The idea of installing a powerful engine in a post WWII mid-size car was introduced in 1957. The American Motors (AMC) Rebel showcased AMC?s new 327 in³ V8 255 hp with a 4 barrel carburetor (fuel injection was to be optional), thus making it the first American factory hot-rod hardtop sedan. The Rambler Rebel came with a manual or automatic transmission, and dual exhaust. The Rebel was promoted as the fastest four-door car in America from 0-60 mph and ran the quarter mile in 17.0 seconds. It was one of the quickest production automobiles at that time.

The popularity of the muscle car grew in the 1960s. Among these was the Pontiac Tempest. For 1964 and 1965, the GTO was an option package that included Pontiac's 389 in³ (6.5 L) V8 engine, floor-shifted transmission with Hurst shift linkage, and special trim. In 1966, the Pontiac GTO was no longer an option, and became its own model. The project, spearheaded by Pontiac division president John De Lorean, was technically a violation of General Motors policy limiting its smaller cars to 330 in³ (5.4 L) displacement, but it proved far more popular than expected, and inspired a host of imitations, both at GM and its competitors.

This marked a general trend towards factory performance, which reflected the importance of the youth market. A key appeal of the muscle cars was that they offered the burgeoning American car culture an array of relatively affordable vehicles with strong street performance that could also be used for racing. The affordability aspect was quickly compromised by increases in size, optional equipment, and plushness, forcing the addition of more and more powerful engines just to keep pace with performance. A backlash against this cost and weight growth led in 1967 and 1968 to a secondary trend of "budget muscle" in the form of the Plymouth Road Runner, Dodge Super Bee, and other stripped, lower-cost variants.

Although the sales of true muscle cars were relatively modest by total Detroit standards, they had considerable value in publicity and bragging rights, serving to bring young buyers into showrooms. Automakers saw these as halo models and some, such as the AMC Rebel Machine, were factory upgraded to be turn-key drag racers. The 1970 Machine even came with flamboyant and patriotic red, white, and blue reflective body graphics for maximum street and racetrack visibility. The fierce competition led to an escalation in power that peaked in 1970, with some models offering as much as 450 hp (and others likely producing as much actual power, whatever their rating).

The Dodge Charger, known for its appearance as the villan's vehicle in the movie BullittAnother related type of car is the car-based pickup. Examples of these are the Ford Ranchero, GMC Sprint, GMC Caballero, and one of the most famous examples, the Chevrolet El Camino.

Car Chase Classics: chase.punyportal.com
Mark Mahorney
2f58 I hit my teenage years in the early 80s about the same time VCRs and independent video rental shops came to every small town in America. This was before yogurt shops and tanning booths hit, and after most of the drive-ins and arcades had faded away, though my town had all five simultaneously.

During that time I got turned on to couple of happenstance rentals now both cult classics. One was Evil Dead and another was the original
Gone in 60 Seconds.

It seems cult classic films follow a similar path as collectables. It couldn't have appeared to have any value at the time for it to have any value now. What is the return on a Franklin Mint collectable? Will Freddy vs. Jason ever be a classic? Probably not.

Friday the 13^th and A Nightmare on Elm Street are classics, no doubt, but they aren't likely to ever reach cult status. The latter, if I recall correctly, was B movie flop in the theatre, hit the ever-growing network of video rental stores where it caught the attention of kids too young to otherwise have seen it, and then was re-released into the theatres as a hit.

Gone in 60 Seconds was a little known drive-in B movie from before my time that even the rental shops couldn't bring back to life. And I suspect that the /www.gonein60seconds.com/home.htm target=_blank>http://www.gonein60seconds.com/home.htm>H.B. Halicki series of car chase classics have generated more revenue since the 2000 remake Gone in Sixty Seconds, than in the previous quarter century.

I have an affinity for guy movies that I now never find the time to watch with a wife and child. I'm talking about the kinds of movies you simply can't watch in the presence of a female. Clint Eastwood the outlaw, the brawler, or the dirty cop. Anything with Charles Bronson. Al Pacino in the Godfather series, Serpico, Scarface, Carlito's Way, or even Glengarry Glen Ross. Or Paul Newman in The Hustler, Hombre, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, or the hilarious Slapshot.

Along the same line, I'll take a good car chase movie any day. I like car chases like I like porn. Get right to the action. The better the car chase the less I care about the plot. Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry would have been a whole lot better without Peter Fonda's bad acting. All I wanted to hear was the badass roar of the 440 Dodge Charger.

It is in that spirit that /chase.punyportal.com/ target=_blank>http://chase.punyportal.com/>Car Chase Classics is born and what follows is a list of some of my
all time favorite car chase, car race, and cool car movies:

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000055ZNH/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000055ZNH/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Gone in 60 Seconds - Classic must see for the car chase enthusiast.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AYK0S/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AYK0S/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Deadline Auto Theft - Follow on to Gone in 60 Seconds

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005YWK6/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005YWK6/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
The Junkman - More great chases from H.B. Halicki. Check out the /www.gonein60seconds.com/home.htm target=_blank>http://www.gonein60seconds.com/home.htm>official site.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004Z4WR/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004Z4WR/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Gone in Sixty Seconds - A boatload of cool cars and Eleanor in a league of its own.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6304698526/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6304698526/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Bullitt - The first of the big block mustangs had mega HP crammed into a fuselage that maintained much of the early mustang a pony car.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/630526130X/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/630526130X/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Eat My Dust - Ron Howard steals a Dodge Charger, king of muscle cars.

/rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=greatspeculat-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=6303471609&fc1=000000&=1&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000<1=_blank&IS2=1&f=ifr&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr target=_blank>http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=greatspeculat-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=6303471609&fc1=000000&=1&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000<1=_blank&IS2=1&f=ifr&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr>
Return to Macon County - Nick Nolte, Don Johnson and hot Chevy.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000ING1/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000ING1/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Bonnie and Clyde - Lots of great classic cars in this film.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005RHGK/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005RHGK/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Jeepers Creepers - The demon powered '41 Chevy COE couldn't be any more ominous.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0783114893/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0783114893/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
The Hitcher - Great combination of semi and suspense.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007UDC8K/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007UDC8K/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Black Cadillac - Cool old Cadillac Limousine doing the chasing.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00029RTAI/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00029RTAI/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Dazed and Confused - Chock full of cool cars. Lots of tire spinning and chase with Chevy PU. This movie epitomizes my teen years.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008MZ0N/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008MZ0N/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
The Fast and the Furious - Another Dodge Charger in this one.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JM4Z/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JM4Z/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
2 Fast 2 Furious - Lot's of muscle car action.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767849981/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767849981/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
The Hollywood Knights - The original rat rods.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000YEEUS/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000YEEUS/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Roadhouse 66 - Bad movie with some cool cars racing.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000ILF2/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000ILF2/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Red Line - Exotic muscle.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305972370/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305972370/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Two Lane Blacktop - Classic road film.

/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00013RC8O/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2 target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00013RC8O/greatspeculat-20/002-3960751-6772027?%5Fencoding=UTF8&camp=2025&link%5Fcode=xm2>
Vanishing Point - Challenger pushed to max.


/us.imdb.com/title/tt0071424/ target=_blank>http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0071424/>Dirty Mary Crazy Larry - Yet another Charger movie.

About the Author

Mark Mahorney
/chase.punyportal.com target=_blank>http://chase.punyportal.com>Car Chase Classics

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