In the 60’s the Big Three auto manufacturers were thinking of ways on how the general public would develop an interest in their cars, so the number of sales would increase. So they produced cars that were bigger, meaner, and more powerful to get a one up against one another. This rivalry then became a competition, and it was called the Muscle War.
The first participant in the war was General Motors’ Pontiac line of cars. In 1964, a designer named John Delorian went to the bosses at Pontiac and pitched his idea for the first true muscle car, the Pontiac GTO. At first the head honchos thought that the idea wouldn’t be that popular. But with a little more convincing Delorian’s design was put into production. And what did you know? It was the most popular car model in the time it was released. The GTO was the flagship of Pontiac in the Muscle Wars, with its ruggedly handsome good looks it took the car world by storm. And soon after the other car manufacturers began producing their own muscle cars.
Ford would enter the fray when they put the very first V8 engine into their Mustangs. And because of this move, Ford made its presence known in the Muscle Wars. And even now, the Ford Mustang is still the most sought after among all the muscle cars.
The last faction to join the war was Chevrolet with their masterpiece the Camaro. The Camaro. Launched in 1967, and it was the car that changed the face of Chevrolet, literally. The Camaro was its own car; it wasn’t a modified version of a pre-existing car. Being the last to join doesn’t mean that the Camaro was any less of a car than the other two. Quite the contrary, the Camaro fought on very equal terms with the GTO and the Mustang. In terms of styling and brute power, the Camaro was at par with the other two muscle car pioneers.
It’s hard to tell who actually won the Muscle Wars, all three car manufacturers have their own following, people who are willing to kill anyone who talks smack about their favourite car, a cult following if you will. You can call them gas-guzzlers and not very eco-friendly, but one thing is for certain; if you’re a real car lover, you would do anything to get your hands on some real American muscle.
