If you own a ’60s or ’70s-era muscle car, you’ve probably become aware of an ironic problem: It is virtually impossible to find high-performance tires for your high-performance classic. The BF Goodrich Radial T/A is about as good as it gets – and though it’s a good-looking tire, available with period-correct raised white lettering,...
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I’m probably gonna get bagfuls of hate mail for this one – but the truth is that most of the muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s were slow. At least, compared with what’s considered quick today. Very few ’60s and ’70s muscle cars could do 0-60 in less than seven seconds. Most were...
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Pontiac’s Tempest-based GTO had been on the market for two years when Dodge finally fired back in mid-1966 with an intermediate-sized, big-engined intimidator of its own – the Charger. Though it wasn’t first on the field and so can’t claim credit for igniting the frenzy, the Charger would become every bit the muscle car...
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People often think of the Pontiac Trans-Am as a commonplace car. But in 1969, the very first year, only 697 were built – just eight of them convertibles. All were white with blue stripes. That’s about as rare as rare gets! In that first year of production, the option code for the Trans-Am coupe...
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Though nearly three years late to the field and playing catch-up from the start, the first Camaro more than made up for lost time with its good looks and power-happy triumvirate of trim lines: Rally Sport, Super Sport – and of course, Z28. The Camaro’s development was midwifed by GM Design Chief Bill Mitchell,...
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Smokey and the Bandit made the second generation Trans-Am an icon of the ’70s – but it was Steve McQueen’s attempts at getting airborne in a big block Highland Green ’68 Mustang fastback while chasing a pair of hitmen through the streets of SanFranciso that forever set the high water mark for on-screen car...
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The original muscle car era lasted about a decade, from 1964 to 1974 – just before the industry-wide adoption of catalytic converters. After ’74, power plummeted for a decade and even when things began to pick up again in the mid ’80s, it just wasn’t the same. Performance made a comeback, but muscle cars...
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If you were a kid in high school (or college) during the mid-late 1980s – and into fast cars – you probably have a place in your heart for the last full-frame, rear-drive/live axle, carbureted cast-iron V-8 muscle car GM ever made: The ’83-’88 Monte Carlo SS. It was conceived at a time when...
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It was the summer of 1986 – and muscle was cheap. My friend since elementary school, Stuart – whom we all called Stu Monster in tribute to his exploits with beer and fast cars – was a year behind me in age, but way ahead when it came to owning a serious beast. While...
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One thing I really like about old muscle cars is the freedom to do a burnout without having to beg a computer for permission first. I got to talking about that the other day with a friend who, like me, is into old Pontiacs. He has a ’79 10th Anniversary Trans-Am with the “T/A...
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