hyperlogos.org

The term "Muscle Car" is immediately evocative. We think of a powerful car, a legend; a Charger, or a Mustang, or a Barracuda. But what does the name actually mean? Simply put, your make a muscle car by taking the lighest car in the lineup, or at least one of the lightest, and shoehorning the biggest engine you can find into it. There have been numerous examples throughout automotive history, although probably two of the best examples are the Hemi-Cuda, a 1970/71 [[Plymouth Barracuda]] with a 426 Hemi V8, and the [[Chevrolet Nova]] SS, which was the smallest car at the time, and which received the 454 cubic inch V8. This is by no means an exhaustive list; for example, it's not possible to talk about muscle cars without mentioning the "440 six pack" [[Dodge Charger]], which had the 440 cubic inch V8 with three two-barrel carburetors on it. However, a car built from the ground up for speed is a [[sports car]]. That rules out many immensely powerful vehicles, such as the modern [[Chevrolet Corvette]] Z06, with an all-aluminum third-generation 427 cubic inch V8 - the "LS7" motor. This vehicle has well over four hundred horsepower, but it is a fairly heavy vehicle and was definitely built more for the track than the road. Today, the muscle car has all but disappeared. The [[Ford Mustang]] would qualify if it had more motor, but basically everyone has moved towards smaller powerplants to reduce weight and improve fuel economy. Every modern vehicle with a gigantic engine is more of a [[supercar]], which today is usually defined as a sports car which exceeds 200 MPH and has the other hardware to make use of such speed.