I wouldn't say the muscle car era began exactly in '64 since cars like a '63 421 Tri-Power Pontiac Grand Prix are pretty hot, and the 1955 Chrysler C300 with the first Hemi could lay claim to starting it all. But early 60's to early 70's is a good time frame for the classic muscle car era. Emphasis on
classic, that was the classic era.
But muscle cars can be of any time, and of any origin the way I see it. The main qualification being only that they offer massive power and ussually high performance capability. They are the benchmark for which their peers aspire to.
When thinking of "muscle car" - think GM, Mopar and Ford first. But also think BMW M, AMG, and by extension Sti, Nismo, and Ralliart to name a few. By this criterion, a Japanese muscle car would be any Japanese car offering massive underhood power in relation to physical mass, no matter how it achieves this. The modern rally car and sport coupe/sedan extends the definition of muscle car to include "muscular moves" - which didn't really exist in the 60's. So America began the power craze. But Europe and Asia's greatest contribution to the muscle car movement - which has no international boundries, is the use of
smart power. In other words, the intelligent integration of all dynamics into a single driving force.
Does this all make sense, I think it does.
