9 Quickest Muscle Cars Of The 1980s!
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9 Quickest Muscle Cars Of The 1980s!
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#PDEvolution
Not sure where they got this list from. While the Yanko Camaro was awesome but they only produced 9 of them. They completely ignored the standard Buick Grand National and T Type Regals. Someone else mentioned the Corvette. That I can understand as the Vette is more of a sports car than a muscle car but undoubtedly is always at or near the top of the list on an annual basis. What about the 5.0 Mustang LX? The sleeper and light weight version of the Mustang GT? It was usually faster than the GT due to its reduced weight and less options. How about GM’s answer to the 5.0 LX Mustang, the Pontiac Firebird Formula 350? It was consistently the fastest of the 350 powered F bodies since it had the same engine and suspension as the Trans Am GTA and IROC Camaro but weighed considerably less? I also seem to recall the 89 Turbo T/A was quicker than the GNX. It used the same engine better flowing cylinder heads and was lighter than the GNX. Maybe a stretch but how about the Dodge Omni GLH and GLHS? They were FWD econoboxes but were fast as hell in their day.
You're right to question where they developed their list. I'd say GM biased fantasy. On the street the 5.0 liter Mustang beat the Camaro every year of the 80s until they were finally forced to put the Corvette 350 in, just to best the 5.0 litre Mustang. Wouldn't have beaten the Saleen 5.8 Mustang if Ford had sold that in their showrooms.
@@malcolmhamilton5200 You’re correct. Although there was 1 version of the TPI 305 with a 5 speed that was pretty much the equal of the 5.0 Mustang. The 350 wasn’t quite the Corvette version. It lacked the aluminum heads. Also the 350 in the F body mandated an automatic. Perhaps in the early 90s GM feared the 5.8 Mustang when SLP introduced the Firehawk. I never heard much about the 5.8 Saleen. Both had to be bad ass cars. One thing to remember is Ford’s 302 was developed during the muscle car era and had previous high performance versions long before the 80s. Chevy’s 305 was developed as an economy V8 in the mid 70s. It was never intended to be a performance engine. I am admittedly biased towards GM but not really a Chevy fan. But you gotta give credit where it’s due. If GM wasn’t so stupid and would’ve allowed Pontiac to develop some of their ideas, high performance would’ve been a lot different. The carbureted Pontiac turbo 301 was supposed to carry over to the 3rd generation Trans Am. Though it was a turd in the late 2nd Gen, it would’ve been a monster in the 3rd. It was already making 210 HP in 1981. A few more years of development and EFI would’ve undoubtedly pushed it over 300 HP. But anyone who knows anything about GM it’s that nothing is allowed to beat the Corvette. Especially Pontiac. This is only 1 of many examples of GM (Chevy) stopping Pontiac from making killer cars and engines. Yes GM allowed the Buick GN but Buick was 2nd only to Cadillac in the GM hierarchy. Pontiac was only 1 step above Chevy.
@@mikee2923you are 100% correct! Pontiac was constantly held back by the higher ups in General Motors. If Pontiac had a level playing field as Chevrolet, we might had the LS engine a decade or two earlier. We might had gotten the mid engine Corvette years ago.
@@crw3673 Almost did with the Fiero. But again Pontiac was thwarted. They had an aluminum V6 they wanted to use but it made close to Corvette power so that ended that. I think there’s actually a bit of Pontiac DNA in the LS engines.
GLH=Goes Like Hell!!! I think there was a Dodge Daytona turbo in this family of my memory doesn't completely fail me.
Most of these cars I marveled at as a kid growing up in the 80's. Most of them still give me that same feeling today with a huge dose of nostalgia. Thx PD Ev!!!
