The exact categorization of muscle cars and pony cars may keep gearheads happily arguing until the late hours of the night but their passion stems from a love of the classic Detroit form. Cars like the Mustang, Camaro, GTO, and Charger helped bring this country back to the forefront of automobile manufacturing—at least, until an Oil Crisis and improving imports brought everyone back down to Earth.

But the flood of amazing muscle cars on the market also left plenty of automobile aficionados in the unenviable position of knowing that anywhere they went, there were likely going to be two other dudes with the exact same make, model, and spec sitting there hogging all the glory. Before the internet brought backyard modding to the masses, major manufacturers were able to swoop in and satisfy the cravings of car buyers who wanted to feel unique.

Just about every muscle car, classic or modern, is available in a wide range of trims. And products like today's Mustang Shelby GT500 or Dodge Challenger Hellcat continue the long tradition of boosting performance well above base-model cars using parts in combination straight from the factory.

But unfortunately, it's also a fact that Detroit has a long history of producing some limited-production vehicles—especially of their vaunted muscle cars—that leave fans simply puzzled. Keep scrolling for 20 of the strangest special-edition muscle cars ever to hit the streets.

15 Pontiac GTO Judge

Of all the special editions of muscle cars, the Pontiac GTO Judge might just be the strangest. It was actually based on a comedy routine called "He Come de Judge" from the classic TV show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, which was hosted by Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and ran from 1968 to 1973. The skit was performed in the first season by Pigmeat Markham and then later by Sammy Davis Jr. But as funny as it may have been, the car was more peculiar and was originally intended to be a low-cost version of the GTO. Originally offered only in Carousel Red, more colors were added later to help bring in buyers.

14 1978 Ford Mustang II King Cobra

The Ford Mustang has had many ups and downs along its illustrious production run and plenty of those rises and falls have come in the form of special editions. One clear nadir was the 1978 Mustang King Cobra, an iteration of the second-generation 'Stang that goes down as one of Detroit's saddest attempts at creating a muscle car. Despite having an impressive name, the only thing impressive about the King Cobra was its body kit and a four-speed manual. If that doesn't sound particularly impressive, consider the fact that it received no mechanical upgrades to improve on its base-spec, 140-horsepower 5.0-liter V8.

13 1970 Dodge Super Bee

The Dodge Super Bee barely classifies as a muscle car because of its spec but there's no doubt it's a limited-edition. Dodge has a history of producing odd variants of their cars that are really just stylistic in nature—they do it almost as often as they crank out seriously legit performers (even street-sport trucks like the SRT-10). The Super Bee might sound cool but it's name reveals the truth: it was derived from Chrysler's B-body mid-sized offerings and was truly just an even cheaper Dodge Coronet. Only four were ever made and even though their paint job stands out, they're not about to beat anybody off the line.

12 Ford Mustang Ski Country Edition

The model in the picture above is a miniature version of one of the strangest special editions ever built. Offered by 10 Denver-area Ford dealers, the Mustang Ski Country Special was among four models to receive the package (the other three being the Fairlane, Galaxie, and Country Sedan). The only thing that makes sense about the Mustang Ski Country Special is that, at the very least, it wasn't offered in convertible form. The rest of the package—unique color combos, snow tires, ski racks, and an equa-lock rear axle—could have done very little to help a front-engined, rear-wheel drive Mustang handle any real snowy terrain.

11 1969 Chevrolet Corvette ZL-1 427

Unlike most of the peculiar special-edition muscle cars on this list, the majority of which are baffling because they don't actually offer any performance advantages, this limited-production Corvette model begs a different question: why didn't Chevrolet make more of them? The 1969 C3 was built from the factory in ZL-1 trim with an all-aluminum, 427ci V8 under its long hood. Finally, Chevy had done the exterior styling of the C3 justice and the engine reportedly could put out up to 750 horsepower. But for some reason, only three examples ever left the factory in this spec. Backyard mechanics would later try to replicate this awesome Corvette because of how potent it truly was.

10 1968 Chevrolet El Camino SS

The El Camino stands at the top of the heap when it comes to sporty car-truck combinations. Even though Ford's Ranchero actually beat the Chevy to the market, the El Camino did the job right and has lasted as a legend to this day. The 1968 model year may have been peak El Camino, when Chevy offered the "cruck" with an enhanced L78 big-block displacing 6.5 liters. The power was routed to the rear wheels through a Muncie M22 "Rock Crusher" manual—but as with any pickup, the tail end had no chance of keeping enough weight on the rear wheels to prevent wheelspin, forcing owners to weight their vehicles down with sandbags, which makes the setup highly questionable.

