Me and my buddies got together yesterday and got on the subject on the ultimate muscle car, so u know that convo lasted awhile and we got to throwing all kinds of cars out there and they thought i was crazy when i said the 70 GTO Judge to me was the ultimate muscle car.... i saw one at a car show in chicago once dont think i will ever find one
That is a topic that will never have a final agreed upon answer. The Judge was an awesome car though.
I actually do not consider the shelby cobra a muscle car... its a sports car to me. To me a muscle car is a over powered car that can only go straight from the factory, and from what I know those cobra's were designed for road racing.
that's not one ether... they way I look at a muscle car, Its front engine rear wheel drive, 2 door, with a back seat and somewhat affordable to the general public. Most of the time the car is based on another car that's more family friendly, (lemans and gto for example).... but this argument can go on for an eternity...
According to your theory of only being able to go straight then there were no Muscle cars ever built. Every car that was built of a performance class has and was used in some sort of competition other than straight line. The Daytona and Superbirds, the 429 & 302 Boss's, the GTO's, Olds 442's Chevelle's and Camaro's and the list just keeps going. Name the brand and it has a multiple use history. As for the Cobra it was and is a true MUSCLE CAR. It was not only built for road racing but built for several purposes. If you consider a muscle car an over powered car than where does 1800 pounds with 800+ horse fit? is that a muscle car? That is the original Cobra Super Snake. Not trying to start anything but as it has been said before what is and what isn't a Muscle Car will "NEVER" be an agreed upon subject.
By dictionary definition - a muscle car cannot be a 2 seater. Cobra and Vettes are out. Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles.[1] The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving."[2] A large V8 engine is fitted in a 2-door, rear wheel drive, family-style mid-size or full-size car designed for four or more passengers. Sold at an affordable price, muscle cars are intended for mainly street use and occasional drag racing.[3][4][5][6] They are distinct from two-seat sports cars and expensive 2+2 GTs intended for high-speed touring and road racing.
Hah that's the definition of Muscle-car that can be used to include mavericks and comets. In fact if you look at the list of Muscle Cars on wikipedia Comet GT 71-75 makes the list.
Hey ... it's not my words - just the dictionary definition ....... Now, scariest muscle car I ever rode in - 68 Shelby GT500 with a 428 PI (police interceptor) / 4 speed .........
You really cant do that then because the Boss 302 Mustang was made for the Trans Am racing series. As were many of the great pony cars like the Yenko Camaro ect ect.... But then again how many cars that people call muscle cars actually were developed to drive around the big Nascar oval, all the Superbirds, daytonas the talledegas the Chevelles(hmm those chevelles sure do look like the GTOs wait werent they all built on the same frame) Wait werent there even a few GTO's in nascar?.... wouldnt that make them incorrect for the Mirram Webster definition of a Muscle car since there were quite a few teams running the GTO as purpose built nascar racers? Unfortunitely defining what a muscle car is as much about personal opinion as defining what a hot rod is.... Everyone has different thoughts what they are, but sad to say according to the technical definition allot of us can easily be proven wrong on what a hot rod or muscle car is
"Sold at an affordable price" This statement alone blows Peter Henshaw's theory out of the water as these cars were not an affordable price for most people back in the day. When they sold for as little as twice the price as their counterpart. When the average pay scale was between $3 and maybe $4 per hr a 5 to 8 thousand dollar car was not really considered "affordable". Also he was stuck on the weekend drag racing idea so as was stated before most all of cars produced were used in multiple uses other than drags. NASCAR was the main reason most of cars and or their components, namely motors were developed in the first place. As for the hot rod, if it ain't mom and dads factory ride, it's a hot rod. Even John Force calls his funny cars Hot Rods.