Muscle car....?????

[bluefury]

I'm one of the "old school" guys, (geeser now), who was driving these cars back in the day.... when they were new.

I always refered to the factory high performance cars as "supercars". That was the name seen in the period magazines, ad's and in the showrooms. I am curious as to when the term "musclecar" was coined..........

Who remembers the first time you heard our cars refered to as musclecars....????

Will.

 

[detmatt1]

Good question, I'm interested.

 

[72Satellite440]

Webster defines "p joke...
Muscle car-(American made) Mid to Full size body with a V8

Then the argument will start with whats the first muscle car-...
some say it was the 65 GTO
-1955 Chrysler 300 had a Hemi
-Cadillac produced the first American V8 engine, the 1914 L-Head...

 

[sawdoff]

Heres my take...I think it was the 63 gto credited with the start. Mid size cars with performance v8s. In 1970 HP started dropping. By 73 the gas crunch and government regulations had killed them. I also took it that this era was the only muscle cars. Another idea is that it was the "top" cars only. ie my 70 satellite is not a muscle car but the roadrunner was. my 67 chevelle malibu-no... a 442 yes. I look at the ones that were stripped down with big cubes compared to those the average housewife drove. I keep these things in mind as respect for a time when cars were great. I hate it when i see some kid saying he has an 84 mustang muscle car. I got my license in 1988 and drove a 71 cutlass supreme. I had to race more 88 mustang gts than i can count. I bought and worked on mine and their mommy and daddy paid for theirs.

 

[YY1]

First time I saw it was about 1982/83 on Musclecar Review mag.

Thought it sounded odd. Think MCR was a fairly young mag at the time.

 

[Ron 73]

heres my take...i think it was the 63 gto credited with the start. Mid size cars with performance v8s. In 1970 hp started dropping. By 73 the gas crunch and government regulations had killed them. I also took it that this era was the only muscle cars. Another idea is that it was the "top" cars only. Ie my 70 satellite is not a muscle car but the roadrunner was. My 67 chevelle malibu-no... A 442 yes. I look at the ones that were stripped down with big cubes compared to those the average housewife drove. I keep these things in mind as respect for a time when cars were great. I hate it when i see some kid saying he has an 84 mustang muscle car. I got my license in 1988 and drove a 71 cutlass supreme. I had to race more 88 mustang gts than i can count. I bought and worked on mine and their mommy and daddy paid for theirs.

63 gto? Was that a 63 and a half thing.

 

[1badgtx]

1964 was the first year for gto...This is when the muscle car wars auctually started...Plymouth came out with the GTX compete with the goat...Correct me if i am wrong but 67 was the last year for the Belvedere badging in the plymouth line also..
Petty Blue 67 GTX

 

[Ron 73]

1964 was the first year for gto...This is when the muscle car wars auctually started...Plymouth came out with the GTX compete with the goat...Correct me if i am wrong but 67 was the last year for the Belvedere badging in the plymouth line also..
Petty Blue 67 GTX

This, if you can know they didn't make a mistake will help you. If I read it right it was 68 but i thought it to be 67. Ive never owned one. Link-below Ron.

I to thought the GTO was first made in 64 but ive heard of the cars that are a year, say like 64 and start producing them 6 months or so prior. I think they made a 63 1/2 Ford but it was dated as a 64, correct me if im wrong Thanks..

http://www.allpar.com/history/plymouth/plymouths-1968.html

 

[sawdoff]

I always thought 64 then have found a few obscure remarks about 63. I guess actual production is accepted as 64. The earliest press release i found was oct 63. I have seen 1970s listed as belvederes specifically station wagons. If my memory serves, about a yr ago i almost bid on a 70 belvedere out west on ebay

 

[Coronet 500]

Great debate, some might say '49 Olds Rocket 88. I found Motor Trend published a "muscle car" list in 1965. The earliest on thier list was 62-65 Dodge Dart 413/426 MaxWedge/426 Hemi, Plymouth Fury same engines.

