Though GM’s Cadillac Division introduced a similar V-8 for ’49, it was the smaller, fleeter Olds 88s that grabbed public attention, especially when they started to dominate stock-car racing. Because success in Detroit never goes unchallenged for long, the Rocket 88s soon had showroom competition and a horsepower race was on. For more than 100 years now, competition has driven both technology and sales in the car business — hence the old industry maxim, “race on Sunday, sell on Monday.” And it’s true. In fact, the office has changed names more than once during the process. Detroit would soon learn the importance of giving its hot cars names and marketing directions that matched their tire-smoking excitement. The brutal Max Wedge 413 put Mopar muscle on the map, and cars like the 1962 Dodge Dart 413 in the winner’s circle. Richard Siegler played for teams like the 49ers and Steelers before he was released in 2007 because of a suspected link to a prostitution ring. After raging success, the Ford Motor Company released the Escort to North American markets. Most of these were developed just to satisfy racing rules — and car company pride. Even troubled Hudson, limited to large 6-cylinder engines through 1954, managed NASCAR-winning “Twin-H Power” dual carbs and manifolds, plus a hot “7-X” racing mill.
To learn everything you need to know about car engines, see How Car Engines Work. The American car landscape itself had expanded in 1960, when Detroit introduced small economy compacts to supplement traditional full-size “standard” models. Muscle CarsIn the early days of muscle cars, an automaker’s full-size models were also its high-performance machines. Dodge muscle cars were all stars throughout the classic age of muscle cars, a leadership reasserted with today’s revived Hemi V-8 and plans to resurrect the Challenger. Inspired by the souped-up cars of Southern moonshine runners and their skill at escaping the law, NASCAR began staging races on dirt tracks and beach courses. Automobile Club, began sanctioning their own stock-car races. The other was a severe downturn in the national economy — abetted by another fuel crisis — that began in the spring of ’79 and put a big crimp in all new-car sales. It began to spread in the 1920s and by the late ’40s was a common source of entertainment. They were right, as you’ll see on the next page. Not so with the new hot wheels that roared in after 2002, as you’ll see on the next page. See profiles, photos, and specifications of Buick muscle cars.
These organized contests of quarter-mile acceleration originated with the informal (and illegal) street racing associated with hot rodders, the shade-tree mechanics who turned old Model T and Model A Fords into fast, eye-catching street cars. Of course, such wisdom won’t deter those who just know they can beat the stock market by “flipping” a muscle machine or some other golden oldie. Thus Dodge, for example, offered powered-up “D-500” engines for every model in its 1956 line, including the lightest low-line two-door sedan — which, of course, was the racers’ choice. One of the more popular manifestations of the Accord was the Crosstour, an all-wheel-drive wagon with all of the comforts and seating of a sedan but the cargo space of an SUV. A soccer player says that thinking on your feet and anticipating where the ball will go takes much more skill than just doing the same thing over and over, and that she’s the most agile person in the room. Ford’s new-for-1960 Galaxie Starliner hardtop was the same idea.
At about the same time, NHRA chief Wally Parks started Hot Rod magazine to promote the sport and performance-tuned street cars. Because bigger meant better in the Fabulous ’50s, Detroit cars put on pounds and inches most every year, requiring ever-larger engines just to maintain existing levels of acceleration. Engineers kept working on even hotter engines and other under-the-table racing support, expecting that high performance would soon be politically correct again. Drag racing gained momentum in 1951 when the National Hot Rod Association was formed in — where else? Riviera also gained a longer hood, reverted to exposed headlamps astride a thin-line vertical-bar grille, sported a wider rear window and altered bumpers, and offered rear fender skirts as a first-time option. The ’61 Chevys introduced a svelte new rear roofline. Pontiac’s lasting claim to muscle car fame stems from a stroke of marketing genius that earned Pontiac credit for igniting the classic muscle car era. Many buyers preferred something in between, however, so the midsize car was a logical next step.