1960's Cars
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Early in the decade Detroit saw the demand for more choice. Smaller was one anthem so subcompacts, compacts and
mid size cars rolled off of the line. The public also wanted more power so the big cars saw big horsepower increases.
As this power craze settled in for the rest of the sixties smaller cars also got the big engines. Muscle cars which were basically
mid sized cars were born. Pony cars, a step down in size but not power were also offered up to the ravenous buying public.
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Muscle cars technically got their start in 1964 when Pontiac used a shoe horn to cram it's 389 cube big V-8 into a Tempest
and calling it GTO. That same year Ford managed to steal all the thunder with a car that they introduced at the Worlds Fair
called the Mustang. It was a whole new breed of car. Actually a compact, it was so sporty and ahead of it's time that Ford sold a million of them
the first model year. It was nicknamed a ponycar because of the equestrian motif
and all sport / compacts that came after it would also be known by that pseudonym. Stock car racing and drag racing became very popular
spectator sports so Detroit gave us cars that allowed us to look and feel like a race car driver. Hoods were scooped, tires widened
and of course the engines grew very out of proportion to the cars. The age of the "muscle car" lasted until the early seventies. Although
they never were a huge chunk of revenue for the auto makers they did bring a lot of prestige and created very loyal "brand" repeat buyers.
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