QOTD: Which Muscle Car is the Most Muscular?
Classic muscle cars are legendary, some blend of parts not originally meant to go together. Our question is, of all the muscle cars produced, which is the most muscular?
With muscular being an adjective for vigorously robust, which muscle car would you say was the most well-developed? One reason why you won’t get an honest answer as to which muscle car had the most horsepower was due to the insurance companies, who at the time were afraid of high-horsepower, lightweight car combinations. Whether the manufacturers were aware of this or not, the insurers were, and lower horsepower ratings did little to keep them from assigning higher premiums to muscle cars. Mix that in with age and whether you were married or single, and you know who was getting penalized regardless of driving records.
Another reason you won’t get true horsepower ratings is thanks to the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). With their factoring of vehicles based on weight and HP, the advantage initially would go to the OEM that downplayed the numbers. In those days, wins at the NHRA national events carried as much if not more prestige as NASCAR did for full-size cars in the South. Drag racing was an integral part of pop culture, and Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors were all spending vast sums of money in the Sixties and early Seventies to capture the attention of young drivers with a proclivity for fast cars.
Whether your favorite is shown here or not, let us know which muscle car you think had the greatest attributes. We’re fairly certain there’ll be as many different selections as there are those who agree on any one horse in the race.
[Images: © 2021 J.Sakurai/TTAC]
With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.
More by Jason R. Sakurai
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Holy Crap too many to list! Not in any particular order: Daytona/Superbird Road Runner GTX Hemi Cuda Charger/Challenger Duster/demon Mercury cyclone - Schoolmate had one totally bitchin Mustang 428-429/Mach 1 Nova SS 396 ANY YENKO or BALDWIN MOTION CAR GTO Judge Buick GS Stage I or II Chevelle SS454 or 396 Olds Cutlass W-30 Camaro RS-SS El Camino SS AMX 390 I would be happy to have any one of those cars in my garage. SIDE NOTE - I remember back in the mid to late 80's Popular Mechanics did a comparison of late 60's early 70's muscle cars to the then-current (80's) generation of muscle cars (Monte SS, Buick T Type, Mustang, Charger, forgot the other two. IIRC the Buick GS and Chevelle SS 454 were neck and neck, and the slowest muscle car of the 60s/'70s beat the quickest of the 80's cars.
For me, nothing will top the first two true Muscle Cars I ever rode in. The first was a neighbor's '68 Charger R/T, red with no vinyl top. I remember it all these years later like it was yesterday, when he came home with it about 5 minutes after I got home from school that day. About 2 weeks later, another neighbor, across the street came home in a 440 B5 Blue Roadrunner. At that point, I was totally hooked on Mopar B bodies, no matter if they were a GTX, RR, Charger, Super Bee, etc. If it had a big block in it, it was great. Later on, the Cuda and Challengers would be added to my list, and at the end of the era, the SD455 Trans Am was added on. No Fords on the list, but a lot of GM cars mixed into the Mopar base. What do I drive now? A 392 Challenger Scatpack, of course. Closest thing I can get. I love it, it makes me happy.