Essential Musclecars

By: Mike Mueller . 2nd hand book in very good condition

The era of the Musclecar, by most definitions began in 1964 and ended io years later. Many regard the first landmark car as the Pontiac GTO which owed its overnight success to the simple formula of taking a big engine and fitting it into a not-so-big body and pricing the car right; read affordable to the average guy (and girl if the original advertising is to be believed!)

The origins of the Musclecar, however can be traced back to the 1950s with the appearance of the first mass market V8 powerplants like Chevys Small block and Chrysler's Hemi both of which found their way into the best selling sedan bodies of the day as factory 'hot rod' options.

By the 196os every manufacturer was trying for a slice of the action and the market had evolved to include long-hood/short-deck models named `ponycars' after the first-ofthe-breed Ford Mustang. Safety and environmental concerns plus the Oil Crisis all conspired to put the Musclecar story on hold until the late 199o's when the breed re-emerged with cars like the Zo6 Corvette, the Dodge Viper and the supercharged Mustang Cobra.

Even the Pontiac GTO has reappeared after 30 years.

Who knows what other legendary names will reappear?

Author Mike Mueller, a self confessed gearhead, has painstakingly researched and photographed 36 of the most important landmark models which epitomize the genre. Each car featured has a full history of its design roots, production and competition success together with a quick reference Milestones feature plus full engineering and performance specifications.

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