First of all I dont know where this belongs, so if its in the wrong forum please make adjustments as you see fit. I am having a discussion with a co worker who is telling me that a modified Honda is considered a muscle car. I disagree, I have always called them tuner cars. He say that older american cars with big V8 motors and gobs of torque from the factory are not cosidered Muscle until you modify it. Please let me know your thoughts on this subject so that we may put this to res! tHANKS!

 

In all of my years I have never heard anyone describe an import car as any sort of muscle. The term muscle car came from the 60's & 70's mid sized North American cars (not sports cars) that the big three where producing to be race ready right off the showroom floor. They did not have to be modified to be called a muscle car. they were being produced with big engines and tuned sport suspension packages right off the assembly line. A few come to mind. Barracuda, Superbird, Cyclone, Camaro, Firebird, Super Sport, Road Runner, Mustang, & Toronado just to name a few of the most common Muscle Cars. There aren't any Honda, Nissan, Toyota or Hyundai models in that list.

An import is an import and a modified import is usually referred to as a ricer, rice burner or a tuner car.

 

I would never call an import, modified or not, a muscle car. Hell, I wouldn't even call my Z06 a muscle car either. The 60s and 70s was the "muscle car era", and the muscle cars of that day were considered muscle cars regardless of any modifications.

 

I agree with both of those statements. Thanks guys !

 

Rawr!!!!! If I said to my co-workers that my Honda is a muscle car, since 2.2L is considered a big block for honda, I would get bitch slapped across my face.

Not to mentioned that 80% of them drives a 4-5L V8

 

Dont get me wrong, if their new accord came with an N/A V8 with a 6spd transmission, RWD from the factory, I think i'd consider it a muscle car, otherwise, **** no.

 

any current Hemi powered dodge sedan with an R/T badge could be considered a muscle car along with the v8 camaro and mustang (although the mustang is usually referred to as the pony car)

 

I see where you're coming from, but it's my belief (i.e. just my opinion) that a major requirement of a muscle car is that it was built during the 60s and early 70s. If I removed that "requirement", then I would definitely consider the current Challenger, Charger, etc. as muscle cars. However, I also feel like some of that muscle-car-feel of these newer cars is due to their retro styling. Or maybe I'm just being stubborn...

 

I agree with you. A new generation of muscle cars. But you left out the new GTO. BTW I wasted a 70 Chevelle muscle car last week. His expression was priceless! All he could do to me was show me his middle finger.

 

my $0.02... i think the common word for both modern imports and "american muscle" is "hot rod." it's a more general term... i think muscle car is pretty exclusive to american manufactures, and again primarily from the 60's and 70's. all the newly reimagined versions are definately cousins to the muscle cars since their design philosophy is so similar.

...and i'll stop before i really start to ramble.

 

would'nt even consider them hot rods.

modified honda is either a ricer, rice rocket, Lego car or waste of cash

 

To my understanding, the term "muscle car", should only fit the cars built on the true "muscle car era", whether north americans, europeans or asian, because at the time, each corner of these continents went along with what they considered "muscle". North american cars were bulky and came with big engines, europeans cars were not as bulky but with quite powerful engines as well. Japaneses had relativelly smaller cars, but with engines powerful enough to give you the super fast car feel.

The cars that are built these days, considered "muscle", are lacking character and basically, are simply remodeled cars from the past. More powerful than the previous models, safer than the previous models, but not as unique... as the generations from the past. The car industrly is conforming to one trend.... ain't no muscle car being built these days, you have the "supercars", but... true muscle... that has been dead for more than a decade already.

 

I totally agree with everyone!! I cant wait to show my co worker this forum on my phone in about an hour.......thanks guys.............honda muscle car, the nerve!

 

i'm not saying i agree with this but it's a little fun fact.

in Project Gotham Racing 2, they classify some japanese cars (skyline, evo, wrx, rx7) as "Pacific Muscle". ya its just a game but interesting anyway.

 

I would consider "import" anything that is across seas. lol
Basically they are all imported except american cars.

Personally In my opinion, a muscle car is a bulky american car with a stockish but strong V8 engine. I still consider the newer Mustangs, Camaros, etc... to be muscle cars. "except for the 4 cyl pony they produced to a flop" lol

I know that a hot rod is an older american car that has been modified to achieve a MUCH higher potential than just a muscle car. I went to the drag strip in Bakersfield, CA and the hot rods are MUCH faster than the muscle cars class. For example, a 69 Camaro can be either a hot rod or muscle car depending on the mods.

 

The original "hot rod" would be something like a 40's body, modified, with a V8 transplant. Growing up, my father always called any modified car from the 40's and 50's a hot rod. For me, the meaning of hot rod is about the same. I guess you could call it the era before the muscle car era.

On the other hand, the term "hot rod" is thrown around very loosely around here. I've heard many people call my Vette a hot rod (mostly older cops), and I've heard quite a few people call a modified Honda a hot rod.

 

Not really. Muscle cars originated when the Big Three started taking their big block engines from the full size models and stuffing them into the mid-size chassis, cutting weight but retaining all the grunt. A new Dodge Charger would be classified as a full size IMO, nothing really small about it when compared to today's mid-size chassis. Plus the new Hemi engine is a disgrace to the name.

As for the Mustang, it along with the Camaro and Dodge Challenger T/A were technically considered "pony cars", as they weren't really as big as the mid size bodies like the Chevelle or GTO, and they originally didn't come out with big block options (which is why I specified Challenger T/A, which I think had a 340 small block as the only engine option. R/T models were available with big blocks.) And although they were later given big block options, or transitioned over more into "muscle car" type cars, they were originally designed to be lightweight nimble cars with balanced performance.

 

I made the mistake of calling my father inlaws 29 ford a hot rod a few years back, and he set me straight on what a hot rod was like you said 40's to 50's. And then he told me he has a street rod, 20's to 30's and a 100 grand later.

As for the muscle. My 93 Honda Accord is NOT a 67 Shelby GT 500.

 

Nah your Accord is better than that old prancing pony blue oval POS... j/k I'm a Chev fan, couldn't resist.

 

I know i didn't include a lot of other cars and a G8 would be a muscle car as well., BTW a Dodge Magnum R/T would pretty much lay waste to ANY 60-70's muscle car in terms of straight line performance and cornering ability and that thing is a station wagon.

even a mid 90's Caprice SS would be considered a muscle car.......

a buick roadmaster with the LT1 could also be considerd a muscle car even though it was limited to 110mph

 

Well here's what I have noticed...........nobody mentioned any exotics...............any reasons why they dont fit this category?

 

Muscle cars are disticntly american cars

a Viper is not a muscle car and neither is a ferrari or porsche

 

So a GT40 is a muscle car?

 

GTO
Super bee
Road Runner
Dart
Imapalla SS
Olds 442
Challenger
Charger
Camaro

just to name a few

 

I mean the Ford supercar....the GT40 or whatever itis, would that be a muscle car?