Top 10 Muscle Cars

Lists: All, Engineering ; Written or Posted by: William O'Dell

MOPAR, Mustangs and meaty motors – they are all part of this inspiring Top 10 list of the best classic American muscle cars. Sure, some cars such as Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari could be categorized as muscle, but those cars were built with a different richer clientele in mind. The true muscle car was built for the everyday American who would spend from $500 to a couple grand more in the late 60s and early 70s for that one jaw-dropping feature – more power! Through the ages, boys have always been attracted to their toys, these toys just happened to be bigger, badder and with a lot more muscle than their standard counterparts.

10. 1965 Pontiac GTO

Possibly the one to start the American muscle car craze, the Goat or 1965 Pontiac Tempest GTO option featured racing car options that remained inspirational long after it was out driven in speed and power. From 0-60 in 6.1 seconds was not shabby, but not awe-inspiring considering the next 10 years of muscle cars. Regardless, this muscle car has the chops to make this list just by starting the phenom that has turned car enthusiasts into weekend warriors under the hood.

9. 1970 Buick ‘GSX’ Stage 1

A beefy Buick, the Stage 1 ‘GSX’ performance package boasted 360 bhp though testers said it came in at closer to 400 for the bigger valved, better headed and hotter camshafted car. This supercar did the quarter mile in 13.38 seconds and came in only two colors – Apollo White or Saturn Yellow.

8. 1969 Ford Mustang ‘Boss 429’

The ‘Boss 429’ 1969 Ford Mustang was the costliest non-Shelby Mustang Ford offered at the time. The reason came down to the semi-hemi 429 engine that Ford wanted to get into NASCAR. While the car was not built for its screaming starts, it was known for long-haul racing capabilities and smooth handling.

7. 1970 Plymouth Hemi-Cuda

The baddest of the 1970 Plymouth Barracudas or Hemi Cudas featured a 425 bhp 426 hemi engine. This muscle car boasted a 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds and was known for burning rubber without much prompting. A brute on the road, the Hemi Cuda was made for muscle lovers. The Hemi Cuda came in one engine size, 426, while the other four engine options for the ‘Cuda did not have hemispherical heads.

6. 1969 Z28 Camaro

Not the most powerful, the 1969 Z28 Camaro was built for the excitement of road racing and loved for its sense of style and handling capabilities. Perhaps one of the most stylish muscle cars, this Camaro could do a quarter-mile in 14.8 seconds though only at a speed of a little more than 100 mph. Despite that obvious lack of raw power, it was noted for its great handling with four-disc brakes, positraction and power steering.

5. 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C

Thought to have too much power for its chassis, the 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C featured an impressive 480 bhp. This sporty little number looked like a European sports car, yet had the muscle to prove it was American. Two twin turbocharged versions of this super car were made – one for Bill Cosby and one for Shelby. Cosby sold his because it had too much power and the next owner put it in a lake; Shelby’s Super Snake was sold in 2007 for $5.5 million US.

4. 1968 L88 Corvette

Boasting a top speed of about 170 mph with a special order package, the 1968 L88 Corvette is thought to be the end-all, be-all in the Corvette world. The 550 bhp motor was designed specifically for racing and GM didn’t want the L88 on the open road due to its power. More standard features of everyday cars such as air conditioning and a radio weren’t even offered to make this powerful car less attractive to the common man.

3. 1970 454 Chevelle SS

The 1970 Super Sport package Chevelle featuring the LS6 package came in at a whopping 454 horse. The option was standard for the average car buyer of the day making it one of the most powerful stock cars anyone could purchase. With racing stripes and a smooth interior, this muscle monger was the average muscle lover’s dream.

2. 1969 427 COPO Chevelle

A special order by dealers designated Central Office Production Order, the 1969 427 COPO Chevelle had a limited run of about 320 cars. This 450 bhp muscle car was fitted with a L72 427-cid V-8 due to demand from muscle loving Chevy dealers. Interestingly enough, Chevy didn’t want their mid-sizes at the time to have more than 400 cid. But the COPO Chevelles were made and distributed to some very happy dealers.

1. 1969 ZL1 Camaro

Perhaps one of the rarest of muscle cars, the 1969 ZL1 Camaro featured a jaw-dropping 500 horses under the hood in an aluminum V-8 engine. This bad boy American beast could go from 0-60 in about 5.3 seconds, which was why some of the 69 models made found their way into drag-racing. Over time, the full complement of cars was sold; however, the package option was never offered again.

List suggested by Everdrive, go green with used auto parts.

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20 Responses to “Top 10 Muscle Cars”

TopTenz Master on October 25th, 2008 1:17 pm

My first car in 1984 was actually a 1969 Chevelle SS which I loved. Too bad it only got 9mpg and I had to sell it for a Top Ten Chevrolet Hatchback. Ugh, I would love to have that car back now.
Matt on October 25th, 2008 2:02 pm

The vette and cobra arent muscle cars, throw a daytona or superbird in there and a trans am a more accurate list.
CHris on October 25th, 2008 2:24 pm

“A brute on the road, the Hemi Cuda was made for muscle lovers and came in five different engine sizes.”

