10 wimpiest muscle cars ever- Popular Mechanics

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DA69RT GT

DA69RT GT

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Just saw this link- thought I'd share:


http://autos.yahoo.com/news/10-wimpiest-muscle-cars-ever.html?page=9





10 wimpiest muscle cars ever





04-plymouth-volare-jpg_232414.jpg

1976–1980 Plymouth Volare Road Runner

Few cars from the muscle-car explosion of the 1960s carried a stronger performance rep than the Road Runner. The 440 Six Pack and Hemi cars dominated on the street and strip. And the Road Runner–based Plymouth Superbird became a legend on Nascar tracks in 1970 and a rare (and valuable) sight on the street today.

But in the mid-70s, Plymouth affixed the Road Runner name to the lowly Volare midsize coupe. The standard engine was a wheezy 318-cid V-8 with just 160 hp. An optional 175–195 hp (depending on the year) 360 cid V-8 made the Volare Road Runner a bit quicker, but it still was no match for the 1960s and early 1970s cars. Worse, the Plymouth Volare and its Dodge Aspen brethren were prone to rust (as seen here), prompting a major recall in 1977.
 
Thanks Doug. Funny thing is none of those are really muscle cars. Pony cars maybe but not muscle. That Mustang II is pretty cool though.
 
their list is legit only because none of those are muscle cars.. except road runner but i still dont see that as a muscle car for some reason
 
The worst part they didn't mention is the Road Runner (and Aspen R/T) could even be had with a slant 6 the last years.

It's a great engine, but not for a performance car in 1978/1980 tune.
 
and come on the delorean only has to go 88 mph so who cares if it goes any faster
 
It's obvious that Popular Mechanics doesn't know squat about Muscle Cars. The article was probably written by some youngster that wasn't even born yet when those cars were made. Most of them listed wouldn't be considered "muscle". They were just Detroit's attempt at keeping the Muscle Car spirit alive. tmm
 
eh, sounds about right to me. Maybe the delorean doesnt fit, but the rest are "muscle cars" of that era and they all sucked.
 
by 1977, the "muscle car" era was long gone. just as the dart nameplate is being used to "sell" cars today, the RR nameplate was being used to market the volare. the RR and aspen R/T were only appearance packages and nothing more. to even define any car built past 1974 as a "muscle car" is ludacris.... and even 74 is pushing it IMO
 
I think it's funny how the American car companies thought that if they took an otherwise crappy car, put some graphics a spoiler and ground effects on it that we would assume it was a "muscle car". I guess some people thought they had themselves a muscle car when they bought them. I've always like the look of the Mirada but never thought of it as a muscle car, more of a sporty looking old guys car. Now that I'm an old guy I'd love to drive one of them as a daily driver.
 
Roadrunner + GTO were at least named after muscle cars, also liked the way a plain scoop was dubbed "shaker"...a couple pony car based ones...the rest are stand alone abominations
 
I bought a worse for wear 69 Roadrunner when I was 18 and it was still a monster. Like so many other kids, I spent all my money on the car and had no money for improvements...like decent tires. I think it had bias-ply 78's. I could never get off the line, but I was the local smoke show king!
 
These BUTTHEADS don't know muscle cars.....which died after 71 and will not return...including all the new junk built....thriving on someone else's nickel.....
 
Muscle cars have big blocks.....You can't put a 318 car in that category.
 
BigRichieO said:
I think it's funny how the American car companies thought that if took a otherwise crappy car put on some graphics, a spoiler and ground effects on it that we would assume it was a "muscle car". I guess some people thought they had themselves a muscle car when they bought them. I've always like the look of the Mirada but never thought of it as a muscle car, more of a sporty looking old guys car. Now that I'm an old guy I'd love to drive one of them as a daily driver.
Click to expand...
I agree about the mirada. Last year saw one that was mean *** and wouldn't mind driving one now. Has potential but was never a muscle car.
 
I didn't read all of this but what I DID read seems dead nuts on. This is about Detroit screwing the American pubic with lies, junk, and rust, instead of actually building something worthwhile. It's about pasting stickers that belong on real horsepower onto smog laden, under-undercoated rust buckets which don't even look good while parked.

The thing is, these cars embarrassed those of us that were THERE. To see "Road Runer" or "Cobra" on one of these, to have to EXPLAIN to some layman why these were "special" really HURT. And this type of thing is one reason why I'm so PISSED everytime I think about the "new improved" Chrysler repopping the "Dart" name just to make a buck.
 
It's about name recognition.If slapping a well respected name on an inferior product,increases profits for an minimal investement in decals. Sure,they would do it.In an interview of the making of the Road Runner,the ceo of Plymouth wanted to apply that name to all Plymouths 1 way or another.
 
Show of hands that EVER thought a gremlin was a muscle car,whats with that.It was a lame car as a family beater much less a muscle car.only thing I think should have been different was replace the gremlin with a 1984 corvette,man those things were dogs.Ironically that is the only body style vette that I like just something like 150hp.
 
You have to go back to the late 70's and 80's and remember the government was coming down hard on the auto companies.The cars on that list for the era they were built was right in line with the other cars and probably a little faster.Except that pontiac,4 cylinder really in a huge car,lol
 
You could still get a big block 4 speed Mopar in 1974,although horsepower was down.After 1974 the muscle car was no more...
 
mopar410 said:
Show of hands that EVER thought a gremlin was a muscle car,whats with that.
Click to expand...

:cheers:

Had my butt handed to me by a 401 powered Gremlin X. So, yeah, I'll give it the muscle car badge. There was also a pretty nasty Matador cruising around the ol hometown, too.
 
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