Top 10 American muscle cars

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With vast straight roads and a love of drag racing, only America could have invented the muscle car.

There was nothing particularly sophisticated about these beasts, which operated on a simple premise: slam a V8 engine into a small (in American terms) car and drive it fast and straight.

And although they’re not wholly suited to UK roads, muscle cars have been held in awe by plenty of motorists on this side of the pond for decades.

The seeds of the muscle car may have been planted in the late 1940s, but it enjoyed its heyday in the Swinging Sixties through to the early 70s, when the Clean Air Act, the oil crisis and high insurance costs in the States brought about their temporary demise.

The kings of the road became unaffordable and impractical, with Detroit focusing more on emission controls and taxes on high-powered cars increasing. Aimed at hot-blooded young men who could no longer afford them, these street-legal hot rods became more of a rarity on US highways.

But in their golden era, some truly stunning and brutal beasts roamed the streets. Specialist American car insurance broker Adrian Flux has taken a look at 10 legendary muscle cars of the past six decades. Enjoy our top 10 – and feel free to disagree.

Buick Skylark GSX Stage 1

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Buick took the entire American car industry by surprise when they released the Skylark GSX Stage 1.

 

In terms of exterior styling as far as muscle cars went, the ’70 GSX Stage 1 was a truly gorgeous piece of Buick machinery. Up front, it featured a double-circle headlight setup, a split double grill, and even double hood scoops to help cool off the vehicle’s monstrous engine.

 

Without a shadow of a doubt, the GSX Stage 1’s best feature was its mind-blowing acceleration, especially considering the era. We already mentioned engine numbers, so let’s see how those translated to the drag strip when they were channeled through the vehicle’s 4-speed manual transmission.

In actual testing, the GSX Stage 1 sprinted 0-60 miles per hour in an incredibly fast 5.1 seconds, and ran the quarter mile in 13.38 seconds at a speed of 105.5 miles an hour. After seeing those numbers, Motortrend declared it as the quickest American production car they had ever tested.

Dodge Challenger driving down road

Dodge Challenger

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The 1970 Dodge Challenger was slightly larger than the average muscle or pony car (we’re not making a distinction for the purposes of our list), going head to head with the Mercury Cougar and the Pontiac Firebird.

Aimed at affluent young buyers, the design was similar to the Dodge Charger and the car was a hit with the public, selling 165,000 units.

The Challenger was offered with a vast array of engines, but the pick of the crop from a performance point of view was the road and track (R/T) model fitted with a 7-litre 425bhp unit.

The model lives on today, with styling cues clearly taken from the 70s, in the shape of a 485bhp monster and the 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat.

Plus there’s also the 2019 Dodge Challenger Road and Track Scat Pack.

Pontiac GTO

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If you’re not convinced of the true muscle car credentials of the C-300 or the Rocket, then maybe the Pontiac GTO of 1964 is your idea of where it all began.

The Pontiac isn’t considered as pretty as the Chrysler and is basically a Tempest with a 6-litre V8 lump producing 348bhp – fast and powerful, but its true legacy is that its success convinced General Motors to produce the following stable of Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac muscle cars.

The name was John DeLorean’s idea as he noticed that Ferrari had not patented the GTO name in North America – it officially stood for Pontiac Grand Tempest Option.

In 1969, the car’s second generation featured bolder, fastback styling, with engine capacity increased to a massive 7.5-litres, urging the car from 0-60mph in just 5.2 seconds. Seriously rapid for the time.

Chrysler C-300 parked on the road

Chrysler C-300

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In 1955, the Chrysler C-300 burst on to the scene, boasting 300bhp (hence the name) from its 5.4-litre “hemi” V8.

Essentially a racecar aimed squarely at NASCAR, the C-300 was produced for the road for homologation purposes, with 1,725 sold for road use.

At the time, this was the world’s fastest stock car, and within a year its monstrous engine was pumping out 355bhp – the most powerful car produced in the United States and enough to propel the Chrysler to a speed of 127mph in the Flying Mile.

Over the years, the styling of the 300 and its variants became even more dramatic, with huge yawning grilles and large rear fins, and its engine size increasing to 6.8-litres, propelling the car to 142mph.

