13 Beautiful Muscle Cars Most People Probably Never Heard Of
We haven’t met anyone whose name is “Most People,” so it probably doesn’t apply to you. However, we have it on good authority — our authority — that even some who’d rightly consider themselves knowledgeable about cars never met these muscle cars.
The Chevy Camaro, Dodge Charger, and Ford Mustang now dominate the world of muscle cars. All three are legends in their own right, but their world is filled with hidden gems that, for various reasons, never shook the shadows of their more famous counterparts.
It’s only right that we’d take some time today to nudge them forward. These beautiful muscle cars tell unique stories of innovation, charm, and passion from an era defined by horsepower and speed.
1968 AMC AMX
This was from before the AMX evolved (or devolved) into a high-performance trim for the Javelin in 1971. It continued that way until 1974. It could compete directly with the Corvette because it was a GT-style 2-door muscle car, allowing it to thrill fans from both sides – the other side being the sports car side.
The 1968 AMC AMX was one of the few American-made, steel-bodied, two-seat models at the time. It’s beautiful with how it combines sports and muscle car elements, highlighted by a long hood and fastback roofline. Its comparatively shorter wheelbase (versus traditional muscle cars) blessed it with sports car-like handling and agility.
1970 Buick GSX
The GSX was the famous Skylark GS’s (Gran Sport) high-performance version. For those of us who only see beauty in performance, you should be happy to learn the GSX filled its high-performance role with a 7.5-liter (455 cu-in) V8 that delivered up to 360-hp and 510 lb-ft of torque when equipped with the Stage 1 package.
It complemented its eye-catching Saturn Yellow or Apollo White paint with a blacked-out grille and GSX badging. Either color had black stripes running along the sides and over the hood and trunk lid.
1968 Mercury Cougar GT-E
You know all about the Mercury Cougar and how it was a luxury-oriented muscle car, but we bet you’ve never heard of the GT-E — a rare variant you can be forgiven for not knowing about it. That’s because Mercury offered just 394 units of them. It looked beautiful in a blacked-out grille with large hood scoops.
Its beauty permeated the skin to the heavy-duty suspension, larger brakes, and a high-performance axle. It joined the Cougar lineup in 1968, featuring a 390-hp 7.0-liter (427 cu-in) V8, later downgraded mid-year to a less robust 335-hp 428 Cobra Jet V8. Even the XR-7 and Cougar GT that Mercury unboxed in 1971 have more fame than the GT-E.
1970 Oldsmobile Rallye 350
The 1970 Oldsmobile Rallye 350 is a beautiful and often overlooked Oldsmobile muscle car that flaunted a distinctive Sebring Yellow coat. As was the tradition with ‘ol Olds, the Rallye 350 teased the market with an attractive blend of performance with style in a more affordable and insurance-friendly package.
That’s right; purse-friendly insurance premiums were a selling point for the Rallye 350 as it spared its young customer base the headache associated with larger muscle car engines.
You could spot the car from miles away, thanks to its yellow regalia spanning the entire length and breadth, including the bumpers and wheels. The only thing that disturbed the yellow flow was its black and orange striping and blacked-out grille. The yellow also spared the rear spoiler and fiberglass W-25 hood with dual scoops.
1969 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ
The Grand Prix is a popular Pontiac that helped popularize the concept of personal luxury cars in its era. In 1969, the Pontiac Grand Prix launched its second generation with a longer hood, a shorter trunk, and a distinctive “beak-nose” front fascia highlighted with a unique split grille.
Not done with these revisions, Pontiac brought along the lesser-known SJ package with additional exterior trim and badging.
This package was targeted at fans longing for a high-performance Pontiac with a good dose of luxury. It unboxed, among other features, bucket seats, a center console, woodgrain trim, power windows, power seats, and air conditioning. Pontiac designated the base model “Model J.”
1968 Ford Fairlane Torino GT
The Torino would be more popular if the Mustang gave it a breathing space. It’s just like the many underrated gems in America’s automotive history, overshadowed by the runaway success and fame of the Mustang.
Here’s what you need to know. The Ford Torino was a subseries of the Fairlane with its own set of variants and trim levels. The GT was one of such Torino variants. It was a beautiful midsize muscle car with racing stripes, distinctive wheel covers, and GT badging.
It featured the period-correct fastback design characterized by a sloping roofline. The Mustang is a sports car, so Ford used the Torino GT to break into the muscle car market, where models like the Pontiac GTO and Chevy Chevelle SS were the beasts in charge.
1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS 454
If you knew the Mercury Cougar, we bet you know all about the Monte Carlo and how Chevrolet positioned it as a personal luxury car. How about the SS 454 variant? It’s okay to draw blank; less than 4,000 were produced.
