how this sound?
WHAT IS A MUSCLE CAR?
Muscle cars, on the other hand, don’t have a clear origin story. While all pony cars can draw a neat line from some aspect of their design to that first Ford Mustang, the rules of muscle cars are certainly messier.
Most people agree that the first muscle car was the 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. It was created for power—with a V8 engine shoved in a small light body. By today’s standards, it wasn’t a lot to look at. It could only reach 97 mph, and it was a solid 13 seconds from zero to sixty. In 1950, it was astounding. It didn’t have the same meteoric success as the Mustang, however, and subsequently was allowed to enjoy a brief period of almost no competition before it was outpaced in the mid-1950s.
Muscle cars are mostly all two-door coupes with
rear wheel drive and way too much power. Muscle cars aren’t known for their good handling (quite the opposite, actually) but they excel in one area: Pure ridiculous speed in a straight line. This makes them the choice for drag racing. and since they have no clear definition, anytime an engine that is way too stupidly big and powerful goes into a light car body, you’re technically building a muscle car.
The only "true" muscle car still being manufactured is
the Dodge Challenger, but the divide between muscle and pony cars is rapidly changing. The original Challenger was very much a pony car, while Shelby GT500's could really be called muscle cars despite the iconic pony logo.