The best Musclecar year was....

[hvychev]

1970 IMO without a doubt!

[supergonzo]

Mike, I think if your a Pontiac fan it has to be 1964-1966

No big block chevy's (actually a small amount of them)
No Lighter Camaro's or Firebird's
Olds & Buick had nothing much and nobody bought them anyway
289 Mustangs's.........please
Butt Ugly Mopar's most with 273 cubes, some rare ugly mopar race cars

And over 215,000 GTO's were sold by 1966!!
----------------------------------------------
But otherwise I think most of the GM Cars & Mustangs peaked around 1969
Mopar finally got good styling by 1970
Buick finally built a screamer in 1970
1970 Chevy LS6 454 comes out, unfortunately the Chevelle weighs 3900 lbs now.

[StealthBird]

Well, I am a hard core Pontiac guy, but I'm also a true Musclecar fan. I assembled the list above based on my passion and respect for all the makes. My loyalty is to Pontiac, but I never wear rose colored glasses, and I understand that Pontiac didn't dominate all facets of the Musclecar Era in all years.

Actually, 1966 was one year that I personally felt WAS a strong contender for the best Musclecar year, just not as strong as 1969 or 1970.

1966
----

- The 1966 GTO was available with the soon to be famous "Ram Air" straight from the factory. Ram Air became such a strong marketing tool and image builder (and helped horsepower), that nearly every manufacturer had their own version of Ram Air within a couple years.
- Last year for famous Pontiac tri-power
- 1966 would be the only year for tri-power on the 442
- Olds introduces their very limited W-30 package on the 442
- King Kong attacks Detroit : The street Hemi debuts
- The 1966 Chevelle SS396 is now regular production
- The controversial and striking Dodge Charger debuts
- The revolutionary Olds Tornado is introduced
- The Corvette gets a 427, and with 3 Holley carbs to boot

But the downside of 1966 is that the Camaro and Firebird were still a year away, Buick was watching from the sidelines, big cube engines wouldn't make it to GM cars for a couple more years, AMC was still making "practical" cars, and it wouldn't be until 1968 when Detroit discovered that adding cool paint jobs and stripes would really kick life into the Musclecar image (68 Hurst/Olds, 68 Road Runner).

As for Pontiac, one of their peaks was 1973/1974, but the SD455 ended up being a thoroughbred horse running at a closed race track.

[Steven J]

Hi Mike, was that you that I saw in the Meijer's gas station in Bolingbrook last weekend ?

[StealthBird]

Steven, yes! Do you live in Bolingbrook? Geez, you're the third person that has mentioned (via postings) that they saw my car out last weekend, and I only had it out for 30 minutes! Gotta love the internet.

[Steven J]

Mike, I'm in Naperville. You probably don't recognize the name since the "J" is my middle initial. I don't post my last name, but you know me from Lisle........ Had a 65 GTO, friends with Village Auto Supply, etc......

[Mr70]

Who was that masked man............

[StealthBird]

By the way, last Saturday in Lombard (west suburb of Chicago), we had a 69 COPO Camaro, two 69 Yenkos (one white, one yellow), a 69 SS396 Camaro ragtop, and a show winning 70 LS6, all parked within 30 feet of each other. When Ed Cunneen comes out, he does it in style.

[DarrenX33]

Hey what about me?! I brought them out in style.
The ragtop was an SS350 I believe. And Ed Murphy was parked in front of us all with his Hugger Orange SS396 69 Camaro. For opening night that was one heck of a turn out. Usually you see the same stuff but I saw a lot of new cars. Was a great night.

[olredalert]

MikeNoun,

--------Technically, I guess you are correct about tri-power 427 Vettes as 1967 Corvettes (the first year with tri-power) were manufactured during the calendar year of 1966. I know, I know, nitpicking, but correct!.........Bill S