Muscle cars are attractive “muscle” cars that conquered not only America but also Europe in the second half of the 20th century. They were distinguished by enormous power, gorgeous speed performance and attractive appearance. And although their first creators had few chances to bring their offspring to light, the discovery still happened and amazed many, so that for the fourth generation since then, they hold their breath at the sight of these magical rarities.
A little help about Muscle Cars
American muscle car facts. “Muscular” cars appeared on the US market back in 1964, and the birth of these cars happened quite unexpectedly. The basis for this was the passion for street racing, where the power and speed of the car was very much appreciated. Several car brands at once wondered how to create a budgetary and striking car in order to please the middle class. So it was decided to take out the average serial motor and put in it a V8, which at that time was used for trucks. This made a real revolution and ordinary people got access to super-power autos.
The era of Muscle cars lasted until 1973-74. The oil crisis began to plague America and “gluttonous” autos began to slowly lose their relevance. However, she never disappeared to the end. Many automakers today dream of repeating the success of the first Muscle Cars, issuing modern modifications. And high connoisseurs hunt for rare representatives of cars with “muscles” from another era, buying them out for big money.
Top facts about muscle cars
- The legendary muscle car from the first models – the Shelby GT 500 (1966) had an animal power: 207 km/h, and it was only 6 seconds away from the first hundred kilometers, and 360 hp “accelerated” under the hood at that time. This modification was considered dangerous, so the car was finalized in 1967, depriving the lightweight body and some other details.
- The real indicators of speed and torque were specially underestimated for the data sheets in order to give the course of their new model to the country’s market. According to the laws of that time, such cars could not receive official permission to sell.
- Muscle cars of the first generation perfectly “dance”. When I pressed the accelerator, all the difficulties of balance “floated out”, so the cars began to roll and shake
- The rarest muscle car is considered to be the Dodge Coronet R/T Convertible. The world saw him in just two autos off the assembly line.
- Many people think that round headlights are a distinctive feature of muscle cars, but in fact, such a feature was inherent in most autos of the 60-70s of the last century. The reason is simple – the casting of headlights is very difficult, and the ball is the simplest shape, which at that time was the easiest to cast.
- Muscle cars were created for ordinary people, so their price category ranged from 2 to 10 thousand dollars. For comparison, the average annual income of an American was then $ 10 thousand. So, almost everyone could afford powerful cars, full-fledged analogues of the then expensive Ferraris.