the " First " muscle car

[John C.]

OK, so what's all the talk about the 64 GTO being the first muscle car. You hear it over and over again, even in some magazines. It's not that big of a deal to me, but I guess I'm missing something. There were 409's prior to 64 that certainly qualified as a " Muscle Car ". And what about the 375 Hp 396 in the 65 corvette. And my guess is ( without any actual documentation ), that the 365 Hp 327 in the 62 would eat the 64 GTO's lunch. Nothing against the GTO's, I think they are extremely cool cars and would like to own one some day, but I don't really understand all the hype about it being the first muscle car that " Started it all " as they say.
Just wondering.
JC

[Mike E.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

IMO the prerequisite of being a muscle car would be the car must be a midsized coupe (light) capable of carrying 4 passengers. Although when I looked it up Merriam-Webster shows the definition as any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving

No mention of Midsize so you would be right the full size Impala SS 409 could be considered a Muscle Car. Now that's not to say it was the first. Let's not forget the 1955-1965 Chrysler 300 "letter series". Chrysler claimed 300HP from a 331CI V8, not sure how honest that rating was but never the less that's what they claimed. By the late 1950's they were close to 400HP.

Mike

[Douglas L.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

I've always considered muscle cars mid sized cars with full sized engines(Olds 442, Pontiac GTO, etc.).

[Joe R.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

And what about the 375 Hp 396 in the 65 corvette.

Hi John,

I think you mean the 425 HP 396 in the 65 Corvette. I believe the 375 HP version of the 396 was installed in Camaros and Chevelles. By the way, I suspect "muscle car" is in the eye of the beholder. My definition would be an American car with two doors, a V8 and a good power to weight ratio.

Joe

[John C.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

I agree. So, which car was actually the first. I understand it is in the eye of the beholder, but I just thought it was a little strange that the 64 GTO somehow captured the title when there were clearly multiple cars that were, in my mind, were classified as muscle cars built before the 64. Just a fun topic to chat about while sipping a cup of Joe.
JC

[Joe R.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

Hi John,

Now that your original question has been answered (sort of), here's a list to ponder:

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/s/10-collectible-classic-muscle-cars-you-can-afford-003436577.html

I won't disclose my opinion of these cars until others weigh in.

Joe

[Michael J.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

It is an "in the eye of the beholder" type opinion. I would opine that the '50s Chrysler 300 letter cars would be the first, they had the new concept of a big displacement, powerful, multi-carb V8 engine in a passenger car. They were called "banker's hot rods" in the day.

[Tom B.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

What about the 49 Rocket 88 fastest thing on the street in its time.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

I think it started with the Chevy 409 was the first one. The car was made for drag racing. Ford followed in 631/2 with the 427/425 which I bought new & now have a Conv. & Mopar with there BB engines & a 4-speed. The mid size cars with the bigger engines was started by the ford Mustang GTO's ETC & were known as pony cars after the mustang.

[Jerry K.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

I think my brothers 1964 Buick Skylark convertible was pretty hot, bucket seats, 250 H.P., Hurst 4 speed from the factory in Flint Mi. ......Dusted many Plymouth and Dodge's while he (brother) was in basic training. He asked for me to change oil and keep it up so I took it out to give it some exercise every chance I got. The 14 in. brakes would not stop after a few runs down Saginaw St....... memories, "the older we get the better we were".

[Alan S.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

Hi Joe,
Although there are a couple of interesting cars on that list, none of them would be on my list of muscle cars.
Regards,
Alan

[David R.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

Well, let's see . . . if taking a mid-sized coupe and shoving the biggest engine your division makes into it in an attempt to provide increased performance in a smaller package defines a muscle car . . . one of the earliest would have been the 1936 Buick Century, and all the Centuries that followed it. Using the smaller Special-sized chassis and the largest Roadmaster-sized straight-eight engine resulted in a true 100-mph car (hence the name).

[Joe R.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

Hi Alan,

Yes, I agree with you!!! By the way, Wikipedia has some decent info on muscle cars here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_car

Joe

[Kenneth B.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

Hi Alan,

Yes, I agree with you!!! By the way, Wikipedia has some decent info on muscle cars here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_car

Joe

That's pretty much what I said about muscle & pony cars. Didn't think about the 50'S factory NASCAR built cars. I still say the term muscle car started in the 60's when GM,Ford & MOPAR started to build BB motors for street & drag strip racing. We paid a 1/3 of the base price for a high performance engine, 4-speed & AM radio. My new 65 GTO conv. had a base price of 1900.00 & stickered over 3000.00 buy the time I added all the go fast stuff & radio. I still have the shipper for it.

[William F.]

Re: the " First " muscle car

Think we're confusing which were some of the earliest high performance cars with the TERM 'muscle car". First time I saw this term was in a Time magazine article, if you can believe that, in the mid 60's referring to mid size cars with big car engines. So, I'd say the first "muscle car" by definition was the '64 GTO.