Americans and Muscle Cars

It's quite hard to deny how muscle cars seem to be a standard part in the classic American culture. Muscle cars are often seen to be the epitome of rebellion and freedom – hence, it was widely embraced by the people, regardless of whether it was a necessity or not.

The 1960s was an integral part in the history of muscle cars. It was when these powerful beauties were the biggest thing to hit America. Nobody needed such a powerful car but everybody wanted it. Marketing and promotion went a long way for muscle cars – they were expensive and more often than not, only the upper echelons of society could afford them. People of lesser financial standing chose to buy the muscle cars' lesser-powered cousins just because the latter still looked like muscle cars.

Automobile makers were of course forced to make their respective muscle cars what it really should be: fast and powerful. It was a competition between big car companies – who could make their cars stronger and who could market them better. Drag races showing the speed and power of muscle cars were rampant in the 1960s. It was unlawful but nobody cared; rebellion was the only way to go.

These drag races proved to be useful, if not dangerous. It was in these demonstrations of speed were the automakers themselves came up with new parts that will make their muscle cars even better. Pushing the limits even more, the automakers were backed up by executives of automobile companies. Everyone who wanted to be someone came, watched and researched about the different muscle cars that showcased their speed during races. Mini-factories were even set up to make the already-better cars...even better.

This was the time when popular names in the muscle car world came to be: Nickey , Royal Pontiac and Holman-Moody were just some of them. The small factories that tweaked the muscle car settings became well known in this era too, such as Edelbrock for manifolds, Iskenderian for camshafts and Hurst for shifters. Their popularity caused other smaller companies to enter the automobile scene.

Muscle cars had such a big impact on America that these cars even reflected the trends and culture of the 60s that basically belonged to the youth. Even Hollywood and the music industry reflected the influence of the muscle cars, producing films and making music that were aimed for the car fanatics. But as time comes and goes, the era of muscle cars comes to an end, only to be resurrected several decades later. It is an undeniable glory that is etched deeply in the American culture.