Pick a Side: Hot Rod or Muscle Car?

Let’s say you’re in a spot to buy or build your dream car. But, you have to pick only one and stick with it. What are you choosing-hot rod or muscle car?

First, let’s establish some guidelines. Let’s consider a hot rod to be a 1948-earlier car built to go fast and look cool. Then, let’s consider a muscle car to be a mid-50's and up American car, built either by the factory or by you at home, also to go fast and look cool.

You’ll notice that we didn’t start the muscle car clock at 1964 as many do. We’ve written our thoughts on the first muscle car before, and it seems a shame not to consider production cars that were built with performance in mind and equipped with a Firepower Hemi, Olds Rocket, 283 Chevy, Ford 390, or Chevy 409 as muscle cars. They were the origin of the species, so let’s lump them into this category for our little debate here.

Let’s start with what’s great about an early hot rod. First, it’s hard to argue with the visual impact that an old hot rod has driving down the street. Hot rods are all about attitude, and there’s just something about seeing a wicked, low and loud early car rumping and brapping and bouncing around in traffic amongst the late model SUV’s and econoboxes. And the experience from behind the wheel is often more visceral than newer cars that are more evolved. Driving cross country in a roadster or even just across town on a starry night is a memorable experience no matter how many times you do it. The driving experience always feels like an adventure in one of these cars.

If you’re looking for a downside to these pre-’48 cars, you can find it in the fact that they were made for the roads of pre-war America, not modern highways. We've spent some time commuting in a stone-stock Model A Ford and found that the mechanical brakes are good for about one hard stop before disappearing into fade city, the stock ‘banger sounds like it’s about to fly apart at 50 mph, and the interior confines are cozy to say the least. The old hot rod tricks of upgraded brakes, power, gears, and suspension are just about a necessity on these cars.

Muscle cars, on the other hand, can usually hang with modern traffic. Sure, compared to your late model daily they can be a bit loud and rough, but that’s part of the charm. It's hard not to get pumped up when you slide behind the wheel of an artifact of the legendary Detroit horsepower wars. Things like hoodscoops, pistol grip shifters, and a slew of gauges that were born there at the factory are just plain cool. Plus, starting with a muscle car is usually better for an “upgrade as you go” project. With the availability of upgrade parts available from aftermarket manufacturers like Speedway Motors, these cars can be turned in to legit modern performance cars that will hang with a new ‘Vette in the twisties, stop on a dime, and turn in sub-12 second timeslips at the drags, all with the air conditioning on and the tunes blasting on the stereo. They also tend to feel more substantial and less terrifying than an early car when you’re stuck next to a big rig on the freeway.

You may also notice that we said mid '50's and up for the muscle car era, instead of stopping at ’72. More and more, cars from the malaise-era of the mid 70’s-early 80’s are being hopped up with modern drivetrains and parked with pride at the Friday night cruise-in amongst the vintage Camaros, Road Runners, and Torinos. If you spin the clock forward even further, the muscle car experienced a rebirth in the mid-80’s with cars like the Grand National, 5.0 Mustang, and IROC Camaros finally turning in respectable numbers again. This set the stage for the modern era with GT500 Mustangs, ZL1 Camaros, and Hellcat Challengers duking it out with horsepower and performance figures once thought impossible for production cars, all while retaining cushy leather trim and a factory warranty. Are they still muscle cars? Do you want one of those in your garage, or are you sticking to something more old-school?

So what are you going to park in that dream garage? Historic hot rod or 60’s or 70’s muscle car? What about a late-model muscle car? There are no wrong answers here. With the right care and some well-chosen upgrades, anything can be made into a fun driver and there’s a place in our hobby for all of them. We want to know what you think. Tell us your take on Facebook or Instagram!