America's Love Affair with the Muscle Car

The Multi-generaltion Symbol of Freedom

History of the Muscle Car

Prior to and shortly after World War II, automobiles were designed for basic transportation. They were boxy in body and had small engines and lacked both style and power. However, that changed with the introduction of the 1955 Bel Air (Mueller 102). The square bodies of the 1940s and early 1950s were suddenly replaced by sleek chrome laden, head turning cars that could not be as easily ignored as the cars they replaced. ”By 1956 the Bel Air had the formally optional Corvette V8 225 hp 265 ci (cubic inch) engine standard equipment.” By doing this, GM found an inexpensive way to open up the “need for speed” generation’s pocketbooks with a base price of only $2611 (Mueller 161). 

For the next decade, the “Big 3s”, (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) muscle cars dominated the youth market. The ultimate winner of the power race was the Pontiac GTO lovingly referred to as the “goat” when its engine was bumped up from 389 ci to 400 ci in 1967 (Gunnel 15). 

One of the factors in the decline of muscle cars was the Vietnam War. With more than 500,000 young men sent off to war, the market place could not sustain the decline in sales. Another factor was the emerging gasoline crisis, which reached its peak in the 1970s.

The Need for Speed—Then and Now

Perhaps nothing exemplifies the American fascination with speed as a display of freedom as the muscle car. The introduction of the first production line  street racing capable car can be dated to 1955 when Chevrolet offered its Bel Air with optional four barrel carburetor and duel exhaust (Mueller 109) that could go from 0-60 in 9.7 seconds (Mueller 120). But the Bel Air was just the beginning. Over the next 12 years the engines were boosted in both size and horsepower.