Classic Muscle Cars

[Tman5293]

I've been watching these for the past half hour:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmlXzmFP184&feature=channel_video_title

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41IT6SD24_g&feature=endscreen&NR=1

 

Watching those drag races has reminded me of how much I love old muscle cars.

 

As I am too young to have ever owned one, I want to know what muscle cars, if any, did the older members of the forum own or still own. Pics would be awesome if you have any.

 

Another question that I have is, what is your favorite muscle car? Here's mine:

 

[milod]

Tman...

 

I can't claim a "muscle car" per se, because those were more or less designed to do the drag race type of thing.

 

But...

 

My first car was a 1955 Chrysler 2-door hardtop with a hemi. I wasn't fast in a drag with its automatic transmission, but the owners manual had a line I've never forgotten: "When driving at sustained speeds of 120 mph or above, reinflate tire pressures 2 to 3 pounds."

 

Yes, 120 was nothing the way it was geared. It could cruise all day just amblin' along at that speed.

 

Even faster was my 1961 Chrysler 2-door 383/325 horse fun car. The area of 140 was just gettin' going with plenty to the floor, and it was handling as well as at 70. The weakness to cars of that era was in the brakes, btw. OTOH, one could haul a lotta band equipment.

 

m

[bonzoboy]

A couple of muscle cars from the era that never get mentioned much are the American Motors Javelin AMX and the Gremlin X. MY brother in law had the AMX with the 390 engine and she was a demon of a car and one of my buddies had a Gremlin X with a 360 in it I believe.Anyway where the Gremlin was such a small light car dropping a V-8 into it made it just insane when you hit the gas.Where the Gremlin was kind of odd looking the AMX was just a work of auttomotive art at its best-a real thing of beauty.

[dem00n]

Love muscle cars, but ive been talking about cars so much lately i'm just going to step out of this one.

[milod]

Actually - and speaking from my own youth, anyway - I liked the little sports cars I usually had in tandem with the big fast bench-seated full-size cars of the era.

 

The full size cars had too much room for "safety" in the era pre-pill. So I tended to drive the sports jobbies on dates. Laugh if you will, but I wasn't ready for parenthood.

 

Frankly I consider most of today's cars also dangerous in very cold weather and blizzards since few have sufficient room to move around in if you're stuck a cupla days. That can easily result in frozen body parts that have to be removed later - if you're lucky enough to be concerned...

 

m

[charlie brown]

I had two, in my HS/early College years. A '68 Chevelle SS 396,

and a Camero. Both were FUN cars, but then gasoline was 30-40

cents a gallon, back then...unless you were on a farm, and bought

it in bulk. Then, it was about 25 cents/gallon +/- .

 

The most fun car, I had...was later...when I left "Muscle" cars,

and went for economy, but with some style, still. It was a 69

Opel GT..("Baby Corvette")! What a hoot, that little car was!

Not as fast, obviously, as the Chevelle or Camero, but just as

big a "Chick Magnet," maybe even more so, as it was a lot more

rare/unique, than either one of the other's. LOL

 

Edit/Added:(Stock Photo, but identical to my old Opel GT, including the color)

 

CB

[milod]

CB.... Yup on the Opel. Odd thing as I recall is that it had basically the same running gear and engine as the cadet - but was a lot more fun.

 

m

[Silenced Fred]

I have a Toyota Corolla with 108 horsepower, does that count?

[charlie brown]

CB.... Yup on the Opel. Odd thing as I recall is that it had basically the same running gear and engine as the cadet - but was a lot more fun.

 

m

 

Well, mine (being a '69) had the larger Manta engine. It was the only year

that had that larger engine, too. So, as Opel GT's go, it was a lot faster,

than most. Really a Fun little car!

 

CB

[milod]

CB - Awfully cute, too!

 

m

[charlie brown]

CB - Awfully cute, too!

 

m

 

Yeah, it was! Very odd way of turning over/on, the headlights, too.

Could be a real Problem, in the winter! LOL But...It's one car, I owned,

that I wish I still owned. "Just for the fun of it!"

