15 Best American Muscle Cars of All Time

The 1960s and 1970s birthed the American muscle car scene, a beloved American pastime for those who enjoy learning about the different car specs and a hobby for collectors who can afford it. This era of power created some of the rarest and most iconic muscle cars packing giant torque-rich V-8s the world has ever seen.

Emissions and other regulations would tame muscle cars in the 1980s, but these aging beasts of the road still come with some surprising stories as well as some surprising horsepower, and as always, total badassery.

The Barracuda is a badass ride with the ability to go from zero to 60 in less than 10 seconds thanks to its 235 hp engine. Although there are quite a few first generation muscle cars that are difficult to get a hold of now, the ’66 Barracuda isn’t one of them.

Hemmings reports that the first-gen Barracuda can be obtained “with relative ease.” Barracudas are distinctive in appearance thanks to their heavy, low profiles and the massive rear window that lends a futuristic look to this classic.

First-gen Barracudas were modified versions of the Plymouth Valiant—sometimes they were even referred to as Valiant Barracudas—and had weaker engines (for a muscle car at least) that ran on less than 150 hp.

The legendary 1965 Mustang Shelby GT350 was a serious high performance machine. In fact, some buyers that very first year felt these cars were a little too hardcore, and at the same time Shelby was on a rampage to cut costs. So for 1966, Shelby replaced, deleted, or made optional some of the car’s signature high performance features like the adjustable Koni shocks, the fiberglass hood, free-flowing (and loud) side exhaust outlets, and that fully locking Detroit Locker rear differential.

The first two years of Carroll Shelby’s Mustangs are the most desirable to many Mustang purists. Those 1965 and 1966 GT 350s were light, simply styled, and perfect for track work. But the later 1967 and 1968 cars offered more fun under the hood and were the machines of choice if you wanted to win drag races.

For the first time, ‘67 to ‘68 GT 500 Shelbys came with 355-hp 428-cubic-inch big-block power under the hood. Car testers of the day saw quarter-mile time slips in the mid-to-low 14-second bracket—quick for the day. The Shelby Mustangs received more scoops and flashier styling than the older cars to match the newfound power and torque. And the even quicker KR (King of the Road) high-performance model was available in 1968 too.

The Super Bee was essentially a high-performance version of the Dodge. In 1968, the ‘Bee came standard with a 383 cid V8 or the legendary monster 426 cid Hemi. But halfway through the 1969 model year, Dodge made the 440 cid Six-Pack (three, two barrel carburetors) available. Known internally as option code A12, it wore a matte-black, lift-off fiberglass hood with a massive forward-facing scoop.

The A12 Super Bee produced 390 hp and a ridiculously potent 490 lb-ft of torque. And that happened to be same torque spec as the Hemi. So, you received nearly the same thrust in a more streetable package—and at a lower price, too.

Baldwin-Motion was the first Corvette tuner, and the machines that company created were legendary. Baldwin Chevrolet, a dealer in Baldwin, New York, would deliver new Corvettes to Joel Rosen’s Motion Performance speed shop down the road for modifications. Motion would build these serial production specialty Corvettes to order. It was Rosen’s dream in late 1968 to build a new, fast, and functional all-American GT sports car.

The sensuously styled Phase III GT was a stunner. It had a unique fastback rear window, a performance suspension, and as much as 600 dyno-tuned horsepower from either a 427 cid or 454 cid big-block V8s. Although one Motion Vette did receive a smaller LT1-spec 350 cid V8.