The History of Muscle Cars in America

The muscle car era in the United States occurred roughly from 1964 to 1972. No one person is responsible for developing factory production cars powered by massive performance V-8 engines that led to the creation of the muscle car, but Pontiac chief engineer John DeLorean was an early pioneer. DeLorean and his team produced the high-powered 1964 Pontiac GTO that defined the future of the muscle car. Muscle Car Defined A muscle car is a midsize coupe or hardtop equipped with a large block V-8 engine. It's often confused with a pony car. According to musclecarclub.com, a stock Ford Mustang, for example, is identified as a pony car. But the Mustang Mach 1, GT and Boss models equipped with performance engines are considered muscle cars. The Beginning In a bit of irony that can only be dreamed up in a Dilbert comic, General Motors management indirectly created the muscle car by banning GM cars from National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing competition in 1963. GM also banned factory-installed engine sizes above 330 cubic inches, according to Hemmings Muscle Machines. GM engineers conspired to circumvent the ban. Enter John DeLorean The car that started it all: The 1964 Pontiac GTO. In 1963, Pontiac's DeLorean, Russ Gee and Bill Collin decided to take the Pontiac Tempest family car and fit it with a 389-cubic-inch V-8. It was equipped with a four-barrel carburetor and generated 325 horsepower. DeLorean skirted the GM ban by offering the 389-cubic-inch "Super Tempest," later to be called the GTO, as an option only and with an initial production of only 5,000 units, according to Hemmings and web-cars.com. Super Sport The 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Super Sport convertible. By the time the GTO hit the market, Chevrolet was already producing its performance Super Sport models with the compact Nova. The Super Sport was introduced in 1961 primarily as an appearance package, according to musclecarclub.com. Although all Super Sports today are considered muscle cars, the 1963 Nova SS was only powered by a small-block 283-cubic-inch V-8. The exception was the 1961 Impala SS powered by a 348-cubic-inch V-8. However, the Impala SS predated GM's ban on big V-8s and was a full-size car. Mustang Versus Camaro The 1967 Shelby Mustang GT350. Pony cars are essentially midsize stock production coupes with modestly powered engines. The standard Mustang and Camaro fit into this category, according to musclecarclub.com and web-cars.com. Yet these two cars are perhaps most responsible for igniting the Ford/Chevrolet muscle car wars. Retired race driver Carroll Shelby developed the performance Shelby Mustang GT350 and GT500s, while Chevrolet produced its Camaro SS and Z28 performance packages. Dodge Dodge, a division of Chrysler, perhaps best embraced the muscle car concept in the late 1960s with several models. It developed a performance package, the R/T, for the Challenger, Charger, the compact Dart and full-size Coronet with 383 or 440-cubic-inch V-8s, according to musclecarclub.com. Demise The oil embargo of 1973 stopped the muscle car era dead in its tracks. Gas prices skyrocketed. The U.S. government implemented a series of strict safety and emissions regulations that doomed the big-block V-8. Americans turned to fuel-efficient Japanese imports, prompting Detroit automakers to downsize their cars and engine horsepower, according to Fortune magazine.