Muscle cars are like legendary leviathans of yore. Only, we do get to see them now and then, even if most if not all of today’s cars can outpower and outperform them in all the ways there are. But for the enthusiasts of muscle and classic cars, numbers do not matter. What matters is the magic these beasts have which is why we would love to see some of these muscle cars back on the market.
Don’t get us wrong. A Dodge Challenger Hellcat is the perfect car to paint the town red in. It's powerful, aggressive and so masculine, it can give many cars and their fans a massive inferiority complex.
But some classic muscle cars are simply so legendary that remain highly vaunted and some are also worth a fortune. They're so utterly cool, that if given a choice, we’d choose any of them over a brand new Dodge Challenger Hellcat. Not that anyone is actually giving us those kinds of choices in life.
Still, a man can dream, right? So here go 10 classic muscle cars we’d love to drive, even if it's over a new Dodge Challenger Hellcat.
10 1969 COPO Camaro: No Plain Jane
It's funny, but Chevy’s COPO (Central Office Production Order) was designed to be the opposite of what it was used for: to make those fire-breathing COPO Camaros. COPO was designed for fleet sales to better be able to handle large orders for cop cars or taxi cabs with all the right specs in place.
Enterprising Chevy dealers like Don Yenko managed to use it to order mammoth Camaros that came with 425-horsepower V8 engines taken from the Corvette. Another option delivered more than 550 horses, although all COPO Camaros came as plain as the normal ones.
9 1969½ Dodge Super Bee A12: The Cheaper HEMI
When the Plymouth Roadrunner came out, Dodge made the Super Bee in parallel competition. At the time, it came with two engine options, a 6.2-liter V8 or a 7.0-liter Hemi. Midday in 1969, Dodge made a 7.2-liter Hemi that made 390 horses and 490 ft-lb torque.
The same as the Plymouth Superbird, only, this was street-legal and came cheaper. The A12 also more a matte-black fiberglass hood that wore a massive air scoop. Driving this is akin to stop an aircraft from taking off at full thrust. It’s a grapple!
8 1966 Plymouth Barracuda: Simplicity Rocks
The Hemi ‘Cuda was cool, yes, but honestly, even the non-Hemi Barracuda was stellar, able to go from 0-60 mph in less than 10 seconds. And we are talking 1966 people! The Barracuda also looked gorgeous, with that massive rear pane making it look futuristic but retro.
The good thing about this classic is that it isn’t rare and comes rather cheap. And yet have one in your garage and you may not like to drive anything else even though all it had was a 235 horsepower V8. Once a Barracuda has you, it won’t let you go.
7 1968 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500: Made To Decimate
For the people who loved a Mustang for its simplicity, it’s the 1965 and 1966 GT 350s that come the most valued because they are cooler streetcars rather than track-perfect ones, although none of them ever shied from a race.
But the 1968 GT500 came super-powered with a 7.0-liter V8 that jetted 360 horses and 420 ft-lb torque and were track monsters designed to decimate the competition and crush opposing spirits. More fun under the hood and far more power to the driver. Plus the delectable combination of Shelby and Mustang.
6 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS: Fastest Chevy Ever
In the late ‘60s, GM loosened up a bit and introduced engines that exceeded 6.5-liters in displacement. Oldsmobile put in a 7.4-liter V8 in the 442 and Chevy added in a 7.4-liter V8 as well, the LS6, into the Chevelle SS.
A very conservative estimate of the Chevelle’s power is 450 horses and 500 ft-lb torque. Experts say the unofficial and closer horsepower figures were 500, and it could go 0-60 mph in 5.4 seconds and that too, on the tires back then. At the time, the Chevelle SS overtook the Corvette in output numbers.
5 1970 Oldsmobile 442: Kickass Performance
Coming back to GM’s allowance of a big and badass engine, before the Chevelle put in the LS6, Oldsmobile put in its version of the 7.4-liter (455 ci) V8 into the car it called the 442. At heart, the 442 was a Cutlass, only it carried a bigger engine.
Further fine-tuned with a performance engine and exhaust parts, the Oldsmobile 442 jetted 360 horses and 500 ft-lb torque, sprinting 0-60 mph in less than 6 seconds. Very quick for any car and quickest ever for any Olds.
4 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429: A Road Beast
The Ford Mustang Boss 429 was originally made for NASCAR, although it did not race on the haloed tracks, with that 7.0-liter V8 making 375 horsepower. Initially, the motor did not fit into the car, so Ford contacted Kar Kraft.
They relocated the shock towers and widened the front to fit the engine in. To make more space, the battery was sent to the rear and more componentry was changed to finally give birth to the Mustang 429. Current values stand at $200,000 or thereabout.
3 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am: Faster Than The Vette
Despite the malaise era that brought muscle cars to its knees, the late ‘70s saw an uprising of the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, which seemed to be gaining popularity ever since its onscreen appearance in the movie, Smokey And The Bandit.
By 1978, horsepower went from 200 to 220, which may seem very marginal today but at the time of the catalytic convertor-strangled engines, it was very exciting indeed. A new sporty package called the WS6 also added a lot of charm to the same. For 1978, the Trans Am was actually faster than the Corvette…
2 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona: Made To Rule
The Dodge Daytona, along with its mighty-powered sibling, the Plymouth Superbird, was meant to take down any competition at NASCAR, at the superspeedways. To make it the best aerodynamic thing since airplanes, Dodge took the Daytona to the wind tunnel.
To speed it up, a nearly two-foot-high rear wing was added to the car along with a magnificently sloping nose. The results were fabulous, with Daytona becoming the first NASCAR racer to break the 200mph barrier. Later, it got banned, because it was way too fast!
1 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge: The Beginning Of It All
The Pontiac GTO was the first of the muscle car breed, so basically, this is the car that started it all. And what a magnificent war it was, with muscle car after muscle car vying for the top spot. By 1968, the GTO was facing stiff competition.
So John DeLorean (of the DeLorean DMC fame) built the GTO up with a 360-horsepower Ram Air III engine, or an optional 370-horsepower Ram Air IV, and called it the GTO Judge. Five of the latter were made into convertibles and these remain the rarest of all GTO Judges.
Sources: Hemmings, TheDrive