Chevrolet Camaro CZ-1 on sand

Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1

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Chevrolet had no such qualms about selling 1969’s Camaro ZL-1 to the public, despite it utilising a lighter, aluminium version of the L88 engine from the Corvette.

The engine alone cost $4,000 and was hand assembled in a surgically clean workshop, each engine taking 16 hours to put together.

The resulting $7,200 price tag for the Camaro, as well as fears over its power, put buyers off, and some cars were sent back to the factory to be fitted with smaller engines to help them sell.

With the first 20 cars sent straight to the drag strip, and problems selling to the public, only 69 aluminium-engined ZL-1s were made, making these among the fastest and most rare of all the classic muscle cars.

Chevrolet Corvette L88 driving down the road

Chevrolet Corvette L88

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The Corvette L88, produced in 1967 and 1968 in the stunning Stingray body shape, was a racing package featuring a 7-litre big block engine, and Chevrolet were so concerned at the power on offer that they discouraged dealers from selling it for the road.

The company said the car pushed out 435bhp, only slightly more than a standard Corvette, to further discourage buyers, but later testing showed the power was closer to a staggering 560 horsepower.

Anyone buying it for the road would have had trouble driving far, however, as the high compression ratio required 103-octane fuel, which was only available at a small number of service stations.

Only 196 were made as increased emission controls saw production stopped and Chevrolet readied themselves for the Corvette’s new model shape in 1968.

That didn’t stop some people turning the Corvette L88 into a modified 4×4, though.

Chevrolet Chevelle

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The original Chevelle was a fairly ordinary looking mid 60s saloon, but the introduction of the SS model was Chevrolet’s first real foray into the muscle car market.

But it’s the mark 2 of 1968 that moved things up a gear, with a new tapered body with a long bonnet and shorter body seeing the Chevelle become America’s most popular mid-sized car. It was a muscle car for the masses.

Many consider the 1970 SS 454 model as the high point of the muscle car movement, with the 450bhp LS6 version able to blow away virtually all of the opposition at the time.

With its swept-back roofline and bonnet bulge, there was no disguising that this car was something special.

Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird in a garage

Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird

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Without doubt the most eye-catching car on our list thanks to its massive rear spoiler that looks like a carrying handle for a giant, the Superbird also featured a futuristic droop-snoot nose.

A highly modified version of the successful Roadrunner, the Superbird was designed for racing and fitted with a 7-litre V8.

As well as its startling looks, the car was famed for its horn tone, which copied the sound from the Looney Tunes cartoon Roadrunner character, which was also featured as a decal on the vehicle.

Only 135 were made with the 7-litre “hemi” engine, which has seen prices soar to between $100,000 and $200,000 today.

Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt illustration

Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt

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Although legal for road use, 1964’s Ford Thunderbolt was considered just too hot for the streets, and only 111 were built.

Based on the mid-size Fairlane body, the Thunderbolt was a 7-litre monster that lived almost exclusively on the track, where its massive traction bars and trunk-mounted battery were intended to maximise its huge 500bhp output on the strip.

Weight-saving measures showed just how unsuitable this car was for the road, with no sun visors, heater, passenger windscreen wiper, armrests, mirrors and even carpeting.

Ford even felt moved to rivet a metal plate inside the glove box which stated: “Because of the specialized purpose for which this car has been built and in order to achieve maximum weight reduction, normal quality standards of the Ford Motor Company are not met on this vehicle.

“This information is included on this vehicle to assure that all customers who purchase this car are aware of the deviation from the regular high appearance quality standards of the Ford Motor Company.”

The Thunderbolt could run the quarter mile in 11.6 seconds at 124mph and the car dominated the NHRA World Championship and is almost certainly the fastest production drag racer ever produced.

Ford Mustang Boss 429

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Clearly there have been many Ford Mustangs over the years, but the 1970 Boss 429 makes this list partly because of its rarity and partly because of its racing pedigree.

Built for NASCAR homologation purposes, what makes this Mustang special is that each one is hand built to fit the 7-litre V8 into the engine bay, and with only 859 made, prices are astronomical, with a high point of $417,000 paid at auction in Florida.

Still adored today, the Boss was design-tweaked for the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.

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