What are currently your 3 favorite muscle cars and why ?

[GBaxter]

Irrespective of the age, make or model, what are currently your 3 favorite muscle
cars and please separately say why, for each fave one named. You don't have to
offer only ultra technical-mechanical reasons, but it's fine if that stuff is mentioned.

[Rollo]

1. Ford Falcon XC Coupe - Claimed 1-2 at Bathurst, looks big and swoopy and the 351 Cleveland up front sounds the business.

2. Holden Torana A9X - Also won the Bathurst 1000 and looks really angry, what with bolt-on wheel arches, the duck tail, reverse bonnet scoop bulge and the drop fuel tank.

3. HSV Maloo R8 (E Series) - Yes it's got an LS2 6.0L V8, and yes it's fitted with electronic stability control but if you option out a lot of the side skirts and fit higher profile tyres onto it, you can still fit a tonne and a half of gear in the tray.

I know that all three of these are Australian, but two of them have been tested in proper motorsport and won and the other is a ute; I think that counts for extra kudos.

[Bob Riebe]

Boss 302- Best small engine and small engined U.S. car ever made

1966 L-72 engined Corvette- put U.S. muscle cars on the world map.

Studebaker Avanti- produced and admired decades after Studebaker quit making cars.
-------------------------------

I agree with Rollo's choices also, it showed that Ford and GM did not need the U.S. to produce fine muscle cars.
The 302 engined Capri from South Africa should get honorable mention.

[Rollo]

Boss 302- Best small engine and small engined U.S. car ever made


The thing is though that Ford was doing fine things with both the 302 and 351 V8s; and they kept on showing up in movies as well.
Is it Eleanor, or Bullitt's Mustang, or perhaps Mad Max's yellow and black Falcons, or Tiffany Case's Mach 1 from Diamonds Are Forever or maybe Starsky and Hutch's Torino that wins the prize for being the sweetest cherry? Who knows?

Although special mention has to go to the Plymouth Superbird, Mercury Cyclone and Dodge Charger Daytona which in full "aero-warrior" guise are brilliantly bonkers.

[Valve Bounce]

Definitely the Lightburn Zeta and its variants - they will burn off anything. http://www.google.com/search?q=Lightburn+Zeta&hl=en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=wH-aTe8OhOqBB4GrlZsH&ved=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1902&bih=913

[airshifter]

There are simply far too many to pick a few favorites.

I once took a ride in a 429 Shelby Cobra. Amazing little car.

And as much as I enjoy the raw untamed simplicity of gobs of torque and primitive suspensions in the older muscle cars, I can't help but appreciate the modern variants with their defined and poised superiority.

Case in point, the old vs new Boss 302. The old car wouldn't stand a chance against the new one, but in a simple way the old car just has something the new ones don't.

[555-04Q2]

The 2011 supercharged Rouch Ford Mustang. The whine from the supercharger is unreal! Handles better than the standard one too, but still a heavy car that dislikes corners. A real muscle car masterpiece! I loved it!

The 2011 Dodger Charger, just cause it looks so damn good from every angle. If I could, I would mate with that car :p : Pity I haven't seen one in the flesh yet. If they brought it over here, I would be the first on the waiting list.

Not really a muscle car, but the original Ford Mustang from the 60's is another. Not a great car by any means, in fact is was pretty poor to be honest, but she was and still is an icon with a classic shape.

Americans cannot build normal cars for some reason, but they build some fine V8 engines and even better muscle cars!

[Azumanga Davo]

Let's see. I rate them thusly:

1. '68 Camaro - No list is complete without a Camaro.
2. Ford XC Cobra - Rollo's on the money, these were some of the best looking coupes around. Although I am an odd fish that likes the Mach 1 Mustangs in the 70s too...
3. '70 Plymouth HEMI 'Cuda - Underrated, in my opinion.

You may notice there is nothing new or relatively recent in my list. I love all these retro styled cars coming out now. But muscle cars for me is a concept from the 60s and 70s. Back when option lists were about the size of a phone book.

If we had a modern day retro look list, then I would have Camaro, Mustang and FIAT 500 in that order...

[Rollo]

You may notice there is nothing new or relatively recent in my list. I love all these retro styled cars coming out now.

How's this?
http://www.carsguide.com.au/images/uploads/HDT-SS-BlueMeanie-1.jpg
HDT doing a VE to look like a Group 3 VK SS.

Someone needs to tell the boys at HSV that they've been shown up severely. Yes it's a Commodore, but somehow they've actually almost made it look cool.

I think my names will be these.These will looks like old but i love with these classic than today's designed based machines.
1.1969 Ford Mustang ‘Boss 429’ = The ‘Boss 429’ 1969 Ford Mustang was the costliest non-Shelby Mustang Ford offered at the time. The reason came down to the semi-hemi 429 engine that Ford wanted to get into NASCAR.

2.1970 454 Chevelle SS =The 1970 Super Sport package Chevelle featuring the LS6 package came in at a whopping 454 horse. The option was standard for the average car buyer of the day making it one of the most powerful stock cars anyone could purchase.

3. 1969 ZL1 Camaro =Camaro featured a jaw-dropping 500 horses under the hood in an aluminum V-8 engine. This bad boy American beast could go from 0-60 in about 5.3 seconds in 1970's , which was why some of the 69 models made found their way into drag-racing.

[Roamy]

mustang
challenger
camaro

and all versions of them