Cuda, need I say more? Rocketman
Sure. Build one out of anything you want. Say a mid-1950s Buick Roadmaster or a Special. You can replace the drive train and suspension with something more modern.
I know the SVO was a four banger, but I actually consider it a minor muscle car if you want to call it that. Those things would flat move. The son of a guy I know used to have one and it held up pretty well considering the kid was beating it into the pavement. He went through several head gaskets on it.
There was a guy running the equivalent of a Mustang SVO (Merkur XR4) at the road race track here a couple of years back and he was beating 427 Vettes and Mustang CJ428s on the course with the turbo 2.3; and he was using s stone stock bottom end and rear end while doing it.
The early ones did have some turbo lag (most all turbo cars did then) but this got resolved in the later ones.
Even the Buick Grand National is a muscle car IMHO, V-6 or not. The GN in stock form will outrun many muscle cars from the 60s and 70s even when being “outdisplaced” cubic inch wise.
The right one will be the one you can find that will make the money spent well worth it. ‘Investing’ in rare muscle cars is a crap shoot. You must be able to do most of the labor intensive work yourself, or labor charges will wipe out any ‘investment’. Then, it will become like most projects like this, a labor of love. I got lucky, and found my current project as a basket case haunting this guy’s driveway. But, it is a long, hard, thankless job sometimes. I’ve had it over a year, and still am working on the drivetrain. Engine and trans were already cracked open, and I’m on a tight budget for machine work and parts.
Plymouth GTX or Roadrunner with a 440 engine and four speed. Power that will scare you. Dude from Poland Springs used to do J strips all the time with it. Big wide tires too and it didn’t hop or go out of control. Go to the airport for gasoline though. I don’t think they have 98 octane even there anymore.