Muscle Cars

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Book Description The 1960s and early 1970s were the age of raw American automotive power. Whether it was a classic Hemi Cuda, Pontiac GTO, Charger, or Boss Mustang, big engines were king at local drag strips and cruises. Muscle Cars explores this era with a broad survey of classic muscle. Each chapter is organized around a theme (milestones, factory racers, etc), each model getting a four-page spread of full-color photography, performance stats, trivia, and more. Vintage advertisements, photos, and stories from the people who built and raced these amazing machines make the book a must-read for any fan of American muscle.

Just Customz Review

This book is aimed squarely at Muscle Car enthusiasts everywhere. The author and photographer Mike Mueller has packed the book from cover to cover with pictures of all the important Muscle Cars that have been built. The book consists of 5 sections broken down into logical sections which are Muscular Milestones, Factory Hot Rods, Lets Get Small, In Cahoots and Supreme Season. In each of these sections Mike details between 6 and 16 selected models with superb hi-resolution pictures and a short piece of text. Each car in each section also has a 'Did you know?' section with small interesting fact about the car that is currently being discussed.

This section highlights the milestones in performance from the 1955 Chrysler C-300 through to the 1974 Pontiac Trans Am 455 Super Duty showing the battle that was fought between the various American car manufacturers to ensure muscle supremacy.

This section provides and insight into the process known as 'homologation' which is a derivative of the Greek homologous, roughly meaning 'in agreement'. This was where a race version of a stock production car was made legal for road use.

During the 1950's the NASCAR circuits were used as the battle grounds for these cars with Bill France's circuit being a particular favourite. This section covers the 1962 Dodge Max Wedges 413 through to the 1970 Plymouth Superbird.

Small-block power was as good as it got in the pony car segment until market pressures from General Motors forced Ford and Plymouth to shoe horn big block engines into Mustangs and Barracudas in 1967. This section covers the 1966 Plymouth Barracuda Formula 5 through to 1970 Plymouth Duster 340.

This section covers the small market that appeared to create hybrid cars by taking the engines from one car and transplanting them into another. The most notable of these were Dana in California, Nickey in Chicago and Yenko in Pennsylvania. The cars covered here are the 1966 Shelby GT-350 through to 1969 Dodge Dart 440 GTS.

This section rounds up the end of the muscle car era with the last Muscle Cars that were developed.

About The Author

Mike Mueller has worked as a freelance automotive photojournalist since 1991. A graduate of the University of Illinois’ journalism program, Mueller has held staff positions with Automobile Quarterly, Corvette Fever, Muscle Car Review, and Mustang Monthly, among others. A lifetime car enthusiast, Mueller has written and contributed to over fifty automotive books, including Motorbooks’ The Complete Book of Classic GM Muscle, The Complete Book Of Dodge And Plymouth Muscle, The Complete Book of Corvette and The Complete Book of Mustang. He resides in Kennesaw, Georgia.