Muscle Cars That Defined The Golden Age Of American Power

The Golden Age of American Power kicked off in 1964 with the introduction of the Pontiac GTO, but the classic muscle car era really took shape a few years later. All the early muscle cars were existing models with high-performance V-8 options, like the Chevrolet Impala or Plymouth Belvedere, and could be had in decidedly uncool four-door and wagon configurations. Meanwhile, the new nameplates of the time, such as the Dodge Charger and Chevrolet Camaro were made to capitalize on the pony car fun of the Ford Mustang.

Beginning in 1968, automakers put out models that were specifically geared for the looking cool and going fast crowd, which are what most people think of as true classic muscle cars. This was also a time when existing cars received aggressive style updates and powerful engine options as well as performance packages. The Golden Age of American Muscle is generally considered from 1964-1973ish, but the models that most defined that era were unleashed in a very short window of time between 1968 and 1970.

There are some iconic and important muscle cars that are not on this list, but what this is about is the way the classic era is perceived today. These are the cars that people associate with that glorious time and the classics that have become superstars. Dominick Toretto didn’t drive a ’66 Satellite, and Big Chief didn’t drag his way to the top of the list on Street Outlaws in a ’64 Goat. As the title says, these are the cars that defined the Golden Age of American muscle.

10 1968 Dodge Charger R/T

Second-Gen Mopar Magic

Dodge came out with the Charger in 1966 as their pony car answer to the wildly popular Ford Mustang. It was kind of weird-looking with an oversized rear window/sloping fastback, but it did come available with a Hemi. Unfortunately, there weren’t many takers and it was a flop. Dodge could have abandoned the Charger nameplate, but instead, they came back in 1968 with the most amazing design and the defining car of the classic era of American muscle.

Power and Performance

The second-gen Charger is one of the most gorgeous cars ever made, with a sexy Coke bottle shape, that is also aggressive and muscular. ’68 was also the year that Chrysler dictated that the 426 Street Hemi could only be equipped in designated muscle cars, and for the Charger, that was the R/T. The hottest design, with the best engine combined to make the ’68 Charger R/T the King of the Golden Age of muscle cars, and one of the most collectible rides today.

9 1968 Pontiac GTO

Greatest Of All Time G.O.A.T.

The Pontiac GTO started the whole muscle car craze in 1964, but it was actually just a performance package of the Tempest. Even when it became its own nameplate a year later, it was still a Tempest, with the letters GTO on the grille. As cool and important as the GTO was, its styling was more pre-muscle car era, but that all changed in 1968, when it got a redesign, bringing it into the age it created. The second-gen GTO got some sleek curves and a bold stance, making it look like something that was itching for a fight.

Power and Performance

At that time, GM had a big engine ban for intermediate cars, but the GTO did the best it could with the 400ci V-8 it was limited to. It was by no means a slow ride, and in later years of the second generation, the GTO would get some great performance packages like the iconic Judge, and eventually a 455ci V-8, when GM finally lifted its silly ban in 1970. 1968 was the year when the muscle car progenitor finally got some actual muscle in both performance and appearance.

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8 1968 Oldsmobile 442

Oldsmobile Tries Something New

Like the GTO, the Oldsmobile 442 was always a cool and fast ride, but its design was kind of stuck in the past, when the classic muscle car era was all about speeding into the future. Based on the Cutlass, initially in 1964, the 442 became its own model in 1968 for its second generation and received a much-needed style update. Its practical family car looks were replaced with smooth lines and some angry heft, that gave the car a surly attitude.

Power and Performance

The 442 was also under the Draconian GM engine ban, but in 1968 Oldsmobile found a way around that by partnering with Hurst Performance to build a special edition with the mighty 455 under the hood. The Hurst/Olds 442 was a wicked street fighter that could actually challenge a Hemi-equipped Mopar on the track. While the regular production model, with a 400ci V-8 wasn’t the fastest muscle car ever built, it had the right look and in the following years would get the performance to match.

7 1968 Plymouth Road Runner

The Name Says It All

The 1968 Plymouth Road Runner was the first set of wheels, built from scratch, specifically for the classic era of muscle cars. It was conceived as an affordable, bare-bones street machine with immense power and not a lot of frills. It certainly achieved those goals as well as becoming one of the most defining cars of the Golden Age, with a design that conveyed this was a car capable of inflicting great harm. There had been rides that looked sleek or sexy, but this one seemed like it wanted to punch you in the face.

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Power and Performance

Unlike a lot of classic-era muscle cars that came with weenie six-cylinder options, the Road Runner only had the top V-8s available, including the 383, 440, and, of course, the big dog 426 Hemi. Lending credence to the idea that the Road Runner was the quintessential classic muscle car, more 426 Street Hemis found their way under their hoods than any other Mopar nameplate. The first-gen Road Runner was very similar to the revamped ’68 Dodge Cornet as well as the Super Bee, so it had an era-defining design.

6 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1

From Pony to Stallion

Since its introduction in 1964½, the Ford Mustang has been a fun ride that appealed to a younger crowd, which is kind of the same thing with muscle cars. The Mustang, however, was never a top performer, and despite Carroll Shelby’s efforts, it couldn’t hang with the Alpha Dog street machines. It was also more of a cute car than a mean one, but things started to change in 1967, when it got a little wider and angrier. Then, in 1969, both the Mach 1 and the Boss 429 came out with a bold new look that finally placed them among the muscle car elite.

