Editing Muscle car (section)

=== "Supercar" ===
{{distinguish|text=the expensive exotic automobile known as a [[supercar]]}}

Muscle cars were initially referred to as "supercars" in the United States,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://ateupwithmotor.com/terms-technology-definitions/supercar-muscle-car/ |title=Super-iority: Defining the Supercar and Muscle Car |first=Aaron |last=Severson |date=27 July 2009 |work=ateupwithmotor |access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref> such as the 1957 [[Rambler Rebel]], which was described as a "potent mill turned the lightweight Rambler into a veritable supercar."<ref>{{cite web |title=1957-1960 Rambler Rebel |work=How Stuff Works | url= http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1957-1960-rambler-rebel1.htm |date=22 August 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200727033220/http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1957-1960-rambler-rebel1.htm |archive-date=27 July 2020 |access-date=14 February 2022}}</ref> From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, "dragstrip bred" mid-size cars equipped with large [[V8 engine]]s and [[rear-wheel drive]] were also referred to as supercars, more often than muscle cars.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harless |first=Robert |title=Horsepower War: Our Way of Life |year=2004 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0-595-30296-3 |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gunnell |first=John |title=Standard Guide to American Muscle Cars: A Supercar Source Book, 1960–2000 |publisher=Krause Publications |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-87349-262-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Norbye |first1=Jan P. |last2=Dunne |first2=Jim |title=The Hot Ones: Supercars of medium size flaunt their suspension, brakes, and engines |magazine=Popular Science |volume=189 |issue=4 |pages=83–85 |date=October 1966 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rykDAAAAMBAJ&q=The+Hot+Ones:+Supercars&pg=PA84 |access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref>

In 1966, the supercar became an "industry trend".<ref>Harless, p. 8.</ref> This was when the four domestic automakers "needed to cash in on the supercar market" with eye-catching, heart-stopping cars.<ref>{{cite book |last=Campisano |first=Jim |title=American Muscle Cars |publisher=MetroBooks |year=1995 |page=91 |isbn=978-1-56799-164-2 }}</ref> An example of the use of the supercar description for early muscle car models includes the May 1965 ''Car Life'' road test of the [[Pontiac GTO]],{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} followed in 1968 with a ''Car and Driver'' review of the 1969 [[American Motors]] [[Rambler American#SC/Rambler|SC/Rambler]] describing it as ready to compete in "the Supercar street racer gang" market segment,<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Rambler Scrambler |magazine=Car and Driver |volume=14 |page=84 |year=1968}}</ref> with the initials "SC" signifying SuperCar,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lyons |first1=Dan |last2=Scott |first2=Jason |title=Muscle Car Milestones |publisher=MotorBooks/MBI Publishing |year=2004 |page=89 |isbn=978-0-7603-0615-4 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eQK68tbpAVIC&q=the+SC+stood+for+SuperCar&pg=PA89 |access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref> and a 1969 ''Car Life'' review that included how "[[Hurst Performance|Hurst]] puts American Motors into the Supercar club with the 390 Rogue".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Rambler Scrambler |magazine=Car Life |volume=16 |pages=33–36 |year=1969 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UvY6AAAAMAAJ&q=Supercar+Rambler+Scrambler |access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref>
 
The supercar market segment in the U.S. at the time included special versions of regular production models<ref>{{cite book |last=Bonsall |first=Thomas E. |title=Muscle Plymouths: The Story of a Supercar |publisher=Bookman Publishing |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-934780-71-1 }}</ref> that were [[Positioning (marketing)|positioned]] in several sizes and market segments (such as the "economy supercar"<ref>{{cite book |title=Hot Rod Magazine: Muscle Car Files |page=112 |year=2004 |publisher=MotorBooks International |isbn=978-0-7603-1647-4}}</ref>), as well as limited edition, documented dealer-converted vehicles.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Carner |first=Colin |title=1967 Chevrolet Stage III Nickey Camaro |magazine=Sports Car Market |date=February 1999 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-SixJrUESDcC&q=define:+supercar&pg=PT22 |access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref> However, over time the term came to be applied to much, much more expensive and exotic cars, which claimed the name [[supercar]].