Cool Muscle Cars

Welcome to the world of cool muscle cars! On this site we will be paying homage to the era of the classic muscle cars – 1960 to the mid-1970s though of course we will also look at muscle form both the earlier and later years right through to the present day.
 
The incredible machines that Detroit turned out in the 1960s captured the imagination of a whole new motoring public and the need for speed enveloped America and spread as far as Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

It is probably too easy, and more to the point inaccurate, to describe muscle cars simply as ‘two door American cars with large engines’ though that undoubtedly was the early premise of automobiles such as the Pontiac GTO, Ford Mustang and Plymouth Barracuda.

Of course, everyone has their own idea of what makes a great car but who can deny that some of the greatest and most iconic automobiles ever seen were cool muscle cars such as:

AMC AMX

Buick Gran Sport

Dodge Charger

Ford Mustang

Oldsmobile 442

Plymouth GTX

Pontiac GTO

Of course this type of car was hugely attractive to the youths of America and, though the manufacturers wouldn't admit it, the cars were designed for street racing and drag racing.

And, as the manufacturers grasped the importance of the youth market, they began to introduce more affordable models such as the Plymouth Road Runner and the Dodge Super Bee.

This trend for compact models also saw the birth of the pony car concept as manufacturers tried to expand on the original muscle car by squeezing bigger engines into smaller cars.

And, seizing on the idea of street racing the manufacturers began to build turnkey drag racers such as the 1964 Dodge 426 Hemi Lightweight and, from the same year, the Ford Thunderbolt.

Of course it couldn’t last and by 1970 the muscle car industry was in decline as campaigns for safer automobiles and less powerful cars began to attract more and more support.

Rising oil prices in the mid-1970s hammered home the final nail in the coffin of high performance automobiles and the era of cool muscle cars was at an end.

But, these vehicles are still venerated today and on the pages of this site you will find articles, histories, information and, of course, loads of great pictures and videos of the very best classic muscle cars.

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