You missed out. I grew up when cars were day glow lime, lemon, orange and purple colours and shook the ground when they started up. And they deafened you when they opened up all 4 or 6 or even 8 barrels. You looked inside and there were pistol grip or slap stick shifters, and orange vinyl seats and 8 tracks and 150mph speedos. Some of the B-body Mopars could take an L 50 series tire in the rear wheel wells stock. Conversely Novas could barely get an E 70 series in their wheel wells. Chambered exhausts, catalytics were no where to be seen and everything ran on fuel so volatile it would evaporate in minutes in the sunlight in a cup or open container. I lived in a keyhole crescent off the main drag and that's what it was at night, a drag strip. Cars would come off that light and the sounds of the engines and poor tires would ricochet off the houses and into my bedroom window. If you were quick you could get to the window as the cars drew level with the opening of the crescent and blew by. The old neighbours hated it, but it just made me a dyed in the wool Mopar man for life, listening to Six packs wide open and even the odd Hemi with both 4 barrels wailing away. The really exciting races were watching the likes of a 340 Dart GTS or Demon/Duster 340 putting the hurt on those heavy, fat GM A-bodies with their 400s. Beat them like rugs due to the incredible power to weight advantage.....and Chrysler lying through their teeth about the 275hp. There were even 390 Ramblers SCramblers and the odd genuine AMX around too, but honestly, back then the bigger machinery just cleaned their clocks. My older friends were into Ford's with 390s and 428s, but to a man, by the end of high school they'd all switched to Mopars. This was back when this stuff was new, before tubbing and back halfing GMs, putting in better rear suspension that would actually launch on the street. The 396/375hp Nova on my paper route was awesomely impressive, but it couldn't hook up to save its life. Saw him break the tires loose in 4th gear at highway speed on dry pavement. His traction bars looked pretty but they didn't help at all. If you weren't a car guy growing up then, you were dead from the neck up. There were no computers, no video, many towns still didn't have cable. New LPs didn't even come out every week. You got your license and you got a car and you took out Suzi Rottencrotch and got a mild, curable venereal disease. That was the sequence of events back then.
What is amazing is that most new cars of any type can do 6 second 0-60's -- and get double the gas mileage. Technology has come a long way
@@scd603 too true my friend. My little Matrix XR runabout (with the 2.4 RAV4 engine) and 5 speed auto runs in the 15s stock and delivers unreal mileage. I've got over 360,000 on it and it shows no signs of quitting anytime soon.
What made me buy my '88 IROC over the vette at the time was the "bang for the buck." It also handled incredibly well, had decent acceleration (LB9), and pretty good mpg. I still love driving it, 35yrs later.
Well I was smoking those pos in my 87 T-Bird turbo coupe !
Bang for Buck, sure. But the Corvette was a much better car.
You still own the IROC?
I have a 92 R/S, which I bought in 1994 - for $8,500. It came with the same 5.0 V8 that Chevy put in Suburbans, and of course a 5-speed stick. With boat hauling torque in a sports car with a stick, it was unreal off the line for a car. In fact it reminded me of a Honda Nighthawk or a Suzuki GS-650, both of which I also owned about that time. I still have it, now registered as an antique. Now it sports a Holley Stealth/Sniper EFI along with a ram air hood, and headers with a quiet catback.
Based on the quarter mile times from the Turbo Trans Am and the Grand National/GNX/T-Type, the horsepower is understated in a big way.
The TA is the fastest of the bunch the HP is severely underated due to the Corvette it beat up on Corvettes really good
It was understated, but not as much as a lot of people think, because what a lot of people don't realize is that those horsepower ratings were NET horsepower ratings as opposed to the GROSS H.P. ratings of the old muscle car era. But yes, still they had to be understated by quite a bit!
you are correct. Buick was called out on both the grand nationals, the standard and the gnx were putting out much more HP than advertised. The turbo trans am of 1980 was a slow car i hate to say. They also were a bit on the heavy side for that time. Now the 1989 20th anniv. was a beast and underrated on power.
Those cars were all torquey for their HP compared to today
For that behemoth of a Buick to go through the quarter at 113 mph, it would need at least 450 hp.
In 1996 I was about to be 17 yrs old and just got an 89 Thunderbird sc In midnight blue. Absolute best summer of my life
I’m 50 so I grew up with these cars…we made all of them much faster with mods! What a great era!!!
