Yep. And that is the reason I will not buy a muscle car of any type. ;-)



Funny that you say that. The true "muscle car" era was very short-lived.
It's origins was in the early 60's with limited availability to the
consumer - manufacturers had to build a minimum number of car models and
engines (427 Ford, 426 hemi Chrysler) engines a year to qualify as "stock"
for NASCAR racing purposes. The 1964 Pontiac Tempest GTO is considered by
many to be the first mass produced "muscle car". (It's an interesting story
how how John DeLoreon managed sneak that one by the Board of Directors at
Pontiac). But, by the end of the 60's the fed had started imposing emission
requirements that lowered compression ratios and horsepower. By 1972 there
was no longer a true stock "muscle car".

Now, within the past 5 years or so and due to advancements in engineering
and engine design, there are some current model cars that can outperform
their 1960 something counterparts. For example, the new Dodge Charger R/T
with the mini-hemi is faster than a '69 Charger R/T with the high output
440.
Not by much ... but it's faster and handles much better. Same is true of
the limited production version of the new GTO.

So .... you may be driving a muscle car and not even realize it.

Eisboch