I was channel surfing this morning and happened upon A&E’s Top Ten Series. Today they were rating the top ten muscle cars of all time and I wondered if they might have been sniffing some exhaust when they made the list… I only caught the first eight so maybe someone who saw this can tell me what #9 and #10 were.
GTO
Chevy Chevelle
Ford Boss Mustang
Plymouth Hemi Cuda
Plymouth Roadrunner
Pontiac Trans Am
Chevy Camaro
Dodge Charger (are they kidding?)
?
?
The Corvette was disqualified as it is considered a sports car. The criteria was that the vehicle had to seat four, and had to be affordable to the masses so cars like the Shelby Cobra would also not be considered.
Does anyone else see this list as being a little off? I am sure that people will have their own opinions on other cars that should be on this list.
From my own point of view I cannot fathom why the Hemi Cuda, could be sitting at #4. It would eat the rest for lunch.
I wondered when I posted this whether it belonged here or there… if you’re an auto enthusiast this might be considered a great debate… if it turns into one does it get sent back?
Anyways… leave it to a goat lover to be in total agreement with that questionable list. The GTO is an impressive car and worthy to be on the list but could only make #1 if the jury was stacked.
I don’t think anything can compare to a hemi powered mopar although my friend who has owned both a Hemi Roadrunner and a 440/6 GTX says they both run at similar speeds because the GTX is lighter. His son owns a restored GTO and it can only beat the Mopars in the corners.
The Hemi Superbird was prohibited from Nascar racing after it’s first season as it was felt that it had an unfair advantage. It won better than 80% of the races it was entered in and neither Ford or GM could build anything that came close. The hemi threw so much power to the wheels that there was a traction problem all the way into third gear. Getting them to hook up was impossible on normal tires.
I once went into the Chrysler dealer and they had a completely original 1970 Hemi Cuda convertible and a new Viper side by side. The salesman said I could take either one home for $65,000.
I’m a huge 'stang fan, but I’m curious about the #3. If their talking the boss 429, then I can see a 3, but it’s a huge stretch to call it obtainable by the masses. And if their talking the 302 or 351 Bosses then its hard to put those above the Cuda.
Wolfman - They did include the Boss 429 and this car shared the highest resale values with the Hemi Cuda. Restored versions of either can run as high as $50,000 US while most of the others can be obtained for a more modest amount of money.
If I recall the Hemi option didn’t cost a ton of money. I wonder why they didn’t include the Mustang Shelby 350 or 500 models… maybe they were #9 or #10 or perhaps they were condidered too expensive? I think a Shelby 350 with the optional supercharger sold for around 3700.00 new. What a deal.
It’s really going to depend on what the criterion is. Is it the fastest car? Best bang for the buck? Historical importance? Curb appeal?
If you’re throwing historical importance into the mix, then it makes sense to rate the GTO and the Mustang fairly high. For pure performance, the Hemi machines would be near the top. On the other hand, there were a handful of limited edition Chevelles and Camaros that were at least as fast as the Hemi machines.
It’s hard to figure out how they put the Trans-Am ahead of the Camaro. The Trans-Am always cost more than the equivalant Camaro, was almost always slower than its Camaro counterpart, and they sold fewer Firebirds than Camaros. I guess it’s because of “Smokey and the Bandit”…