The All-American Muscle Car ─ The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Detroit's Greatest Performance Cars

The birth of the muscle car, mid-sized cars with big engines making big horsepower, marked not only a revolution in performance—but also a revolution in marketing. For the first time ever, car manufacturers tailored their product to a youth audience. The genre thrived in the 60s and early 70s and was reborn in the 21st century. The All-American Muscle Car celebrates the fifty-year history of the breed through stunning modern and archival photography, and brilliant essays from today’s top muscle-car writers. Organized by themes, its chapters cover the introduction and early years of muscle; the cultural trends that made muscle cars so wildly popular; the pop culture that surrounded the cars in music, film, and television; and racing, both legal and illegal. Great rivalries are detailed—Camaro versus Mustang versus Firebird versus Challenger versus ‘Cuda, GTO versus Road Runner versus Super Bee versus Chevelle SS versus Buick Gran Sport versus Oldsmobile 4-4-2, and the like. The book also explores the illogical extremes at the end of the classic era, the Plymouth Superbirds, GTOJudges, LS6 Chevelles, Hemi ‘Cudas, W-30 Oldsmobiles, Ram Air IV Pontiacs, Stage I GSX Buicks, and 440/6 Road Runners; the dark years and the death of performance; the rebirth of the muscle car; and the modern interpretations of the breed including the new Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger.

Darwin Holmstrom (Maple Grove, MN) has written or co-written many books on muscle cars, including the best-selling Camaro: Five Generations of Speed, GTO: Pontiac’s Great One, Hemi Muscle Cars, Camaro: Forty Years, and Muscle: America’s Legendary Performance Cars.

David Newhardt (Pasadena, CA) is one of the best automobile photographers working today. He is the author of such best-selling books as American Muscle Supercars: Ultimate Street Performance from Shelby, Mr. Norm and Other Legendary Tuners, Art of the Muscle Car, and Firebird Trans Am. He has also provided photography for GTO: Pontiac’s Great One, Camaro: Five Generations of Performance, Muscle: America’s Legendary Performance Cars, Shelby Mustang: Racer for the Street, and many more.