Those magnificent muscle machines

On this day in 1966, General Motors and Chevrolet introduced their newest model car, "The Camaro." This was during the time, from the mid-60s through the early 70s, when a series of American auto offerings was developed, in what we now refer to as the era of the "Muscle Car!"

I could not write this story without first taking a moment to relate the historical timing for both the beginning and the end of this era. For me, and almost every red-blooded American teenager from that time, "muscle cars," began with the release in mid-1964, of the Ford Mustang. The era would for all intents and purposes come to an end in the mid-70s, when the "Arab Oil Embargo" was instituted.

For about a decade "muscle cars" were, without a doubt, the most important possession for young American males. If you visit with some men from that era today, their entire countenance will light up, at the mere mention of names like, Mustang, GTO, Firebird, Camaro, Road Runner. Cuda, Chevelle, Cutlass, or Torino. There are many more names that I could include in the list, but these were the most notable.

There are differing definitions for the term "muscle car," but the one I will offer here is probably the simplest. A "muscle car" was a somewhat trimmed down vehicle, from that of the huge classic cars of the 1950s and early 1960s. Those older full-size autos, complete with massive chrome bumpers, were enormous.

The "muscle car" had a smaller body and wheel base, but there the "trimmed down," aspect ended. The "muscle car," while smaller, was fitted with ever increasing cubic inch displacement engines. In the early 60s for example, General Motors offered a fine V8 engine with 283 cubic inches of displacement. By the end of the muscle era, the engine sizes had almost doubled into the mid-400 cubic inch model range.

The muscle era flourished for many reasons, but the single most important one was that of gas prices. Most muscle cars required what we now refer to as "Premium gas." When I left for college at Pitt State, in Pittsburg, Kan., in the fall of 1967, "Ethyl" gasoline, as we referred to premium back then, was selling for somewhere around 25-30 cents a gallon.

Muscle cars often averaged gas efficiency of no more than 5-10 miles per gallon, especially the way we drove them, around the streets of America back then. There was little "pain at the pump." for muscle cars. The embargo brought an end to cheap gasoline and gas-guzzlers.

There has been a recent revival in the number of muscle cars. Baby boomer males of my generation have located and restored several million of these famous cars. Practically every town, including ours hosts more than one vintage car show and contest each year.

The love affair with the muscle car is supported mostly from a common sense of nostalgia. These beautiful machines remind us of a time when we were young, and muscle cars were at the epicenter of our lives.

In that era we had no cell phones or personal computers. Video games were a distant dream. In the Nevada of that time, our lives revolved around our cars.

Life in Nevada for teens was lived daily in our cars. I have written in the past about the route we followed in town, known simply by the term, "the cruise." Muscle cars filled with kids routinely traversed this well-worn path. As you passed by other friends in their cars, you honked your horn, and often "revved" your engine.

Arguments then and now still abound, as to just which was the best and fastest of the muscle cars. Today the arguments rage on endlessly, but back then a "drag race," was often the only venue to resolve the issue.

Looking back now, those muscle car drivers seem a lot like the "knights" of the middle ages. Regular "jousting" contests were part of life for any knight. No true devotee of muscle cars was ever afraid to try their luck in a "drag race."

Then and now, muscle car appearance was significant. A muscle car owner was never satisfied, unless he had his vehicle in presentable shape. This included hard work, such as "waxing" your car. Tires, headers, special steering wheels, and my own favorite from that time, "the dice hanging from the rear view mirror," are examples of the love and attention paid to these cars.

Even though the muscle car was a bit smaller than the "behemoths" that preceded them, they were by today's standards, much more roomy. Seeing a car round the "White Grill," with six kids inside, was not at all uncommon.

By nights end, "going parking" was the norm. There was plenty of room in those fabulous muscle cars for some "making out!" As in the line from the Bob Seeger tune -- "Night Moves," -- "Out past the cornfields where the woods got heavy, Out in the back seat of my '60 Chevy!" Many a young couple exchanged their first kisses, in the backseat of an American muscle car.

Yes the muscle car era lasted only about a decade, but for the men of my generation, it will never end. We can go to these car shows today, and return once more to our youth.

We remember full heads of hair that are no longer white. We hear muscle engines rumble, with a sound that is just as pleasing as the music of that time. Heck, we might even decide to take one more trek on "the cruise." Hey we don't need to worry about gas prices, they just went below $2 a gallon in the past few weeks. Grab your girl, fill up, turn on that old radio, and "muscle car" around "The Grill!"