 

CB

[dem00n]

I had two, in my HS/early College years. A '68 Chevelle SS 396,

and a Camero. Both were FUN cars, but then gasoline was 30-40

cents a gallon, back then...unless you were on a farm, and bought

it in bulk. Then, it was about 25 cents/gallon +/- .

 

The most fun car, I had...was later...when I left "Muscle" cars,

and went for economy, but with some style, still. It was a 69

Opel GT..("Baby Corvette")! What a hoot, that little car was!

Not as fast, obviously, as the Chevelle or Camero, but just as

big a "Chick Magnet," maybe even more so, as it was a lot more

rare/unique, than either one of the other's. LOL

 

CB

I dont know about you but i would consider that Opel to be a Muscle car...not to mention it's one of the best looking cars ever.

I'm jealous, truly!

[charlie brown]

I dont know about you but i would consider that Opel to be a Muscle car...not to mention it's one of the best looking cars ever.

I'm jealous, truly!

 

Well, no reason to be jealous. As I said, I just wish I still had it!

My somewhat wealthier cousin, had a Corvette, and people used to tease us, that

his car, was my car's "father!" (They were both Red, too!) LOL

 

Addition: A somewhat funny story, involving the Opel GT...I left it

parked, in front of the High School, one summer evening, while I got

into my girlfriend's car, to go "Riding around." Later, she started

to drop me off, back to where my car WAS parked! Someone/Someones had

moved it (we assumed they pulled it out of gear, and pushed it, a block

or so, away, behind the driver's ed building and then lifted it up, onto

a loading dock, right next door. I had no idea, where they had taken it, or even WHO had taken it. I was, understandably concerned, to say the least, and finally, some older friends of my cousin's, came by...asked me if something was wrong, and then bust out laughing. They took me back, to where they'd taken the car, and I was laughing so hard, because it was on the loading dock (with no way to get it up there, except to lift it,

with their own strength). They were Big guys, and each one, probably had 100 lbs, on me! But, they helped me (actually they lifted it back down), and gave me my keys back. We've laughed about that, for years, since! Things you do, in a small Kansas town, on the warm summer nights. LOL

 

CB

[L5Larry]

My teenage hotrod was a 1973 Trans Am with a 455 engine. It could pass up anything on the road except a gas station (OK, I know it's an old joke, but also kinda true). Black with white interior, had the Old German gold lettering and screaming chicken, Cragar mags, edelbrock intake, holley 780 carb, dual exhaust, racing cam, fender flares , front and rear spoilers, shaker hood, you get the picture. It was never my "everyday" car, it was just for fun.

 

I kept it into my first marriage just in case there was a son to pass it on to (nope). Kept it into my second marriage just because I couldn't bring myself to sell it....In fact it's still in the garage.

 

About 15 years ago I started to restore it back to showroom stock, but the project got derailed by real life (business failure, divorce). At this point it's needs pretty much a frame-up FULL restoration (except the engine which I run and maintain regularly). Every couple of weeks I fire it up and run it up to temperature, and at todays gas prices that costs about $10 or $15. Twice a year or so I cruise it around the neighborhood just to piss off the neighbors.

 

Got to put a new roof on the house this spring, so the old T/A will probably (finally) get sold to fund that project.

 

I did drive a 1980 L-48 Corvette 350 4-speed as my everyday car for 13 years, not to mention a couple Harleys, but that's another story altogether.

[milod]

Guys...

 

I think we're showing our age. <grin>

 

My fast cars have long been turned in for Jeeps. The Grand Cherokee will handle speeds over 110 mph, but... it just ain't the same.

 

<sigh>

 

For what it's worth, though, I think it was a nicer world overall, at least for us in our youth.

 

m

[Tman5293]

I had two, in my HS/early College years. A '68 Chevelle SS 396,

and a Camero. Both were FUN cars, but then gasoline was 30-40

cents a gallon, back then...unless you were on a farm, and bought

it in bulk. Then, it was about 25 cents/gallon +/- .

 

The most fun car, I had...was later...when I left "Muscle" cars,

and went for economy, but with some style, still. It was a 69

Opel GT..("Baby Corvette")! What a hoot, that little car was!

