Tropicana Magazine Jul-Aug 2017 #114: Bold & Beautiful

THE DRIVE
There’s a man out in Ohio. His
name is Jack Baruth, and he’s
one of the greatest automotive
writers of our time- well travelled
and in love with everything from
the old and obscure to full-on modern-day
race-cars. He’s also a man of controversy,
and perhaps one of the latest pieces he has
written to spark yet another argument is the
idea that the Honda Accord V6 Coupe is the
last real American muscle car.
In certain respects he’s correct, given
the very specific criteria he’s stated (a lot
of American cars are not produced in
America). But the rest of the world has had
a somewhat different view of what a muscle
car is or what it should be, and maybe it’s
time to clarify a few things and set the
record straight.
The formula for a muscle car, by
Baruth’s definition, is one-part family car
platform and one-part huge engine with a
tremendous amount of power. But perhaps
just as important as these two core principles
are the list of things a muscle car should not
be, simply as a matter of tradition. It is also
tradition and history that obfuscates which
cars are truly muscle cars, to begin with.
One might argue that the Ford Mustang
and the Chevrolet Camaro, two big names
and highly traditional American cars, are
both of the muscle nature. Unfortunately,
history tells us that neither of these cars
was categorised as muscle cars when they
began. For some, the term “pony car” may
be unfamiliar, but this is what both of these
cars were initially defined as when they were
launched many, many decades ago.
“Pony car” itself refers to the class of
cars created when the Ford Mustang was
introduced as a result of its popularity. That
the Chevrolet Camaro was also regarded
as a pony car is simply because it has been
the greatest and most consistent rival to the
Ford Mustang, so it’s merely a case of who
got there first. The Mustang which was in a
class of its own when it was first launched, is
a sporty and relatively compact car that was
mostly aimed at a younger crowd.
Real muscle cars of the era wouldn’t be
described as any of those things, nor were
they aimed at any particular crowd- which
further drives home the idea that neither
Mustang nor Camaro are truly muscle cars.
But what makes matters even worse is how
these cars have evolved over their numerous
generations to become the cars they are
today.
It can almost be said that both modern
Mustang and Camaro are borderline
sports cars, given the way they drive and
handle. From the way they’re designed,
both inside and out, to the level of options
and customisability; both of these cars
have become full blown sporty machines.
Unfortunately, a sports car is a little
antithetical to the muscle car form.
Muscle cars are not meant to be
particularly good at carving corners on a
Sunday morning or flying around a tight
race track. Their primary focus is powerand
a lot of it- in a relatively innocuous
family-car based body style. That’s not to say
that a muscle car cannot be made to handle
well, but this is where tradition is important
in maintaining the distinction between a
muscle car and a sports car.
TM | July/AUGUST 2017
118