Power and Performance

The ’68 Mach 1, though still part of the first-gen Mustang, grew a few inches in length and spread out a few inches more, which, when combined with the badass SportsRoof fastback styling, made for a killer ride. Ford also unlocked the 428 Super-Cobra V-8, which propelled the Mach 1 to the first Mustang that could run a quarter-mile in the 13s. This was the first true Mustang muscle car, both in style and substance, and remains a favorite to this day, commanding top-dollar at auction.

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5 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS

Chevy Flexes Its MuscleSS

This may seem like a controversial pick, considering that the Chevrolet Chevelle has been a defining muscle car since its introduction in 1964 and the SS package in 1965. There is some method to this madness because, initially, the Chevelle wasn’t all that cool looking. It got some better style after a few years, and was seriously upgraded with the second generation in 1968. Still, it was under the GM engine ban for most of its existence in the classic era, but in 1970 it finally got access to the 454 V-8, allowing it to become a dominating force.

Power and Performance

1970 was also the year that the Chevelle got new sheet metal, giving it that awesome Coke bottle shape, and with the newly available power options, became what everyone remembers as the greatest Chevy muscle car ever built. Much like the Mustang Mach 1, the Chevelle was finally a 13-second car, which was the standard in the Golden Age. With the new, more aggro look, along with the twin hood stripes, the ’70 Chevelle SS is among the upper echelon of the most iconic and defining classic muscle cars.

4 1970 Dodge Challenger

No Challenge Left Unmet

Dodge tried and failed to get in on the pony car craze with the ’66 Charger, but it was a blessing in disguise because it eventually led to the second-gen Charger, which is the most iconic muscle car of the classic era. They gave it another stab in 1970, but brought some muscle car sensibility to the project, yielding wildly better results. The 1970 Challenger was the last great Dodge of the Golden Age because it not only looked amazing, but also had a scary level of performance available.

Power and Performance

Style-wise, it’s hard to beat the first-gen Challenger, and to back that up, when Dodge rebooted the car in 2008, they kept the design almost exactly the same as the original. When it came to blowing off doors, the ’70 Challenger R/T equipped with the 426 Street Hemi was almost unbeatable, making legends out of street racers who owned them. Just as GM lifted their big engine ban so Chevys and Pontiacs could finally compete with Mopars, Dodge dropped a ride that they couldn’t touch at the red light or on the track.

3 1970 Ford Torino Cobra

The Grandest of Torinos

Ford was busy with the Mustang and was late to the muscle car game, but eventually came out with the Torino in 1968. The first-year model almost looked like Ford was trying to replicate the first-gen Dodge Charger, which isn’t a compliment, and then, in 1969, the Torino was a weird mutant, elongated Mustang kind of a thing. Finally, in 1970, they found the right design, and had themselves a bona fide classic-era muscle car any driver would be proud of.

Power and Performance

While other mid-era muscle cars had Coke bottle bodies, the second-gen Torinio’s design was actually inspired by the bulging forward and rear fuselages of supersonic aircraft. Keeping with that theme, Ford also had the foresight to make proper muscle car engines available, like the 428 Cobra Jet in the ’70 Torino Cobra, so owners wouldn’t get embarrassed off the line. Obviously, the Mustang is Ford’s most famous ride, but the Torino Cobra was their best muscle car of the classic era.

2 1970 Pontiac Firebird

Rise of the Phoenix

There is no question that first-gen Pontiac Firebirds and Chevy Camaros were awesome classic performance vehicles, but in their second generations, they really became what most people associate with a muscle car. The ’67 through ’69 models were certainly fast, but they were also kind of adorable looking, when true muscle needs to be intimidating. The second-gen Firebird was longer, wider, and came off like it was dangerously unapproachable.

Power and Performance

Maybe it’s because the second generation of the Firebird lasted until the 1980s, or perhaps due to Burt Reynolds driving one in Smokey and the Bandit, but this is a body style people think of as a classic muscle car. The ’70 model was still using the 400ci V-8 as its top engine option, but by the following year, it went fully into the 455, which made for the fastest Pontiacs of the Golden Age. This was the generation of the Firebird that gave us the “Screaming Chicken” hood decal, so clearly, it’s the best.

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1 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda

Mopar’s Last Great Muscle Flex

The Plymouth Barracuda was redubbed simply ‘Cuda for the third generation starting in 1970, and was the final awesome Mopar of the classic era. Though it shared the E-Body platform with the Dodge Challenger, it had sheet metal all of its own and was one of the most visually stunning muscle cars ever made. The most amazing thing about the ’70 ‘Cuda design is, it looked like a completely different car from every angle. At a 3/4 view, it was a wide-body aggressive muscle car, on the side it looked like a missile, and from the front, it was a battering ram.

Power and Performance

There was no better version of the ’70 model than the Hemi ‘Cuda, which, duh, was sporting a 426 Street Hemi under that Shaker hood. This was not only the quickest accelerating Mopar, but the fastest of all regular production cars of the Golden Age. As explosive as the ’70 was off the line, the identical ’71 Hemi ‘Cuda was a tenth of a second faster in the quarter-mile. This is one of the top defining rides of the classic muscle car era and the most desirable for collectors. Ultra-rare Hemi ‘Cuda convertibles sell into the multi-millions at auction making them tops in that category as well.