HELLO TO ALL,
I BEING ONE OF THE OLDER MEMBERS OF THIS ASSOCIATION AS WELL AS ONE OF THE NEWER ONES WOULD LIKE TO SAY A FEW THINGS AND HEAR YOUR RESPONSES.
THE TERM MUSCLE CAR I NEVER HEARD UNTIL AROUND 1970. IT USUALLY REFERRED TO THE ENGINE AND STANCE OF A PARTICULAR CLASS OF AUTOMOBILE. THE ONES THAT COME TO MIND ARE THE HEAVY CHEVY AND THE CHEVELLE AND ELCAMINO SS's WITH 454 ENGINES AND THE 60 SERIES TIRES. I DON'T RECALL THE TERM BEING USED FOR ANY OTHER VEHICLES.
NOW DON'T TAKE THIS TO MEAN I WASN'T IN THE MAINSTREAM. I LIVED AND LOVED STREETRACING FROM MID SIXTIES TO 1972 WHEN HORSEPOWER NUMBERS WERE STEADILY DROPPING DUE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURE AS WELL AS THE COST OF INSURANCE BEING ON THE RISE WITH WHAT WERE REFERRED TO AS RED STAR CARS(THE BIG MOTOR CHEVELLES,BOSS MUSTANGS,ROADRUNNERS,RT's,CUDAS AND SUCH). THERE WERE MANY MORE. ENOUGH OF ME, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Being one of the older generation you probably heard of "The Pony Cars". Pony cars were generally 60-ish cars Mustangs, Chevelles and Dodges. Well the Term or phrase Muscle car is sort of a derivative of those Pony Cars. Small cars lots of HP.

Admittedly it is a moderately new phrase (Muscle Car) but it refers to cars made from late 50 through 72, 1972 being the last year the main stream Car Nut admits to any car being Muscle. It is about HP and as you pointed out most of that was being killed by insurance costs and Environmental regulations. (Sort of). So by the time 73 rolled around Dodge was probably the only manufacturer that was still making moderately good HP. So the term Muscle didn't apply.

That is my take on the situation. I am also of the belief that any car with good HP and lots of torque is Muscle to me. A 348 Hp Z/28 SS Camaro is muscle to me. It has good HP and good Torque and compared to all the 4 & 6 bangers it is Big Cubic inches and loads of HP and low end torque.

Like I said that is just my take on the situation.

I found this definition (tongue in cheek): Muscle car, noun, an American-built vehicle made during the 1950s, '60s or '70s, and characterized by a large engine, copious amounts of horsepower, plenty of engine-torque and a tendency to induce adrenaline rush in drivers and white knuckles in passengers.
Althought some 50's vehicles are included, many enthusiast's credit the 1964 GTO as being the first true musclecar. Light body, large horsepower.
Here's a couple of websites:
http://www.musclecarmuseum.com/index2.htm

http://www.classicdreamcars.com/

I've seen this get argued a few times now. Some say it has to do with when it was built, some the size or horsepower of the motor, some say both. For the most part it seems that it depends more on the HP of the motor then anything. But that starts a whole new arguement normally. Modern 'Muscle' cars have as much or in some cases more HP then the 50-70 cars. Seems to all depend on your point of view I guess.

Well I find it 1/3 less filling. :D

"The care and feeding of the El Camino!"

Muscle, non Muscle, made Muscle or Pony Cars doesn't matter or shouldn't. I would assume that we drive what we drive because of one of two reason. 1.) We like the looks, Hp and ride or 2.) Its' the only thing we could afford. And then there are the fringes.

For me its the El Camino. Some cars are just fun to drive and Unique enough so that every Tom, Dick and Harry doesn't have one. I would guess that for most of us there is not one other car (El Camino) on the road like the one we drive and take care of.

By the way they like a steady diet of Uncle Ben's Converted Rice, Small wild horses (Mustangs) and Big Horn Sheep (Rams)! Generally they prefer to smoking them their selves!

THANK YOU GENTLEMAN,
WHAT A BORING WORLD IT WOULD BE IF EVERYONE WERE IN COMPLETE AGREEMENT.