If you are 50, you didn’t start driving until 89-90. Not really sure how you can claim to have enjoyed the “era”
@@guidorrmc7618 I'm 58. I was in the era and bought a new IROC in '85. I enjoyed it well, but the best mod you could do back then was a nitrous kit. With the OBD-1 computers of the day, your mods were very limited, and most of these engines floated the valves at 5500 rpm.
Y@@guidorrmc7618 You do realize that 16 year olds in 1990 were able to buy 1980s cars that were used right?
You never heard of DUNEDIRT race team he had when he was 8? ;
@@guidorrmc7618because these were being driven by teenagers on cruise night.
Loved my 1986 Dayton Turbo Z, 5 speed. It was quick. Wish I still had it.
That 2.2L turbo engine was pretty impressive! I want a 1985-1986 Omni GLH.
There's a guy in my home town who has a Buick GNX. I've never seen it out of his garage when I was a kid during the 90's and the few times I saw it while his garage door was open, it was mint.
I'd love one of those GNX's or even the 442. IMO the best looking cars of that era.
I love the Fox body Capri it's cool. I want one to go with the Fox body mustang
I had an 83 with T-Tops. LOved it, didn't like the bubble back and swapped it out for a Mustang hatch
I used to love watching the IROC racing series as a kid because the cars were amazing and colorful
So... The 1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, capable of 0-60 mph in 8.5seconds and a top speed of 145 mph, plus generating 0.82 lateral g on the skid pad, the latest Turbo Coupe was a fast, well-built, and tremendously fun-to-drive grand tourer. This should have been on the list ....
My father owned one and had some guy up the boost on it. Was a fun ride!
yeah, the 5spd run much better than the autos.. same with the Super coupes!
I've had 4 of them
I had one with a 5 speed. I would hold the gas pedal to the floor and dump the clutch and power shift it without ever lifting off the gas pedal. The car took it well.
@@kennydemartini2169 I broke 2 rear axles doing that same thing
I had a built 280Z in the early 1980’s. A few Z28’s, 6.6 TA’s & 5.0’s came up short when playing stoplight roulette with me. The only car I ever raced that I lost to was a whale-tailed 911 on Lee St. one night. 1st gear was a fender, 2nd gear he was a 1/2 car ahead and 3rd he just drove out of my life. I did encounter a modded GNX. The car ran 7.3 in the 1/8th mile and was owned by a mechanic at Black Olds in Greensboro North Carolina. It was probably the fastest street in Greensboro at that time. Too fast for my little NA 2.8L. I watched him run at Piedmont dragstrip several times. It was surprisingly fast & consistent at 7.35 in the 1/8th.
My 79 T/A walked away from that Turbo 280Z @ 100mph!! He had me up to around 100 but after that at was over!!
It must of been the same GNX I also saw at Piedmont dragstrip . I loved to hear it "spool up" at the starting line
@@jodythepig1 - most likely was the same car.
Back then I raced against stock buick gn and t types,they didn't run 12.7s. Where I raced them was LACR back in the late 80s, high 14s if they were lucky. I had an 87 glhs charger and it was low 15s there. Granted it was 100 degrees air temp and 15 to 20 mph cross winds.
I’m 40, but I still remember that my daycare lady back in 1986 had a Monte Carlo SS and I thought it was an awesome car and that she had some damn good taste. Hope you’re doing well, Miss Debbie.
You don't happen to have her number still do you? ;
Good video. I think the Yenko Camaro is an odd inclusion in your lineup as the other cars were all regular production units.
Yeah not much different then me hopping up my own car. Not what I would call a factory rig.
The GNX wasn't really regular production units either. In this video there seems to be much bias toward GM vehicles by only including regular production Ford cars, whereas they included several GM-made cars that were low production numbers and rarely seen.
Loved most of those cars growing up. Great videos
of this list, in my experience, the only things quicker than the 5.0 mustangs on a regular basis were the grand nationals and gnx's. oh yea. the corvettes too, but they're a different class. the camaros and firebirds of the 80's couldn't touch the stangs for the most part. i'm not talking magazine tests. i'm talking at the local dragstrip, and on the street back then.
