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.

Ford Bronco: Simple yet Tough
Chuck Smith
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It was a 4x4 SUV produced from 1966 to 1996 with four distinct generations, and is an aged model. The Ford Bronco is a big, brawny, and powerful off roader that had strong sales especially to fans of the big and brawny V8 powered four wheelers. This vehicle has certainly been an icon to hard-core off roaders because of the fact that it has a simple yet tough and rugged design and muscular structure that guarantees quite an exceptional maneuverability, either on the road, or off of it.

An instant success, the Ford Bronco then left behind all the other emerging leisure four-wheel drives in the market because of sales of 18, 200 units all during its entire first year of production. This vehicle was continually updated up until 1977. After that year, a much larger Bronco was then introduced. It was built to look like a simple and authentic sport utility vehicle. It has disciplined road manners and features excellent trips on the rough roads.

At the outset, the Ford Bronco was introduced as a competitor for the Jeep CJ-5 and the International Harvester Scout. It was small in size, which had a 92 inch wheelbase. However, this made the Ford Bronco popular for off road and some other uses. But this also made this SUB quite impractical for towing. In the late 1970s, a major redesign based on the Ford F-series truck then brought a larger Bronco to compete now with the Chevrolet K5 Blazer and the Dodge Ramcharger. The Bronco's successor is the Ford Expedition.

Popular culture found the Ford Bronco a part of it. The Ford Bronco was cast in the popular culture society in 1994 as the vehicle which O.J. Simpson had traveled during the much-proclaimed low-speed chase with police through the Los Angeles area. The Bronco that was used that time was owned by Al Cowlings and was a white 1993 model.

The Ford Bronco was designed to have its axles and brakes sourced from the Ford F-100 four wheel drive truck. Its front axle was located by leading arms and a lateral track bar, thus allowing the use of coil springs which gave the Bronco a tight turning circle, long wheel travel, and an anti-dive geometry which was quite useful for snowplowing. It was also given a more conventional rear suspension with leaf springs in a typical Hotchkiss design. Given as an option was a heavy duty suspension. Its engine was the Ford 170 cubic inch straight six that was modified with solid valve lifters, a six quart oil pan, heavy duty fuel pump, oil-bath air cleaner, and a carburetor with a float bowl compensated against tilting. Styling was attacked with simplicity and economy, thus giving the Ford Bronco a look with all glass flat, bumpers with simple C-sections, a simple box-section ladder frame, and basic left and right door skins identical except for mounting holes.

Production was then dropped in 1997 for this SUV. However, come 2004, at the North American International Auto Show, a Bronco concept car was introduced that held some features of the concept car still intact. What changed for this concept car was that it held a 2.0-liter intercooled turbo diesel engine and a six-speed transmission.

Ford Parts Online gives customers a long list of high quality Ford Bronco parts. Their wide arrays of Ford Bronco parts are unmatched in quality and workmanship. These parts have also been proven to be totally durable.

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