The History Of Muscle Cars

The muscle car’s history has a controversial beginning; the opinions are varied as to when the first muscle cars actually showed up on the commercial car scene. If the conventional wisdom of the world has a bearing on the history of the street pounding monsters, then the so-called muscle car era was reported to have begun in 1964 with the introduction of the Pontiac GTO. This vehicle was a real sleeper; the midsize Tempest was the chosen medium for the transformation from a mundane family sedan to a muscle car monster.

The Tempest’s GTO option offered a 389 cubic inch mill, a three-speed transmission with a Hurst Shifter, dual exhausts, unique suspension and handling embellishments, a tachometer, unusual redline tires, dual hood scoops and special GTO badges. The 1964 GTO was a quick factory production car that officially turned the quarter mile at 99 mph in 14.8 seconds.

On the other hand, some auto aficionados would argue that the first muscle car was built way back in 1949 when Oldsmobile introduced the Rocket 88. What set the Rocket 88 apart from other production autos of the day was the fact that it had the engine from the larger model Olds 98 installed in it. That is the heart of a muscle car; a larger engine installed in a smaller production car. The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was an extremely powerful automobile for its day, which is evident because it was chosen as the pace car for the 33rd running of the legendary Indy 500 race. Those are two of the foremost schools of thought on the history of the muscle car, although other opinions exist as well.