this is probably the best discussion in the world!
this is my view point...
im going to jump in here and say that my 1976 Buick Electra is the best muscle car ever made! I know that IT IS NOT a muscle car but i still can cause its my opinion!
this is the typical age old GM vs Ford vs Mopar argument. no one's gonna win it! let the ford boys be ford boys and the others be whatever they are. What about the AMXs i say, the 1969 SC/Rambler and the 1970 Rebel Machine undoubtedly some insane muscle cars.
as far as the first muscle car goes i think the dispute is between the Chrysler 300C vintage 1956 sporting the old Hemi and the '64 Goat.
Alvis i appreciate your argument that the Corvette is a sports car and i agree. But it is true that publications today and enthustiats accept it as a muscle car. All of John Gunnell's books, my example being the 4th edition of the "standard guide to American Muscle Cars" published by KP books in 2005, have whole sections dedicated to the Corvette. You can't dispute whats in print i guess. However this does not mean that Gunnel or Qasimshah or you or i for that matter are correct. Its all about opinion. The coorporates at GM or Chrysler don't care, they only care to the extent to have enough PR to sell the new Camaro and Challenger today and only cared enough to have enough PR to sell the old ones yesterday. If a bloke walks into a dealership and wants "the new corvette muscle car" thats what it is going to be for him, if another walks in the very afternoon and asks for "the new corvette sports car" neither are going to change their minds. Considering the new ZR1 and the old Corvettes going up against Ferrari's etc in competition maybe we should call them supercars. Gunnell's book also has "A SUPERCAR SOURCE BOOK 1952-2005" printed on its cover!
I don't think it matters what you call them. They're all so much more than just a label.
For Qasimshah the ultimate muscle is the Boss 429, for me its the handful of Stage II 1970 Buick GSxs out there. But for either of us if God willing we get them in our hands they'll be someone else's idea of the best muscle car, the chap who bought them new and spec'd them according to his tastes. We may not want the gear ratio he ordered or the interior options (yes stripped out, bench seats, buckets, center console all of it matters). We may have had it differently if we had the opportunity to tick off the order sheet. Its all a matter of opinion.
I totally disagree with the muscle car era ending with the Mustang, that award goes to the TransAm, trying telling Fahd (a group member) that his 400 powered 1974/75 Trans Am isnt a muscle car, or the Gabol's that the 1978 Transam isnt one, or Agha Abbass that his '81 Turbo Transam isnt one either. Shitty compression ratios, catalytic converters all restricted them. But as the Mustang became soft, i just took a ride in a 1975 Mustang II with a 171ci V6 and it was pathetic and yes i know a V8 one would've been different but the entire car had no flair or character, the Pontiacs managed to keep the image going for a long long time. Burt Reynold's "Smokey and the Bandit" are indisputable proof.
Finally forget the lists! Take a pen and paper and make your own! I used to when i was bored in school, but everyday it would change, if published the next month maybe the same journalists would've had a different idea.
