MUSCLE CARS or just CLASSIC?

That hit the nail on the head.

6 cylinders and 2v V8s = no muscle car.

 

EXACTLY why I Like these cars ....

... because when you stuff it full of motor and goodies, you have a light car that scoots. If you can keep it quiet, it is a Sleeper.

This was exactly what I needed after the local sheriffs started going out of their way to follow me around in my shiny, loud Torino ... my nice sleepy white Comet in the sig below. Switching to that car likely preserved my driver's license way back ... it was a lot faster than the Torino too ...

 

But it looks like :bananaman

 

It all depends not so much on the title but the use yes mustangs and cudas were engineered for performance but in most cases performance is a reflection of raw power now while these cars were not manufactured for raw power up front they were state of the art in fuel efficiency at a time of crazy fuel price whose gonna road trip that big v8 when gas is 7/gal and theres an embargo on foreign oil, right. So in that respect even though short lived mavericks have a muscle car legacy. Az for the classic azpect when will you ever see another car tht comes with an inline six, beat out more popular muscle cars of the same era and sold around 2.5 M uints in under a decade. IMO it is what yu make it mines a classic tht has'nt been 2 the gym for a while and no matter what yu call it its a strong part if automotive history.
#thatstatementsenoughmuscleforme

 

So is that the be all and end all list of what is and what isn't a Muscle Car?

 

and furthermore.. would some of those cars shown in that book still be consdiered a "Muscle Car" if they had the base models 6 cylinder between their fenders?

Personally.. and I know many others who look at it the same way.. a "Muscle Car" can be many things to many people and it doesn't always need to be a hugely popular main stream classic iteration to be considered one. Nearly any classic car that has a V8 has the potential to be one in my book. Then add hood scoops, stripes, and spoilers?.. well.. good luck finding a crowd of people where the majority won't consider it as one.

In the end it's all about the actual recipe. Little car/little V8.. medium car/medium V8.. big car/big V8 all equates to enough performance to equal.. or sometimes exceed.. those "Classic Muscle Cars" performance levels. So, while a 304 powered Gremlin with "hood scoops, stripes, and spoilers".. may not be considered a Muscle car by the purists around here.. it will certianly act like one when it shows you're smogger 360 powered Cuda it's tail lights.

 

I will soon. Just ordered it from Amazon. (If it DID claim a Maverick was a MUSCLE CAR, I wouldn't have ordered it.) Thanks for posting.

 

already read it several times.. and it is a good book. My problem is that I've invested thousands through the years and then they just sit collecting dust after I've read them about 10 times or more.

Finally wised up and only spend my cash on tech books which I reference more often. Now I just like to browse the book stores and read while the wife is searching for her new best sellers. Sometimes it takes several trips to read a larger book all the way through(kinda like Playboys.. after I've looked at all the pic's first of course).. but I sure do save some extra cash these days. lol

 

In the purest sense a super/muscle car is a intermediate model that had the larger engines STANDARD... That includes models such as GTO(not the '70s Nova wannabees), Fairlane/Torino Cobra, Road Runner, Super Bee, 442, SS 396, etc... It does not include sister models such as LeMans, Fairlane, Torino, Belvedere, Cutlass, Malibu, etc that the base engine was a 6cyl or maybe small V8... Of course any of those could be optioned with the top dog engines, so was easy to transform one into a super car just by checking the right boxes on the dealer order form...

Using the above, not even models like Boss 429 Stangs, Hemi Cudas, etc are muscle cars, instead are muscular pony cars...

 

Sporty car

SPORTY CAR
My parents were amateur sports car racers... they raced MG's, Lotus, Sprite. Alpha Romeo..McLaren. Those are "Sports Cars". Tubular space frame chasis. Independent rear suspensions. No back seats..built for the track.
A Mustang or Camaro etc was called a "Sporty Car" by that group of track racers, and a 64 Corvette was a joke on the track; it couldnt go around corners. I do remember as a kid talking about my friends dad's Ford LTD as having and being a muscle car...that was @ 1970. My 66 Dodge Charger was marketed as a personal luxury car...
I'm surprised no one mentioned Sporty Car.

 

So bottom line, these are just appealing old cars, not muscle cars, not pony cars, not sports cars, just old cars (that we love by the way), I think I'm ok with it.

 

^^ You hit the nail on the head.

 

Ford Motor Company classified it as a "compact" car.

 

ITs a 40 year old Ford focus. Just a cheap little car.

 

simply because the conversation is so interesting.. let's think about this again in another perspective.

hmmm?.. a "compact" with a V8? Sounds almost like the "bargain beginnings" of a "muscular car" to me.

Some fun math to kick around.

1971 Maverick Grabber weighing 2,800lbs with 302CI/210HP = 13.33lbs per HP

1971 Chevelle SS weighing 3,700lbs with 396CI(actually a "smogger" 402)/300HP = 12.33lbs per HP

Don't like that one? ok.. here then.

1971 Camaro SS weighing 3,300lbs with 350CI/270HP = 12.22lbs per HP

Now, while some might say that the lowely 396("smogger 402") used in that particular year isn't going to make it a "true musclecar"(and I would probably agree too).. but good luck driving around on the local cruise night and finding people who will not consider it one as its striped cowl induction hood burbles on by them.

The list could go on and on with "base engined" stereotypical models such as Nova's, Challengers, Camaros, and whatnot. Then keep in mind many of these "sporty models" has factory 4bbl/dual exhaust setups to give them the lbs per HP advantage.. yet.. they were not all that much faster from 0-60 and to the end of a quarter mile than our little "compacts" were.. with most being in the high 15 second range compared to our cars foolishly undergeared high 16/low 17 second times. It's apples to oranges.. yet they're not really that far off due to such low curb weights.

And seriously.. who can't imagine some folks out there who would dare put 4bbls, cams, and headers.. not to mention a 4 speed and gears.. to make an honest and easy 280-300HP screamer out of these little things? Obviously a pretty large crowd of them or we wouldn't have the aftermarket parts industry that we have today if they had'nt.

So, again.. I dare ANY of you put a hoodscoop, stripes, spoilers and 4bbl/dual exhaust on it?.. and go try finding a majority crowd who say.. "oh look.. there's and old classic economy car!" lol Which proves that "musclecar" is a very visual thing to all but the cynical purists out there. Then.. light em' up next to a heavily creature comforted/bloated Old's 442 and see if the rest of the critics don't agree that it's "muscular enough" to fit the bill.