Remembering The American Muscle Car

Thursday February 23, 2006 in: Import Car Lifestyle Tag(s):

muscle car A LOT has been said about "American Muscle" cars and how they stack up against the best that Europe and Asia has to offer.

A better subject to be sure than the latest Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes monkey crap.

And online discussion on the issue, like a good 500 horse-powered engine, shows no signs of slowing down. Though the din of debate among gearheads is sometimes drowned out by the flood of cheap imports that has consumers choosing among brand new and used automobiles.

And even in an era of global warming where environmentalists rage against lax smoke emission controls, the age of "American Muscle" cars is still looked on with great fondness by car enthusiasts in both the US and abroad.

And why not, for American Muscle cars caught the American youth by the seat of his pants at the crossroads of social and political upheaval in the 60s through the disco era of the 70s.

chevymotor American Muscle cars usually consist of a large, powerful V8 engine with special trim used in street competitions and drag racing-very much like "The Fast And The Furious" except that it's 100 PERCENT American cars and not Japanese or other foreign shit.

Though Chrysler made cars with V8 engines it was the 1964 Pontiac GTO that shifted the era of American Muscle cars into high gear. Based on the pedestrian Pontiac Tempest, the GTO had a floor-shifted transmission with shift linkage and special trim.

While the vehicle violated the General Motors policy on limiting car displacement at 330 cu.in. (5.4 L) it proved popular among the youth market and spawned a number of imitations from competitors.

It helped create the so-called American car culture with its appeal lying mainly on its size, speed, design and affordability. The latter quality however was compromised in the wake of competition which had the manufacturers build bigger, costlier engines.

chevy camaro What eventually "deflated" the American Muscle Car craze was the growing automotive safety lobby led by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, that questioned the braking capacity of such powerful vehicles and that damn Middle East oil embargo.

And so while hiphop brathas and hot chicks drool over Vin Diesel's import hot rod car enthusiasts wisffully commune with each other over the Web or gather round in groups to talk of a simpler, more innocent time when American cars ruled the road.

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