9 1981 Mercury Capri RS Turbo

If this car looks familiar, that's because it's basically the strange sibling of the Fox Body Ford Mustang. Mercury was still a market presence in the 1980s (albeit one that was slowly on its way out even then) and Ford decided to rebadge the Fox Body as a Mercury Capri. The Mustang in all its generations has been known to have plenty of special editions in its history—some good and some bad—but there's not much to love about the Mercury Capri RS Turbo other than its hood scoop and louvered rear slats. While Ford and RS usually go together well, in this case, a 2.3-liter turbo-four under the hood was only creating 117 horsepower and 135 lb-ft of torque.

8 1989 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Turbo

Normally, a third-gen Pontiac Firebird Trans Am might not pique the interest of many car nuts. Despite the attractive exterior, anyone who knows anything knows that Pontiac's third iteration of the Firebird packed very little heat, epitomized by a startling disappointing turbocharged Trans Am that bolted a snail onto a 4.9-liter V8 to produce only 210 horsepower. But there was one sneaky model year, 1989, when the 20th Anniversary Edition sourced the powerplant from a Buick Grand National and cranked 250 horses out of the turbocharged 3.8-liter V6. Only 1,555 cars left the factory in this trim, in a decision by GM that still baffles everyone to this day.

7 1984 Mercury Cougar XR7

6 Plymouth Volare Road Runner

The main reason Plymouth's Road Runner is a vaunted name in automotive history is because of the epic Superbird, a homologation special with a distinctive nose and tail designed to improve aerodynamics at the top speeds required for NASCAR racing in the late-1960s and early-1970s. Almost the exact opposite of the Road Runner Superbird, however, is the Plymouth Volare Road Runner, which enjoyed a modest production run from 1976 to 1980. Clearly another attempt to capitalize on name-brand recognition, the Volare Road Runner packed a weak 316ci V8 that only put out 160 horses, even if it did sport a fun body kit complete with rear louvers, a spoiler, a graphics package, and upgraded wheels.

5 Chevrolet Citation X-11

The Chevrolet Citation X-11 might sound like its borrowed a codename from a test-flight fighter jet—but nothing could be further from the truth. Chevrolet tried to turn the Citation into a muscle car with the X-11 package, to no avail. No one was fooled by the graphics on the side or the bulged hood because under the skin, the only thing the Citation had to offer was a 2.8-liter V6 that maxed out at 135 horsepower being sent to the front wheels only. The 1981 X-11 could meander its way to 60 miles per hour in 8.5 seconds and somehow, the 1982-84 versions managed to do even worse, clocking in at 9.2 seconds.

4 Ford Mustang McLaren M81

McLaren has become a major name in the automotive world thanks to the success of Bruce McLaren both as a competition driver and with the company that he founded. But there's another McLaren out there and the similar name seems like it must be an attempt to capitalize on the supercar manufacturer's fame—without delivering nearly the same kind of product. Case in point is the notorious Ford Mustang McLaren M81, which may look like a perfect 1980s nostalgia piece but is, in fact, pure 1980s disappointment. It sure seems like a 2.3-liter turbo-four cranking out 190 horsepower wouldn't draw in buyers. And yet this puppy was able to fetch an asking price of around $25,000 in its day—about three times the cost of a base Fox Body Mustang.

3 1979 Ford Mustang Cobra

In yet another misguided attempt at creating a special edition of the Mustang, Ford released the 1979 Cobra package for their Fox Body (third-gen) 'Stang. The word "Cobra" might bring to mind legends like Carroll Shelby and his AC-bodied sports cars but the 1979 Mustang was in no way similar to the cars created by the chicken farmer from Texas. Instead of creating another world-beating sports car, Ford unveiled a Cobra that had a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder engine that cranked out only 140 horsepower. Even in the original Cobra's lightweight body, that power figure would have seemed paltry to just about anyone.

2 Ford Mustang Sprint

The Ford Mustang Sprit is actually a set of two different special editions meant to commemorate the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Conceived by Edsel Ford II in a bid to help the second-gen Mustang's slumping sales, the Sprint came in either Package A or Package B form. Both wore the iconic red-white-and-blue paint and Package A included USA graphics, vinyl bucket seats, and white sidewall bias-belted tires. There were no true performance upgrades, belying the name 'Sprint' that the car bore. Package B, at the very least, added competition suspension into the mix but both special editions were still based upon the sad sack that was the Mustang II.

1 Ford Taurus SHO

Somewhere in the magical realm that is the internet, the Ford Taurus SHO of 1989 to 1991 has acquired a cult-like following that believes it to be a wonderful car. But one glance at the stat sheet reveals that this special-edition sedan shouldn't even belong in the same conversation as some of the other sad muscle cars on this list. It didn't even come with a V8, people! SHO might stand for Super High Output but that Yamaha-built V6 only put out 220 horsepower in a car that tipped the scales at 3,285 pounds—without a full family of five weighing down the rear end (where it's power, specifically, didn't go).

Sources: Ed's Swap Meet, CJ Pony Parts, and Mustang 360.