Why do people love Muscle and Pony cars? That has been the life long question since the beginning of the Muscle car era in the early 1960s. The first real “pony car” was the 1964 ½ Ford Mustang. With the launch of the Ford Mustang there became a new term to go along with the somewhat controversial Mustang “The Secretary’s Car.” Ford knew that the Mustang was going to be a success and decided to bring some fun to it. In 1965 Ford brought in automotive legend and Le Mans winner Carroll Shelby; Carroll was already working with Ford at this point to build the Gt40 and beat Ferrari in the 24 Hours Of Le Mans. So Ford decided to bring Carroll on to build what is now known as the legendary Ford Shelby Gt350 and the Gt500.
With Ford’s success bringing on Carroll Shelby and developing legendary fast Mustangs, Chevrolet announced the flagship 1966 Camaro. The Camaro became an instant success due to Chevy building off of Ford’s success from the Mustang. With Chevrolet’s sleek styling and big block motors it was no wonder why the Camaro was able to compete with the Mustang. Along with the launch of the 1966 Camaro, Dodge launched the 1966 Dodge Challenger. The Dodge Challenger was Dodge’s two door way into the muscle car industry. The Charger sported many various transmission and motor options. From 1966 to 1967 the Charger varied from a 318 Cubic Inch V8 all the way to a 440 cubic inch V8, the transmissions varied from a three speed manual, a four on the floor (Four Speed Manual), and a three speed automatic. From 1964 ½ to 1966 three very different but similar Muscle cars hit the ground running. Bringing America some of the amazing car culture it has to this day.
In 1969 the body refreshes came to all three models. The Mustang sported one of the minimal body refreshes but one of the most influential refreshes in history. The Mustang had sleek new body lines, a new front end, and some of the most influential special edition trim packages ever. Ford kept the Gt trim level for the Mustang in ’69 but added two very new trims. Starting off Ford released the Mustang Mach One model, which sported even sleeker looks and added a shaker hood into the mix. The Mach One could be optioned with a 351 Cubic Inch Windsor V8, a 351 Cubic Inch Cleveland V8, a 390 Cubic Inch V8, and the legendary 428 Cubic Inch V8. Besides the Mach One, Ford also launched the Boss 302 Mustang. The Boss 302 Mustang was built for Ford to go racing. Ford needed a car to compete in the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Trans-Am series and the Boss 302 was that car. The Boss 302 came with a 290 horsepower, 302 Cubic Inch V8. Then came the final of the beasts released by Ford in 1969. The infamous Boss 429, the 429 was Ford’s version of a big block V8 and Ford stuck it into a Mustang. The Boss 429 was rated from Ford at 375 horsepower, but many tuning shops and reputable companies believed that the 429 was pushing over 500 horsepower. The Boss 429 was built in the same prospect of the Boss 302, except Ford wanted the 429 motor to go racing in NASCAR and compete with Chrysler’s dominate 428.
The Camaro received the least impactful design change, but had an iconic trim born with the body change. A local Chevrolet dealer of Illinois (Fred Gibb Chevrolet) ordered 50 Camaros with the new big block 427 dubbed the ZL1 motor creating Chevrolet’s iconic Camaro the ZL1. The Camaro body mostly stayed the same, with the shapes of the car becoming more rounded off and thicker, causing the love for the Camaro to grow even larger. Chevrolet also had another iconic trim level but not as rare or exciting as the ZL1. Chevrolet offered the RS/SS package for the Camaro in 1969. The RS/SS package was offered with four motor choices. The L34 which was the slowest of the four rated at 325 horsepower, the L35 was offered and rated at 350 horsepower, then came the L78 and L89 which were both rated at 375 hp. The L78 was sporting that 375 horsepower with iron heads, while the L89 was sporting 375 horsepower with aluminum heads. While the Camaro has the most minimal design change of 1969, the trim levels offered with the Camaro are some of the most influential in automotive history.
While Dodge was the first to the design refresh, refreshing the Charger in 1968 while Ford and Chevy waited until 1969 for most of their changes. Dodge completely revamped the Charger in ’68 giving it a more squared off body, really to have the Charger follow the name of muscle cars. The Charger came with three motor options for the 1968 model year. The Charger had the 318 Cubic Inch V8 pushing 230 horsepower, the Charger had two 383 Cubic Inch options, the 290 horsepower two-barrel carburetor, and the 330 horsepower option. Meanwhile in 1969 Dodge decided that Ford and Chevy weren’t going to have the market all to themselves. In fall of 1969 Dodge announced the Dodge Challenger for the 1970 model year. The Dodge Challenger was launched and produced out of spite because Dodge needed a vehicle to compete with Ford’s now discontinued Mercury line. The Challenger came off of the line swinging, with an astonishing eight motor choices for the 1970 model year. The Challenger was offered with the 198 Cubic Inch Inline Six, the 225 Cubic Inch Inline Six, the 318 Cubic Inch V8, the 340 Cubic Inch V8, the 360 Cubic Inch V8, the 383 Cubic Inch V8, the 426 Cubic Inch V8, and the massive 440 Cubic Inch V8.
While the world of American Muscle/Pony Cars butt heads over which brand is better, all of the brands had a major influential impact on the Muscle/Pony Cars and still do to this day. Unfortunately for most Muscle car fans, they are losing their love for the cars. With Chevrolet and Dodge switching to all electric, all that is left to compete with high horsepower V8’s is the Mustang. With the way the world is changing dramatically on the opinion on internal combustion engines, its only a matter of time until the Mustang rests in its grave. Ironically the Muscle/Pony car that started it all is gonna leave the legacy behind of four automotive Muscle car legends.
