When it comes to raw, unfiltered power, muscle cars probably offer the best bang for your buck. Daily drivers are not nearly as powerful, and supercars are not even remotely as affordable. That’s one of the reasons why we love muscle cars so much. Their popularity stems from their affordability combined with the amount of fun that these cars deliver. The fun factor of muscle cars usually comes from a powerful V8 or a similar engine just eager to provide oodles of torque and horsepower. We know what makes a muscle car great, so do the manufacturers like GM, Ford, Dodge, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, etc. Now image taking the most prominent thing out of it. What if the manufacturers develop a muscle car, and then put a small little engine in it that can barely pull off power figures that resemble that of a minivan.
Even reading it in our mind, a muscle car with less power feels like it defeats the whole purpose of the existence of a muscle car. Without power, the whole car seems pointless. Nevertheless, manufacturers have made a fair share of such cars. Some are just victims of missed opportunities, while some have shocked us all because of the vast difference in performance with their counterparts. Whatever the reason, here are 10 of the worst among them.
10 2006 Chevy Impala SS
The 1990s Impalas have been pretty good thanks to a Corvette-derived V8 that made sure the drivers had plenty of power ready. But for the 2006 Impala SS, Chevy didn’t make quite the leap from past models that others made. It did 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds, which is not bad, but the way it was presented, that was slow.
-.jpeg?q=50&fit=crop&w=750&dpr=1.5)
The competition did much better than the Impala, and its FWD setup provided further hindrance for drivers to have some fun. Perhaps if GM changed the name to something else and sold it as a sedan, the story would’ve been different.
9 1971 Pontiac Ventura II
The 1971 Pontiac Ventura II (or just Ventura from 1972, or the Phoenix from 1978) was actually a rebadged Chevy Nova, more or less. The Ventura looked good and resembled a proper muscle car, and it came with a 5.7-liter V8, but it couldn’t get it to 60 mph fast enough, 12.2 seconds to be precise.
GM’s X-Body cars: Oldsmobile Omega, Buick Skylark, and this Ventura could’ve been great muscle cars, but they are closer to a passenger car instead. Still, they hold good value today as cool collectors’ cars.
8 1983 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
This is a classic example of a car that is as slow as it looks beautiful. Those of you who are old enough will recognize that the ‘83 Firebird Trans Am is the same car used as K.I.T.T. in Knight Rider (1982). In the show, the Firebird did wonders as the protagonist’s main car, but in real life, we wish the Firebird was nearly as futuristic, or fast.
Pontiac equipped this beauty with the abysmal ‘Iron Duke’ engine that didn’t even make 100 HP, more on that later. Thankfully, Pontiac rectified this by giving the Firebird an L69 HiPO 5.0-liter V8 that made 190 horses.
7 1978-79 Dodge Magnum
Yet another beautiful muscle car burdened by boring driving experience and slow engine. The Magnum might even look European to some of us, it looks that good. It also looks fast, so we would be deceived and disappointed when we see the car in action.
The Magnum weighs just under 4,000 lbs and the engine makes just 136 HP. No wonder it takes 13 long seconds to reach 60 mph. The first generation only lasted 2 years in the USA and Canada, and eventually found its way to Brazil, Mexico, Europe, and Australia.
6 1974 AMC Javelin
The AMC Javelin is a rear-wheel-drive front-engine two-door hardtop. It lasted two generations from 1968 to 1974. The last model of the Javelin won the Trans-Am race in 1976. So, it looks fast, and it won a racing series two years after its production ended.
Then what is it doing in this list, you might ask. That’s because the AMC Javelin has six engine variants, and four different transmission options, 3 or 4-speed manual or automatic depending on the engine option. And, it takes 11.2 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour.
5 1977 Dodge Charger Daytona
Even a Charger couldn’t help but find itself in such a list. The 1977 Charger Daytona was based on the Chrysler Cordoba. They share most parts with each other to a degree that we can say they are basically the same car.
Named after the Florida NASCAR event, the Daytona 500, this Charger was built to race in the popular series. And yet, we have to mention that the car is slow, as it accelerated from 0-60 mph in 13.5 seconds. It says less about the car itself and goes to show just how far we’ve come over the years.
4 1965 Chevrolet Impala SS Hardtop Coupe
Another Impala joins us here. The Impala is a successful car overall. Its history spans over 10 generations! The 1965 model, from third-generation, was offered in many different body styles viz. 2-Door Sedan, 2-Door Hardtop, and various other 4-Door models.
The hard-top coupe had great looks and appeal. But its 3.8-liter turbocharged Inline-6 engine produced only 142 HP. For a car that big, the engine wasn’t nearly powerful enough to make it feel ‘fast’. The 2020 Impala is much faster now, taking 6.2 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour compared to the 1965 model’s 12.4 seconds.
3 1975 Buick Gran Sport
The 1975 Gran Sport was a proper ‘70s muscle car. It had the correct looks, it handled well, and was luxurious. In fact, Buick was in a class of its own in terms of making the best and most luxurious performance cars.
But it looked like they took the term ‘performance’ loosely when making the Gran Sport. If a car weighs 2 tons and has a 3.7-Liter V6 that produces 175 HP, you can do the math already. Breaks my heart to see such awesome-looking cars underperform like this.
2 1982 Dodge Challenger
After the OG Challenger got canceled in 1974, Chrysler decided to bring it back in 1982. Everyone was pleased with that decision, but they were not ready for the fact that it was actually a Mitsubishi Galant in guise.
The Galant is a cool car, and we figured that the love child of Mitsubishi and Dodge would be great. Only, it wasn’t. Having only 100 horsepower and 137lb-ft of torque, the Challenger was so slow that many think it shouldn’t be allowed to use the Challenger nameplate.
1 1982 Chevrolet Camaro ‘Iron Duke’
If you know about this abomination, you already know exactly why the Camaro tops this list. The Camaro has had some of the most amazing cars in history, and part of it is due to the amazing engines used. Chevy wanted to develop a more efficient engine in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis.
The only problem is that the resulting ‘Iron Duke’ engine made 90 hp! Even for a hatchback or a minivan, that’s hardly acceptable, but for an aggressive-looking muscle car bearing the Camaro name, it is laughable. The final nails in the coffin were the top speed and 0-60 figures. Which are <100 mph and 20 seconds respectively.