIGHTER STANDARD FAMILY CAR LOTS OF GO....
MID SIXTIES TO MID SEVENTIES, TRUE GRUNT N GO.
HOW IT ALL STARTED WAS A SATALITE WITH ROADRUNNER BADGES , BUT A GOOD TRY AT A RUNNER , BUT TO ME A RUNNER A BEE ECT IS WHAT IT IS,, IF IT AINT, REAL DONT PRETEND.(JUST HAVE A NICE CORONET / SATALITE ECT)
HE SAID THAT THEY ARE ALL THE SAME,, WHO GIVE A Bananarama! AFTER ALL.. ITS ONLY A JUMPED UP YANK.
AND HOW MANY MAKE BELIEVES WE SEE !!!

[Anonymous]

I can see this getting a bit messy.

[latil]

One thing I do know. A 1970 Sport Fury is NOT a muscle car,even if it has a 440-6 fitted. It's a gentlemans sports saloon for going to the country club.

[TYREMAN]

SEE THATS WHAT I ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD , BIG BLOCK LOTS OF HORSES STRIPPED OUT LIGHTER STANDARD FAMILY CAR LOTS OF GO....
MID SIXTIES TO MID SEVENTIES, TRUE GRUNT N GO.
HOW IT ALL STARTED WAS A SATALITE WITH ROADRUNNER BADGES , BUT A GOOD TRY AT A RUNNER , BUT TO ME A RUNNER A BEE ECT IS WHAT IT IS,, IF IT AINT, REAL DONT PRETEND.(JUST HAVE A NICE CORONET / SATALITE ECT)
HE SAID THAT THEY ARE ALL THE SAME,, WHO GIVE A Bananarama! AFTER ALL.. ITS ONLY A JUMPED UP YANK.
AND HOW MANY MAKE BELIEVES WE SEE !!!

Well without getting to Anal for me it started in 62 with the super duty Pontiac Catalina/63 the Chevy 409 and the most important of them all the 1964 Pontiac GTO without the great succses of the GTO we probably would not have the Roadrunner and Superbee

[Dave-R]

Yes the 1964 Pontiac GTO is the car most commonly credited for being the first Muscle Car because it was (by American standards) a light weight car fitted with a much bigger than normal engine.
It was the popularity of this car that made all tthe other manufacturers think about producing their own versions.

[SteveCase]

I just don't get the NSRA sometimes, they seem to want to argue about this type of thing all the time! The amount of times you can see arguments on their site over, 'is it a Street Rod or a Hot Rod?' Or is it 'Pre '49 or not?' Or their favourite one, 'Is it steel or plastic?' Can't see why it matters over here, the whole scene isn't big enough to split it all up! They want to follow the 'States all the time, but there are hundreds of thousands into the car scene over there, and are able to split things up more. To me, ANY yank is better than most British cars, and a way out of all drving the same cars like the green party/government want us to!!!!!

[RobTwin]

Had an argument with a Hot Rodder at the NSRA Nats .. now what is the difference between a muscle car (mopar ) and a jumped up tuned yank??..

Should have asked him what defines a hot rod - that would have been harder to answer

[Holly]

I just don't get the NSRA sometimes, they seem to want to argue about this type of thing all the time! The amount of times you can see arguments on their site over, 'is it a Street Rod or a Hot Rod?' Or is it 'Pre '49 or not?' Or their favourite one, 'Is it steel or plastic?' Can't see why it matters over here, the whole scene isn't big enough to split it all up! They want to follow the 'States all the time, but there are hundreds of thousands into the car scene over there, and are able to split things up more. To me, ANY yank is better than most British cars, and a way out of all drving the same cars like the green party/government want us to!!!!!

Most any bunch of people together will have arguments like these - someone always has to put themselves up on a morally superior platform If you want a laugh drop into an American chatroom for people 50+ and ask them what a Democrat is (then stand well back)

On another note, the Green Party would prefer everyone kept old cars on the road as its more environmentally friendly than making a whole new one!

[Dave999]

Muscle car (aussie style)

Big 4 door family car (or 2 door coupe or indeed a ute from the same range) with the biggest engine in the range crazy stripes and either homologated for saloon car racing or optioned as close as possible. if it does a decent 1/4 so be it but its not the be all and end all.
crap brakes and masses of oversteer when on the gas helps heaps

it needs to be able to outrun most anything else on the way to the pub, tow a boat full a bilge up the slip, manage occasional off road escapades. be able to pull a big skid, have a big enough tank to get across a desert and be simple enough to fix with an axe a spanner and a rounded off screwdriver.


there is no 1 era of aussie muscle, this performance era has continued unhindered from approx 1962 onwards

The engine doesn't need to be a v8 if the six in the range is a higher output unit.


but if you look at it its basically the same as the US

cart springs
and a big engine
on a intermediate sized car with no carpet

Dave

[JustinMFox]

Probably safest to go with Joe Public's definition, they would look at any noisy 60's and 70's American car and say it's a muscle car

[Jim]

A muscle car was a mid-sized 2-door car fitted with the bigger (big block) engine from a full sized car. That was the original meaning.

Pony cars were even smaller cars designed like the Mustang to look and drive like sports cars. However as the market for big engines increased they made the Pony cars bigger and then bigger again in order to take the biggest engines available.

That was when "Pony Cars" became "Muscle Cars" as well.

Dave has got it right.

It is universally understood that the definition of a 'muscle car' is: A base model intermediate 2-door sedan with a big engine. The '64 GTO was the first, and a 1968 Road Runner 2-door post with a 426 Hemi and column shift auto would certainly define the breed.

[JustinMFox]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_car