I remember most of the GM 305's were dogs.
They were. I had a 92’ 5.0 notch back and had a friend that had a 88’ IROC 305 tuned port he was talking mad shit everyday at work. We lined them up right in front of the office and I swear I waxed his ass by 10 car lengths by 80mph. I thought his motor had blown I smoked him so bad and all the coworkers saw it.
@@joeconti5958you're right my 86 305ci Trans Am was a dog off the line. On the highway though that was a different story I could drive to Houston to San Antonio in an hour and 30 minutes
Chrysler Conquest TSI turbo 89
That’s my IROC on your thumbnail and my wife driving the yellow 2nd gen.
Very cool picture!
No mention of the Dodge Omni GLH-S. It ran high 14s through the quarter.
Yep. It was a crazy sleeper, great car, wish i bought one to keep
It's not a muscle car though. It's a hot hatch.
I have worked in the auto industry all my life, Driven everything from the dodge viper to the Gnx, One of the quickest cars I drove was the Pontiac formula with the 305 tpi (215hp) 5sp trans, Don"t know if anyone had changed the rear gear ratio BUT destroyed a ton of cars (including the vaunted Gnx, Although most people didn't know how to "flash" the converter on those) But if we are talking quick cars of the 80S hands down 85 mustang 5.0 5speed, rejet the carb and bump the timing a few degrees and it would tear your head off when you hit second gear!
89 Taurus SHO may have not been a "muscle car" but it should be up here. It was faster than several of the cars showcased here.
They were amazing for sure.
As someone that started drag racing in the 80s and love the cars from the 80s the 1/4 mile times in this video on most of the cars is not even close, in reality they were much slower
I remember vividly that the times in the video for the Z28 IROC, GTA, and GNX are what they claimed back then.
I was around in the 80s, watched them all at the track, trust me they were not that fast, most of these cars couldn’t break out of the 17 second barrier Even the grand nationals at best ran mid to high 14s, they were all very good looking cars for their time but nothing was fast then
I had a feeling at the beginning of the video that the GNX was going to be the number one
Grand National in general. Doesn’t need to be the GNX. Turbo T’s, T-types. ‘89 Turbo TA. Those turbo Buicks were drag demons. 👍🏻✌🏻💙
@@JT-sl3ui I sure know it too doesn't have to be a V8 to be fast
Like others have mentioned, i'm really not sure how they overlooked some of the quickest performers of the 80's, in particular, the 86 T-type Regals, Turbo T's and of course the 86-87 Regal Grand Nationals?? Many road tests of the day had them running high 13's/low 14's. My 87 GN with 72k miles ran a bunch of 14.0's absolutely bone stock on crappy 215 tires. And that was at a track above 1000' in elevation! Even some (well driven) LX 5.0 mustangs ran mid/low 14's bone stock. Just sayin.......
I actually saw a regular Gran Nat run 13.7 at New England Dragway in N.H. back in 1987. We were all impressed because our Iroc's,Formulas,and Mustangs couldn't come close to that.
Yes remember big time 14.o easy out of the box. 11.whatever with tuning and gnx turbo. Trans would last 4 runs.
Many "Experts" don't consider a 6 cylinder with turbo a muscle car. To them is must have a V8 to even be in the conversation.
i here ya 3 out of the last 4 cars i have never seen on the road
@arthurl.9985 I might have been there in my 70 chevelle doin 13.9 with my bb 427 and it could have been my buddy's gn you were watching .we both worked at smily Buick in malden
87/88 Mustang lx 5.0 5 speed, 86/87 grand national or gnx.
I had one of the first IROC Zs in blue with the TPI motor and loved it. I guess many did too cause it was stolen about the third week I had it.
I had ‘89 Iroc with 305 but w/5 speed and twin cat, 4whl disk and 3.45 Aussie rearend. Compared with ‘78 Z28 I had previously was day and night. I massaged car and found joy of going open track days and 6am Blue Rigde PKW blast.
