Many auto enthusiasts fondly remember muscle car era

Last month, this column asked, “What ever happened to the Love Affair with the automobile?”

The next day an ardent reader reflected, “Today’s automobiles have no punch – they all look alike, especially the imports, just boxes.” Is that the reason customers are not flocking to the showrooms?

Muscle cars were a part of the Love Affair. Today, a review of the muscle car era may rekindle strong sentiments. We turn to a current publication, “Art of the Muscle Car,” by author David Newhardt and photographer Peter Harholdt.

It all started, according to Newhardt, with Pontiac’s chief engineer, John Z. DeLorean, who commissioned his staff to build “the very first muscle car,” – the Pontiac GTO. The effort was a response to General Motors’ bosses who ordered Pontiac to cease racing efforts, which had propelled Pontiac to the No. 3 sales leader in the U.S.

The GTO was an option package that consisted of GTO labels and a 389 cubic inch V-8 engine on the LeMans version of the recently introduced Tempest. “The GTO was a massive success,” writes Newhardt.

Although the author gives DeLorean credit for creating the GTO, I recognize John’s boss Pete Estes, who was the general manager of Pontiac at the time, later the last car guy as GM’s president.

Anyway, the 1964 GTO had many challengers in the 1960s decade. After GTO’s success, the buying public was clamoring for others to compete. Next up, responding to demand was the 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Z16. “It was a stopgap effort to counter the GTO” and production was limited.

Accepting the muscle car challenge, the 1966 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 convertible was introduced. The package included five body types, all capable of accelerating from zero to 60 miles per hour in 6.3 seconds.

Another notable entry was the 1967 Dodge Charger Hemi. “Never a cheap option, the $877.55 Hemi did little for a vehicle’s cornering ability, but then you didn’t buy a Hemi to slalom,” Newhardt says. The sound of the Hemi gave anyone goose bumps.

Another formidable muscle car of the ’60s was the 1968 Ford Shelby GT500KR Convertible. Our author writes, “… everyone agrees that top honor for cool car names goes to Carroll Shelby. With the Texas-sized torque of the Cobra jet engine, the GT500KR was and still is good fodder for bench racers everywhere.”

Coming up next were the “Excessive Years,” as defined by Newhardt. Heading the list were the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO; the Camaro SS396; the Chevrolet El Camino SS 396; a couple of Dodge Chargers, the 500 and Dodge Charger Daytona; and the Dodge Super Bee.

More about the Super Bee: an optional 440-cubic inch V-8 engine “complete with Six-Pack induction system and a lightweight lift-off fiberglass hood. This was basic Muscle Car 101. The hood was fitted with a scoop large enough the ingest small children.”

In this same era, along came the Ford Mustang GT 428 SCJ. This model was “made to move in one direction, quickly. How fast, you ask? How about lunging down the quarter-mile in 13.9 seconds at 103 mph?”

Another model for the ages: the 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler Cale Yarborough Special … “few muscle cars have ever been as closely tied to the competitive arena as the Cyclone Spoiler. Keeping close to racing’s influence, the Dan Gurney Edition followed.”

Now, getting briefly into the 1970s, who would ever think American Motors would invade the Muscle Car category? Well, the AMC AMX did just that. This car could reach 60 mph in just 6.6 seconds, but the car was not a resounding success, selling but 8,293 units.

Another “Muscle Car,” the 1970 Buick Gran Sport GSX, was built on the Skylark chassis. This was probably Buick’s first attempt to get away from nice boulevard cars and cater to youthful drivers.

It was a “halo” car created to compete with the Chevelle LS6, the GTO Judge and the Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W-30. It could cover the quarter-mile in 13.38 seconds at 105 mph, not the typical “doctor’s car.”

There was the 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429: “Ford knew that winning in NASCAR meant building an engine capable of beating Chrysler’s mighty 426 Hemi, because the Hemi was beating everyone’s butt.” Unfortunately, the 429 failed to meet expectations, “so they pulled the plug at the end of the 1970 model year, and Ford’s most serious attempt at a muscle car was consigned to the history books.”

The 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda Convertible 440 “was targeted at buyers who wanted a dash of sport, a dash of style and a bucketful of performance.” The Chrysler Corp. came late to the pony-car era, yet it built one of the most stunning cars on the road.

At the same time Plymouth dared naming a muscle car for a cartoon character: the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner. Plymouth was not shy about painting their cars in vibrant hues that seemed to shout, “Yes, I have a fast, loud car. Give me a speeding ticket.”

This gives you a sampling of the many, many models described brilliantly in “Art of the Muscle Car,” by David Newhardt with spectacular photographs by Peter Harholdt.

It is an era many of us will never forget.

Dr. George G. Spaulding is a retired General Motors executive and distinguished executive-in-residence emeritus at the School of Business at the College of Charleston. He can be reached at 2 Wharfside St. 2A Charleston, S.C., 29401.