Muscle car?
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From: Sicklerville, NJ
Muscle car? I was sitting here wondering, are these LS4 cars muscle cars?? Looking back at the history of these cars (impala ss, Monte Carlo ss, grand prix) they were some beautiful RWD cars. 1968 Grand Prix, 1966 Impala SS, 1973 and 1984 Monte Carlo SS were my favorite years out of the production of these cars. My man question is do we classify these still as muscle cars even though they are FWD and sedans (impala and grand prix)? I've always been a fan of muscle whether it's Ford, Mopar, or Chevy (chevy being my favorite even though I like what dodge is doing with their cars). I'm just trying to base it off of the history guys. Do you think your car is an American muscle car or just a groccery getter that happens to be a sleeper?
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From: Waterloo, Illinois
I consider our cars muscle cars and a very unique one at that. Despite the drawbracks of being a FWD car, it is a very unique one in that there is a sideways V8 under the hood. I like owning an underdog and I'm proud to drive a FWD V8!
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I don't consider a 300hp V8 FWD vehicle a muscle car since there are many V6 powered cars that put out that much power. I don't even consider the V6 G8 a muscle car and it's rear wheel drive. The Lincoln LS has a V8 with RWD and that's not a muscle car either, since the motor puts out 250hp.
Last edited by RedHotG8; May 7, 2011 at 11:10 AM.
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Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2010
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From: Sicklerville, NJ
I don't consider a 300hp V8 FWD vehicle a muscle car since there are many V6 powered cars that put out that much power. I don't even consider the V6 G8 a muscle car and it's rear wheel drive. The Lincoln LS has a V8 with RWD and that's not a muscle car either, since the motor puts out 250hp.
What about the muscle cars like the Gran Torino, Charger, etc that had V8's with less power than 300hp. Stock anyways
Back then horsepower was rated differently so you can't compare those cars to modern cars. The V6 powered Mustang's & Camaro's put out 300hp and they aren't muscle cars. Same goes for a CTS with the V6, so the LS4 powered FWD car aren't a true muscle car either.
Wikipedia gives a good example of a muscle car:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_car
Wikipedia gives a good example of a muscle car:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_car
You have to draw the line somewhere. If you think an FWD LS4 is a muscle car, then that means a lot of other FWD cars are also, and that's not the case. I'd say most V8 powered RWD cars are considered muscle cars and I'm sure most will agree.
A turbo SRT Neon will beat a lot of V8 cars, but it's far from what I would consider a muscle car. Most refer to them as a tuner car.
A turbo SRT Neon will beat a lot of V8 cars, but it's far from what I would consider a muscle car. Most refer to them as a tuner car.
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A V8 is the qualifying factor for a muscle car, 300+ hp is a good cutoff point, IMO.
And not all V8 RWD cars are muscle, that's where ponies cars come into play, which the new 3 "Modern retros" are, pony cars. I consider the GTO and the G8 muscle cars.
And not all V8 RWD cars are muscle, that's where ponies cars come into play, which the new 3 "Modern retros" are, pony cars. I consider the GTO and the G8 muscle cars.
