The Birth of First Muscle Cars
Already about 100 years, technological competition and sales of various types of cars into a business that demanded a lot of people. Market hectic buying and selling a car can not be separated from the history of the emergence of automobile racing. Racing Car also experience innovation, not only in circuit race, but it appears that street racing cars then often known as muscle cars.
Two types of motor sport has a very important role in muscle car history. One is the stock-car racing, which began to emerge as some "good old friends" to form the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing in 1947.
Inspired by the runner turbo cars are identical with booze and their ability to avoid the police. The first NASCAR race track dimuali on the beach. These events draw the crowds, and soon became a thriving business. Then came a variety of other organizations, such as the American Automobile Clubs, began encouraging them to invest in car racing.
The emergence of Drag Racing, meanwhile, pulled its own fans. This competition is held in a quarter-mile acceleration comes with street racing informal (and illegal) are associated with hot rodders, shade tree mechanic who turned out the old and the Model T Ford Model A fast, exciting road cars. Drag racing has gained momentum in 1951 when the National Hot Rod Association was formed in - car-crazy Southern California. At the same time, the head of the Wally Parks NHRA Hot Rod magazines began to promote the sport and performance-tuned street car. The early '50s also saw the debut of Motor Trend and other car-enthusiast magazines, the first of many.
Growing public interest in speed and power gave birth to what many consider the first muscle car, 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. It is a car enthusiast can understand the heat: a powerful new engine in the Olds lighter body. And the machine was successful: the first American high-compression overhead-valve V-8, the results of research at General Motors began well before the war. Although GM's Cadillac Division introduced a similar V-8 for '49 is the smallest, fleeter Olds 88s that captured public attention, especially when they begin to dominate stock car racing.
Because of the success in Detroit never goes unmatched for a long time, the rocket soon have a competitor showroom 88s and horse racing. In 1955, nearly all U.S. plant offers lightweight, efficient V-8. Two legends of the best performance yet for this day. One is the Chrysler Hemi Corporation, first in 1951 and named for the environment or semi-hemispherical shape of the combustion chamber. No less significant is the 1955 Chevrolet small-block V-8, the project so successful that the basic concepts are still in production techniques. But the horse race is not always about pure speed. Detroit soon learns the importance of hot cars to give their name and marketing direction combined with enthusiasm for tire smoke.
Because bigger is better in 50 Fabulous, wearing a Detroit car pounds and inches every year, requiring larger machines just to maintain the level of acceleration. But many buyers are still willing to buy a speeding, and automakers have responded with all sorts of performance improvements and weight of power sharing option increases. Most were developed only to meet racing rules - and the car company proud. Rarely ordered by the major buyers, these "pieces of speed," but promoted an image of improved sales performance.
So, Dodge, for example, offered powered-up "D-500" engines for all models in its line in 1956, including bottom-line of lightweight two-door sedan - which, of course, is the selection of pilots.Brand performance of other hardware prominently displayed in a limited edition model. Chrysler led the way with the 1955 C-300, fusion inspired Hemi power and pitfalls of luxury cars is quickly becoming the new NASCAR star. With 300 horsepower, it was just announced as "the most powerful car in America."
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| The 1955 Chrysler C-300 was touted as American Most Powerful Car |
All of these muscles screeched to a halt in early 1957. Detroit, through their Automobile Manufacturers Association, agreed to "ban" imposed himself on the ads factory racing and performance-oriented sponsored. Public, the industry was subject to pressure from increasingly vocal lobby security. Private, business as usual.
Engineers continue to work in a hotter engine and other under the table-of-race support, hoping that high performance is politically correct again soon. They were right, because you'll see the next page.
