muscle or classic

[coronado gold]

would this be classic or muscle http://firstgenfirebird.org/show/closeup.mv?carid=580

[curtis73]

Do you plan on buying this car or are you selling it? You keep saying its yours but then asking questions about it.

Its a classic. They're all "classic". Of the classics you have muscle and pony cars, this one's a pony. It would also fit the muscle category, but more specifically its a pony car.

[victimizati0n]

i call it a muscle car.

firebirds, and camaros in the last 60's are muscle cars

[Ground Rat]

Originally Posted by victimizati0n

i call it a muscle car.

firebirds, and camaros in the last 60's are muscle cars

No, actually like curtis said, it's a pony car.

[Indycarlover]

Yes, Curtis is right, its a Pony car, but also a classic as well as a Muscle car to many people.

[Adamsindrey]

So whats the difference between pony and muscle cars? We never had these kidna cars from over here in the UK

[curtis73]

Its a very fuzzy distinction. By definition, Classic refers to cars older than 30 years. Antique refers to cars older than 50 years. As the years pass, those designations change. I can't imagine in 2010 people calling a 1980 Chevy Citation a "classic."

But, in general, within those vague classifications, off the classic cars, most of the 64-72 American intermediate cars with V8s were muscle cars. Full size heavy cars could also be considered muscle cars since they also had V8s with just a little more weight. The pony car was born of smaller compact cars (for the time) like the Mustang and Camaro.

Muscle implies intermediate car with lots of power (implying V8). Pony implies small car, but not necessarily high performance. Their intended purpose (and name) was a response to the European trend of finely tuned handling cars like the Ferraris, German cars, and Coventry offerings; many of which used a Horse as part of (or all of) their mascot or crest. Ultimate power was not the goal and more of a stress on handling was one of the goals of the pony car. They were still based on American chassis and it was more of a tiny step in the direction of handling so the American automakers sort of gave up on that and gave the people what they wanted; a V8 in a pony car.

Muscle = roughly 64-72 intermediate-sized V8 RWD American car, body-on-frame

Pony = roughly 64-? small-ish usually unibody car, 4, 6, or 8 cylinder, RWD.

Classic = 30-50 years old

Antique = 50+ years old.

So, a 67 mustang V8 could be considered classic, muscle and pony if you use the term "muscle car" loosely.

[tuske427]

One more thing to throw into the pot is this: When Pontiac introduced the Firebird, they offered 5 distinct models of the Firebird to cover each market segment. The official "muscle" version of the Firebird was the 400. This is not that car. it's a 326 (the base v-8 engine), and it's not even a 326 HO. As far as Pontiac was concerned, this was not their "Muscle" version.

While Firebirds are generally performance/ "muscle" cars, this paticular one was not originally sold intending to be a "muscle car". At least from Pontiac's perspective. This isn't to say it can't be given some "muscle", or turned into one. It just isn't one right now.

don't get me wrong, the car looks great, but because of Pontiac's marketing, and they're the ones who made the car, I'd think this is a fair way of defining it.

One last thing for Curtis- Hurry up and get back to CA!!!!! We miss you out here

[nastyNater]

Originally Posted by coronado gold

would this be classic or muscle http://firstgenfirebird.org/show/closeup.mv?carid=580

you can file it under both categories....i always decide if its pony or muscle by the engine that it came stock w/.
IE: a 69 Camaro Z/28 w/ 302= PONY
a 69 yenko camaro w/ COPO 427====== MUSCLE!!!!!!!!!