I think we can all agree that the 560SL was a roadster . . . ?
Maybe not a particularly sporty roadster, but a roadster, nonetheless
Putting a manufacturer's biggest and most powerful V8 in the smallest car does not necessarily make it a muscle car
Putting a 427 in a Vega does not make the Vega a muscle car.
I like watching Street Outlawsā¦many people think itās REAL. They may actually be racing and even on a streetā¦but itās completely cleared out and have many monitors to ensure no civilians are anywhere near who could get accidentally injured or killed. The Discovery Chanel would be sued out of existence if someone not associated with the show was killed or injured.
BTW, never saw a Corvette with radial tires in 67/68 time frame.
Thatās right. Thatās why I made a point of telling you I never owned one new. By the time I was buying those cars, they were used. Some still had bias plys. Most were running radials by then. But I never smoked the tires even when they were the bias plys.
Based on your stories, I tend to agree with Texases- in the hands of a complete novice, one could ruin the performance of even the most proficient carā¦
You did bring back a lot of memories regarding red light challenges from back in the day!
Fond memories of those timesā¦
By My Definition, America āInvented And Holds The Patentā On Muscle Cars.
Iām Sorry, but In All My Years Of Growing Up And Living Amongst Muscle Cars I Never Saw A European (Mercedes, BMW, MG, Jag, Etcetera) Or Asian (Datsun, Toyota, Honda, Etcetera) Muscle Car.
European cars were into road racing with little 4 cylinder sports carsā¦ Asian cars? They did there own thing, but not muscle cars.
Muscle Cars, Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Drive-In Movies, Drive-In Restaurants, Gas Guzzling, Large Displacement V-8s, Glass Packs, Dumps (Cut-Outs), Drag Racingā¦ America Owns It!
I too went for a ride in one of the first 427 Vettes (was it 67 I canāt remember?). The guy that owned it got a large inheritance from his parents and ordered a brand new, Blue Fastback. He drove through my subdivision and pulled out onto a highway right in front of an oncoming garbage truck.
Before I could freak out he punched it. When he shifted into second gear (at probably 60mph) both radio knobs flew past me going toward the rear. When I looked back that garbage truck was way back there.
CSA
@MikeInNH āPutting a 427 in a Vega does not make the Vega a,muscle carā. I agree with that. However, I was thinking of factory assembled muscle cars. I donāt think the factory offered a 427 in the Vega.
I really didnāt like the idea of the manufacturers offering muscle cars. I had respect for those who did build their own " muscle cars" or hit rods as we called them in my day. The factory muscle cars were made for the wealthy who couldnāt build their own rod. I had an āanti muscle carā. In 1978 I bought a new Oldsmobile 4-4-2. However, at that time, the 4-4-2 was just a trim package and a,firmer suspension. The engine was a,260 V8 and the transmission was the three speed automatic. Why did I buy it? The car sat on the dealerās lot from April to October and I bought it for a much lower price than an new econobox. I kept the car for 33 years.
I agree about the 560SL as a roadster, and a touring car.
"Putting a 427 in a Vega does not make the Vega a,muscle car"
Iāll second that one! A big block in a Vega is a recipe for wheelspin and eating the gaurdrail!
The H-Body Vega never got more than a 4 cylinder from GM. Their H-Special cousin, the Monza, however, did see 3.8L V6ās, 305 V8ās and the California-emission-only 350 V8. Pretty much no one calls these Muscle Cars.
Seems like Muscle Cars is usually reserved for the 1964 to 1974 āsmallā cars with big V8 engines pioneered by the 389 tri-power GTO. Probably the last would be the '74 Super Duty 455 Firebird, IMHO. Todays Mustangs, Camaros and Chargers are muscle cars but they arenāt Classic Muscle Cars.
ā¦and speaking of muscle carsā¦
What comes to my mind when the term is mentioned is medium to large sedans or coupes with oversized motors straight from the factory. 396 Camaros, Olds 442s, and anything in between with a big motor.
medium to large sedans or coupes with oversized motors
In the olden days those 17 foot long intermediates were āsmallā American carsā¦ 
And āoversizedā was completely relative! But even with the ābigā engine, you could still climb into a GTOās engine compartment WITH the engineā¦ 
These days you canāt see the ground through a Mustangās engine compartment!
These days you canāt even see the engine!
@db4690, I agree with you in situations like that. My point about my early days of street racing and so on is that it was never, ever done with pedestrians around or on a section of roadway with traffic.
Believe it or not, some consideration was given for others. As I stated earlier, there has never been one incident around here of injuries or deaths due to street racing other than one fatality who rolled his 1940 Ford pickup at 115 MPH; and that happened on a small, sanctioned drag strip.
There was another incident of a guy rolling a late 60s original Ford GT on the edge of town. The car flipped end over end for well over a 1000 feet. The driver had a few minor bruises but no one else was around.
The OK state troopers had no issue with it and never even cited the guy. The OHP claimed the GT was āonly going 35 MPHā; in a 65 at night I might addā¦
They also didnāt seem to have a problem with their fellow trooper leadfooting his Cyclone GTā¦