Muscle cars are as American as apple pie. What began in the ’50s as a way to get a vehicle the most power on the lightest weight possible became a car segment that has taken over the hearts of gearheads all over the world. In the golden era of muscle cars, which was inarguably the ’60s, car manufacturers outfitted their muscle cars with the biggest, baddest V8 engines they could get, while making their cars the lightest possible. This era sprouted some of the most iconic and powerful muscle cars of all time. Sadly, just a decade later, strict emission laws came in and choked the muscle car era, where horsepower fell, and so did the muscle car’s popularity.
Thus, over time, manufacturers have released ‘muscle cars’ which did retain the look of the segment, but under the hood, they couldn’t match up to the power required. After all, any muscle car worth its salt should be able to go like hell, but despite massive V8 engines, some classic muscle cars never had enough power to be worthy of the segment. Here are 5 extremely powerful muscle cars, and 5 that truly could have done with more power, a lot of it.
10 Extremely Powerful: 1967 Mustang Shelby GT500 (355HP)
In the golden era of the muscle car, Ford’s iconic pony stood tall, and never without reason. The Mustang wasn’t just a phenomenal-looking car, but also quite spectacular under the hood. One such example is the 1967 Mustang Shelby GT500. The Shelby badge alone lets one know that a Mustang is more impressive than even its usual avatars.
To this day, it remains more powerful than some newer sports cars on the market, thanks to its 7.0-liter Police Interceptor V8 engine which produced 355 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque. Furthermore, for the collectors today, the chassis as well as the V8 engine welcome tuning, so it can produce crazy power levels with modifications
9 Needed More Power: 1980 California Corvette (180HP)
While today’s world is a lot more welcoming of greener cars with smaller carbon footprints, that wasn’t quite the case in the ’80s, when the California Corvette came into the world. After the ’70s choked engines with new emission laws, Chevy brought out this Corvette only for the state of California.
Despite its 305 V8 engine, the California Corvette was only tuned for 180hp, but even in the western state, the car couldn’t find success. Even though it was undeniably gorgeous, it simply did not have enough power to catch the fancy of customers.
8 Extremely Powerful: 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator (355HP)
Back when Ford owned both Mercury and Lincoln, it was the Mercury brand which acted as a bridge between regular Blue Oval cars and the top-of-the-line, luxurious Lincoln offerings. Often, Ford and Mercury’s cars shared the same chassis and engines.
This is what made the ’69 Mercury Cougar Eliminator so impressive. It came with a powerful 428-cubic-inch Cobra Jet V8 from Ford, producing 355 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 440 lb-ft of torque at 3,400 rpm. The entire package was even more impressive thanks to the addition of some luxury features that the Mustang used to skip out on at the time.
7 Needed More Power: 1975 Buick Gran Sport (175HP)
Buick had planned on making the 1975 Gran Sport an impressive and formidable vehicle. They got everything right when it came to the looks, the interiors, and even the handling, which was extremely impressive. This is why the brand stood head and shoulders above the competition when it came to making powerful and luxurious cars.
Sadly, the Gran Sport missed the mark when it came to performance. With all of its luxury, the car weighed almost 2 tons, which called for a powerful engine to lug all that weight comfortably. What the car got instead, was a 3.7-liter V6 which produced 175 hp. A sad power unit, it was never enough for the Gran Sport, making us wish it had been blessed with a big bad V8.
6 Extremely Powerful: 1969 Dodge Charger R/T (425HP)
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It is no secret that Dodge didn’t have it quite right in the design department before 1965. Poorly designed, their cars didn’t exude power, despite running on the formidable 426 Ramcharger engine.
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However, the 1969 Dodge Charger R/T came in and redefined the quintessential American muscle car with its mean looks and its powerful RWD powertrain. Above all, it was the huge 7.0-liter big-block V8 that was the most impressive, cranking out 425 horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque, which meant the Charger went like hell and looked good doing it.
5 Needed More Power: 1974 AMC Javelin (150HP)
There’s a lot more to the AMC Javelin than just being the average muscle car. The engine at the front powered the rear wheels of the Javelin, and it saw two generations of production, when in 1971, 1972, and 1976, it even won the Trans-Am race.
Despite those credentials, the 1974 AMC Javelin has a spot on this list because AMC launched it with six engine variants. However, it was only the top-of-the-line trims that were any good, and if you weren’t willing to shell out top dollar, you’d have to settle for nothing but 150 horsepower, which took all of 11.2 seconds to reach the 60 mph mark. That is a lifetime in muscle car world.
4 Extremely Powerful: 1967 Chevrolet Corvette (425HP)
In the prime muscle car era, Chevrolet and Ford locked heads the most, with the former being the only true rival Ford had. Despite the Camaro never finding the success the Mustang did, the luxury muscle car segment belonged to Chevy, with the Corvette and its Stingray variants leading the charge.
Most Corvette fans would swear that the 1967 Corvette L88 is the best Corvette ever. This year saw only 20 of these cars come off the production line, making it as rare as it was gorgeous. It even had the power to go with it, thanks to a huge 427-cubic-inch big-block V8 which developed 425 horsepower on paper, but it is widely known that the engine could easily produce over 500 ponies.
3 Needed More Power: 1978-79 Dodge Magnum (136HP)
The 1978 Dodge Magnum definitely exuded a European vibe more than it did American, which made even more heads turn its way when it when along. By all means, this was a gorgeous car, but Dodge truly let it down in the power department.
What should have been a phenomenal success was burdened by a lethargic engine and driving experience that was completely unremarkable. A heavy machine, the ’78 Magnum weighed around 4000lbs, and its engine could only crank out a meager 136 horsepower. The car took its sweet time to the 60 mph mark, crossing the mark in a sad 13 seconds.
2 Extremely Powerful: 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 (430HP)
Chevy hit the mark right with the first-generation Camaro, especially in the design department. The Camaro looked mean and determined, and it came with engines to back it up. To this day, these first-generation Camaros look gorgeous.
The ZL1 badge is iconic even today, and every gearhead worth their salt is aware of the Camaro ZL1. Just like today’s Camaro ZL1, the very first Camaro ZL1 was wild and powerful, raring to be sent down the tarmac. It ran on a 427-cubic-inch V8 engine, not quite unlike the L88 unit, and was rated at 430 horsepower.
1 Needed More Power: 1978 Ford Mustang II King Cobra (133HP)
As long-running as the Mustang nameplate is, it is only natural that it has its bad years as well. One such embarrassment was the 1978 Ford Mustang II ‘King Cobra’. The oil crisis and emission laws had reduced the size of engines all across the board, but for a car to bear the Mustang nameplate and still be as weak as the King Cobra was a travesty nevertheless.
Nobody could have possibly been impressed with the performance of the Mustang II King Cobra, which is exactly what happened. Despite all the promise that a 5.8-liter V8 engine under the hood held for the car, it only had 133 horsepower to show for it, which is why it went to the gallows where it belonged
