For decades, the United States has been pumping out high-powered straight-line machines to win at little but drag races and NASCAR. Many dreams of harnessing the horses under the long hoods of the classic Mustangs and Firebirds but the technology was never there... until recently.
Possibly the best era to take a muscle car from is 1970. They were uncapping their horsepower and unaware of the impending oil crisis, and still many are available as barn finds for less than $500. Designs were loosening up and turning... started to come to mind... a little.
Well, with fabricating body parts and ordering LS engines to your own house now commonplace, a car can look however you want. Autocross and tighter performance are available to everyone for eBay parts, and the result... these: cars that are stanced-out, have tightened suspension, and are lowered on bags for maximum showability and handling. Finally, the untamed American horses are corralled and for the first time in history, there are muscle cars that can turn a corner!
9 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
While GM was firing off Pontiacs every year, the 1970's models made a cool 200 horsepower with its V8, and the body style was always wilder than the last. This particular one has a widebody hand-crafted by Reily Stair to make it competition-ready and actually increase downforce.
It holds a swapped-out 6.5-liter V8 LSX that runs the same T101A 4-speed Gearbox that was used in NASCAR. All that said, the clean and minimal look sometimes sports hood that covers up the engine that produces over 700 horsepower.
8 Dodge Charger Daytona
The original Dodge Dayton or the original; Plymouth Superbird was made solely to win NASCAR championships. The iconic, massively tall wing was designed to reach above the turbulent airstreams for some clean and constant downforce when drafting. Now, with modern fabrication technology they can make beauties like this.
In this case, there is a Dodge Viper V10 stuffed in the hood, and while it is just a render, for now, it's actually a concept created by Karan Adivi that has inspired an anonymous builder in the early stages of production in Montana, though we couldn't get more info than that at the time.
7 LT1 Corvette Stingray
Known famously for being the original lunar astronauts' car, this particular one (aged slightly) went in the direction of a military commander look named "Rambo" by the creator, Garrett Randall. The mean dark green machine makes 450 horsepower with its new LS6. Though originally a 4-speed, this one now has a 6-speed. Instead of faring the fenders first, they actually bought the wheels and then fitted the wider fender to the tires!
You can watch the thing in action here on YouTube, but basically, Garrett got into cars from his dad, starting auto-crossing old cars, heard the Corvette handles better, then made the switch to this 1970 Stingray! He reached out to a shop to help fix the old C3 and ended up just swapping for the half-built C3 the shopowner had on hand.
6 Dodge Charger R/T
This Dodge Charger B-Body came out circa 1968 but lived in production with no change until '72 so we're counting it! This particular one is a rare bird indeed because, to slam it like this, you literally have to replace the sub-frame with that of a Crown Vic.
It's not complete yet, but so far it sits on bags and the engine plan is a V8 Hemi which could be between 300 and 600 horsepower. Just imagine! A General-Lee-Esque 70's muscle car with all the raw horsepower harnessed into a Charger that can...actually turn?
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4 Ford F-150
While not necessarily a muscle car, when a truck gets 914 horsepower muscleheads tend to welcome it into the fold. Plus, the heart of this one is a muscle car. You may recognize the livery of Long Beach's own Ken Block. The Hoonigans are legends for their inane builds that manage to be clean despite the overcrowded stickers, both inside and outside.
This F-150 started life as just the body of a 1977 truck with, not a V8, but a Ford GT V6 that began with 647 horsepower. It was originally rear-wheel drive but when you rebuild a truck to this level, of course, you may as well give it all-wheel drive. The widebody isn't just for looks, but to cover the stanced-out wheels. In fact, the insides are lined with panels that direct the smoke outward for maximum cinematic effect!
3 Ford Mustang GT
Why is army green such a common widebody color? Partially because it speaks to American heritage, but also because it's very cheap. The builder of this particular Mustang, Chris Ashton, spared no expense to get the cleanest car possible... so we suspect the green is to compliment the aggressive looks!
And aggressive it truly is, with 350 horsepower to its name! It has an LS3 inserted and surprisingly the owner, Chris, doesn't even work in the auto industry. True to form, this one has a roll cage and a stripped interior for real-life racing.
2 Chevrolet Camaro RS
What happens when you get the green light to build whatever car you want as a "marketing product" slash "write-off"? Well, the Roadster Shop in Illinois completely rebuilt and modernized this 1970's Camaro from the ground up, and WOW!
A sexy interior wasn't enough for these guys. New paint? Widebody? Cool, fitting even, but they also had to jam the biggest LSX they could fit so that it was ACTUALLY fast! The custom Texas Speed LSX 454 V8 blesses it with 750 horsepower. If you didn't know any better you'd wonder if Chevrolet was releasing some special-edition Camaro!
1 Ford Escort
While not necessarily a muscle car, this little machine gets 225 horsepower in its tiny body, and it looks super clean! The sky blue is hard to miss, and this body is fully custom! To make it they had to totally replace the fenders with fabricated parts made to fit the small tires.
When it revs up it sounds great, and it doesn't just look cute. The little thing is fitted for racing and has even taken to the drag strip AND track, with a roll cage and minimally equipped interior.