What constitutes a Muscle Car?

The term “Muscle Car” defined by Merriam-webster.com is “any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving.” This definition can easily raise multiple questions like, only an American-made 2-door can be a muscle car? Some say the muscle car was only made from 1964 to 1974 and some of today’s cars are still yet “Modern Muscle Cars”.

My question about so-called Modern Muscle Cars is, what about the non-American cars with a lot of power? For example, the BMW M3, it is supremely powerful in a small package and comes in either 2 or 4-door. The same goes for some Mercedes models, they aren’t American, but they have the heart of a Muscle Car.

Then there are the cars in the past which ended up with a lot of muscle in them, but are they Muscle Cars?

For example, the Chevy Vega, it came with a 4-cylinder but many had a V8 swap done. They were terrors at the drag strip and still are to this day. The same goes for the Ford Pinto, yes, the Ford Pinto has had many engine swaps and also can still be seen at the drag strip. Are these cars just Hot Rods or are they Muscle Cars?

No matter how we look at it though, there will never be the Muscle Car wars from the manufacturers like the wars in the 60’s. The Chevelle, GTO, Mustang, Nova, Camaro, Duster, Challenger, AMX, and so many Muscle Cars of the past will never re-live their glory days. Yes the big 3 are still trying to out muscle each other with the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger, but these cars only make up a small part of the Muscle Car history. If you have the chance to own a Muscle Car or a car which could be considered a Muscle Car, by all means do it! More than likely you won’t regret it.

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1 thought on “Muscle Cars?

  1. Even Mustang, Camaro, Cuda, Firebird, Challenger were not muscle cars. Those are in another category (pony). Real muscle cars were 2 door coupes with a real back seat. GTO, Chevelle, Charger, etc.

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