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Location: Democratic Peoples Republic of Redneckistan
11,078 posts, read 15,076,221 times
Reputation: 3937
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Merc63
Well, musclecar was a specific type of car. It can be argued that it began before the GTO, with the advent of the Dodge D500 and the Chrysler 300 in the '50s, and went past the early '70s with the SD455 Trans Am and the Buick Grand National in the '80s, but...
It's a specific type of car that was built for drag racing and circle track back in the day. You can't use something like the Oxford dictionary or even Merriam Webster, as neither of those are automotive publications that use automotive definitions (they both tend to use definitions taken from context in literary works, so if some author used the term in a story, then how that author used it is the "definition" which holds no water in actual automotive circles).
Mercedes had V8s back in the day, but they were not musclecars. Musclecars were a specific domestic phenomenon, regardless of how quick modern sedans are. There's a reason the GTO was considered the genesis of muslcecars, and not the earlier V8 Falcon Sprints and V8 Chevy II SS models.
And hot rods, while the term hot rod as a verb can be used as a generic term for "modifying a car for more performance," Hot Rod as a noun is a specific kind of car, as well. The term was invented FOR a specific kind of car. Any other use (even me occasionally calling my BMW a "gentleman's hot rod") is strictly tongue in cheeck and not an actual category.
Diluting the language just to make ourselves feel good about the car we currently are applying it to is doing no one any favors. If the terms can mean ANYTHING, then they end up meaning nothing.
Cars in every category have gotten faster over the years. Doesn't mean the categories have changed.
And THIS post says it all
I've had/built hot rods and musclecars of every discription over my life and these fart can vehicles are neither.
The truck I have been slowly building over the last year has finally hit almost 550 hp (my daily driver) and it's not a "hot rod" or a "muscle car" although it'll spank the hell out of a lot of vehicles(now running consistant high 11/low 12 second passes),it's still just a quick truck,not a hot rod.
Most things have been cheapened over time...Rat Rod(every rusty POS is now called a Rat Rod,nothing could be farther from the truth)
OP...THIS is a real hot rod...LISTEN to this,then go start your ride and listen to it.....THIS is what gearheads spend ALL of their money and extra time on
i dunno, to me 'hot rod' means someone modified their car to their liking for more performance. Over the decades i've been in plenty of nice cars (and a few trucks) that ranged from muscle to tuner. From a rat motored 69 Camaro to a v8 Pinto to a 500hp s2000. Those 3 alone are solid examples of 10-11 sec cars, all with 3 distinctly different ways to get there. All looked and felt different under throttle, and none really looked or sounded stock. The common thread--all were a blast, and all put a smile on one's face.
that's all that matters. Modify it, make it faster, enjoy it, and you have a hot rod.
Just one simple man's .02
My first muscle car was a 72 Gran Torino,Engine code Q. (351 Cleveland). Magneto ignition, roller rockers, roller cam, roller lifters, headers, dual exhaust with crossover, 2800 stall speed converter and positrack. It was NICE, fast, and could pass everything but a gas station. Not the car to own today.
Today, Pontiac Grand Prix, GTP/Comp G. 3.8 liter, M90 Eaton supercharger.
New Throttle body, cold air intake, better MAF, replaced front PEB with a better build, Replaced downpipe with 3 incher high flow cat, MSG coils/wires/nology plugs, 180 thermostat, and Intense-Racing PCM.
When I was in my late teens, a boss of mine had one of those as his backup/second car. He was a really good guy and let me borrow it a couple times when my car was in the shop. This was in the early 00's, when 80's retro was just starting to become really cool, and whenever I had it, my friends would freak out over how LOL COOL it was I loved the guages:
It looked like an old Atari game with the little car in the middle The weird control pods on either side of the wheel were actually pretty cool once you got used to them. It generally looked and felt like it was ripped straight out of a late-70's/early-80's Japanese sci-fi cartoon!
It handled pretty well, was actually surprisingly roomy enough for my six-two frame and three girls, and the performance wasn't awful considering its age and the fact it had something like 250k-plus on the clock. The turbo was a bit weak, but I think that was just the age of the car itself...
Ron, put a larger diameter air cleaner on it.. Will help it breath much better Very nice ...
I had a larger one but when I put in the new eng I built the intake sits higher and the air cleaner hit the hood. This one is not as tall so I am going to get a drop base air cleaner housing. I just took it off when I raced it last month.
Amuscle car :
Basically it is an American V/8 powered mid size car from the early 60's to the mid 70's.
Myself I love muscle cars and hot rods. I feel like I go back in time 40 years everytime I get behind the wheel of my 63 Plymouth. It is a street car that I drive to the track when I race it and it runs on 92 pump gas and I race thru the full exh system. I built the new 426 last winter and it does have a 4.15 stroker crank. I drove it to Chrysler Carlisle last July which is about 180 mile round trip and put it in the show field. Then in early Oct I drove to Cecil County dragway in Md and put a few passes on the new eng. I had to jet up as this baby wants alot more fuel then my old 440 did and its only and 850 carb on it. I love racing it but I am always worried I will break something. But in 10 years of driving my cars to the track I have always drove them home so I guess I am lucky. My best et that day was 10.76 @ about 125 mph. I still have more tuning to do but I was very pleased for what it is. Ron
You must be close to me then.. I am 2 hours from Carlisle and go twice every year. Cecil is an hour away and we go there too and Ill be judging the Buick event in July there..
Quote:
Originally Posted by 383man
I had a larger one but when I put in the new eng I built the intake sits higher and the air cleaner hit the hood. This one is not as tall so I am going to get a drop base air cleaner housing. I just took it off when I raced it last month.
Amuscle car :
Basically it is an American V/8 powered mid size car from the early 60's to the mid 70's.
Myself I love muscle cars and hot rods. I feel like I go back in time 40 years everytime I get behind the wheel of my 63 Plymouth. It is a street car that I drive to the track when I race it and it runs on 92 pump gas and I race thru the full exh system. I built the new 426 last winter and it does have a 4.15 stroker crank. I drove it to Chrysler Carlisle last July which is about 180 mile round trip and put it in the show field. Then in early Oct I drove to Cecil County dragway in Md and put a few passes on the new eng. I had to jet up as this baby wants alot more fuel then my old 440 did and its only and 850 carb on it. I love racing it but I am always worried I will break something. But in 10 years of driving my cars to the track I have always drove them home so I guess I am lucky. My best et that day was 10.76 @ about 125 mph. I still have more tuning to do but I was very pleased for what it is. Ron
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Now. if you had picked the gremlin instead.
I loved the guages:
Very nice ... 
