"It's designed for customers who prefer going fast but don't like paying for a lot of irrelevant extras," claimed Motor Trend magazine, of Plymouth's 1968 Roadrunner. "It's the simplest, most brazenly pure, non-compromising budget supercar in history." It's as good a description of a muscle car as any: souped-up, stripped-down, lightweight, two-door American street racers, affordable yet high performance, with monster 8-cylinder engines that had a thermal efficiency to make other drivers see red.
Muscle cars, which lasted from the mid-60s to the early 70s, were designed to fulfil every adolescent boy's fantasy of speed, danger and rebellion, and filmmakers soon caught on to the craze. Starsky and Hutch knew that baddies didn't stand a chance of outrunning their magnificent 1971 Ford Torino; a 1970 Dodge Challenger races through the Nevada desert in Vanishing Point and perhaps most fittingly of all given the typical muscle car fan, hick heroes Bo and Luke could never be the Dukes of Hazzard without their General Lee, a 1971 Dodge Charger Daytona guaranteed to make Boss Hogg sweat like a pig.
The muscle car phenomenon began proper when Mopar, the parts wing of the giant Chrysler corporation, started a performance war in 1966 with the introduction of the legendary 426 cubic-inch Hemi - a race-only engine that was adapted for street use and put into cars like Dodge Chargers and Plymouth Satellites. Soon all of the major companies were producing "budget supercars". These cars were sold on machismo and speed. "It snarls, it quivers, it leaps prairies at a single bound," claimed a 1970 advertisement for the Dodge Challenger; in 1969 pictures of a Plymouth Road Runner appeared above the line: "Goes to show that nothing shrinks time and distance like cubic inches and a good induction system." The Belvedere GTX ad went one step further and claimed the car was "strictly for the 'move over honey, and let the man drive' set".
The golden age of muscle cars was at the end of the 60s. Chrysler led the way, and in 1968 introduced the two most revered muscle cars of them all: the Plymouth Road Runner and the Dodge Super Bee. Plymouth realised that the youth market muscle cars were originally aimed at was being alienated by raised prices caused by an increasing number of "must-have" extras, so the Road Runner was a bare-bones car priced at just under $3,000. Most importantly, its 383ci big-block V-8 engine meant that it could run a quarter-mile in 13 seconds. "You know those cartoons about a rapid bird with a 'beep-beep' voice and a penchant for squashing coyotes?" asked the Roadrunner's advertising copy. "Well, Plymouth's built a car with the same name. And personality. It's horn goes 'beep-beep'. And the beat goes on." Plymouth, formerly seen as staid, now had a rebellious, youthful image.
The Super Bee was even more macho, and the epitome of no-frills performance. Dodge didn't bother including hub caps or hood hinges, but they did add mean-looking hood scoops to keep the 440 Magnum V-8 engine cool, with large red letters pro claiming "Six Pack" on either side of them. Cartoons of a snarling bee decorated the hood, doors and bonnet.
The bubble had to burst sooner or later. Manufacturers went from the reasonably ridiculous to the completely ridiculous, with engines getting bigger and the cars getting faster. But demand for such enormous engines was now on the wane, however, and greater awareness of the dangers of illegal drag racing, combined with stringent pollution laws, effectively killed off the muscle car phenomenon by the end of 1971. Manufacturers responded by attempting to sell similar cars to a more sophisticated market: the pricey 1971 Charger R/T was aimed at the racy businessman who appreciated extras like an automatic sun roof and a dictation machine, but the fast times were over.
Of course, a lot of muscle cars ended up on scrap-heaps or at the bottom of cliffs, but so many were produced that there are still a lot around, and to buy one now costs about the same as the average five-year old family saloon - from £2,000 to £8,000. Although classics like the Roadrunner and the Super Bee are rare and very expensive, equally stylish models like the Plymouth Satellite, the AMC Hornet and the Chevy Chevelle are available in the UK through magazines like Classic American and through dealers like American Car Imports. These don't make very good family cars - although huge, half of the space is taken up by the engine, and seating space is limited due to aerodynamic concerns - and they aren't the most economical cars to run. The most powerful ones, such as Dodge Challengers and Ford Torinos, do as little as nine miles to the gallon, but most will do around 15 to 20. As American pollution control is much tighter than in Europe, American cars will sail through roadside emission tests, and all cars made in 1971 or after take unleaded petrol. And because they were designed to make the owner think they were driving a real racing car, most have double seat belts, head rests, and airbags.
The golden rule with buying any old car is to look for rust. "The cars are easily repairable and the parts to most of the cars are still made," says Josh Collins, proud owner of a 1971 Plymouth Satellite. "But if the engine has rusted you can forget it. You should also look for a car with the original factory fittings - muscle cars are very popular with mechanics because they're so stripped down, so a lot of engines get taken out and replaced." Because parts come from the US, a realistic amount needed to keep a muscle car on the road for a year is about £1,000. Another consideration is size: muscle cars look enormous compared to standard European cars, and domestic garages have to be on the large side to accommodate one.
Muscle cars may not have the sophistication of the more famous, smaller American "pony" cars like Corvettes and Mustangs, but they have power, simplicity and in their own way, a lot of style. Snootier elements of the classic car fraternity enjoy referring to muscle car enthusiasts as people with "Camaro cut" hairstyles (mullets), but what do they know? There are few who grew up in the 70s who didn't dream of taking a spin with Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke in that General Lee of theirs, at least to the end of the road and back.
Classic American Magazine, 01925 625 182; American Car Imports, 020-8889 4545
