GTO Judge

Muscle cars...Lets start with the 57 Chrysler 300 (With the 392 hemi and later, the 413 max wedge with cross ram induction)...The car was so fast the wind would rip the windshield mouldings off it at speeds in excess of 130MPH.( Ok so it was aerodynamics or the lack there of) Thats before the term muscle car was ever used...62 Pontiac catalina (421 Super duty) It was your biggest nightmare if you lined up next to one at the strip on the weekend.The 421 was a torque monster... 1964...The pontiac tempest/GTO...The first production car catagorized as a "Muscle car"... Grab a tiger by the tail!!! The list goes on, and so will the debate...

 

I love the shelby cobra as much as any one of you but to me its not a muscle car... if it is then original gt40 is also.... to me an ultimate muscle car is the hemi cuda....

 

we can also debate over what is considered a younger generation

What do you consider modern cars to be? like the zr1 vette, zl1 camero, the new Shelby mustangs, ford gt?


To answer your question, when someone mentions muscle car, first thing that comes to mind are mustangs, camero's, cuda's challengers, chargers, chevelle, gto's....

 

about a year ago there was a program on speed or one of those car oriented programs to test 6 of what ever arguably the best muscle cars, I cant recall exactly all the cars, but a chevelle, amx,olds?,poncho, some form of hemi mopar and a boss9 mustang.
they ran them according to 6 predetermined test, not taking any type of subjective/opinioned info.

regardless of who liked what, or hoped would win, the numbers overall came down to the boss9 mustang winning in 4 of the 6 test, making it "the programs" pick as baddest overall.

if I recall the 2nd place finisher was the chevelle.

maybe someone else that has seen it would remember and be able to find a link to it?

it was a really cool show to see, no matter which you were rooting for.

 

!970 LS-6 454 Chevelle SS.

450 HP, 500 ft. lbs. torque.

0-60 in 6.1 seconds

13.7 sec, @ 103 mph in the 1/4 mile in stock trim....

that's with F/70/14 bias-ply tires.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for the "musclecar" debate,....

Muscle cars weren't defined by the type of motorsport competition they participated in, they were defined by size, as in "Mid-size to full-size cars".

Camaros, Mustangs, Darts, Cougars, Novas, 'Cudas and Challengers weren't considered "mid-size" back in their day. Mid-size cars were Chevelles, Fairlanes, Tempest/LeMans, Sattelite/Roadrunners (another distinction was most, but not all, were full-framed)

That being said, it kind of leaves the "pony cars" lacking respect and distinction for their performance versions.....though the small block "Trans-Am" cars, Boss 302's, Z-28 Camaros and T/A Mopars could be classified as sports performance cars, the bad-a$$ bruiser big block versions were definately more muscular than "sporty", and I personally have no problem referring to them as Musclecars.

 

LS-6 as in engine, or is it something else? sorry for a dumb question

 

Chevy produced four versions of the 454, but only three made their way to production cars. The base 454 was the LS5 that powered Corvettes, Camaros and Chevelles. It also powered station wagons and the Chevy C/K series light-duty pickups. The LS6 was a high-performance 454 option. The LS7 never saw production for standard Chevys, but was a crate, or replacement engine, for custom Chevys and tuned to deliver as much as 500 horsepower. The LS7 was still available in 2011. The detuned LS4 454 powered the 1973 and 1974 Monte Carlos, Chevelles and Corvettes.

LS4: 275 HP, 295 ft-lb torque ('73-'74)

LS5: 360 HP (390 Corvette) 465 ft-lb torque ('70)

LS6: 450 HP, 500 ft-lb torque ('70)

LS7: Non production crate motor, approx 500 HP

Other big block and small block Chevy engines were also "L" coded according to their performance level, like the L78 396 with square port heads and 375 HP, and the Corvette L88 427 with aluminum heads and about 430 HP with dual 4bbl and tri-power intake options, the L79 327 small block (350 HP, 360 ft.lb. torque), the L46 350/350, and the LT-1 350 with 11:1 comp. and solid lifter cam that put out about 370-400 HP
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I would vote for the Daytona/Superbird, Boss 429 would be up there too.

 

I know what the ultimate small block Muscle car was

http://forums.themustangsource.com/...2011-gt-brembo-2012-boss-1971boss351blue2.jpg

Big block? Who knows. I'll submit the 67 Fairlane 427.

http://www.musclecardrive.com/ford/images/1967_Fairlane_427.jpg