America's # 1 Muscle Car!

Muscle Car Review magazine-where i am a frequent contributor-has asked their readers to write in and give their opinion on the most important musclecar in history. It doesn't have to be the fastest or the rarest, but they want a detailed explanation why you think it's the most important. For me, there is only one choice, and I think it's obvious. The #1 Musclecar of all time should be the Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, and here's why. By 1975 The Javelin was history, as was the Challenger, Cuda and Road Runner. The Charger was a re-badged ( ugh! ) Chrysler Cordoba. The Mustang was more Pinto than Mustang, the GTO was history and the largest engine available in a Corvette was a 350, and you couldn't even get a four-speed in California!. The Z/28 took a two-year hiatus. ( 1975 and 76, before being re-introduced in mid-77.)  Here's where the automakers screwed up. Performance car buyers didn't go away after 1974, the car manufacturers stopped making cars these people wanted to buy! Like Buford Pusser standing up to corruption in the south, one car "Walked Tall" against ever-tightening emission controls and insurance regulations and flourished because of it, and is the sole reason that we had 5.0 Mustangs and Buick Grand Nationals in the '80's and SS Impalas in the '90's and why we have 400 hp Challengers, Camaros, and Mustangs today. If you wanted a rear-wheel drive sporty car with a big V8, you had one, and only one choice. That car is the Pontiac Trans-Am. You could get a 455 until 1976, and the 400 was available right up until 1979. T/A sales doubled or tripled every year from 4800 in 1973 to 10,000 in 1974, to 23,000 in 1975 to 46,000 in 1976. After "Smokey and the Bandit" was released in 1977, T/A sales skyrocketed, selling 68,000 in 1977, 93,000 in 78, and 117,000 in 1979. Scoff at the 79 T/A's 220 hp 400. The largest engine available in a Mustang was a 302 with a two-barrel that made 135 hp. The "AMX" was now based on the Hornet and it had a 2bbl 304 V8. The "Road  Runner" was based on the Plymouth Volare and it's 318 wheezed out about 150 hp. The Z/28 Camaro, which Chevy brought back because of the T/A's phenomenal success, had a 170hp 350. Yes, a 2011 V6 Camaro will outrun one in a drag race. But if it weren't for the immense popularity and Icon status of the late 1970's T/A's, there would be no 2011 Camaro!! Simply because it was the "Last Man Standing" and kept the faith in the darkest days, the Trans-Am deserves to be the #1 musclecar. Mastermind