Muscle Cars: The First American Supercars

by Colin Romanick

In 2010, a 1970 Plymouth Superbird fetched $286,000 at an auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2009, a 1970 Plymouth Hemi Barracuda sold for $2.16 million. Auctions of classic cars in general and muscle cars in particular routinely garner upwards of $39 million annually. Since their debut in the early 1960s, Americans have been in love with the horsepower under the hood of muscle cars like the GTO, Camaro, and Mustang. From their origins in Detroit, muscle cars became the stuff of dreams for millions of baby boomers. Car buff and historian Colin Romanick lifts the hood on these classics in Muscle Cars, covering everything from legendary automotive icons like John DeLorean and Lee Iacocca to the differences between muscle cars and pony cars to the relationship between street cars and racing cars. Romanick also looks at the economic environmental effects of the 1970s that brought an end to the muscle car era.