Landing the right role in a blockbuster can make a vehicle a cultural icon, but too many killer muscle cars haven't gotten ...

Several big American nameplates have folded under the weight of EVs and SUVS, but we think there's demand for likes of the ...

Pontiac GTO (1964) Image used with permission by copyright holder The Pontiac GTO is arguably the original muscle car. Numerous American performance cars preceded it, but the GTO was the first to ...

The lynchpin to the muscle car's appearance came in 1962 when Ford introduced the Fairlane, the first midsize American car. It wouldn't be Ford, however, that saw the midsize car as an opportunity ...

If any muscle car remains a best-kept secret, American Motors Corporation’s (AMC) first-generation AMX is it. Fewer than 20,000 were made between 1968 and 1970 in all engine sizes.

The 1965 Ford Mustang GT 289 isn't the rarest car in Ford's lineup as the company reportedly sold over 500,000 of them. Coincidentally, the first Shelby Mustang was also manufactured in 1965.

But while it's the nameplate that popularized the high-performance midsize segment, the Pontiac GTO wasn't America's first muscle car. The concept can be traced back to the late 1940s.

Considered the first muscle car, the 1964 Pontiac GTO wasn’t much unless it was ordered with a series of performance options. Otherwise, it was just another Tempest.

The race version of the Daytona became the first car in Nascar history to break 200 mph. After numerous Dodge wins in 1969 and some by Plymouth in 1970, Nascar's new rule book banned these cars.

As time went by, the first-gen Mustang was improved, with high-performance trims becoming legitimate muscle car icons. However, in 1974, the popular model received a controversial redesign.

Others, like Ford, GM, and Chrysler reinvented themselves, focusing on smaller and cheaper cars. In that time a new class of car—the compact—became the typical American's first car.