The First Muscle Car Was The GTO or Was It?

Although the 1964 Pontiac GTO is acknowledged as the first muscle car there were a number
of cars that came before and certainly would fall into the muscle car category. The general
rules for a muscle car appear to be a small car and a big engine. Exactly how small the car has to be or how big the engine has to be to qualify as a muscle car is certainly open to debate. Opinions on this subject are like belly buttons, everyone has one. Most muscle cars leave no doubt as to their being the real deal but there are some that are on the border and as time goes by, the lines that separate a muscle car from a wanna-be gets blurrier and harder to see.

Back before 1964 and the GTO several cars could have claimed to be muscle cars if the name
had been in vogue at the time. It appears the word muscle car came into being after the
muscle car era was almost over with. Most of the car now known as muscle cars were called
"super cars" back when they first started.

I believe that the first car that really qualified as a muscle car was the 1949 Oldsmobile
Rocket 88. GM had a brand new 303cid V-8 with 135hp which they put in their smallest car,
which had the same body shell as the Chevrolet, and called it the Rocket 88. With the the
88 having the smallest body and the new powerful V-8 it met the definition of a muscle car.
Olds stayed ahead of the other car makers until 1954 when Buick built what could be counted
as a muscle car when they put their new 322cid 195hp engine in the light bodied Special and
called it the Century.

In 1955 Chrysler came out with the C-300 with a mighty 331cid 300hp Hemi V-8. In 1956 they
pushed it to 354cid with 355hp and were the first to get 1 horsepower from 1 cubic inch of
displacment. It was certainly muscular but really couldn't be classed as muscle car as it
weighed over 4,000 lbs. and that took it out of what would become the standard for a muscle
car.

Other Chrysler manufactured cars jumped into the muscle car category in 1956 with the
Plymouth Fury and Dodge D500. They both had 303cid engines that put out 260hp with the
racing version putting out 285hp. In 1957 the horsepower was boosted to 290hp from a 318cid
engine and in 1958 the engine was up to 350cid and 315hp. In 1960 they started to get real
serious about horsepower with a 383cid putting out 330hp. In 1961 they put a 383 in a
Dodge Dart which was almost a muscle car and 1962 they created the first real muscle car
when a 413 Max Wedge was stuffed into the Dart. In 1963 they went over the top and built
the 426cid Hemi with 425hp. It's real hard to believe the Dart wasn't named the first
muscle car but I guess Pontiac had better PR people.

While the Chrysler Corporation was building their monsters the other manufacturers were
busy trying to catch up in the horsepower race. Although Chevy had a V-8 shortly after
Chrysler they were late to the cubic inch party. It wasn't until 1958 that they were up to
348cid with 315hp. They were able to crank a few more horses out each year until 1961 when
they really got with the program with the 409cid with 409hp. That felt so good that they
brought out a 427cid with 430hp shortly after. These engines were all in the full body car.In 1963 the Chevelle came out to challenge the Ford Fairlane but in only had a 327 and were
caught napping by the GTO in 1964. The next year they caught up with the 396cid but too
late.
Ford didn't have any thing they could call a true muscle car until after 1964 but they did have some muscle engines they put in the full size Fairlane starting in 1958 when they broughtout the 351cid 300hp V-8 and then bumped it to 360hp in 1960. In 1961 they had the 390cid 401hp, 1962 saw 406cid 405hp and 1963 the biggest one of all 427cid and 425hp. In 1962 the Fairlane was reborn as a intermediate car to enter the muscle car market although they only had a 289cid engine until 1966.

Even American Motors claimed the title of 1st muscle car with the 1957 Rebel. Unfortunately
the engine was only 327cid and 255hp, so that it was a bit of a stretch to be called a
muscle car although at the time it was billed as the fastest 4 door sedan on the road.

The 1964 GTO was certainly a muscle car of the first order. The coupe only weighed 3,106
lbs. and with the 389cid engine putting out up to 348hp it was a force to be reckoned with
and definitely worthy of being called the first muscle car. Whether it was first or not it
was the car that set the pattern for the other muscle cars to follow. Classic muscle cars
had a short run with a limited number of them built and far less of them are still around.
We need to keep on restoring or preserving them so that the kids of today can have a chance
to see or even own a piece of history that will never come around again. Remember, restore
them don't crush them.

Author: Don Levy has a 60 year love affair with all classic cars, muscle cars & hotrods. He
lived through the times that he writes about & witnessed the evolution of the classic car
first hand. His website at http://classic-car-hunter.com/ has over a thousand classic cars
& trucks, muscle cars, hotrods, street rods & classic car parts for sale along with an area
to list your car for sale.