16 cars that prove muscle was alive in the ’70s

Celebrating 1970s muscle in all its emasculated glory

The golden age of American muscle reached its peak 50 years ago in 1970. A combination of car makers underrating power figures to placate insurance companies and the inaccuracy of the old SAE gross power ratings system means it’s hard to know which car really was the most powerful.

But officially it was the 450bhp Chevelle LS6, after which the drive to clean exhaust emissions drove the muscle car from the streets.

Or did it? Not according to the 1974 Camaro Z/28 pictured here. It might have lost a bit of muscle, but with a true 245 net horses it could still lay elevens from the lights – and it wasn’t the only one.

Here are 16 cars that prove muscle wasn’t dead in the 1970s.

1. 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle 454 LS5

Since the ’70 Chevelle represented muscle’s power peak, let’s start with what happened to it the following year. A need to accept low-lead fuel meant most muscle cars that survived into 1971 had to run with lower compression ratios, and the Chevelle was no different.

The 450bhp LS6 was no more, meaning the most powerful version was its LS5 little brother, which thanks to new heads and a revised cam actually gained 5bhp for a 365bhp total despite its lower compression.

2. 1971 Dodge Challenger Hemi

Arguably the most iconic engine of the entire muscle era, Chrysler’s 426 Hemi was officially rated at 425bhp, 25bhp down on Chevy’s LS6, though many fans believe it was actually the more powerful of the two.

What matters here is that only the Hemi made it to the 1971 model year when it could be ordered in cars like the Dodge Charger and Challenger, and Plymouth Cuda, Road Runner and GTX.

Chrysler actually quoted two Hemi power figures for 1971: the familiar 425bhp SAE gross figure, and also a 350bhp rating measured using the more realistic SAE net system that would become standard from 1972.

3. 1972 Oldsmobile 4-4-2

When Oldsmobile released the first 4-4-2 in 1964 the name had stood for a four-speed manual transmission, four-barrel carb and dual exhausts, underlining its performance credentials.

But by 1972 the standard engine was a weedy 350cu in (5.7-litre) V8 with just 160bhp that could be mated to a three-speed auto.

Fortunately, upgrade options still included a pair of 455cu in (7.5-litre) V8s with as much as 300bhp net if you went for the factory-blueprinted W-30 package.

4. 1973 Ford Mustang 351-4v Q-code

The glory days of the Boss 302, Boss 429 and big-block Cobra Jet motors might have gone by ’73, but the Mustang menu did still contain the odd tasty morsel.

The hottest engine was a rare 351cu in (5.8-litre) Q-code small block that produced 266bhp, a solid 21bhp more than the most powerful version of its Chevrolet Camaro rival.

5. 1974 AMC Javelin 401

The swoopy Javelin is often forgotten when talk turns to the Ford Mustang and its rivals, but by 1974 the Javelin was the only one still flying a flag for performance.

The 1974 Javelin’s 235bhp 401cu in (6.6-litre) V8 had lost 20bhp compared to the previous year’s car, but you couldn’t even get a V8 in the new-for-’74 Ford Mustang II.

6. 1974 Buick Gran Sport

The Buick Gran Sport was a Pontiac GTO with a cravat. Big on power, but big on luxury too. Actually, not so big on power this year: the base engine for ’74 was a 175bhp 350cu in (5.7-litre) V8.

But go-fast fans could still order a big-block V8 in either 190bhp standard form, or 230bhp Stage 1 guise.

7. 1974 Chevrolet Corvette 454

The most obvious change to the ’74 Corvette was a new smooth, body-coloured rear bumper to match the similar bumper the front end had gained the year before.

But of more significance to performance fans was that this was your last chance to buy a big-block engine in a Corvette. The 454cu in (7.4-litre) V8 produced 270bhp compared with just 195bhp for the entry-level 5.7-litre L48.

