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Anything Corvette. Yes it has always been a great car but world class? I am not so sure. Chevrolet’s build quality is nowhere near true world class car status. Best car for the price? Yes. But best hands down (as most ‘vette owners feel)? No way
And soon that “best in price” title will be up for debate with the new Nissan GTR. Has anyone seen the stats on that monster? Move over Porsche here comes Nissan….again
I would agree with the Corvette and my Chevelle is a 69, so I’m not offended. I would add the Mustang is pretty overrated also.
Steve thinks anything MOPAR as they were cheap cars when new and now everyone seems to think they are worth TOP $$$$$$$$$! You can read anything into cheap you want.
(Sorry Zac)Wow! Settle down guys. You’re both wrong. The 70 Chevelle with the 454 was definitely not over-rated. Nor were Mopars. No engine ever produced the raw power of the 426 Hemi. Yes maybe the Mopars were rust buckets, but then so were most of the cars from that era. Back then cars were built to last no more than 5 years….and they were lucky to last that long.
I would think we will get more answers to the question what were the most under-rated muscle cars?
I will start with
The Buick GS and GS-X.
The AMC Rambler Rogue and Hurst S/C Rambler
The AMC Rebel MachineQuote:The Buick GS and GS-X.
The AMC Rambler Rogue and Hurst S/C Rambler
The AMC Rebel MachineAgreed, especially the GS and GSX. When I see these at shows I always like them and its too bad that they’re not more widely recognized
Quote:AMC’s and Buick’s have never gotten the credit they deserved.I agree.
Mopars were cheap, POS cars back in the day, GM cars were definately a better built car. I’m not much of a Ford guy, so I’ll leave that topic alone. I agree that there are way too many people that think there mopar’s are worth its weight in gold (and some may think I’m one of those people). Anything Hemi or 440+6 (clone or not) is going to pull some serious cash in a sale or auction. I’m suprised that 440+6 cars don’t bring more than they do as they were a better, more streetable engine. But nowadays the 454 Chevelles are doing the same. The reason I think the Chevelle is over-rated is every GM A body looks the same with the exception of grilles and taillights. Four GM carlines produced models that strike a resemblence. Now, Mopar’s also shared chassis’s, but the RoadRunner looks nothing like a Charger or a Superbee. The Challenger and Cuda I will admit carry similar looks.
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I can speak to the Fords. The 289 V/8s, even the K code V/8s , are highly overrated. And, this opinion is coming from a guy who knows these motors pretty well. These early V/8s (found in the 65 and 66 Mustangs, among other Ford cars) just don’t have the horsepower, displacement or torque to qualify as real muscle.
But, in later years, the 351 Windsor motors and the 390 and the boss cars of 1969 and 1970 certainly measure up, in my opinion, as real American Muscle.
It is goofy to me that the windsor engines are now getting respect. I remember back then the attitude was that windsor was crap go cleveland.
Most overated muscle cars? Hmmm
Anything Corvette…granted they are great performance for the price, they are in no way world class manufacturing quality…for that you are looking at Porsche GT 1s, 2s, and 3s; or Ferarri, McLaren, or Aston Marton. This really goes back to hand-built vs. assembly line.
Bring on the Nissan GTR!!! I cant wait.
New Mustangs, regardless of what trim level.
New Ford GT “supercars”.
Mopars are seamingly bringing some high dollar lately…not sure why.
60’s Mustangs that were not badged under the Shelby emblem…although the Boss might be barely an exception.
As for underated muscle cars:
The original Nissan Z
Turbo’d Buick GSX
First edition turbo Supra
2nd generation Celica gt4…all wheel drive and 400 hp.
One of the under-rated ones were the Chevy Biscayne with a 427. They looked like a real plain Jane but were all engine. That model was never considered a muscle car.
Eclipse_Tuner
The Mopars’ value index has to do with production numbers.
Chevy had three muscle cars; Camaro, Chevelle, and Nova
Ford had two; Torino and Mustangand they sold millions
Mopar had many; Satellite/Roadrunner/GTX, Fury, Charger, Cuda/Challenger, Coronet, Dart/Duster/Demon/Valiant, And a whole host of variations like Superbee, AAR, T/A, and Daytona/Superbird.
With so many options the production numbers of each was lower.
But if you look at the special Fords and Chevys (The boss equipped cars or the LS-7 for example) they have equal value as most Mopars.
I am a big Nissan fan so I am with you on the GT-R, but that is a supercar not a muscle car.
Wow its a good thing i wasnt around for this topic. Sorry to beat a dead horse but knowing now what we do this whole post made me laugh. Clueless! I think that the GTR debate is over. ZO6 Vette and ZR1 are the king of kings. Over-rated? More like under-rated. These two crushed the GTR without breaking a sweat. I just had to dig back into the files and right this wrong. No Nissan will ever be given the name muscle car. :laugh: Nor any import. I really dont think that any muscle car was over-rated for the day. Or for today, be it performance or value. Demand drives the market for these cars.
You need to understand that that word muscle car is American made only. This term no longer existed in the mid to late 70s and all through the 80s. The GNX, Turbo Ts, Grand Nationals(not Turbo’d Buick GSX)were a new bread of muscle car for the 80s. This decade called for a different def for muscle car. And the Buick was really the only one. Maybe the ZR1 of the early 90s. Performance numbers on both these cars speaks volume.
1998 Started the LS1 modern day muscle car. The Muscle Car Lives was Pontiacs slogan for 98 and here in lies the rebirth of American rwd v-8 power that still rules the world today. Since then the LS 1,2,3,6,7,9 have been installed into all types of models. 4.6, 5.4 motors by Ford and the 5.7 and 6.1 by Chrystler. By far proven in testing and in every day applications the LS motor is the worlds best performance motor ever built for the modern day muscle car. American muscle cars always delivered in your bang for the buck class. Simple, easy and cheap to fix and mod. Nothing in the world can be modded like an LS motor can.
Coming from a Mopar guy! Sometimes you need to look beyond your brand and see these cars real full potential. I used to hate C5 cars, mostly because the owners never used the tall pedal on the right, but once i saw for myself the simple mods that can be applied, i was sold.
No doubt the record needed to be set straight on this one. Well done ddhemi. Fastest production car built in 1987? Buick GNX. Coveted by collectors today. Corvette haters take your best shot at the ZR1. It’s the definition of “world class.”
I don’t see how anyone thinks the Corvette is overrated. It has racing heritage that other models never could touch. It has performance numbers most only dream of. It was always that car the set the benchmark for performance through the years.
You want the most over rated…over rated means it just plain never lived up to expectations and was too much money for what you got. That would go to anything Carol Shelby stamped his name from 1970 to around 2000.
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