Muscle Cars Trivia

Muscle cars were never subtle, and that was the entire point: take a mid-size American sedan, drop in the biggest V8 available, strip out anything unnecessary, and sell it to anyone who wanted to go in a straight line as fast as possible. This quiz covers the cars, the companies, and the culture behind that particular golden age of horsepower.

Eleven questions on the GTOs, Chargers, and Road Runners that defined the muscle car era.

The Car That Started the Craze

Pontiac's GTO is widely credited with kicking off the muscle car era in 1964, proving that a mid-size car with a big engine and a modest price tag could become a genuine sensation. Detroit's other manufacturers followed fast, and soon Chevrolet, Dodge, and Plymouth were all fighting over the same straight-line bragging rights.

Names, Badges, and Cartoon Licensing

• The Pontiac GTO borrowed its name from Ferrari-style racing homologation terminology
• The Plymouth Road Runner licensed its name and horn sound directly from the Looney Tunes cartoon
• The 'SS' badge on Chevrolet models stood for Super Sport
• The Dodge Charger became a movie star in its own right, playing the villain's car in the famous 1968 chase scene in Bullitt

Why the Party Didn't Last

By the mid-1970s, rising insurance premiums and tightening emissions rules squeezed the life out of the segment, and horsepower numbers across the board took a noticeable dip. The cars never really disappeared, though — they just became the classics collectors chase today.