Like muscle cars? Well, lucky for you. Because we do too. And because we love them so much we decided to put together a guide to the best muscle cars ever made. Muscle cars are a breed of vehicle we’ll sadly never see the likes of again. There are cars today that pretend to be muscle cars, but in our opinion they’re not the real thing. Proper muscle cars looked like this…

Grrr. When was the last time you saw something as muscly looking as that come off a production line? Not in a long time. Without further ado let’s go back in time to the days where gasoline costs and saving the planet didn’t matter and we were free to drive what the hell we liked. Namely, V8, two door, rear-wheel drive, beasts. Which is what muscle cars were…

List of the coolest muscle cars ever made

1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda

Muscle cars don’t come with more muscle than this baby. Nicknamed the ‘Shaker’, Chrysler boasted that the 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda was their “angriest, slipperiest-looking body shell wrapped around ol’ King Kong hisself”. They weren’t wrong. The ‘Cuda’s engine was so loud and powerful that the air cooler literally shook through the bonnet (hence the nickname).

1969 Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro

The 1969 version of the Camaro was the epitome of cool muscle cars, and came three years after the model was first released in 1966. It was the main rival to the Ford Mustang, and was originally codenamed Panther so as not to give the game away to Ford that the car was being developed. Chevrolet went to extreme lengths not to let on, and just before its release around 200 journalists got a coded message from the firm saying: “Please save noon of June 28 for important SEPAW meeting. Hope you can be on hand to help scratch a cat. Details will follow…”

Thus, on June 28, 1966, the Camaro baby was born. What does the name mean? When journalists asked Chevrolet bosses that during a press conference, they replied: “a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs”. The Z/28 was the performance version of the car.

1965/66 Shelby Cobra 427

What do you get when you put an American powerhouse engine into a genteel English motorcar? Muscle cars that are so powerful they’re almost undriveable, that’s what. The Shelby Cobra’s body was from the English-made AC Ace, but modified to fit around Ford’s grunt-filled 260cu HiPo (4.2L) small-block V8 engine. The 427 version was super fast. One was given to entertainer Bill Cosby in the late 60s, but he gave it back because he couldn’t control its awesome power. The same car was then sold to customer Tony Maxey, who suffered similar problems with handling and died after driving it off a cliff, landing in the Pacific Ocean.

1967 Shelby Mustang GT500

Ford described Shelby Mustangs as “the road cars”. And of all the Shelby Mustangs the GT500 was the Shelby Mustang. Fitted with a 428 Police Interceptor V8 it had a top speed of 132mph and did 0-60mph in 6.8 seconds. Or, if you prefer, it was “Gone in 60 Seconds”…which is perhaps why a 1967 Mustang known as ‘Eleanor’ ended up being used in the reworked 2000 film of that name, starring Nicolas Cage. The original 1974 Gone in 60 seconds also featured a Mustang, but that time round it was a 1971 version done up to look like one from 1973. The GT500 is probably one of the most-loved muscle cars of all time.

1965 Pontiac GTO

The Pontiac GTO was known among muscle cars as ‘the great one’. It was designed to cater for a generation of American youths who had money to burn and loved living life in the fast lane, so was suitably extravagant. The GTO was basically the result of putting Pontiac’s biggest V8 engine inside the diminutive body of a Tempest, then tweaking the brakes and suspension to match. The name was also changed to fit the modified power – with GTO, which stands for Gran Turismo Omologato, being pinched from Ferrari.

1970 Buick Gran Sport GSX

The GSX was the high-performance version of Buick’s Gran Sport 455, which had a 7.8 liter V8 engine. All GSXs had full body-length black go-faster stripes, with power comparable to the Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda. Although sales of the GSX were poor (just 678 were produced in 1970), it was the furthest into the world of muscle cars that Buick ever went.

1968 Dodge Charger R/T

The Dodge Charger, like most other muscle cars, guzzled fuel like nobody’s business. So the only way it was ever going to get made was in an era when gas cost 10cents a gallon. Lucky for us, that’s what it was priced at in 1968.

The Charger was super powerful and had bullish good looks, but still boasted luxuries like a cigarette lighter and heater. Ads for the car called it a “beautiful screamer” for a “rugged type of individual” who, er, “likes it soft inside”. The R/T (Road/Track) featured a 7.2liter V8 which produced so much torque that when the car was at a standstill it rocked from side to side. Why, Lord, do they not make muscle cars like that any more.

1970 Boss 302 Mustang

The Boss 302 was a high performance version of the Mustang. To cut a long story short, Ford wanted to beat the Chevrolet Camaro into the ground in the battle of the muscle cars. And because the standard Mustang didn’t quite cut it they stuck a bloody great Ford Boss 302 engine in it. Pow! The name came about because when it was being created as a secret project, the car’s designer Larry Shinoda used to tell everyone he was working on “the boss’s car”. The Boss was modified form the original to add a front spoiler and rear deck wing, and for the 1970 model go-faster stripes were put on the hood (they are essential when your car does 0-60mph in 6.9 seconds).

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle 454 SS

The Chevelle was one of Chevrolet’s most successful models. And it ain’t hard to see why. The SS (Super Sport) first graced roads in 1964 and by 1970 the 454cid engine had been added to the Super Sport line-up. It produced 360hp, and if that wasn’t enough an optional LS6 version had 450 horses to play with. Well, that’s what the brochure said. Some people believed it was actually more like 500. You could also add Cowl Induction, which opened an air vent to the engine when you stepped on the accelerator. Chevrolet described it as “making our tough one even tougher”. One of the coolest muscle cars ever made.

1974 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am SD455

The Firebird Trans Am Super Duty was the last of the really fast American muscle cars. It had a 7.5liter V8 and could do 0-60 in just 5.4 seconds. It was released during the middle of a fuel shortage, but who cares about that?! This was one damn cool car and sales soared despite gas prices rising. The Pontiac Trans Am was a modified Firebird with beefed-up handling, suspension and horsepower. The original version boasted a rubber-burning 310 horsepower but within months new emission regulations meant that had to be reduced to 290bhp – and humanity was left dreaming of the past for evermore…

That’s all, folks. For more information on Muscle Cars, MSN Autos have done a top ten. The guys at topspeed.com have a section on (mostly modern) muscle cars.

THANKS TO: German Medeot, Motor 74, for all the pics apart from the one of the Gran Sport GSX which was courtesy of Robotriot.