by Richard Saare

Created on: May 21, 2008   Last Updated: November 07, 2008

What is it that makes a car a muscle car; well the first and foremost thing is horse power. And then you take the horse power and divide it by the GVW or Gross Vehicle Weight. An average car might have a Power to Weight Ratio of 16 lbs to 1 HP. A 4,000 pound car with a 250 horse power V-8 equals 1 horse per 16 pounds of weight. Where as a Muscle Car might have a ratio of 1 HP to 8.9 pounds by GVW. Another way of divining the raw power is Break Horse Power or what is delivered to the ground by the rear wheels.

Basically a Muscle car is all about power, but if the power is lost at the rear wheel then it was a waste of time and money. Tires are the conveyance of the raw horse power developed by the engine. Big Block or Small Block it makes no difference, traction is the name of the game. As for components there are several contributing factors, Carburetion, and I say Carburetion because Fuel Injection was very uncommon in the Muscle Car genre'. Standard Bore Carb's, Spread Bore Carb's, Dual Spread Bores, Triple Deuces, and dual feed, dual pump, single or double 4 Barrels. Then it comes to intake manifolds, Holley Street Dominator, Weind Tunnel Rams, and occasionally a Detroit 6-71 Diesel Blower was added.

Later Super Chargers and Turbo Chargers were added to the mix. Compression is a big deal in the muscle car venue. A stock high performance engine with natural aspiration can run as high as 18:1 or at BDC the pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure or 14.7 lbs. per square inch or Zero PSI Gauge, at TDC the pressure is 18 times that, roughly 265 PSI Gauge. With Super Chargers, Turbo Chargers, and Blowers the Compression Ratio drops dramatically. Turbo Charged Engines are on average 8:1. This is because of the volume of air forced into the cylinder by the component of choice.

Next in the Muscle car venue is Cams and Valves, Duration and lift are the method of the High Performance Cams. Lift is how much the valves will open and duration is how long they stay open. Roller Cams are the choice of many street rod racers and I had a Sig Erson Roller Cam in my 66 GTO. Pistons and rings are as important as rods and a finely balanced crank shaft. Last is the exhaust, Headers and big breather tubes let the gases escape without restriction. New engine technology includes Harmonic resonance.

An amazing phenomenon that actually uses exhaust gases sound frequencies to cool the exhaust valve train, and last but not least the Cherry Bomb Muffler was the call of the wild in the Muscle Car day. All in all the Muscle Car was a state of mind as well as the ownership of a car. You had to want one to own one, and in a way it was a way of life. People of the Era were commonly called Gear Heads or Motor Monkey's. But if you had a car it was all about winning the next race! Paint didn't really matter, and chrome won't get you home! Speed and horsepower were the defining qualities of the Muscle Car Era!

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