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.

The Muscle Cars are Back
David Atkin 

Well guys after reviewing the good points of the camaro just a bit more, I think I really understand what's going on here, I don't really think the camaro needs that much work, some of the pictures just don't do it a lot of justice, Chevy has put a lot of hard work in to this car and they deserve kudos, and yes they will get those kudos from me.

I'd said in a earlier post here that the camaro had a lot of work to do to catch up to the new Dodge challenger, and now I withdraw that comment, the camaro is nothing less then the best, and really the challenger has nothing over it, and this is by no means bagging on the challenger, it's a tough car, and Dodge deserves a lot of respect for building it.

I do believe this is shaping up to be a good muscle car battle, the camaro vs. mustang vs. the Dodge challenger, and it's hard for me to pick a winner, I know if it boils down to a road race, the camaro and the challenger stand a better chance then the mustang to win, but if this battle comes down to 1/4 mile performance, each of these cars will be very competitive right to the end.

It will boil down to how good the drivers handle the cars and how good the tuners tune them, it will be a close call on that one, being the biggest Chevaholic on the planet, it's hard for me to not be biased, but these cars are very close in the performance areas, none of them have anything to be ashamed of, they are all mean cars that deserve a lot of respect in the end.

This is just shaping up to be a good battle, and if you've seen the specs on these cars then you can't deny that, the big boys are playing with the big toys again, the big three motor companies are really pouring it on in a good way, and it's about time.

I think this is going to help remind us gear heads of the old days, when the big three motor companies were in heavy competition for the top honors in the muscle car wars, but now they have a new weapon to fight with, and it's called technology, the computers and electronics are doing amazing things for the new muscle cars, they make power easier then they used to by far.

In the old days, we'd spend a whole weekend changing carburetors and camshafts and heads just to gain 45 or 50 hp, now that can be done with a chip, and if you get a kit that has a camshaft matched to the chip, the possibilities are endless, and it takes a lot less time and effort these days to do the mods then it did back then, this is why I say it's shaping up to be a good battle.

As you can imagine I'm a very excited man, I'm going nuts waiting for these new cars to hit the showrooms, I love the muscle cars and this just makes me all giddy just like a little school girl waiting to go on her first date, the anticipation is killing me, so if I should keel over dead before this all happens, then someone please do take over where I left off.

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