You love muscle cars. You’re not trying to compensate for any shortcoming; you just like the oomph a true muscle car gives.
Insuring Your Muscle Car
Real muscle cars usually aren’t too expensive, but you do need automobile insurance for it. Unfortunately, because of the cost maintaining such a vehicle and the perceived image of the muscle car owner being a hot rod, some insurance companies might be reluctant to insure the vehicle. However, you can still find a good deal if you shop around and research the right coverage and price. Also, check the auto insurance companies for things such as mileage limits, claims settlement record and spare parts, repair and stated value coverage.
What is a True Muscle Car?
The Muscle Car Club, which knows about these things, defines a muscle car as an “intermediate-sized, performance-oriented model, powered by a large V8 engine, at an affordable price.”
Examples include the Buick GS, Chevrolet Chevelle SS, Dodge Charger R/T, Ford Torino/Cobra, Plymouth GTX, Plymouth Road Runner, Oldsmobile 442 and Pontiac GTO.
However, a car can be high-performance and yet not be considered a muscle car. Luxury cars such as the Buick Riviera and Pontiac Grand Prix, according to the Muscle Car Club, are too heavyweight and carry a high sticker price. The high cost, if nothing else, keeps them from being true muscle cars (remember, they have to be affordable).
Has to Be Cool
Small but sporty-looking cars, says autoMedia.com such as the Ford Mustang, are called pony cars. While they are fast and capable machines, they aren’t considered true muscle cars.
Although a muscle car has to fit the average budget, it still has to be cool. Street Legal TV shared ideas of how you can take a perfectly respectable muscle car and turn it into something tacky — a Hot Wheels car a 10-year-old kid in 1972 bell bottoms would drool over.
Muscle Car Don’ts
One trait that screams bad taste is a quadruple— or even quintuple-paint job. The psychedelic look really doesn’t work for a muscle car, so stick to one tone and let the car’s performance speak for itself (Two-tone might be acceptable; Starsky & Hutch’s Ford Gran Torino hit the streets in red and white and didn’t seem to diminish their cool any).
And, just because you’ve decided to have good taste on the car’s exterior, don’t go all Technicolor with the interior. That means no neon iridescent seat covers.
Other embellishments to avoid include a drop-down LCD DVD, 24-inch rims and a huge bass box speaker.
Keep It Classic
So what does make a muscle car cool? Timeless Rides is keen on hood scoops, a necessity on muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s. The monster V8 engines on these cars needed cooler air, and Pontiac discovered making hood scoops functional and funneling cooler air to the carburetor provided a big power boost.
The 1971 Pontiac GTO, for example, had twin front scoops to complement its large pointed grill. Other cool cars with hood scoops include the 1969 Dodge A12 Super Bee and the 1969 Pontiac Trans Am.
So, keep the hood scoop and tasteful color tones to keep the respect of real muscle car aficionados everywhere.