The “454” designation signified its 454 cu-in (7.4-liter) LS5 V8, producing 360-hp and 500 lb-ft of torque. Cosmetically, this Monte Carlo showcased a beastly beauty enhanced by a pair of headlights hidden inside a prominent grille.
It was complimented by SS badging, Rally wheels, and other sporty touches. Ultimately, the Monte Carlo SS 454’s beauty lies in its blend of luxury and the heart of a muscle car.
1971 Ford Torino Cobra
Even bonafide gearheads would draw a blank when the ’71 Torino Cobra is mentioned. It’s a relatively obscure muscle car with a beautiful body and a potent 429 Cobra Jet engine. As mentioned earlier, the Torino Fairlane subseries spawned sub-models and trim levels, of which the Cobra was among the high-performance variants.
It filled that role with the legendary 7.0-liter Cobra Jet V8 with 370-hp and 450 lb-ft of torque, paired with a 4-speed shifter and an optional automatic. It was supposed to compete with performance cars of its era and was well dressed for the showdown, complete with a period-correct muscle car styling
1971 AMC Hornet SC/360
We almost didn’t include the Hornet in this list because we figured everyone knew the car. However, the SC/360 is a rare, lesser-known Hornet offered as a high-performance model in 1971 only. Only around 784 units were made. By 1974, AMC had capitulated to market forces and shifted to economy cars, at which point the Hornet was almost unrecognizable.
In any case, the 1971 Hornet SC/360 represented AMC’s bet on the possibility of a more compact muscle car market. The idea was more beautiful than even AMC realized. Stuffing a 360 cu-in (5.9-liter) V8 in the Hornet’s compact, unassuming dimensions inadvertently created a sleeper car.
1966 Mercury Cyclone GT
The Cyclone GT was a member of the Comet intermediate lineup. It was powered by the legendary 6.4-liter (390 cu-in) “Marauder” V8, producing 335-hp and an impressive 427 lb-ft of torque. A floor-mounted 4-speed manual shifter was the standard gearbox. The Cyclone GT is a beautiful muscle car that turned out very nice in any color, and there were many.
We could count twelve: Black, Polar White, Sapphire Blue, turquoise, red, dark Ivy Green, Emberglow, Sauterne Gold, Cardinal Red, Nightmist Blue, Brittany Blue, and Tahoe Turquoise. It flaunted a restyled front fascia with a new grille design and quad headlights.
1971 Dodge Demon 340
The classic Demon 340 emerged from the Dodge Dart’s lineage, resulting in a compact muscle car with a potent V8 engine. It was essentially a high-performance Dart targeted at muscle car fans looking for a more affordable alternative.
They say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and that’s certainly true in the case of the ’71 Dodge Demon 340. The twin scoops on its hood don’t enhance the aggressiveness, not that it’s what Dodge was going for, but the Demon 340 would look perfect with or without the scoops.
Its motivation came from a 5.6-liter (340 cu-in) V8 producing 275-hp and 340 lb-ft of torque, mated to a 3-speed manual transmission and an optional 4-speed automatic.
1969 Plymouth GTX
The 1969 Plymouth GTX is not as famous as the Barracudas but nonetheless represents a classic definition of a muscle car. It contributed to the golden age with a blend of luxury, performance, and style. The grille featured a horizontal bar design complemented by a set of quad headlights. It had GTX badging, optional hood scoops, and optional racing stripes.
As a high-performance version of the Plymouth Belvedere, the GTX benefited from, among other things, big-block engines — including a 375-hp 7.2-liter (440 cu-in) “Super Commando” V8, with the legendary 7.0-liter (426 cu-in) HEMI V8 as the optional mill.
A 4-speed manual shifter was the standard gearbox, while a 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission was optional. Despite its performance capabilities, Plymouth promoted the GTX as a “Gentleman’s Muscle Car.”
1965 Pontiac 2+2
Despite its fame, most people are unaware that the legendary Pontiac GTO had a “Big Brother” with a larger body and more powerful engines. It was heavier than the midsized GTO but compensated for the weight with larger engines, albeit less nimble than the GTO.
The big brother in question was the 1965 Pontiac 2+2, so-called due to its seating configuration — two bucket seats up front and a bench rear seat for two passengers, effectively making the full-size high-performance version of the Catalina a 4-seater.
The 2+2 may have sunk in the GTO’s thick shadow, but it occupies a special place in America’s automotive history as the car that ushered Pontiac into the full-size performance car market, preceding the birth of the first true muscle car — the GTO.