…is incorrect: the Hemi Cuda came in one engine size, 426, while the other four engine options for the ‘Cuda did not have hemispherical heads.
Liam on October 25th, 2008 3:29 pm

The cobra WAS a european car, thats why it looked like one, then shelby bought the manufacturer.
TopTenz Master on October 25th, 2008 5:50 pm

Chris, thanks for the correction on the Hemi Cuda. I have made the change.
Soupbone on October 25th, 2008 6:21 pm

I agree with this list except I think they should have put the GTO Judge in there too. The body of the Cobra was of European origin, but it had that big block 427 under the hood. Carrol Shelby solidly took the body from the Europeans and “OWNED” it so it should be considered 100% American muscle now… The Corvette mentioned in this list IS a muscle car because it was Chevrolet’s answer to the Cobra. They already had the Corvette and it could not compete with the Cobra, so they stuffed the biggest engine they could under the hood. As the caption read, they attempted to make it solely a race car. This difference from the regular Corvettes should qualify the L88 as a member of the so-called “Muscle Car” family. That’s my $0.02.
CrashBomb on October 26th, 2008 12:38 am

A well thought out article and I agree with most of your picks, but I have a few small points of disagreement.

The 1969 Z/28 did not have standard four wheel disc brakes. Four wheel, four piston Corvette calipers were an option package (RPO JL8) designed to make the Z/28 more competitive in the SSCA Trans Am road racing series. The 1969 RPO JL8 has one of the lowest production figures of all Camaro options. Officially, Chevy submitted an “arbitrary” production figure of 206 units. But this figure may have been intentionally inflated in order to satisfy the SCCA minimum requirement for homologation of the Camaro and its equipment.

The title of “rarest of all muscle cars” would probably not go to the ‘69 ZL-1 Camaro (69 models built), but instead to the ZL-1 Corvette (only two are known to have been produced). The ZL-1 package did show up again on a 1993 Camaro, but GM only built one example to silence the naysayers who claimed they would never build another big block F-Body. The ‘93 ZL-1 was never sold, rumors place it either in GM’s collection, a private collection, or bought by Year One.

Statistics from Chevy and extrapolations by authentication experts claim somewhere on the order of 4450 LS6 Chevelles were produced, a small fraction of the 60,000+ Chevelles built in 1970. So it’s untrue to say that the LS6 option was “standard for the average car buyer of the day.” If there were that many of them built originally it wouldn’t be so rare to find a true LS6 today.

Also, it may be slightly more accurate to claim that the ‘64 (and not the ‘65) GTO was the car to “start the muscle car craze.” The ‘65 and subsequent years definitely outsold the ‘64, but the GTO options package for the ‘64 Le Mans was almost certainly the first of what would become the stereotypical “American muscle car” in the 1960s and 70s.

It’s a small point of contention, but the GTO wasn’t an options package for the Tempest. Some of the early Pontiac models blend together at times due to interchangeable parts and nearly identical V8 designs, but the Le Mans was an option for the Tempest, the GTO was an option for the Le Mans.
The progression, from lowest to highest, is;
Tempest (Base model, I6 or 326 V-8)
Le Mans (Trim package for the Tempest)
GTO (389 engine in a Le Mans)
Time Tracker on October 28th, 2008 9:33 am

No mention of the Plymouth GTX? Sad.
mehmet on October 29th, 2008 9:14 am

i have 69 mustang in turkey. but not like this one:) i love it
DigitalRedEye on October 30th, 2008 7:45 pm

No mention of the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona? What gives? The 1969 Dodge Daytona set a speed record that held for 13 years, to be broken by about 1 mph in 1983.
karakalem on November 14th, 2008 6:15 pm

Off. My Favorites car:1969 Ford Mustang â??Boss 429â??
Ryan G on November 16th, 2008 11:14 am

Def the Shelby Cobra for me.
Barry from http://www.musclecars.com on November 18th, 2008 6:39 am

Musclecars are awesome. Thanks for all the pictures and information.

Love it.
RedBull on November 25th, 2008 10:42 am

One car that is missing that SHOULD be here I think is the 1968 Dodge Charger 500.
KidMustang on November 28th, 2008 10:18 am

Glad I stumbled across this article, some awsome cars here. 69 Mustang 429 boss has gotta be my fave…
Fausto on December 28th, 2008 2:00 am

What about the 1963 Chevy Corvette Stingray Splitwindow coupe? Its not mentioned in here IT IS MY FAVORITE MUSCLE CAR OF ALL! Also what about the 1969 YENKO CAMARO?
ken on January 4th, 2009 5:32 pm

Corvettes started production in 1953 (musclecar???).
Corvettes and Cobras definitely not musclecars,they border on exotics./sportscars.
G3ARHE4D on February 3rd, 2009 10:42 pm

FYI the cobra had two super snakes the were produced that is stated in this post but they were supercharged not turbocharged and I am one that perfers fords but I also believe the dodge charger should be in the list
eric on March 31st, 2009 1:53 pm

Nice rating. Shelby Cobra very beautiful car !
cisco on June 18th, 2009 7:32 pm

nice pic for #1 spot i am a big time chevy fan let alone i a huge camaro fan