It is a great hobby of love and passion with many to collect and restore old muscle cars. Although it is a real challenge to locate these prized vehicles. These cars were a rage during the era of 60’s and 70’s. You will find that some of the trendiest muscle cars were in the late -60s and early -70s. Once a car reaches an age of 25 or 30 years, the can be looked upon as an antique, depending on the vehicle department’s rules in the state. These muscle cars are getting rarer and it is getting difficult to find a car to restore and work on. It gives the muscle car restoration enthusiasts great satisfaction to restore an old car and sit behind the wheel and feel its power running in their body.

There are certain places and areas where one can look for those old muscle cars. Sometime these cars can be seen in the fields of middle and southern America, simply rotting away. You can drive into those old country roads in the farming areas of Kentucky and Tennessee and may get lucky to find an old and abandoned muscle car. If it is completely discarded on public property, you can haul it away. Sometimes you find the owner who has least interest in the car and you will be able to take the car simply by talking to them.

You can also locate old muscle cars that have been restored in classifieds online and print ads. Keep an eye on those auctions and local car exhibition in your area. Someone might have started a project on the muscle car and might be looking for someone to complete them because of financial issues or other restrictions. Swap meets too are great to locate these cars. Be prepared to do lots of hard work on these cars. Don’t expect them to start. You will have to spend a lot of time and effort to get back the warmth in the engine and restore it to its past glory.

One of the most well known auctions in US where you are likely to come across some old muscle cars is the Hemmings auction. Here you will come across many finished as well as incomplete projects on the muscle cars. If there are drag strips in your area, you are most likely to find muscle cars and race cars for sale here. You might find a good deal here, do keep your eyes open. You can always advertise if looking for those old muscle cars or ask around. Often you will come across plenty of responses wilting to steer you in the right direction.

If you hear names such as Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Charger, Pontiac GTO, Plymouth Road Runner and Ford Torino GT, you can rest assured that we are discussing muscle cars here. These are high velocity powerful cars but not sports cars. With a two-door design and high efficiency V8 engines, they were made to satisfy the growing hunger for speed among the masses sin sixties and seventies. The very early designs were seen in 1940′s, in those large sized models. It was in the 1960′s, that we saw those mid -sized models that were bought by the affluent buyers of the society. The demand was high for these cars and the motor companies eagerly introduced many new models in the market to cater to the growing demand.

The sixties was an era when smaller and mid-sized cars were introduced. It was also the time when long cars were considered the best. Later, the customers were seeking models that were lighter and compact but more powerful. Some of these models were bought only by the wealthy segment of the society. Plymouth Road Runner was the first budget model and was introduced to attract more customers. Ford and Mopar were busy introducing cars for drag racing and the popularity of muscle cars was reaching an all time high in 60′s. Dodge introduced the car speeding at more than 100 miles per hour and Mopar launched Hemi engine models. The mid-sized trim model was introduced by Pontiac GTO.

The features and designing of the muscle cars continued to evolve and one could see a number of changes such as aluminum bumpers, fiberglass panels to keep the weight of the car light. Ford Thunderbolt delivered a power of427 horsepower and reached a velocity of 197.5 km/h and had a wonderful exhaust. Disc brakes were introduced in 1970 as the new brake system as well as a lowered suspension became fashionable. Muscle car fans of the current generation, love to look for those old beasts and try to resorts and sell these cars. These cars can fetch a minimum of $500,000 at car auctions, depending on their model and condition. You will also come across some of these cars at museums.

In case you are a fan of these muscle cars, keep your eye open for some auctions or advertisements relating to these cars. Get in touch with car dealers and visit local car shows. There would be plenty of people who can provide you with the information you need and even know from where to get the reproduced metal parts. Keep in mind that any project involving muscle cars is not going to be an easy one. You need to put in loads of effort and time and of course money.

When we speak of muscle cars, we get visions of high-performance vehicles in our mind. These cars surfaced in the sixties and the eighties and their engines were designed especially for high-performance driving. The mid-size or full-size car could fit 4 or more passengers. There were manufacturers of muscle car in South Africa, Australia, United Kingdom. These cars were distinct from the two-seat sports cars as they were sold at an affordable price and were meant for street use and sometimes for drag racing.

The three major traits of a muscle car were power, performance and speed. People found them simply amazing when they first appeared as they offered the efficiency of lightweight body along with the performance of a high-power V8 engine. The acceleration power of these cars got a boost due to special design features. These cars were simply ideal for racing as they surpassed all other vehicles in terms of speed and performance.

1960s into the early 1970s

These powerful beasts were very much alive during the mid-1960s into the early 1970s. There was a sudden craze for them among the buyers. But there were some issues too that came attached.   The first was the controversy that surfaced if it was proper to hand over these powerful vehicles to general masses. As buyers were using these muscle cars rather irresponsibly, it was no surprise to see insurance companies increasing rates for insuring these cars. Then there were pollution issues too as these muscle cars found it difficult to adhere to the emission control requirements.

Needless to say, the demand slowed down with time as the muscle car industry was not able to cope up with these influences. The enormous insurance rates as well as pollution issues presented new challenges for the automakers of muscle cars. The production fell as the demand lowered down.

Today, these muscle cars are valuable items for collectors as they were produced for a limited number of years. Some automakers have tried to revive the era of muscle cars, by manufacturing some powerful vehicles that look like those legendary muscle cars. But nothing can beat or compare with those old classic muscle cars that we saw in the 1960’s to 70’s.

It will be interesting to see if we can replay the history and if the modern automakers can recreate the magic of those muscle cars. Will there be buyers for these cars today? Or we will just remember them as old beasts from the sixties and seventies?

Comparing Australian and American muscle cars

The muscle cars of America as well as those made in Australia are basically the same. They offer the same performance, show similar characteristics and are comparable in size. These are high performance mid-sized vehicles with two doors and rear wheel drive. But there are some differences too between the two. Read on to know more.

American Muscle Cars

The chief manufacturers of muscle cars in US are Ford, Dodge and Chrysler. One of the best American muscle car is the Ford Falcon. Carrying a small car body, these vehicles had an exceedingly powerful engine. The prime focus was on driving extremely fast with a powerful performance and a great accelerating capability. Most of these American muscle cars were first seen in the early 1950s. It was during the same time that V8 engine too was under development. The manufacturers were quick to note the latent desire of speed among the masses. V8 engine was the most powerful engine during those times and thus was the first choice by the automakers to increase the capabilities of speed and horsepower of their vehicles. The shape and design of these vehicles was kept similar to high performing sports models and fitting them with a new and powerful motor. The rising muscle car trend saw these car engines grow in size and power. Most engines were higher than 7 liters in capacity and these were the largest engines in the market at that point of time.

Australian Muscle Cars

Ford and Chrysler were the main manufacturers of Australian muscle cars along with Holden. In contrast to US muscle cars, these cars in Australia were built for racing purposes. In the United States, the general desire behind these cars was speed on the streets. There were incidents when people drove those Australian muscle cars recklessly on the roads and suffered accidents. Australian government then maintained a close watch over the sale and use of these cars. The manufacturing and sale of these muscles cars came under new regulations set by the government. The new models had to get approval before they could be sold to the public or placed in the market as muscle cars. This naturally limited the engine power in the Australian muscle cars and this is the reason why these cars never matched the power and size of their counterparts, the American muscle cars. The largest engine that one could find in Australian muscle cars was around 4 liters.