Outstanding video! All the numbers that matter...0-60 & 1/4 mi.
In 1981 the z28 was offered with 305 4V and 350 4V. 350 powered cars were auto trans only and 3. 08 gears. 305 was 4 speed only and 3.73 gears. I ordered mine with no options whatsoever, no radio no a/c vinyl interior in red and exterior burgundy metallic. Less than 9K out the door. Because of the 4 speed and 3.73 gears, it was faster than the350 Z was. After a few mods , removal of cat and some carb work, that Camaro would keep up with and sometimes beat the corvettes.
And the 81 was way better looking than the horid square headlight cars that followed
@@GregZentTrumpetMan I had a 1981 Z28...It looked great...But Imo the later Iroc-Z28 was a beautiful car.....Always wanted a 1988-90 one of those...
and none could pull a wet noodle out of a frogs butt none had 300 hp and weighed 3200lbs most in 220hp range if that
@@RT22-pb2pp The 1981 I had was rates at 175 hp and under full throttle the air flapper would open and suppose to make it 190 hp
@@Pete391 I had a 77 grand prix 400 big block had like 190hp on it's best day. Was not quick but rode like it was on clouds and even had t tops loved that old car, was my first.
Very cool video! I have a heavily upgraded 1984 Mercury RS Capri with a 347 stroker that has been in my family since new. My dad gave me the car in 1991. RS Capri's are super rare these days due to the limited amount of them that were made, especially in the later years. 1986 was the last year for the Foxbody Capri. There was just over 3,600 RS 5.0 Capri's built in 1984. Because they were not as popular as the Mustang and not considered a "collector's car", a lot of them ended up in the scrap yard instead of being saved. You will very rarely see one on the road. I have people come up to me all the time when I take mine out. Some people tell me "I don't remember the Capri being this cool!", it's amazing what a lowered stance, window tint and some rims will do for a car's appearance and lot of people have just never seen one at all. If you look up 1984 Mercury RS Capri on most search engines my car usually comes up within the first 5-10 pictures. It is still in its original tri-color factory oxford white paint with red, orange and silver lower stripes with Centerline rims. I see a lot of regret in the comments on these old car videos of people saying they wish they had held onto their old muscle cars. I have been very fortunate, and I don't ever plan on selling any of my old collector cars while I am still able to drive them!
Fantastic cars ,
So we just gonna forget about the 87-89 5.0 foxbodies huh?
Iroc Camaro was never considered quicker than those.
No doubt GN overrated unless uhad a gnx look back a mag tests from day 87 GN ran 14s 6s O-60 really not as fast as people like to say 87-93 foxbodys ruled the streets of the day frfr
And nothing would do better then a Buick grand national!
89 Turbo TA
I bought a 1990 Thunderbird SC brand new in the fall of 1989. It was a great car. I believe that the power was under rated as it was really fast.
85 corvette probably fastest American production vehicle of that year , not mentioned
They used the 83 capri. The 1986 was the last year and the fastest with fuel injection. Easy mid-high 14 second car.
I had an 86 Trans Am back then. It was high powered by the standard of the day, but dismal by today’s standards.
Same experience. My 2023 Mustang GT is twice as powerful as my 89 was. But the 89 was great for its time.
Dismal by every days standards since 1960
My 1st car was an LB9 305 TPI. It was quick for the time, but even then, I noticed it had ZERO top end. The peanut cam, circuitous intake piping, log style manifolds, asthmatic heads and choked single exhaust with one super restrictive catalytic converter told me that GM phoned it in, instead of making a true contender. I suspected GM thought the clientele that bought the TA would be fooled by the torquey nature of the TPI power under the curve. The first time you put it to the floor you could expect to see tail lights from 4bbl GM 305 and 4.9 liter Mustangs. Redline was 5500. It was dead and buried by 4500 which meant the extra 1000 rpm was just frustrated noise, while you watched the other car take off into the 80's sunset. My OP jacket seemed to tighten up and my Ray Bans fogged, but at least I still had Mr. Mister or George Michael in the head unit.
