Muscle Cars

Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high performance automobiles.The Merriam-Webster definition is more limiting, "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." The term generally refers to 2-door rear wheel drive mid-size cars, and sometimes full-size cars equipped with large, powerful, V8s.


Muscle Car Definition
The definition of a muscle car is a mid-size model car, with V8 engines, generally produced between 1965 and 1973. Most muscle cars were current mid-size models being produced by car manufacturers, and they added a large V8 engine, special trim, and usually better handling and performance options like suspension, braking, etc. A good example of this is the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle

Muscle car resurrection

In 2004, Chrysler debuted the true ancestor of the muscle car, 300C, as a 2005 model. Its styling is heavily borrowed from the original 1957 300C model.

In 2005 Ford, as a precursor of this movement, introduced the new Mustang designed to resemble the original 1964.5 model.

In 2008 Chrysler re-introduced the Dodge Challenger. It has strong design links to the 1970 model (i.e. featuring long lines not seen in vehicles and quad headlights).

In 2009 Chevrolet released the new Camaro which bears some resemblance to the 1969 model.

In 2010, Dodge re-introduced the Charger as a 2011 model. The Charger was first reborn in 2006 as a muscle car with its own unique stylings. However, the 2011 version of the Charger took many styling cues from the 1968-70 Charger, thus making the new Charger look more original than the 2006-2010 model.