[KensRedZed]

I humbly thank you. I somehow earned the nickname "Motorhead" in my neighbourhood. It made me chuckle.

I forgot to mention one more engine that was probably the best one of them all. The "427 side-oiler". It came in a few rare cars like the Ford Thunderbolt, Fairlane GT, AC Cobra Super Snake, and Ford GT40 (the famous 1967 LeMans 1,2,3 finish).

It was called a "side-oiler" because it had an oil vein that ran along the side of the block to help feed more oil the opposite side bearings, and prevent oil starvation at high RPM. It was a brute of an engine.

[Graham]

Yes an absolutely great answer to my question, many thanks 

[KensRedZed]

Let me know when you want to get started on Chevy, Dodge/Plymouth, American Motors, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Buicks.

They all produced your typical grocery getter engines, as well as a ton of muscle car engines. It was all about options. Pick one. 

[munter]

A mate and neighbour had a Ford 350 camper van fitted with the 460 motor. He said it gave terrible gas mileage but when you wanted to pull out and pass a logging truck the power was there. So I guess it was a muscle camper van.

[KensRedZed]

My humble apologies to everyone for rambling on. Muscle cars were my passion when I was a kid.

Most people would become an expert in the one or two cars/brands that they owned.

I worked for several speed and custom shops over the years. That meant I could not afford to play favourites when it came to customer's cars. If a guy walked in with a Pontiac Trans Am. I had to be his Pontiac performance expert. If the next guy that walked in had a Dodge Challenger 440-6-pack. I had to switch hats. Same for all the other brands.

It was truly an awesome job for a young man. One small problem. If one of my customers saw me driving on the road. Everyone wanted to race my car. I had a target on my back.

I usually drove a beat up, but heavily modified Z-28 Camaro. 

[ARUP]

A 'sleeper' car is always admired for those in the know. Your Z-28 seemed to fit that bill! I was a big fan of '64 Galaxie 500XL convertibles and '64 Impala SS w 409 engine. The Ford Torino Starsky and Hutch car w the 490 was a beast! A buddy had one he restored. He was a good wrench. When he got 'into' the pedal that car would just pin you into the seat. You would just keep getting squished into that seat until he let off. It was viceral!

[Brumos RSR]

The first real 3.0 liter American Muscle car was the 1981-87 Grand National and GNX….Followed by the Cyclone and Typhoon.  And later a rare Pontiac Trans Am with the same GN engine.

[Graham]

It would be interesting to know where or from whom the term “muscle cars” came from, was it a magazine, TV show, personality or did it just emerge as a terminology amongst enthusiasts in the USA.
I recently read some American cars might have been talked about as “muscle cars” in the 50’s

[KensRedZed]

I apologize that I don't know where the phrase came from.

The older generations usually prefer the term "hot rods" for their cars. Muscle cars are more of a 60's and 70's thing.

   

[Graham]

What a great photo Ken, I know the “ vintage slot cars “ guys had hot rod type slot cars in the past, we need a new American brand of slot cars kits perhaps to recreate them