So what is the preference for American muscle cars.  The current line over the past 10 years plus or the 60's and 70's?

Hands down for me is the 60's and 70's.  There's some impressive HP coming out of the manufactures and handling today but very few true car guys around that understand them and can work on them. Its a phone call to make an appointment to get a tune, new exhaust, I like those tires and rims let me know when it's done so I can put my driving gloves on to pick it up.   The dealers building special car like the Yenko is not the same.

I have some friends with some very nice cars that they have had for a long time and had hands on involvement is restoring them.  There's also guys that know their way around the newer cars that are hands on and understand how they work and can work on them.

I had a 71 Olds 442 W-30 that I sold 20 years ago after doing a full restoration on.  I did all the mechanics on it and a friend did the paint.  Best I did was 3rd in a National Olds show in Lansing Michigan.  Buying our cabin, having a Goldwing and other commitments with having no time for all of them so I chose to sell the car and Goldwing.  Still enjoy going to the local car shows but generally walk by the newer stuff and look at the early 70's and older cars. Talking to the owners they can tell you the history of the cars what work they have done to it and generally have more of a passion for the car.

 

         

A 60’s or early “70’s muscle car is the last place I’d go for performance. Maybe as an investment though. They stink, handle like shit, suck fuel, and are just old. Even a resto mod doesn’t excite me. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate a well cared for older muscle car AND the person who is passionate enough to rescue and preserve a piece of American history. 

New. Old ones are nice to look at but that’s about it 

After dealing with and selling class B motor homes earlier this year, I formed a soft spot for the Westfalia Synchro 

 

Love them all but my I love the old Detroit muscle in it's original state. Rough riding, poor handling, smelly, can get beat by a modern mini van but 1/2 the fun is going back in time. Hell I still love jumping in my 1940 Ford pickup once in a while and that fucker don't go or stop worth a shit. LOL

8 hours ago, Plissken said:

The new ones will never tug at you’re heartstrings like the 60’s era.  But for daily driving, obviously a new one is preferred.  So I say get both.  Science!

The correct answer

Like lots of guys have stated, the 60 up to 70 stuff had beautiful styling, and is great to look at.

My latest toy was a 2016 Mustang GT convertible, with 435 factory hp. The nicest car I have ever owned. 

Performance wise, ride wise, the new stuff kicks ass, compared to any of the old stock stuff. 

If I ever win a lottery, I wil have a 68 Mustang fastback, resto-mod.

The intent of this thread was a muscle car for occasional ride not a daily driver.  If it was for a daily driver yes the new stuff all day.  I guess if not for a daily driver and you had a choice between a showroom condition 1967 tri-power 427 vette optioned out well or a new vette what would you take.  I know both but you only have the option for one.  Mine would be the 1967.

Edited August 25, 20213 yr by Doug

I like the old stuff but also drool over the HP  / performance numbers today’s cars bring to the table. Just pulled the chevelle from my youth out of the backwoods. Pic from the ‘91 and then from last week. 

Both have they own brand of “coolness factor for sure”.  I think if it’s a garage queen, I’d go old school.  If I wanted a performance machine that can, quite frankly, do everything better (and I do)…..not just a little bit better, A LOT BETTER, gotta go newer.

Now, if your idea of “performance” is dumping the M22 clutch with the big block and 4:10’s in the rear at the stop light, I suppose the old metal would work pretty damn well.  But if you want to make the next corner without losing control on almost every level and going ass over tea kettle, then new metal is where it’s at.

Case in point, years ago I did Auto-X and I swapped my ride with a guys 1976 vette.  It’s not even a close comparison.  Not even remotely.  He said the same after a few laps in mine.  It’s just a whole different playing field.

42 minutes ago, Doug said:

The intent of this thread was a muscle for occasional ride not a daily driver.  If it was for a daily driver yes the new stuff all day.  I guess if not for a daily driver and you had a choice between a showroom condition 1967 tri-power 427 vette optioned out well or a new vette what would you take.  I know both but you only have the option for one.  Mine would be the 1967.

If I actually drove (like I stole it) it, new.  If I occasionally tooled it around town, old.

Also, the new base vettes can’t really be compared to the Z06’s and ZR1’s.  So, that makes a difference there.  I’d have to redo the entire suspension on a base model.

Brother popped in this weekend....

8 minutes ago, Snake said:

Brother popped in this weekend....

My electrician has one of the same vintage.  Growing up I worked with a paperhanger who had a couple real hot Torinos.  They still look good after all these years, even if they didn't get quite as much attention as the Chevelles.

