'Muscle Car' or 'Sports car'

[Kenny Camaro]

Originally Posted by Mr. Stacy

Sports Car: Goes fast around corners.

Muscle Car: Goes fast in a straight line.

5th Gen: Muscle Car

6th Gen: Sports Car?

El Duderino is on the money......again!!

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by Kenny Camaro

El Duderino is on the money......again!!

But isnt the 6th gen also model for model faster in a straight line than the 5th????

[Yellow 1]

Originally Posted by Mr. Stacy

Sports Car: Goes fast around corners.

Muscle Car: Goes fast in a straight line.

5th Gen: Muscle Car

6th Gen: Sports Car?

Mr Stacy nailed it.

Gen6 is a Euro-wannabee (or that's how us Brits view it) Gen 6 almost a real Grand Tourer car. Dean Martin on the iPod, top down, wife wearing a head scarf and shades as you burble along the south coast of France. Then take it to the strip and pummel all the German iron....

[ChrisBlair]

Sorry guys. The 'straight line' and 'around corners' thing. Just not so. 1970 Trans Am for instance was noted by Car and Driver to have admirable handling and very good acceleration. The 427 Cobra stands the notion of 'muscle car = straight line' right on its head; that car has brutal straight line acceleration. So does a GT40, which was a street legal car and certainly no muscle car. So does a 1957 Jaguar XKSS. Google that last one, by the way. Nobody mistakes that for a muscle car. Steve McQueen owned one.

Gen5s are neither muscle not sports cars.

Too sophisticated to be a muscle car. If you doubt that, go for a ride in a restored- not resto-modded- '60s or '70s muscle car.

Too damn heavy to be a sports car, and try as we might to exaggerate it, it has usable rear seats, it is not a 2+2. I have had grown men well over six feet tall in the back seat of my car as passengers, and they did not utter complaints or have to remove their heads.

For literally years we have had people wrapped around the axle on this issue. It's a sports car. No it is a muscle car. It's not a muscle car any more than it is a a saloon, and it's no more a sports car than it is a phaeton.

If people would cease having this need to shove the Camaro into one of these two categories, I'd be fine with that.

[Kenny Camaro]

Originally Posted by Angrybird 12

But isnt the 6th gen also model for model faster in a straight line than the 5th????

Yes but it's smaller and lighter, therefore it is a better handling car, more designed to take out all that overpriced Eurotrash, a sports car.

[Docker]

Originally Posted by rontammy0

It's a modern muscle car that can handle. Imo the SS handles great for what I use it for. Regarding the camaro it's my opinion that it needs to have a v8 to be a muscle car. If you have a fast v6...its a fast camaro. This debate is a little overdone. I look ar things in an old school way when it comes to cars. I'm not trying to piss anybody off these are just my opinions. And no its not a sports car for f sakes.

"Muscle Car" is a in a cars DNA (nameplate and heritage) not in its displacement. All of them have started as inline 6's then at some point someone wanted more power, that's when V8's came into the picture. V8 equipped muscles cars are just more powerful muscle cars.

[Andoskyy]

I voted both because 1LE

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by Docker

"Muscle Car" is a in a cars DNA (nameplate and heritage) not in its displacement. All of them have started as inline 6's then at some point someone wanted more power, that's when V8's came into the picture. V8 equipped muscles cars are just more powerful muscle cars.

When the Camaro came out it had both the 6 and V8. I think you could even get a 396 in 67. So V8's did not come along later.
Lets just call them Camaros because that is what they are. They are above puting them in any catagory.

[Mike J]

Old school...American Muscle, I considered Triumph TR6 TR7 Spitfire, Lotus Europa. Early Lambs etc as sport. IMHO

[Docker]

Originally Posted by Angrybird 12

When the Camaro came out it had both the 6 and V8. I think you could even get a 396 in 67. So V8's did not come along later.
Lets just call them Camaros because that is what they are. They are above puting them in any catagory.

This is the first camaro ever made. Look what's under the hood bro.





The Chevy inline six.

Yes, when the camaro was released it got the V8 option. But the V8, like today is an additional option.

[Gayton81]

Originally Posted by Mr. Stacy

Sports Car: Goes fast around corners.

Muscle Car: Goes fast in a straight line.

By that definition is this a muscle car then?
Lol sorry I just had to be that jacka**



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[rontammy0]

Originally Posted by Docker

"Muscle Car" is a in a cars DNA (nameplate and heritage) not in its displacement. All of them have started as inline 6's then at some point someone wanted more power, that's when V8's came into the picture. V8 equipped muscles cars are just more powerful muscle cars.

The inline 6 camaro was never ever considered a muscle car. The heritage doesn't designate wether it's a muscle car car of not. You dont see 6 cylinder equipped cars back in the day on the list of muscle cars. We are talking many years ago but still. You reached muscle car statues based on the options of a specific car. A mustang was a pony car until it came with a 390 motor...then it was considered a muscle car. So displacement has a large impact on a car's designation.