8. 1974 Plymouth Road Runner 440

Sadly for Dodge and Plymouth fans, the Chrysler 426 Hemi and triple-carb 440 Six Pack V8s were long gone by 1974.

But with the little-known 275bhp 440cu in (7.2-litre) V8 under its bonnet, a well-optioned Road Runner could still justify its name.

9. 1974 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty

Pontiac bucked the trend for dwindling power outputs with the 1973-’74 Trans Am’s optional Super Duty package.

While the base 455cu in (7.5-litre) made do with 250bhp, the Super Duty delivered a mighty 310bhp, or at least until a softer cam profile dropped it back to 290bhp shortly after launch.

Even so, no mainstream US-built production car would make more power or go faster (Car and Driver clocked it at 5.4 secs to 60mph) for over a decade.

10. 1974 Pontiac GTO

But what Pontiac giveth with one hand, it taketh away with the other. Also in 1974, the once great GTO reverted to an option pack on the Ventura, Pontiac’s version of the Chevy Nova.

It did at least use a Pontiac engine, though sadly not a 455. Instead it made do with a 350cu in (5.7-litre) good for 200bhp.

Seven-seven to 60mph wasn’t awful in the context of the times and it shifted twice as many units as the previous year’s GTO. But that wasn’t enough to stop it becoming the last GTO for 30 years.

11. 1976 Ford Gran Torino

This list has been short on Ford content so far for the simple reason that Ford virtually walked away from the performance market after 1972.

But while you couldn’t order a big-block Mustang or Cougar past 1971, you could still get one in a Gran Torino. Power from the mammoth 460cu in (7.5-litre) V8 was down to 202bhp for 1976, the Torino’s last year, but anything starting with a 2 was worth shouting about in those days.

And besides, the reflected glory of a regular spot on TV's Starsky and Hutch was probably worth another 100 ponies.

12. 1976 Dodge Dart 360

A real stealthy performer, the Dodge Dart Sport 360 (and its Plymouth Duster twin) proved that muscle was alive and flexing in mid-1970s Detroit.

The 5.9-litre V8 had lost 25bhp since its introduction two years earlier, but according to a 1976 Car and Driver test that clocked it at 122mph, it was the fastest American-built car that wasn’t a Corvette.

13. 1977 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

Chevy actually killed the performance-focused Z/28 off at the end of the 1974 model year, steering the Camaro in a more luxury direction, but by 1977 it was back.

Ultimate power was never the Z/28’s forte, which is just as well, because this smog-friendly one only mustered 185bhp. Zero to 60mph required 8.6 secs, but unlike most vintage muscle cars, this one could at least do corners.

14. 1978 Dodge Li’l Red Express

One of the most potent late-1970s Detroit muscle cars wasn’t a car at all, but a truck.

Exploiting the loophole that exempted trucks from power-sapping catalytic converters, the 1978 Li’l Red Express made 225bhp from its 360cu in V8, which exhaled through two functional vertical exhausts and could hurl it down the drag strip quarter-mile in 15.7 secs.

15. 1978 Ford Mustang II King Cobra

Okay, cards on the table: if the King Cobra is muscle it’s one of those terrible fake six-pack tattoos.

Visually the Cobra desperately tried to ape its Trans Am rival, but when it came to performance there was no contest. The Cobra’s only engine option was a 134bhp 5.0-litre V8 that struggled to get to 60mph in 9 secs.

16. 1979 Pontiac Trans Am

The Trans Am might have been a pale shadow of its former self, but it did what no other rival managed, lasting right to the end of the decade.

And though the big 455 had breathed its last in 1976, the Trans Am was still about the fastest American car you could buy this side of a Corvette.

Base '79s used a 180bhp Oldsmobile 403 V8, but the optional T/A pack brought a proper Pontiac 400 V8 with 220bhp that would take you to 60mph in 6.7 secs.

But this would be the last year for the big-block V8. In 1980 it was replaced by a turbocharged small-block V8, finally bringing the original age of the muscle car to a close.