I had an ‘86 Grand National I added boost, bigger intercooler & turbo Was very quick
I briefly had an 89 IROC with the 5.0 tpi and 5 speed. Red t top car. Back then, you could dig into the the GM Performance parts catalog and the wallet was the limit. Super fun to drive, good mileage on the highway. But the insurance quickly caught up to me as they raised the rate over the price of the car payment! I had to gt rid of it because I couldn't afford it.
So much wrong about this video. Matter of research. Turbo Trans Am running 13.4 and GNX running deep into the 12's is so far from reality. More like 14.0 and 13.5, respectively. And as everyone is stating, GN, Regal T-Type, later 80's Mustang, IROC and GTA, the turbo-intercooled GLH-S, Chargers should be listed and the 442, Monte Carlo and the Yenko car should be removed from the list.
Ironically the two V6's were fastest of the "muscle" cars. Crazy to think that a lot of standard cars these days smoke 1 thru 8 on this list. Hell my already 11 year old naturally aspirated V6 Sedan would only lose to the GNX and barely but would easily pull away on top end.
The fox with a few mods is light weight and gives hell to heavier cars....
Man that Turbo Z Camaro is bad!
Ken Dutweiler's Turbo Buick, or Stormin Norman's Nitrous 88 Mustang. Those were the two quickest 80's muscle cars. At the track atleast. Those two consistently ran 9 seconds flat in street stock, running road legal cheater slicks.
T-types and GN’s would mop the floor with all of these 15 second cars
I've got an 86 Buick Regal... turned into a VADER.
Always loved the tbird
I was in high school and college at this time during the automobile Malaise Era when we car nuts had no reason to believe that cars would ever be as fast as 1970 again. It took a few more decades to recover but it sure did recover.
I understand why they didn't have the vette, it was a pure sports car. I had the 1985 GT same year but ran much better stock at carlsbad. Was running 14.4 's. Gears, pulley and exhaust i hit 13.98. Big deal back then. Only thing pretty much stock beating me stock was a corvette and the grand national. ( oh, put at power shot on NOS on it (125hp) ran solid low low 13's. Hook up was the issue. Not a lot of tire selection back then and was running the KYB single valve shocks and struts which had huge rebound.
I had an 85 Capri 5.0 with the same stuff, ran similar times. It was my first new car that I kept for 17 years.
The 1986 Dodge Omni GLHS could eat alot of these cars for lunch back in the day!
87 GNX...😎
The fastest car of the 80's was the 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am!
Too bad it was a pos
Funny,I never knew about those later Yenko Camaros😊
Grand National did not do 12s ,where did the source come from?
Michael Jordan didn’t drive no slow ass Monte 😂😂😂
you forgot the 83 hurst olds, I had one great Boulevard brawler, handled great and a real cruiser
At the time, the GNX was the quickest car that Car and Driver magazine ever tested for a 0-60 time.
When I went to a dragway in the late 80's. A rotary engine mazda killed everything.
🏆🏆🏆MONTE CARLO SS IS THE SHARPEST RIDE I EVER SEEN & THE CUTLASS !!!!👍👍👍💯💯💯💯💯🌿❤❤🌿❤🌿🌿❤🌿
I just bought a Model S with a new battery for $12k, which is about as fast as an 80s Yamaha VMAX. 60mph in 2.6s - the future is gonna be AMAZING
The back glass on the Capri was very heavy and would create a pendulum effect if you ever slid the rear end. The 4 cylinder version didn't have the power to regain control. It was my first car and it sucked terribly
methinks you need to learn how to drive, never had any issues with mine
I'll give it to the GNX it was a stud
I will take that yenko turbo z thank you very much 👍
The mercury had a 5.0 GS model with automatic transmission which was faster than the one featured here.
Not a muscle car
I had a couple 1st gen 5 speed SCs back in the day. 15.9s for the autos is about right, but the 5 speeds would do substantially better with good driving. I went 14.98 @ 91 in a bone stock 91 on street tires.
