My 1969 GTO Judge after restoration; circa 1987.
Muscle Car History
I’ve always been enthralled by muscle cars, the look, feel, sound and smell, and I have fond memories of them from my youth. It was decades later that I started to learn about the late-1950’s high performance movement. This led to learning about some of the unexpected and interesting things from the earlier automotive eras.
There are some great muscle car websites that I’ve enjoyed visiting, but none which scratched the particular itch I had. I wanted to learn more of the story, and to fill in the huge gaps in my knowledge. The more I learned, the more I realized there was to learn.
It’s clear to me that there will only ever be one Muscle Car Era, that of 1964 through 1974. Yes, the 2020’s has its share of absurdly fast cars, most of them fairly expensive. It isn’t the same thing, though. The classic Muscle Car Era (MCE) was an elixir of affordable fast cars, rock and psychedelic music, anti-war sentiment and gawdy clothing styles.
As time has passed, I’ve become more interested in the previous eras and how they contributed to what became regarded as the classic Muscle Car Era. The second half of the ’50’s were full of advancement after advancement, not to mention skyrocketing horsepower figures.
Science and Tech
My career largely dealt with the science of electronics, and I came to a love of automotive science and tech naturally.
It took me years to realize that the science and technology behind cars could be fascinating, even with cars from decades ago. I’ve become increasingly interested in this as time has gone on. This information exists in various forms in a myriad of different websites spread throughout the web. My goal was to consolidate this information into what would be of interest to a muscle car enthusiast. I think I have succeeded in keeping the presentation light and just a bit irreverent.
It is my pleasure to share what I’ve learned with you!
Working on a 1952 Zenith H500 shortwave radio. Gool old vacuum tubes!
