Everyone has heard the saying – “it is always darkest before the dawn”, for American performance car fans the period of the mid-1970s to early-1980s was a very dark period. During this time engine displacement shrank faster than the current Continue reading →

Ford having muddled through the 1970s without any major breakthrough innovative cars, was changing its tune by the 1980s. Ford decided by the early 1980s to cast its stodgy image aside and begin to build innovative and modern looking cars. Continue reading →

For those old enough to remember, the Corvette (GM’s premier sports car) had turned into a flashy two-seater by the mid 1970s. The 1978 film Corvette Summer epitomized how flamboyant the Corvette had become. The Corvette by this time looked Continue reading →

The GTO was one of the biggest success stories in automotive history.  For the first time an inexpensive fast performance car was available to the masses, creating a whole new market segment called muscle cars. Within a few years just Continue reading →

Automotive history as it has been written, 1975 will never be known as a banner year for muscle cars. The GTO, Chevelle SS, Challenger, and Cuda were among some of the most famous muscle car names to bite the dust by Continue reading →

The GTO was the cornerstone of Pontiac performance. It was a car that created the muscle car segment and hit a bullseye with the wants of the emerging youth performance car market back in the 1960s. With GM’s recent announcement of Continue reading →

Muscle car fans owe a debt of gratitude to Pontiac. In 1964 Pontiac released the GTO, which started the whole muscle car frenzy. For many years thereafter Pontiac made sure it had a good selection of muscle cars among its Continue reading →

The Ford Torino has a loyal following among Ford fans, but it never achieved the popularity of other muscle car intermediates like the Pontiac GTO and Chevrolet Chevelle SS. From its beginning in 1968 through 1971, the Torino was available Continue reading →

Flashback to 1982 – there was a lingering recession that had engulfed the U.S. economy and cars were shrinking faster than the money in most people’s wallets.  If horsepower had taken a fall in the 1970s, by 1982 it was Continue reading →

When the 1964 Pontiac GTO hit the market, Dodge was paying close attention, for it was not about to be left out of this new emerging muscle car market.  Powerful V8 engines had been available since the 1950s in some Continue reading →