Muscle cars as we know them started in 1964 when Pontiac introduced the first GTO. They created a revolution in the automotive industry that is still strong today. But muscle cars as a segment didn’t just pop out on the market. The early history of muscle cars is an often overlooked one despite its great importance.
Long before the GTO, there were a lot of powerful cars by the standards of the day that helped the market grow. The performance revolution began slowly in 1949. By the late ’50s and early ’60s, almost all companies had at least one high-performance model for customers who wanted speed. We looked back at those unsung heroes of early American muscle car history. Find out why they are essential to automotive history right here.
Oldsmobile 88 Rocket V8 (1949)
For the 1949 model year, Oldsmobile presented two very important things. The first was the 88 model series. The second was a brand-new 303 CID V8 engine called the Rocket V8. Both things proved very influential in Oldsmobile’s history. The 88 model was relatively light and compact. The Rocket V8 was considered a hot engine with a two-barrel carburetor and 135 hp on tap. This combination of a light body and powerful engine in the 1949 Oldsmobile 88 was arguably the first muscle car from Detroit (via THF).
The ’49 Olds 88 enjoyed quite a success with the customers and on the race track, too. It won six of nine NASCAR races that year and proved competitive on the drag strip too. The car was the theme of one of the first rock and roll songs ever made, called “Rocket 88” by Kings of Rhythm. All of this makes this car influential, not only in automotive history but in the history of rock and roll as well.