The First Muscle Car

[knitetrain05]

Just some trivia for us motor heads. First muscle, 1948 Oldsmoble Rocket 88.

[tramtwo]

I always feel like i was born too late...

[Stingray]

Not "The one that started it all. The original muscle car." ?

IMO we also pay to the GTO... 60s-70s: Muscle Cars History: The Pontiac GTO

Still arguably... The world's first "muscle car," the Pontiac GTO debuted in the 1960s and revolutionized the auto industry.
http://www.history.com/videos/first-...rs-pontiac-gto

[knitetrain05]

Yes. it is considerd by many car buffs and the auto industery that this car stater it all. look it up for your self. we are talking 1948 here guys.

[VcrusaderV]

IMO there were no muscle cars till the 60s, previous to that they were hot rods.

[knitetrain05]

The Oldsmobile 88 (a.k.a. Eighty-Eight) was a full-size car sold by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors and produced from 1949 until 1999. From 1950 to 1974 the 88 was the division's top-selling line, particularly the entry-level models such as the 88 and Dynamic 88. The 88 series was also an image leader for Oldsmobile, particularly in the early years (1949–51) when it was one of the best performing automobiles thanks to its relatively small size, light weight and advanced overhead-valve high-compression V8 engine originally designed for the larger C-bodied and more luxurious 98 series but it also replaced the straight-8 on the smaller B-bodied 78, creating what was considered the predecessor of muscle cars of the 1960s.

[knitetrain05]

Originally Posted by VcrusaderV

IMO there were no muscle cars till the 60s, previous to that they were hot rods.

no car company sold hot rods. hot rods are standard cars that are modded out by owners. this was a producton car that had performance in mind and was produced as such for the market of young guys comming back from ww2. something with more power and speed in mind. it fit the market well and performed very well in cars racing of the time

[Scalded Dog]

"Muscle cars" are like "assault wepons," or "hot chicks." There's no absolute definition... each person on the planet has their own definition of what defines each. Even if Webster or Hennesey or Obama or Callaway or Merriam or Barrett or Jackson creates a "definition," it it still open to personal interpretation. I you think it walks like a duck, and you think it talks like a duck, then... you can call it a duck. But, the next guy might not think it's a duck... your opinion vs. his, and that's okay. But if you don't LIKE his opinion... Tell him to duck off!

[hightower]

Whenever I think of muscle cars the first thing I think of is the GTO.
But I do believe muscle cars owe their heritage to the Rocket 88.

[Stingray]

Originally Posted by hightower

Whenever I think of muscle cars the first thing I think of is the GTO.
But I do believe muscle cars owe their heritage to the Rocket 88.

to the GTO

to the Rocket 88

[LOWDOWN]

Originally Posted by knitetrain05

Just some trivia for us motor heads. First muscle, 1948 Oldsmoble Rocket 88.

The OHV 303 cubic inch Olds "Rocket" V8 was, in fact, introduced as a Model Year '49 engine...

There aren't any factory-built '63 GTOs...or '09 Camaros...

[knitetrain05]

Originally Posted by LOWDOWN

The OHV 303 cubic inch Olds "Rocket" V8 was, in fact, introduced as a Model Year '49 engine...

There aren't any factory-built '63 GTOs...or '09 Camaros...

True point taken

[ChrisBlair]

I'd own one, but no '49 Olds was a muscle car

Maybe the oldest forerunner, sure. But a fullsize car? The general definition of muscle car is intermediate car that could have the largest factory installed engine, not any car that had an identity due to a powerful engine

if the '49 Olds is a muslce car, then in 1938 Ford began the whole thing with the 24 stud flathead V8 and a 1940 Ford is a muscle car too...but I'm not of that opinion

I dig forgotten factory performance as much as the next guy, but the muscle car arena was built in the mid to late 50s, by Ford, with factory dual quad and factory supercharged Vickies. And I wouldn't call them true muscle cars either...becasue the cars that made the term come to be hadn't been built yet! Muscle cars were also about rebellious youth and general disregard for puffed up authority, and that was solidly a '60s and early '70s thing. James Dean may have been associated with something like that, but it doesn't make a Porsche 550a a muslce car, does it?