Editing Muscle car (section)

{{Short description|High-performance car}}
{{About|classic high-power cars whose height was in the 1970s|other superlatives|Supercar|and|Hypercar (car classification){{!}}Hypercar}}
{{Distinguish|hot rod}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

[[File:Pontiac GTO 1966.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Pontiac GTO]] is credited with helping define the 1960s muscle car (1966 pictured)]]

A '''muscle car''' is an American-made two-door sports [[coupe]] with a powerful engine, marketed for its performance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of Muscle Car |url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/muscle%20car |publisher=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |access-date=18 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Muscle car Definition & Meaning |url= https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/muscle-car |publisher=Britannica Dictionary |access-date=18 May 2022}}</ref>

In 1949, General Motors introduced its [[Oldsmobile 88|88]] with the company's {{convert|303|cuin|L|sigfig=1|adj=on|sp=us}} [[overhead valve|OHV]] [[Oldsmobile V8 engine#303|Rocket V8]] engine, which was previously available only in its luxury [[Oldsmobile 98]]. This formula of putting a maker's largest, most powerful engine in a smaller, lighter, more affordable vehicle evolved into the "muscle car" category.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Newton |first1=Andrew |title=The 1949-53 Oldsmobile 88 was a breakthrough design, so why doesn't anybody want one? |url= https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/1949-53-oldsmobile-88-breakthrough-design-values/ |publisher=Hagerty |date=13 December 2018 |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = 20 Greatest Muscle cars |url= http://www.motor-junkie.com/20-greatest-classic-muscle-cars-produced-by-general-motors/19102 |website=motor-junkie.com |date=5 April 2019 |access-date=12 June 2020}}</ref> Chrysler and Ford quickly followed suit with the [[Chrysler Saratoga#1946–1952|Chrysler Saratoga]] and the [[Lincoln Capri]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kowalke |first=Ron |url=https://archive.org/details/standardcatalogo00beve |title=Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975 |publisher=Krause publications |year=1997 |isbn=0-87341-521-3 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The term "muscle car", which appeared in the mid-1960s, was originally applied to "performance"-oriented street cars produced to fill a newly recognized niche; it entered the general vocabulary through car magazines and automobile marketing and advertising. By the early 1970s, muscle cars included special editions of mass-production cars designed for street and track [[drag racing]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Muscle Car History |url= http://classic-car-history.com/muscle-car-history.htm |website=classic-car-history.com |access-date=12 February 2019}}</ref> The concept of high performance at lower prices was exemplified by the 1968 [[Plymouth Road Runner]] and companion [[Dodge Super Bee]], whose powerful engines drove relatively basic-trimmed intermediate-sized cars that were meant to undercut more expensive, more stylish, and better-appointed models from General Motors and Ford that had come to define the market, such as the [[Pontiac GTO]] (1964), 396 [[Chevrolet Chevelle]] (1965), 400 [[Buick Gran Sport]] (1965), 400 [[Oldsmobile 442]] (1965), as well as the 427 [[Mercury Comet Cyclone]] (1964) and 390 [[Mercury Cyclone]] (1966).

By some definitions – including those used by ''[[Car and Driver]]'', ''[[CNBC]]'', ''[[Road & Track]]'', and ''[[Motor Trend]]''  —[[pony car]]s such as the [[Ford Mustang]], [[Chevrolet Camaro]], [[Plymouth Barracuda]], [[Pontiac Firebird]], [[AMC Javelin]], and their luxury companions in that large, influential, and lucrative 1960s–70s niche, the [[Mercury Cougar]] and [[Dodge Challenger]], could also qualify as "muscle cars" if outfitted with suitable high-performance equipment.