It's the sheer simplicty of the Muscle Car that makes it so universally appealing. The recipe is just so straightforward. Take a compact automobile and install an incredibly-powerful engine (preferably a V8) to deliver a tire-frying performance. No auto enthusiast can argue with that one. It's a formula for success that has been tried and tested for 50 years and has created some of the most exciting cars in history. Just mentioning the names Mustang, Charger, GTO, Corvette or Viper sends a shiver down the spine.
The Muscle Car story began in America's post-war boom of the 1950s as inter-brand rivalry in Detroit saw horsepower figures steadily rising through the decade. But these big engines were being fitted to big cars and they didn't have mass-market appeal.
That would all change in 1964 when Pontiac installed a full-size engine into a mid-size car and created the awesome GTO, the first true Muscle Car. And the rest of Detroit followed. Fast. The Ford Mustang, Plymouth Road Runner, Dodge Charger, Plymouth Barracuda and Chevrolet Camaro all appeared before the eager public could pause for breath. Horsepower went through the roof as the cars competed on the streets and on the track. Ford managed to wring 675bhp out of its Cammer V8, the highest power of any Detroit engine ever. Hertz bought up a whole series of Shelby GT350 Mustangs to rent out to weekend racers and Plymouth's Road Runner Superbird and its Dodge Daytona rival brought NASCAR to the streets. It was Muscle Car mania...