No mention of the Regal T type and Regal Turbo .T These cars are usually outshined by the Grand National and GNX
I've owned both a 87 Turbo T, and my (current) 87 GN i've owned since 2003. BOTH were screamers bone stock, and the GN now has simple bolt-ons that help it run 11.30's on alky. LOOKS bone stock on the outside too.......;)
@@ct87gn25 I have owned my 1987 Regal T since 1993 still wears the original paint not perfect by any means no rust or rot crazy thing to preserving this car it's never been washed with a hose and maybe been in the rain a few times since I've owned it and always garaged
That mustang commercial was very 80’s lol
It would be funny to race a 2023 Honda Accord hybrid against some of these that does 0-60 in 6.5 seconds while some of these take 9 seconds to get to 60.
The 87 IROC came with a 170hp 305 in base form, the 350 was extra $$$. Test drove one back I'm the day, peppy off the line but sadly anemic from a 40 punch with a car with that badging.
If these 80s muscle cars had only 180bhp or so despite their large engine size, how much modification would be needed to match the power of their 1960s predecessors?
I went 11.70’s with my 88 gt back in the day with slicks, gears , exhaust and a 150 shot of nitrous. The foxbodies were the easiest to make them quick. I was a chevy guy an made the jump when i was getting my ass kicked at the track by lightly modded 5.0’s
Remove the governors hahahahaha
Take all the smog equipment off different heads different intake wouldn't take a whole lot
The most powerful cars I've ever seen.
Really? My wife's 2013 Ford Edge 3.5l has more horsepower than almost half of these. You not get out much?
Oh, I haven't actually driven high-powered cars.@@kwb377
@@kwb377 The 2013 Mustang V6 would beat most of these cars as far as 0 to 60 and quarter mile times. It's not even a turbo. Just a 3.7 V6.
And my nissan juke puts out 20hp more than these muscle cars... Things have come a long way
Yeah but all these old cars look way better.
@@lordterra1377 true
No corvette on list
Talking about that 5.0 Capri showing it getting smoked by that old Chevy truck on the dragstrip...LOL
I love this era. Though people complained about cheesy interiors. At least they were affordable. Now we have mid 50k plus loaded pony cars. And dam near 70k dark horse mustangs. With a whole 15hp more then the standard gt model.
Still have my 1984 20th Anniversary GT-350, Good car, not the fastest but still quick. good looking but probably not the best, only 70K on it, never been wrecked. Still like this car.
To tell you the truth, believe it or not, I saw most of these on the road as a kid in the early 2000s..you can own these, park it some shopping lot and it wouldn't stand out. Good times
Pontiac Firebird Formula
This is really cool pd evolution I like it actually
I have 3 of the Thunderbird SC models, 2 MTX and 1 ATX. 2:38
I was born in 1972 and I loved sports cars. I was subscribed to R&T, Motor Trend, and Car and Driver in the 1980's. I thought those cars were awesome, but compared to newer cars almost all of them are very slow. The only exceptions are the tuner cars. (Ruf modified Porsche, Sledgehammer Corvette ) or the specials (Porsche 959, Ferrari F-40)
my 2002 120 c.i. Subaru does 0-60 in 5.7 secs on all-season tires, in the rain. (13.99 1/4 mile)
I have always been a fan of the Camaro and Firebird. I liked the hood decals, and they were nice looking decals. Accordingly, I also liked the updates to the design, when they came out. I followed the cars pretty closely, and always picked up the brochures, whenever visiting an auto show. However, it always annoyed me, that they were always beaten by the boxy Mustang. To me, they resembled an oversized Escort. That was reinforced, when I drove one, many years later. ALSO, it seemed like they always limited the engine options on the Firebird series, and gave preference to the Camaro, when it came to engines. Many years later, I would end up owning an '89 Mark LSC, and I definitely gained a respect for the high output, fuel injected 5.0L. For the time, acceleration from a stop wasn't a strong suit for large RWD coupes, but they had good acceleration, once they were moving. However, the Mark always had consistently good acceleration. It also had great handling. It would stick to turns, where some FWD cars, (like a 1990 Integra) would slip. This surprised me a bit. With all the tests that Motor Trend did, comparing the Camaro, Firebird, and the Mustang, the GM offerings usually had better handling, but not better engine performance.