Not as fast, obviously, as the Chevelle or Camero, but just as

big a "Chick Magnet," maybe even more so, as it was a lot more

rare/unique, than either one of the other's. LOL

 

CB

 

68' Chevelle =

 

My teenage hotrod was a 1973 Trans Am with a 455 engine. It could pass up anything on the road except a gas station (OK, I know it's an old joke, but also kinda true). Black with white interior, had the Old German gold lettering and screaming chicken, Cragar mags, edelbrock intake, holley 780 carb, dual exhaust, racing cam, fender flares , front and rear spoilers, shaker hood, you get the picture. It was never my "everyday" car, it was just for fun.

 

I kept it into my first marriage just in case there was a son to pass it on to (nope). Kept it into my second marriage just because I couldn't bring myself to sell it....In fact it's still in the garage.

 

About 15 years ago I started to restore it back to showroom stock, but the project got derailed by real life (business failure, divorce). At this point it's needs pretty much a frame-up FULL restoration (except the engine which I run and maintain regularly). Every couple of weeks I fire it up and run it up to temperature, and at todays gas prices that costs about $10 or $15. Twice a year or so I cruise it around the neighborhood just to piss off the neighbors.

 

Got to put a new roof on the house this spring, so the old T/A will probably (finally) get sold to fund that project.

 

I did drive a 1980 L-48 Corvette 350 4-speed as my everyday car for 13 years, not to mention a couple Harleys, but that's another story altogether.

 

If you sell that I car I will hate you for all eternity.

 

Just sayin'

[retrosurfer1959]

Ive owned several including both a 68 Camaro convertable and 73 Mustang Mach One, that sadly was destroyed when I rolled it 3 1/2 times in 1978. I still own a 1951 Ford F1 that wouldn't usually be counted as a muscle car but under the hood sits the 351 Cleveland big block and the drivetrain that came out of the 73 mustang. so it's performance isn't too bad as long as you can afford the gas.

 

Ive owned something fast and dangerous that I could get really stupid with since i was 14. Most of them only had two wheels though. But now when I want to violate a large list if traffic laws I just use my Porsche

[daveinspain]

my very first car was a 1968 AMX, a sexier version of the Javelin by American Motors... had that car a few years and then bought a 1968 Corvette 327/350, loved that car. One rainy evening going into Boston the car spun out on an off ramp and I hit the cement wall. Was minor damage but as luck would have it a guy named John silver came driving by. He was the owner of a Corvette customizing shop. He had my Vette towed to his shop and got my insurance company to pay for a Maco Shark front end put on the car instead of repairing it stock... that car turned heads at every street corner, was a blast!!

[Bender 4 Life]

when the small airport just outside town went out of business, we used the runways for about 3 years.

police knew we raced there, but seldom ever showed up because it kept the drags off their streets.

 

i ran this on a mix of ethyl gas & coleman fuel with about 8 mothballs tossed in for good measure.

 

I also had a 67 1/2 Torino GT 390, and a 69 Dart GT 340x.....no pics survived of either...

[DiamondJig]

A 1967 Ford Fairlane GT with a 427(425 HP) V8 black body with a red convertible and red interior. Always wanted a 426 HEMI cuda or challenger

[DiamondJig]

A 1967 Ford Fairlane GT with a 427(425 HP) V8 black body with a red convertible and red interior. Always wanted a 426 HEMI cuda or challenger

[DiamondJig]

A 1967 Ford Fairlane GT with a 427(425 HP) V8 black body with a red convertible and red interior. Always wanted a 426 HEMI cuda or challenger

[dem00n]

I would love a 2010 Challenger.

Why? The 2011 model has better handling. Hell theres barely any difference between the two.

[Tman5293]

I would love a 2010 Challenger.

 

I would love to have a new Challenger as well. This one to be exact:

 

 

[Gaolee]

I didn't get a muscle car until I was 20 and have spent the last 30+ years blowing it up and rebuilding it. It's right now in the garage, semi-assembled. It's a 1968 Camaro convertible which, for me, is just a big, heavy, ponderous version of the British roadsters I learned to drive on. I never really got into the whole go straight really fast thing. Sliding around corners is way more fun. It is even more fun on asphalt on two wheels, but that's a whole 'nother story.