Famous cars such as the Ford Mustang, Dodge Super Bee, and Plymouth Road Runner hold a unique place in American automotive history. These small, fast cars had powerful roaring engines and an aggressively sleek aesthetic, becoming cultural icons that were still comfortable and practical enough to drive every day. This Golden Age lasted throughout the 1960s.
But as the 1970s dawned, several factors conspired to kill the muscle car. The Oil Embargo of 1973 created a dramatic rise in fuel costs, effectively pricing thirstier muscle cars off the road. The insurance industry moved in for the kill, relentlessly hiking the premiums for machines termed as performance vehicles.
The establishment of the EPA in 1970 also crippled the muscle car as environmental regulations came into force across America. This article will explore the death of the muscle car before evaluating whether the age of the muscle car is still dead and buried.
Muscle Car Nation – The 1960s
It's no exaggeration to say that the rise of the muscle car in the United States was a crucial development in American culture. Before the muscle car era began, drivers who wanted a fast car had to spend a small fortune. Most sports cars were far too expensive for the majority of everyday drivers. But when muscle cars emerged in the 1960s, they quickly became an affordable symbol of power, speed, performance, and the epitome of cool.
The DNA of the muscle car stretches back to 1949. Engineers at General Motors took a Rocket V8 engine meant for the large, luxury Oldsmobile 98 and bolted it into the engine bay of the lightweight Oldsmobile 88. It's no surprise, then, that the 88 was Oldsmobile's best-selling model until 1974.
The 88 set the basic blueprint for all future muscle cars. Combine the lighter chassis of a small saloon car with a huge, powerful V8 engine meant for a bigger model, all in an affordable, stylish package. In 1951, Chrysler joined the party by installing one of their bruising Hemi engines into their mid-range Saratoga model. The muscle car revolution had begun.
The accepted definition of a “muscle car” grew to include various types of vehicles, including the famous “pony cars” such as the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro and mid-size models like the Pontiac GTO. Many of these cars became immensely popular with street racers and automotive enthusiasts across America, virtually creating a new subculture.
Muscle cars began to take starring roles in iconic films such as 1968's Bullitt, capturing public imagination at a time when the new wave of American consumerism encouraged people to buy for enjoyment. But in the 1970s, the Golden Age of the muscle car began to run out of gas.
Oil Embargo of 1973
One of the biggest killers of the muscle car was the 1973 Oil Crisis, which began when a group of Arab nations known as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) declared an oil embargo. These countries had been the main producers and exporters of oil for decades, and most Western nations had come to rely on them to maintain the supply.
The embargo came into force because Arab countries wanted to protest global support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Many of the Arab nations that were part of OPEC had battled Israel during the conflict. When President Nixon provided money and weapons for Israel after the war, the OPEC coalition retaliated by withholding oil supplies.
During the Golden Age of the muscle car, America had struggled to meet demand through domestic oil production alone. This peaked in 1969, with more oil coming from imports than from American oil wells. Previous legislation from the Eisenhower administration had levied quotas on importing fuel from other nations. In 1973, these quotas were abolished, generating a rapid rise in foreign oil imports.
The embargo began in October 1973 and lasted until March 1974. This led to a global rise of almost 300% in oil prices when the embargo finally finished. America struggled to bring in replacement supplies from other countries, leading to record rises in gas prices. While all motorists were hit hard, muscle car owners were the worst affected.
Thanks to their large engines and high-performance figures, muscle cars were much thirstier than other vehicles. As fuel became more and more expensive, increasing numbers of muscle cars were priced off the roads. As the 1970s wore on, car companies could no longer justify making muscle cars. Any models that stuck around became slower and heavier, losing sight of the true muscle car spirit.
Insurance Industry's War On Speed
As America's automotive industry expanded and more and more cars roared onto the roads, safety concerns grew. These concerns not only included the speed of vehicles but also their structural quality. These concerns were spearheaded by the political activist Ralph Nader.
In 1965, Nader published a book called “Unsafe at Any Speed”. It was a damning indictment of American motor companies, who had been cutting corners for years when building their vehicles. It was a golden opportunity for insurance companies.
For decades, American car manufacturers had been deliberately announcing performance figures that were often lower than the true power of the car. This had the effect of creating lower insurance premiums for many owners, making it affordable to own and insure a vehicle like a muscle car. Because most drivers could insure their muscle car for a reasonable price, demand stayed high during the 1960s.
Insurance companies had been trying to find a way around this for years without much success. But after the release of Nader's book, insurance firms had found their golden ticket. Despite horrendous press attention, most car manufacturers didn't alter their production methods. This continued even after the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in 1966, which was designed to introduce more stringent safety measures.
The insurance firms pounced. Premiums began to rise for most vehicles across the United States, but especially for performance vehicles like muscle cars. New safety laws continued to stack up. Insurance firms continued to lobby the Federal government for tighter regulations.
Design constraints were soon introduced in the 1970s, producing cars that looked generally the same regardless of manufacturer. This killed the aggressive styling of traditional muscle cars, while many of these iconic vehicles simply became far too expensive for most drivers to insure.
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
The third factor that brought about the fall of the muscle car was the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December 1970 by President Nixon. This independent agency was created to propose and enforce environmental regulations throughout the country after various national scandals around the environment.
The EPA immediately got to work, proposing a series of changes that required emissions to be cut across the board. Mandatory emission level regulations were introduced for all vehicles, including muscle cars. Limits were also imposed on the car manufacturers themselves, who had to meet stringent emissions targets across their operations.
Demand for higher fuel efficiency increased further after the 1973 Oil Crisis, which had caused monumental hikes in fuel prices across America. In response, the Federal government created a new set of regulations to establish mandatory fuel economy figures for new cars. These standards were enforced via a cap on the annual fuel efficiency of a vehicle.
To meet these tight regulations, American marques had no choice but to gradually kill off the muscle car. The big, powerful engines of the past were no longer sustainable, with many companies forced to lower engine compression ratios to detune their engines.
In line with new safety regulations sparked by Ralph Nader, vehicles also became much heavier. Fewer carburetors were installed on new engines, which also had much smaller air intakes that neutered performance even further. These changes made it impossible for traditional muscle cars to remain as part of America's automotive landscape,
While the Oil Embargo and rising insurance companies made muscle cars too expensive for most drivers, the EPA's regulations directly targeted the spirit of the muscle car itself. Gone were the days of beefing up a small, lightweight saloon model with a powerful engine. Those things simply ceased to exist.
Modern Muscle Car Revival
The first wave of muscle cars may have been killed off, but the spirit of these iconic vehicles remained. And in the 1980s, that spirit was revived once more. Thanks to the development of electronic fuel injection, American marques could once again put big V8's into their mid-range motors.
Cars such as the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 began a muscle car resurgence that is still going strong today. Iconic names like the Ford Mustang and Pontiac Firebird suddenly had a new lease of life in the 1980s and 1990s. Classic muscle cars also endured on the collectors market, bringing the joy of traditional muscle cars to audiences old and new.
Today, muscle cars are still roaming the roads, with contemporary takes on famous names such as the Camaro, Mustang, and Dodge Challenger. One thing's for sure – reports of the death of the muscle car have been greatly exaggerated!
