Muscle car

Muscle car is an American term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles. It indicates a category of American cars equipped with V8 engines. Cheap and fast, they were made for a young public who liked drag racing.

Its golden age was from 1964 (nineteen sixty-four) to 1974 (nineteen seventy-four) but the principle of “Muscle car” was born at the beginning of 1940s (the nineteen forties) when young people started to modify they cars.

After their return from the war, soldiers modified cheap old cars and created new cars called “Hot rods”. In 1950s (the nineteen fifties) car makers made cars equipped with very powerful V8 engines then in 1960s (the nineteen sixties) , they combined light cars to middle range cars with the most powerful engine available, and then car lovers could buy cheap and high-performance vehicles. Due to their power, these cars were sometimes sold by dealerships with warnings given by auto-makers showing that these cars were not made for road-driving.

Despite the rise of muscle cars their number would actually fall rapidly after some time.

Firstly, the dangerousness of cars encouraged insurance companies to augment their premium. These cars stay very simple in their conceptions: separated chassis a rigid wheel base, rear suspension with blade-like springs, and of course no assisted steering wheel system. Like on Plymouth Barracuda. Drive by young drivers who didn’t respect the Highway Code, they know high accident and mortality rate.

Besides the US congress voted in the 1970s (nineteen seventies) the “Clean Air Act” which requires reductions of polluting emissions and qui prévois a big fine. Big three have to reduce power of their V8 engines going to kill the concept of “muscle car”. Then cars like Chevrolet Camaro, Plymouth Barracuda, Pontiac Firebird, Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger disappear.

But near the 2000s (two thousand’s) muscle cars know a big request because it became vintage cars. In my opinion the best muscle car is Chevrolet Camaro SS because this car has been bought by my grandfather and when I will have the driver license I could drive it.

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