American Muscle cars

According to the June 1967 issue of Road Test magazine, a "muscle car" is "Exactly what the name implies. It is a product of the American car industry adhering to the hot rodder's philosophy of taking a small car and putting a BIG engine in it. The Muscle Car is Charles Atlas kicking sand in the face of the 98 hp (73 kW) weakling." Author of the book Muscle Cars the quote is drawn from, Peter Henshaw, furthers that the muscle car was designed for straight-line speed, and did not have the "sophisticated chassis", "engineering integrity" or "lithe appearance" of European high-performance cars

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In 1969 Pontiac created a car called the GTO Judge, and in my humble opinion, this was the pinnacle of their muscle cars; yes they did have the Trans AM, but it didn’t have quite the reputation of the Judge, this was a very special car for the Pontiac motor company, the Judge could instill fear in most people who would want to race it.

Now the whole reason for any motor company to create a muscle car, was simply this, they wanted to instill excitement in the younger car buyers, as they had started to lose sales to that sector of people, enter the GTO Judge, this car was built to excite, and that is just what it did, with it’s 400 CID engine, with the ram air III or IV option, if the owner wanted a bit more, ground pounding excitement they could step up from the Ram Air III to the barley Ram Air IV it would upgrade you to forged pistons, round port cylinder heads and 1.65:1 rocker arms.

The Ram Air III was rated at 366 HP, but you know how bad the factory underrated the hp on the muscle cars, so they could keep them insured while on their car lots, all Judges got the Ram Air III version, unless the owner upgraded, the upgrade to Ram Air IV included a $-Speed manual transmission, and all Judges were endowed with an aluminum intake manifold, 4 bolt main caps, and of course oval port heads with 67 cc chambers, at that time only 34 people ordered the ram air IV option for their GTO’s.

The standard Ram Air IV came with, a heavy duty cooling system, the standard gear ration was 3.90:1, and a Safe-Track limited slip differential. If this gearing just wasn’t quite enough, you could order a set of 4.33:1 rear gears. The Judge also came with heavy duty suspension, which would stiffen up the suspension on the car, by adding heavier springs and heavy duty shocks, drum brakes were standard, but the front disc setup could be had for an extra $62.45, a very good buy for the money.

The Judge had a paint scheme that was designed to stand out from the rest of the pack of muscle cars, it was bight orange, well at least the one that I seen, and had a factory stripe running down each side from under the rear quarter window to the end of the front fender, and a graphic sticker at the very front of the front fender, about midway up the fender that simply said “The Judge”, as I said before the car was rated at 366 HP @ 5400 rpm and 445 lbft of torque @ 3600 rpm.
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It was the American muscle car that ignited my initial passion for automobiles before I was old enough to drive. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the road from high school automotive enthusiast to adult automotive professional, currently serving as editor in chief of Edmunds.com, was largely traveled behind the wheel of a 1970 Plymouth GTX. I've owned this same car since 1986, and in the past 19 years I've put 50,000 miles on it. I've also owned several other muscle cars in the past 20 years, including a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T, a 1969 Plymouth GTX and a 1973 Dodge Challenger Rallye. Additionally, I've been very close to buying everything from a 1973 Pontiac Super Duty to a 1969 Boss 302 Mustang. Put simply, I'm a certified muscle car fanatic.

So what gives? What could make a vintage American iron addict like me go cold turkey? I touched on the answer a couple years ago when I talked about in Scottsdale, Arizona. While Barrett-Jackson has long been known for getting above-market prices for classic and special interest cars, the climb in muscle car values over the past five years — clearly reflected at this auction — has made Google stock look like a bad investment. In that March 2004 column I noted that while it was fun to watch the value of my GTX skyrocket it was far more disconcerting to see the overall price of these cars exit the land of "fun hobby" and enter the land of "wealthy investors."

In other words, it's tough to go out and just "have fun" with an American muscle car anymore. Now you've got everything from the initial cost to the restoration cost to the insurance cost making muscle car ownership a serious financial commitment. And we're not just talking Hemi Cudas and Shelby Mustangs. The issue of Hemmings I'm looking through has a 1974 318 Dodge Dart sedan priced at $10,900! Yes, a Dodge Dart sedan! There are brand-new cars available for less money! Similarly, a 1973 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 is in here for $39,000. For those not in the know, 1973 and 1974 were not the best years in the muscle car movement (Pontiac Super Duty notwithstanding). Most of the "muscle" from the muscle car era was long gone by the mid-'70s, and neither of the examples I just mentioned have any sort of remarkable features or historic significance. But had I the space, and you the patience, I could list off hundreds of similar vehicles from the same Hemmings issue that are neither unique in terms of production numbers nor compelling in terms of performance. All of them are cars I would generously describe as fringe players in the muscle car era. Actually, the Dart sedan is just an old car, plain and simple.
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