For all you guys who did not live and race in the 50's let me offer a flash back for you. There were some very bad cars in those days. Almost to many to count. It started with the 49 Olds, they ruled until the 55 - 57 Chevy came out. Ford was in the game also with the 57 shorty 300. By game I am talking about drag racing. Then came the first of the big blocks, 348 - 409 Chevy, 406 - 427 Ford, Max wedge, 421 Poncho. In full bodied cars, all these motor car combos were very strong and could all be classified as muscle cars. But none were really what you would call main stream. Drag racing was considered a greaser sport. Spawned from all the WWII vets building their flat head and Cadillac powered 30's cars. That was my Dads influence on my car habit. Don't forget the Corvette's when they put the first V8, and the 55-57 Tbird, and the Stude. They all made great hot rods, but were special order and took a real gear head to turn them into a contender. I will agree with Jim's assessment that the 64 GTO did start the big main stream American public awareness of drag racing and what had been going on in the background with the factory wars. Chrysler, Chevy, Pontiac, had a big war going on with the big cars at the strip, but not many people knew about it. The GTO and all the advertising that came with it spawned the era of anyone with the means going down to the show room floor and buying a 13 second street muscle car. That era was in reality very short lived. It got, and still receives a lot of reconnection as a golden era. It only lasted from about 64 to 69 and it was over as quickly as it started. The cool thing is that it lives on today and we can all enjoy the cars that came from that era. I think if I could choose from all those cars, and I only had one pick, because it was so rare, totally unique, and way bad, I would pick the 69 Ram Air III Trans Am Firebird. Second, the 63 Max Wedge. Third, 67 427 Vette. Earl Well, the 55 C300 w/2-4's & 300 horses sounds muscular to me. They outrun everything in the world on the beach at Daytona. Even Pontiac had a 2X4 on their '56, kinda muscular, and even Chevy went injected in '57. As a kid growing up in the 50's these cars sure impressed me with their muscle. I think the GTO came late to the party in 64, just in time to meet up with the new second generation Hemi. Oh, by the way, I consider those Max Wedge, 413 & 426, to be pretty muscular in 62 & 63. Just my opinion!!!!!<j_ozolins@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx> Cc: <poncho@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 3:27 PM Subject: RE: New Chrysler Corp. commercial Yes, the word "precursor" is very important there. I won't argue that these high-powered cars weren't "muscular," but these precursors did not kick off the Muscle Car phenomenon of the 60's. That's what I'm using as a definition of a Muscle Car. Not just power to weight ratio. That's where I have to call B.S. when Chrysler claims to have invented the musclecar. Chrysler, Ford, and the rest of GM had to catch up to Pontiac after the introduction of the GTO. Only Pontiac had the foresight and the guts to take the risk, and once it proved popular, and profitable, did the others climb on board. Jim O. (I invented the Pepperoni Pizza.) >From: Dan McCormack <mcwheels@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> >Reply-To: 1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx >To: 1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx >Subject: RE: New Chrysler Corp. commercial >Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:48:57 +0000 > >From the Wikipedia Encyclopedia. Notice the last sentence: > >The Studebaker Golden Hawk was a two-door pillarless hardtop coupe type >car produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana >between 1956 and 1958. The Golden Hawk took the basic shape of the >1953-on Champion/Commander Starliner hardtop coupe but added a large, >almost vertical eggcrate grille and raised hoodline in place of the >earlier car's swooping, pointed nose, as well as a raised trunklid and >befinned rear quarters. > >That grille and raised hood were to take a larger engine, Packard's big >352 in³ (5.8 L) V8 at 275 bhp (205 kW). This big, powerful engine in >such a light car gave the Golden Hawk a phenomenal power-to-weight >ratio (and thus performance) for the time; of 1956 American production >cars, the Golden Hawk was second only to Chrysler's 300 B by that >measure - and the expensive Chrysler was a road-legal NASCAR racing >car. The Golden Hawk can be considered, like the Chryslers, a precursor >to the muscle cars of the 1960s > > >Jim Ozolins wrote: > > > > Crap! I didn't know the '64 GTO was a Chrysler! > > I was interested by that commercial, too. > > > > Did they take credit for inventing the internet, as well? > > > > Jim Ozolins > > '64 Valiant > > >---- >Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- >directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and >negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended >recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will >protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the >content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! > >'62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: >http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html. > _________________________________________________________________ Booking a flight? Know when to buy with airfare predictions on MSN Travel. http://travel.msn.com/Articles/aboutfarecast.aspx&ocid=T001MSN25A07001 ---- Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! '62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html. ---- Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! '62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html. ---- Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! '62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html. This email was sent to: arc.6265@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx u/?bUrDWg.bSONJP.YXJjLjYy ?p=TEXFOOTER