Lot of ??? on this list even regarding the types of models picked.. Pretty sure the 87-89 notch back Mustang LX 5.0 optioned correctly was the quickest example of a stock 80's Fox body.(other than some obscure order, police package etc..) Pretty sure the 87-89 Firebird Formula 350 optioned right was the quickest example of stock 80's F-body.( other than super rare limited run stuff-3.8 turbo T/A, stripped down Camaro 1le, ect) But I digress, I miss all of the fun we had when these were all roaming the streets✌
80's "Muscle Cars". That's hilarious
Gee, my 1986 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo would eat most of these through the quarter... Not "typical" muscle, but still, all American (made in Belvedere, IL) - 14.4 second car, and I had the time slips at one point to prove it. Mine also made more out of the box (or being a boxy little Omni was that "in the box" ?) at 170hp according to the dyno (rated at 146 hp). All I know is, I made a brand new 87 Corvette owner take his car back to the dealer because something was wrong with it because this little blue econobox could outrun him (I couldn't "outrun" but I could keep up to over 100...)
Yeah I had a 1972 cuda 340 which I built to a bit better than 1970 specs. The little Omni GLH Turbo really surprised me. It didn't "beat" me, but when I found out it was a 4cyl I was impressed. The Mustang 5.0's could run with me with very few modifications. The timing was extremely retarded from the factory on those engines, and airflow to the throttle body was bad as well.
no offence, and i do agree about the omni. this is a muscle car list not a hot hatch list.
@@motaz1975 just going by how it was marketed... and I've had several muscle cars - the funniest part to me was in high school in the early 80s - I had a 67 Monaco 500 Sport Coupe with a built 440, a friend of mine had a 72 Cutlass S, another had a 69 GSX Buick, and our "rich kid" friend had a brand new 1982 Trans Am... guess which was the dog and slower than eff? The 80s were great for buying muscle off the cheapo used car lot... but horrible for actual performance cars.
@@CaptainSeamus well ya for the first half of the 80s.
Keep in mind the author of the video most probably only went with his/her favorites. There's also the Dodge Daytona turbo shelby
9 examples of horrifying unsightliness and inefficiency. Those cars look like body remains from industrial accident scanned into minecraft.
forgot one of the best "The first generation Taurus SHO can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds with a quarter mile time of 15.0-15.2 seconds. Car and Driver reported in their December 1989 issue a top speed of 143 mph (230 km/h)."
wow this shit is cheezy with the Jordan video lol.
When you actually 'look-up' the engine stats on each of these 1980's so-called MUSCLE cars, (lmao), only FOUR of them had more than 200 HP. The Buick Grand National was indeed the highest at 276 hp. Imagine paying top-dollar for a beautiful, brand new 1980's 'MUSCLE' car, with less than 200 hp.
80 mustang svo was missed were super quick for a 4 cylinder turbo.
I also remember there was a small dodge pony car size. That was turbo. They where quick too. I never owned one. But a guy in my unit had one. I don't know the time. But I know it had to be fast enough to be on this list. I believe it was a Daytona. Maybe wrong on name. 85 ish.
There was a Dodge Daytona turbo Z. I always thought that they had one of the sportiest body styles of the cars back then. I haven't seen any of those for probably 15 years or more! (And I go to tons of car shows) It would be cool to see one again, after all these years!
The Grand National was one of the best looking cars ever. Well in my opinion.
1985 that car was fast. Not as fast as my 68 Torino though
I think the 85’ olds 442 still looks great after all these years
nice that you name the original footage owner of the turbo trans am. thanks
the ss monte Chevy L69 made 195 hp @4800 rpm( and well over 200 spun up.)
Its like comparing cell phones to rotary dial phones. .... Just quicker today , by far....
Bought a new Z in 1980. Coming from a 69 SS Chevelle and a RA4 GTO ....the Z was so slow.