My summertime daily driver from 1990 to 2002. Got it with just under 30,00 miles on it, put on about 40,000. Great fun driving on summer days. Not a muscle car, but powerful enough, and a comfy cruiser. Took second place in the national Pontiac show for its class in 1992. Easy to maintain, never let me down from a reliability standpoint. 

Not something that could handle a highway off ramp at 60, and you need to leave some extra room to get it stopped, but it was lots of fun. 

 

6 minutes ago, Catalina said:

My summertime daily driver from 1990 to 2002. Got it with just under 30,00 miles on it, put on about 40,000. Great fun driving on summer days. Not a muscle car, but powerful enough, and a comfy cruiser. Took second place in the national Pontiac show for its class in 1992. Easy to maintain, never let me down from a reliability standpoint. 

Not something that could handle a highway off ramp at 60, and you need to leave some extra room to get it stopped, but it was lots of fun. 

 

Land yacht 👍

Friend had his parents 1973 Olds 98 2 door.  The rear quarter panels were as long as some cars.

23 minutes ago, Snake said:

Brother popped in this weekend....

Torino’s are such under appreciated cars. They still look bad ass even today especially the 70/71 style but that 73 ain’t bad either 👍 

Whether it’s to own and occasionally cruise, or to daily-ish drive the new stuff is the smart choice.  (And I have a few, some American some German…..buuuuttt

Nothing shuts a car show down and diverts attention like a chromed up, brightly painted, big block from yesteryear that literally leaves tire marks just from sitting idling because the lumpy cam in the block causes the car to wiggle and shake so much!  Not a vette, not a gtr, not a Lambo.  The heart chooses nostalgia and classic idgaf unapologetic styling and brashness.

 

I don’t know if it’s in my future but, if I had the chance to scoop up a 70 Chevelle SS with the right mechanics or an old Goat, I would.  I’m not looking though so, it’d have to pretty much be brought to me.  Doubtful.

Just now, Zambroski said:

I don’t know if it’s in my future but, if I had the chance to scoop up a 70 Chevelle SS with the right mechanics or an old Goat, I would.  I’m not looking though so, it’d have to pretty much be brought to me.  Doubtful.

If I was younger I'd order a new 70 Chevelle body by Dynacorn, new custom upgraded frame/suspension, LS motor etc etc and build the car the way I'd want it to be. I can't fathom paying a big $ for a true SS car that's 50yrs old that I could've bought new back in the day. 

Just now, smokin george said:

If I was younger I'd order a new 70 Chevelle body by Dynacorn, new custom upgraded frame/suspension, LS motor etc etc and build the car the way I'd want it to be. I can't fathom paying a big $ for a true SS car that's 50yrs old that I could've bought new back in the day. 

I actually like the new retro inspired Camaros and strangs.  I remember when Foose was rewriting the book on muscle car restoration.  

I loved the old 60's muscle  cars, I had a 69 Camaro , nothing special, just an original 6 cylinder car that we swapped in a 350 and powerglide trans. Fun car .

As I have aged my intrest in owning fast cars has decreased , now just an old Saturday cruiser works for me. I acquired this clean 63 T bird a few years ago. The heater and AC were not working, so the plan was to get the climate comforts working, but that just seemed to escalate into more work, pulled the engine and trans for a refreshing, but the engine compartment was in rough shape, greasy old and dirty.  A little paint really cleans things up. Lol

Bullet birds, another one of my favorites,  well done sir!

mine in it's current form. i'm trying to find an 8-71 for it right now.

Edited August 25, 20213 yr by Tommcat

I was a huge muscle car fanatic my whole life. But the new muscle is about 1000x better than the old stuff. I dont think I would even want a 60's -70's car even for nostalgia purposes at this time. They dont do anything near as good as the new stuff. And for the price to do a full restomod, its not even worth the money. Corvette, mustang, camaro, challenger/charger, etc... the new stuff is great. World class even

I grew up in the era when a late night cruise turned into squaring off a set of lights or going to one of the hotspot burger joints where everybody hung out. It was American Graffiti, two lane blacktop and so forth back then. For us old guys that was a good time growing up. 

Friend is retired now for a couple years from a well established shop.  They still call him in when they have cars from the 60's and 70's to work on cause nobody knows how to work on them anymore.  He's surprised some times what he works on that shows up at the shop.  He's work on hemi cars, a 1965 4 door Bellaire with a 409 and recently worked on a Pontiac tempest with the single overhead cam 4 barrel 6 cylinder in it. 

He also owns a 67 GTO for over 30 years that went through a rotisserie restoration a few year back.

Edited August 25, 20213 yr by Doug