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Old 03-07-2005, 12:50 PM   #91
MrPbody
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Re: Earliest Muscle car

Not to forget, the '57 Bonneville (ALL of them) was also fuel injected (similar, but not identical to the Chevy). And in '56, dual quads were available on the little 316 V8. TriPower was an option in '57. The Rochester injection was still offered in '58, but more opted for the TriPower. Pontiac set the world land speed record for stock cars at Bonneville in '56 (126.02 MPH for 100 miles, 118.337 MPH for 24 hours), probably leading to the "new" name in '57.
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Old 03-20-2005, 05:45 PM   #92
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Re: Re: Earliest Muscle car

Quote:
Originally Posted by terzmo
Big motor...in a mid size car..walla!!! first muscle car...1955 chrysler 300...who had over 300 ponies in 55.....jump on the rag bandwagon all you want...gto was NOT the first muscle car...what did the ponch have in 55 ????..oh...it was cute....just like the mustang and camaro....
The '55 Chrysler 300 was definitely a full-sized car. It had a 126" wheelbase and an overall length of 218". Back then, "full-sized" meant a wheelbase of at least 119" or 120".
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Old 03-20-2005, 05:56 PM   #93
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I would have to go with the '64 Pontiac GTO. It was the first highly identifiable muscle car. The '63 Dodge Polara 426s were faster, but the weren't a separate "muscle car" series.
The GTO did fit the muscle car description of big engine in a mid-sized body (later in the '60s, it would include compact and pony car bodies).

I would choose the '55 Chrysler 300 as first, but they were expensive cars and they had a big engine in a big body. But they sure were performers! The '55 could top out at 130 mph, possibly even more. Their 1/4 mile times were around 17.6 seconds (remember, this is back in '55). The 1/4 mile times dropped to 16.0 seconds by 1957 (300-C) and top speeds by then were over 140 mph.

IMO, cars before 1955 were not really fast enough to be considered muscle cars. For instance, here is a list of 1/4 mile times for 1951 cars printed in Motor Trend:

Chrysler...... 19.32 secs.
Hudson....... 19.41
Lincoln........ 19.90
Studebaker.. 20.67
Oldsmobile... 20.93
Kaiser......... 20.99
Packard...... 21.04
Ford........... 21.19
Cadillac....... 21.22
Mercury...... 21.74
Nash.......... 21.75
Buick.......... 21.87
Pontiac....... 22.03
Dodge......... 23.68

BTW, I like to use the loosely defined term of a muscle car of around 7.5 0-60 mph and mid-15-sec @ 90 mph. 1/4 mile.
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