It is commonly held knowledge that the 1964-1971 period was known as the golden age of the muscle car. The 1964 Pontiac GTO set the blueprint, other manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon there after, and by 1970, the craze had reached its pinnacle. It was a high-performance wonderland. Magnum 500s and rally wheels on white letter wide oval tires burning rubber and leaving tire tracks on the asphalt. Awesome cars with cool names like, Road Runner, Demon, Barracuda, Mach1, Boss, Eliminator, etc with some eye-catching colors such as Plum Crazy, Grabber Green, Orbit Orange, Candy Apple Red. Wild stripes, bulging hood scoops and, of course the horse power race was on.
In 1972, new federal regulations ended this era almost as quickly as it arrived. It is in the past and can
never be fully recaptured.
Now, lets jump to the present. Though the glory days of the original muscle car era are long gone they left behind an undeniable imprint of automobile history. The breed never died out completely and a strong case can be made that a second muscle car golden age is at its peak now. Mighty names like Challenger, Camaro, Charger are back, and the Ford Mustang never went away. Stronger than ever it seems like the battle for ultimate performance and horse power is back on. With 50 years of improvements not even the stricter emission regulations today can’t stop Detroit from building the ultimate muscle car. Who would have thought that the mighty 1970 Chevelle 454 would be surpassed by double the horsepower today. It seems like there are no limits anymore.
What will the future hold? For sure a lot but you will never duplicate the nostalgia of a muscle car from
the original golden age!!!