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by Docker

"Muscle Car" is a in a cars DNA (nameplate and heritage) not in its displacement. All of them have started as inline 6's then at some point someone wanted more power, that's when V8's came into the picture. V8 equipped muscles cars are just more powerful muscle cars.

Apologies but no to the red text above.

A lot of people think this today, and it's not the way it was. I think that this notion has caught on because the car models involved looked similar (A '70 Le Mans looks a lot like a '70 GTO, right?) and they didn't grow up with them. A muscle car was the model car that could have the largest displacement engine available in an intermediate (mid-size) body. And it also had a V8. Aussie cars in several flavors muddle those waters, but in the US, a muscle car had a V8.

An L6 (not LS6, L6 was the six cylinder base engine) Skylark was not a muscle car. Ever. Nor was an L6 Chevelle. Distinctly different models with different VINs than their muscle car brothers. The GTO never had a six cylinder from the factory for example, while many Le Mans did. Chevelle vs Chevelle SS. Not the same car. Same body, but different car.

People forget that say Buick for example, had something like 42 different models available in 1970 (if not one or two more, some were half-year like the GSX). Think of what Oldsmobile or Chevy had!Everything that simply looked like a Skylark or an F-85 was not a muscle car, and none of the six cylinder models were muscle cars. This is just Buick in 1970. Hopefully I didn't leave any out; I feel I missed one. This is mostly from the full-line Buick catalog for the beginning of the 1970 model year; GSX is not in the brochure:

Riviera line:
Riviera
Riviera GS

Electra 225 line:
Electra 225 Custom Limited Sport Coupe
Electra 225 Custom Sport Couple
Electra 225 Sport Coupe
Electra 225 Custom Limited 4-door hardtop
Electra 225 Custom 4-door hardtop
Electra 225 4-door hardtop
Electra 225 Custom 4-door sedan
Electra 225 4-door sedan
Electra 225 Custom Convertible

Wildcat Custom line:
Wildcat Custom Sport Coupe
Wildcat Custom 4-door hardtop
Wildcat Custom convertible

LeSabre line:
LeSabre Custom 455 Sport Coupe
LeSabre Custom Sport Coupe
LeSabre Sport Coupe
LeSabre Custom 455 4-door hardtop
LeSabre Custom 4-door hardtop
LeSabre 4-door hardtop
LeSabre Custom 455 4-door sedan
LeSabre Custom 4-door sedan
LeSabre 4-door sedan
LeSabre Custom convertible

Estate wagon line:
Estate wagon 2-seat
Estate wagon 3-seat

Sportwagon line:
Sportwagon (I feel bad, it is lonely)

GS line (all of them muscle cars):
GS 455 Stage 1 Sport Coupe
GS 455 Sport Coupe
GS 455 Stage 1 Convertible
GS 455 Convertible
GS Sport Coupe
GSX
GSX 455 and GSX 455 Stage 1 (no VIN differentiation between 455 and 455 Stage 1 models existed for the GSX this model year)

Skylark line (GS models were based on the Skylark in 1970 but were not Skylarks):
Skylark Custom Sport Coupe
Skylark Custom 4-door hardtop
Skylark Custom 4-door sedan
Skylark Custom Convertible
Skylark 350 Sport Coupe (this one was a muscle car, with the 350 4bbl)
Skylark 350 4-door sedan
Skylark 2-door sedan
Skylark 4-door sedan

I hope I never type that out again.

[GMfan454]

Originally Posted by Welker2

More of a curiosity than anything else, but I have noticed in recent years more & more people are referring to Camaros, Mustangs & Challengers as ‘sports cars’. I’m old school and grew up where these cars were ‘muscle cars.’ I’m just curious as to what other’s think and why. For me it comes down to the definition of a ‘sports car’ versus ‘muscle car’ such as those found in Wikipedia (see below).

Sports Car – “A sports car (sportscar) is a SMALL, USUALLY TWO SEATER, two door automobile designed for spirited performance and nimble handling.[2][3] According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the first known use of the term was in 1928.[2]
Sports cars may be spartan or luxurious, but HIGH MANEUVERABILITY AND MINIMUM WEIGHT ARE REQUISITE.[4] They may be equipped for racing, "especially an aerodynamically shaped one-passenger or two-passenger vehicle having a low center of gravity and steering and suspension designed for precise control at high speeds” *

Muscle Car – “Muscle car is an American term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles.[1] The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving."[2] A LARGE V8 ENGINE IS FITTED IN A 2-DOOR, REAR WHEEL DRIVE, FAMILY-STYLE MID-SIZE OR FULL-SIZE CAR DESIGNED FOR FOUR OR MORE PASSENGERS. Sold at an affordable price, muscle cars are intended for street use and occasional drag racing.[3][4][5][6] THEY ARE DISTINCT FROM TWO-SEAT SPORTS CARS AND EXPENSIVE 2+2 GTS INTENDED FOR HIGH-SPEED TOURING AND ROAD RACING.”

Not trying to be jerk. But if you were really old school, you would know that they are pony cars. They are not and have never been muscle cars. People who don't know their car history typically call them muscle cars.