from The Drive

The 10 Muscle Cars Everyone Forgets About

Don’t let these less-than-iconic muscle monsters die of neglect.

BY BEN KEESHIN

HEMMINGS.COM

Rock ‘n’ Roll has Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones—the most-loved icons of the genre. In the realm of the muscle car, running parallel to those stars are the Pontiac GTOPlymouth Hemi CudaDodge Charger, Chevy Chevelle and Buick GSX, the most celebrated and culturally significant of their kind. With long coupe bodies, big-block V-8s and enough vinyl to side a suburban McManse, the classic quintet of muscle cars have enough mid-century swagger to rival even The King.But what about the proverbial Big Mama Thorntons, Bo Diddleys and The Seeds? The cars pushing just as much power and style that have been forgotten over the years, living in the shadow of the fifty-foot letters, G-T-O? During Big Muscle’s prime years, 1964 through the gas crisis of the early Seventies, Detroit churned out super-powerful cars at a reckless rate; today, only a few are held aloft. To rectify such amnesia, we’ve lined up the 10 muscle cars forgotten by the masses—not out of hipster-y, in-the-know superiority, but because we love the muscle car too much to let its middle-children die from neglect.

That’s not just metaphor—for every cherry red Chevelle shined to a blinding finish is a 427-equipped Chevy Kingswood rotting in a barn. Please, go find ‘em.

[ click to continue reading at The Drive