 

[Ron 73]

Great debate, some might say '49 Olds Rocket 88. I found Motor Trend published a "muscle car" list in 1965. The earliest on thier list was 62-65 Dodge Dart 413/426 MaxWedge/426 Hemi, Plymouth Fury same engines.

Ill take MOPAR as first! sounds good to me!

 

[6bblbird]

Hi all! I just found and joined this site today.I am a total Moparaholic.
I have seen so many wars start over the muscle car definition. I am one that believes that the original muscle car era began in 1964 with the GTO.

As far as when the term "muscle car" originated. I don't know! I do remember a couple of speed shops on Long Island that were in business in the early '70s called Muscle Cars. They were certainly using that name as early as 1971.

 

[1badgtx]

When i meant belvedere badging i mean the last year that the car had a badge on the fender that said belvedere...I,m told that the 68 and up had belvedere stamped on the radiator core support..I ,ve seen an a12,69 roadrunner and a 70 gtx yet they did not have the stamp on the support..Has anyone seen this stamp that says belvedere?
Petty blue 67 gtx

 

[Meep-Meep]

In the 80's I never used the term "muscle car" and I don't recall any of my buddies using it either. I think it got popular right about the time when the GM and Ford guys figured out MoPars were cool. Then prices pretty much went nuts because they realized there wasn't a factory high perf MoPar on every corner.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

Good debate...I thought that the GTO evolved from the Lemans or tempest. I had a friend in the lated 70's with a 1962 or 1963 lemans with a 326 4speed. The late 50's did show the way of the muscle car. Chrysler's 1955 C-300 Hemi. The chevy belair 1955/57 283. The movies/NASCAR highlighted performance vehicles. GM/GTO use of advertising. Who had the best message? didn't always equal the best machine...

 

[Pops1967GTX]

Just wanted to add...We didn't call them muscle cars in the 70's..We used the term street machines....

 

[bluefury]

I always refered to the factory high performance cars as "supercars". That was the name seen in the period magazines, ad's and in the showrooms. I am curious as to when the term "musclecar" was coined..........

Who remembers the first time you heard our cars refered to as musclecars....????

Will.

Some good comments but some of you have gotten off track a bit.... The question is about the term Supercar evolving into the term Musclecar. Every one has an opinion about what car was first..... but all the manufacturers who produced showroom HP cars used the term Supercars in the 60's-70's as I remember. I think musclecars as a description is more of an 80's era term.

Street machines was a commonly heard term back in the day also... but refered more to the hot rods and custom machines.

I remember large banners in the windows of the Plymouth/Chrysler dealers in the Detroit area anouncing the new "Supercars" of the Rapid transit system and Scat pack.

This is fun...!!!!

 

[Satellite65]

Hi all! I just found and joined this site today.I am a total Moparaholic.
I have seen so many wars start over the muscle car definition. I am one that believes that the original muscle car era began in 1964 with the GTO.

As far as when the term "muscle car" originated. I don't know! I do remember a couple of speed shops on Long Island that were in business in the early '70s called Muscle Cars. They were certainly using that name as early as 1971.

I remember that place, it was on Sunrise Highway in Wantagh. I was kinda young but IIRC it was more of a 'boutique', dress-up stuff sort of store. Not really much of a speed shop.

We still have a couple of decent shops left here on Long Island.

No track to race on

 

[68sportsatelliteragtop]

Last Year Belvedere

The last Belvederes were in 1970.Produced from 1951 the 67 model was available with the "Silver Special" package, to commemerate the 25th anniversary. I recall the term "Muscle Car" being thrown around in the early 80's.

 

[Coronet 500]

Found this.
Our preference is to follow contemporary usage. The term "muscle car," coined by Road Test magazine in 1967, was not widely used in the period when these cars were new -- it only really caught on years after most of the original examples were extinct. (Road Test was not a fan of these cars, incidentally, and the term was not intended as a compliment.) From the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies, what we now think of as muscle cars were more commonly called "Supercars," often (though not always) with a capital S.