| Everyone out there loves a muscle car. From | | | | manufacturers to create a "budget muscle |
| the roar of that huge engine to the flames on | | | | car", which carried names like the "Road |
| the hood, it is hard to resist looking when | | | | Runner". |
| you hear one rumbling down the road. But, | | | | |
| most people don't really know the history | | | | Though they were wildly popular, the muscle |
| behind the "muscle car", like who created the | | | | car didn't quite sell as many as their |
| first one and when were they introduced on | | | | manufacturers would have liked, but their |
| the market? | | | | rise in popularity has not been matched |
| | | | since. No other type of car in history has |
| Almost every historian and car buff credits | | | | been able to create such an air of |
| Pontiac with the first "muscle car" on the | | | | personality as the muscle car has. But, |
| market, which was a variation on the Tempest, | | | | toward the mid 1970's, these smaller, budget |
| the 1964 GTO. This first muscle car offered | | | | muscle cars once again got a boost. The |
| a huge V-8 engine that boasted 389 cubic | | | | competition in the auto industry was heating |
| inches and a floor-shift manual transmission | | | | up once more, and the muscle cars produced |
| instead of on the column. With a newer, | | | | during this time boasted some of the biggest |
| sleek look and trim inside and out that was | | | | engines ever thought of, like the 450 big |
| to die for, who could resist the car that was | | | | block. Although this created yet another |
| born that year. These cars sold like | | | | spike in sales and popularity, concerns about |
| hotcakes, even though Pontiac was in direct | | | | the safety of these cars gave way to more |
| violation of a General Motors policy on the | | | | protests and problems. With some of the |
| size of the engines that are placed in their | | | | other industries, like the insurance |
| vehicles. It didn't matter, the muscle car | | | | agencies, protesting the larger muscle cars |
| was born, and everyone rushed to get in on | | | | and refusing to insure them, the sales of |
| the action. | | | | these powerful icons plummeted. Then, |
| | | | another crushing blow to the muscle car, the |
| These muscle cars had great performance that | | | | oil problems that plagued the world in the |
| was fit for the street or the races, and | | | | late 70's and early 80's ended the muscle car |
| allowed them to completely dominate every | | | | altogether, and auto manufacturers removed |
| race that they were placed in. It wasn't | | | | them completely from the market. |
| long before other auto companies wanted a | | | | |
| piece of the action, and more styles of | | | | But, even today, the muscle car is still |
| muscle cars were born. While some of these | | | | sought after by car buffs, collectors, |
| other muscle cars bragged about bigger | | | | motor-heads, and rebels in general. They are |
| engines and more options, the youth market in | | | | sought out, fixed up, and rumbling down the |
| America didn't care. The muscle car was all | | | | road in every town across the United States, |
| the rage because they embodied rebellion, | | | | and even all over the world. No matter how |
| style, and "coolness". But, with every era | | | | old or young you are, the muscle car still |
| comes an end, and in the later 1960's there | | | | holds unquestionable bragging rights as well |
| was an uprising about the prices and weights | | | | as an instant pass to "coolness". |
| of these muscle cars, which prompted the auto | | | | |