DETROIT MUSCLE - BY CHARLES MORRIS - GREAT CONDITION
Description
DETROIT MUSCLE - BY CHARLES MORRIS - GREAT CONDITION
Factory Lightweights and Purpose-Built Muscle Cars -1960-1971
Size 265mm wide by 250mm high 192 gloss pages
The muscle car era, and the era that immediately preceded it, are a unique window in time; it is one that we will not likely see again. Post war a whole generation were entering new prosperity, with home ownership, employment increasing, the building of suburbs, and a new interstate system connecting everyone. That all helped increase dependence upon and love affair with the automobile.
It started in the 1950s, when automakers realized that if they made their cars more powerful than brand X and won races on the weekends, sales would follow into the dealership. The struggle developed between building faster automobiles and appearing responsible and promoting the cause of safety. This led to racing participation on an all-out corporate level, followed by voluntary self-imposed and publicized bans, back-door cheating on said bans, and then investing in performance again.
A byproduct of all this activity was some really fascinating and exciting cars. It began with standard-chassis cars growing bigger and including more powerful engines. Then they graduated to being lighter, putting big engines into mid-size chassis (muscle cars), and building race cars that barely resembled anything on the street.
This book follows the evolution of the fastest, most powerful, and exciting vehicles of the era, in both drag racing and NASCAR. From early Hudson Hornets, to the birth of the Hemi, to aluminum and fiberglass panel sedans, to lightweight special-order muscle cars ready to race from the factory.
CHEVROLET CORVETTE FORD MUSTANG BEL AIR BUICK OLDSMOBILE THUNDERBIRD CHRYSLER HEMI 350 PLYMOUTH FURY DODGE HUDSON HORNET STUDEBAKER PONTIAC NHRA DART IMPALA STARLINER CATALINA VENTURA GALAXIE COBRA SHELBY BARRACUDA GTO CAMARO NOVA 428 COBRA-JET 440 AMC AMX JAVELIN NZDRA