I had a little discussion the other day about Muscle Cars and what is considered one (or not). What is your opinion on the Mavericks, is it a muscle car or not? What exactly makes a car a muscle car? Year? Engine? Factory set up or modified? Ok, lets hear it................
The classic car portion of nadaguides.com has the Maverick listed under sports cars, not muscle cars. It has always been my impression, that a muscle car is primarily a '62 to about '72 two door. mid-size or smaller car and came from the factory with at least 270 HP engine. The muscle car era is considered to have started when GM put a bigger engine in the Tempest and called it the GTO. Though GM, Chrysler, & Ford had big engines (400+ cubic engines) with over 300 HP engines in several models, they were all considered full-size cars. Ford created their first muscle car when the 427 was taken out of a Galaxie and put in a '64 Fairlane. I'm not stating dead-on fact; rather I'm just giving my understanding of what is considered a muscle car. However, the Chrysler 300 of the late '50s with the 392 Hemi was a muscle car, in my opinion, as was the 312 T-Birds.
The maverick is a sports car, not a muscle car, anything that comes with a I-6 170 will never be considered a muscle car. I'd love to say that the 302 versions were muscle cars but in my opinion they just don't make the cut, now with a few mods
They definitely weren't Factory Muscle cars. I guess you could say you can turn just about any car into a Muscle car with the right Engine swap .... Were there any Small-Block cars considered Muscle Cars?
Yes, but if it wasnt considered a muscle car before the mods can you call it a muscle car after the mods?
Yep. Camaros and Novas with the 350 HP 327's and the 350 HP 350's (don't hold me to these HP numbers). Mustang Boss 302, Mustang Shelby GT 350, Fairlanes with the Hi-Po 289. Mustang 351CJ. I believe the key was 270 HP or more.
I talked to one guy and he said "if the rear end is jacked up so many inches and the front is lowered so much, that makes it a muscle car no matter what year, motor or make it is!" I dont agree with this.........but it makes for good conversation.
i don't think its a muscle car... but i did win best Muscle Car at one show last year! Guess the Judges considered as one...lol Boy some people were pissed.. Funny as heck! i think they owned "Muscle Cars" Camaros, Mustangs, Chargers.... huh yeah i think those are muscle cars... maverick = car (without the muscle)
OK now we sorta know what makes a regular car a muscle car and what cars were factory muscle. What makes a car a hot rod? I consider my Maverick a hotrod now that its been modified... and its going to be modified even further.
A "muscle car" is any car that you can take the family to the grocery store in during the week, and take to the Drag Strip on the weekends; sort of a dual purpose car, and somewhat comfortable as well. A Maverick is not a "factory" muscle car, but can easily be made into one. It's almost the equivilant of a detuned Mustang, with some having 4-doors. I see the Maverick as a bit of a compromise of ecconomy, styling, cost, and performance all rolled into one. Sports cars are obviously made strictly for performance driving (and racing) and are usually considered personal cars, rather than family cars. You're not gonna take the wife & kids to the mall in a Corvette, but in an Oldsmobile 4-4-2 or Plymouth Barracuda, you could easily do so, and run low 13s in the quarter on weekends. Factory American muscle cars were originally mid-sized, with 2-doors and a powerful V-8. Nowadays, with technology and styling the way they are, I am sure that the critera for such has been broadened. Camaros and Mustangs were called "pony cars" and were essentially just smaller muscle cars designed for Trans Am racing. So that's MY take on the subject...
I consider any hopped or souped up car to be a hot rod. John Force calls his funny car a hot rod. However, there are some groups, sanctioning bodies, and car show sponsors that do not consider anything newer than 1962 models to be hot rods. A 1955 Ford Fairlane can be considered a hot rod with these folks, but not a 1967 Fairlane. Go figure. One of these days I going to find out who they is and found why they is saying how things ought to be. "They say....
Don't ask here ... Ask Google! http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/general/musclecars-definition.shtml
