1969 Plymouth Roadrunner 440
So what exactly would be the definition of a muscle car? Well let me first say that there may not be an exact definition. There are simply too many variables, personal opinions and just plain subjective love for one’s own “performance car” to define such. Consider the following narrative as a guideline as to what would constitute being designated a muscle car.
* Following is an excerpt from a Thesis presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University by William Blythe McKinney, December 2009 which I copied and pasted into this narrative.
www.tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1"
First, the car must carry a V8 engine. After all, there must be “muscle” behind a muscle car. And while performance can be garnered from turbocharged or supercharged V-6 engines, they do not have the loud, car-shaking visceral appeal of the V8. In the 1960s, the more cubic inches you had under the hood,
the cooler you were.
Next, the car must have only two doors, making it look sleek and sporty. But despite the two doors, the American muscle car has always carried a backseat, therefore separating it from the smaller, more European style “sports car.” This means that while smooth and fast and very desirable, a Corvette [4] would not be considered a muscle car.
Muscle cars had to have some semblance of practicality, and that came with the lower sticker price and inclusion of a rear seat. While there is some debate over what makes the cut as far as modern muscle (for example, should powerful trucks be considered?) the classic definition of the muscle era was 1964 (the first year of the GTO) through 1974 (the last year for the Super Duty Trans Am – although Trans Ams would continue to be popular in a less potent version throughout the 70s and 80s.) The zenith of the movement is generally considered to be 1970, when 100 octane fuel was still available
4. – It should be noted that some people will consider a Corvette a muscle car, while others will not. The Corvette is an American icon all on its own. Its run is much longer than the muscle cars; it has been built since the early Fifties and every year since up to the present-day (2009). Also, it is a two-seater, and expensive. Still, some will argue that it was right there in the performance battles of the late Sixties, racing against Hemi MOPARS and others, and so they include it in the discussion.
and there seemed to be no end of it, and horsepower wars had vaulted factory stock engines into the 400hp-plus range. In the years following 1970, power began to subside as emission concerns took hold, and the auto market moved in a new direction.
Finally, to be a muscle car, a car must have rear wheel drive; important to performance enthusiasts because power is not lost in turns, and there is not the feeling of being pulled to one side under heavy acceleration as in front-wheel drive vehicles (something called “wheel drift”). Also, it was cool to show off a car’s muscle by performing big smoky burnouts. This was best done by the rear wheels instead of the front, which just make it look like your engine was on fire.
People can and will argue about when the muscle car revolution really started, but for the purpose of this article, we’re placing the start in the early to mid-sixties, specifically 1964, but with credit to the earlier cars. 1964 was chosen because that was the year of the first Pontiac GTO, the car that’s most often cited for starting the whole muscle car pheno-menon. It was the first factory intermediate model with an engine from a full-size car… There were performance models long before 1964 , but the basic muscle car premise is a big engine in a smaller car. That’s the basic definition of a hot rod, only now you could buy a brand new hot rod at your local GM, Ford, or Chrysler dealership and finance it. Somehow, it’s not the same.
__________________________________________________
By yours truly:
Burn ‘um up………heat ‘um up. Burn out. Smoke billows and swirls around a throbbing, growling, thump’a de thump four wheel beast. A couple of quick stabs on the throttle – an ear splitting vawomp, vawoomp blasts from open headers………. The car shutters and shakes as it inches forward toward the staging line, tripping the red light on the “christmas tee”. The ground shakes as both cars begin their “run-up”, r.p.m.s climb – 5000, 5500, 6000 igniting 500, 600 or more of raw brute horsepower under the hood. The count down, a yellow, another yellow. Engines screaming – the car hunches like a growling, angry Tiger ready to pounce. Green light! Foot slams the throttle, clutch peddle flies up, line lock released, the tach needle spins, higher, higher. An earth shaking roar, smoke and fire – the car bolts forward, whirling slicks dig into hot asphalt, as the front end bolts up. The car enters a different world – images melt into a blur, gears slam; second, third, fourth – a growling scream from Hell fills the air. A quarter of a mile is eaten up in a matter of seconds. The traps appear from the darkness. Time to back down – back down but no. The age is ending. Like our time on earth, the muscle car is dying……… stay in it, stay in it. The traps blur by. It pierces the darkness in an instant. It enters an ethereal world – a world devoid of time and space. It passes the bounds of our world. A raging thing – a screaming machine no longer tied to the bounds of earth. There is no return. A final scream – a final breathe and then, then silence. A blazing light pierces the darkness and it knows there is no return. Its era is passed. It is but a memory now. There is no sorrow, no regrets, no fear. It had its day and like all things, it’s time passes into memories.
This, my friends, is the muscle car ………………
Posted by (The) Appleman on 2017-01-28 06:10:57
Tagged: , Plymouth , car , muscle , blue top , drivein , drive , summer , Highland , Indiana , roadrunner , 440 , fotoCreations , (The) Appleman
