King of the Muscle Cars

[Lee Stewart]

IMO - to be crowned "King of the muscle cars" you have to look at the available cars at that time and what came standard/mandatory as far as options on those cars.

Yeah it's great that you could order a 1969 Mustang 428 SCJ Mach 1/Sportsroof with a 4.30 Detroit Locker rear but out of 130,000 built only 1046 did.

The 1970 LS6 Chevelle was a great muscle car. But it came standard with a 3.31 non-Posi 12 bolt rear.

These are factors that should be considered when that crown is awarded. And as far as I am concerned there are only three contenders:

[marxjunk]

opinions are just that....its just what i believe..and i wont be swayed....just like you wont be..so lets move on...

[RST]

I own it ............. 1973 SD 455 ............ incredibly fast, great to drive, A/C, power everything, gorgeous, amazing ......... perfect

[Xplantdad]

Originally Posted by RST

I own it ............. 1973 SD 455 ............ incredibly fast, great to drive, A/C, power everything, gorgeous, amazing ......... perfect

Yep!

[Devil]

Oh I agree, everyone has their opinion and everyones can be different. The other gentleman just was adamant that the 70 Chevelle SS LS6 was considered the "King of the Muscle Cars" by enthusiasts and magazines alike. And it is "well" documented.

I was just trying to get an idea from the group if this was true or not. I have never heard or seen it called that. I agree that there are way too many cars that could be considered "The King" way before even the best LS6 Chevelle.

[69LM1]

Stirring the pot..... but...

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't a Camaro considered a pony car and not a muscle car?

Thus the Boss429, COPO's etc are in a different class than what is being discussed, ie muscle cars? Whereas a vette was a sports car?

Even though the barracuda was first, I think it was mustang that started the whole pony car thing.

I'm glad "pony car" stuck because the term "fish car" totally sucks.

Rich

[Tenney]

Demon (and not of the Dart variety) would hold current scoreboard?

[marxjunk]

when i was a kid, the "king of the hill" around my town was 70 LS6..it was called the pinnacle of all Chevelles/muscle cars...and right behind it was the 69 L78 Chevelle....there was so much competition to get one, most gear heads could only dream about owning one...and the press pumped this over and over..and Legends where born..or like i call it..Urban Legends where created..you say it or read it enough, and the people believe it...

also, when i came up..the 64 GTO is what the press called the originator of the muscle car..because it was a light body, big engine and mass produced...Joe Everyday could get one..

RO23s... WO23s...A12s...T-bolts...L88s....ZL1s.... and on and on where factory race cars...at least where i came from..they where limited production,,most wherent even advertised, and you had to have a connection to get one...and almost all where filtered to race teams..only after they where used, could a guy even get one...there where exceptions, but just my observation..and i am no historian..

FOR THE RECORD...id rather have an A12 Bee ...than a Hemi anything...I'm a big fan..and really..its in my top 5....I wasnt smart enough to buy a Bright Green one like above in the 90s...running and driving..for $11k needing a resto...i was smart enough to torture it for an hour, and it left an impression..thats for sure...

[Mr70]

I went to school with a Joe Everyday...he drove a Vega.

[Survivor 69/Z28]

IMO the 1970 Chevelle SS LS6 is very hard to argue that its not King.
The ZL1 Camaros were amazing of course, but lets face it that is an "extremely" rare car and I don't see how you can put that in with general musclecars of the day. To be king it has to do everything well IMO. Fast, build quality, solid interior, handling, and just overall well sorted out. I have the LS6 at the top of the list. There are other cars to make the argument, but you can't argue the fact that GM musclecars were overall the most sorted out right out of the box.