There Are Over 300 Muscle Cars — We'll Be Impressed If You Can Name 40!

When production began in 1954, Ford projected selling 10,000 units of the 1955 Thunderbird. The T-bird was such a big hit, however, that Ford ended up selling over 16,000 of them. Makes you wonder what sales might have been like if Ford had gone with the suggestion of "Whizzer" for the car's name!

The pony car class includes 2-door hardtops that are sporty, built for high performance and affordably priced. That description perfectly matches the 1972 Dodge Challenger. It is very much a pony car/muscle car, a status held by other vehicles such as the Ford Shelby Mustang GT500.

The 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle came in several styles, including the Sport Coupe, 4-door sedan, wagon and convertible. It was the Super Sport (SS) version, however, with its high-performance 454 engine, which drew the attention and admiration of muscle car lovers.

Everything about the 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am seemed bigger ... and better! It was specifically designed for high performance, but Pontiac also put plenty of thought into styling this pony car/muscle car to ensure it would stand out in a crowd.

Plum Crazy purple was the 1970 Dodge Super Bee's most ordered color, while the color buyers requested the least turned out to be the Panther Pink option — go figure! Years later, the car was renamed the Dodge Charger Super Bee with a couple of the available colors being Stinger Yellow and Pitch Black.

Chrome and stainless steel may have been the order of the day, but the 1959 Ford Galaxie still managed to keep its styling on a very conservative level, even in the eye-catching two-toned color options. Despite its understated appearance, the 1959 Galaxie turned out to be one of the year's bestsellers.

The "four-four-two" was initially an option package which buyers could choose with the Oldsmobile F-85 or Oldsmobile Cutlass. Buyers, however, know a great thing when they see (and drive) it! Their demand led the company to introduce the 4-4-2 as a separate model from 1968 to 1971.

The 2006 Dodge Charger has "muscle car" in its genes! Dodge rolled out the first Charger in 1966 and kept them coming until 1987. Nineteen years went by before fans saw a new Charger on the market for 2006. It has certainly done its part in terms of keeping Dodge's mid-sized muscle car legacy alive!

Chevrolet sold over 40,000 of the 1970 El Camino but offered such a wide variety of package options that each buyer could easily make their car stand out if they wanted to. Among the variations was the Super Sport (SS) package which added an even more "muscular" appearance to the El Camino.

This car gets its name from being a specific trim package of the Plymouth Barracuda with a Hemi engine installed. Plymouth only sold the Hemi 'Cuda in the 1970 and 1971 models, making it one of the most sought after muscle cars today.

The 1970 Buick GSX Stage 1 stood head-and-shoulders above most of the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In fact, since Buick ensured this car came with ALL the "Xtras," it can hold its own among muscle cars of any era. No wonder it is one of the most collectible of all muscle cars.

The Dodge Viper is one of the most popular muscle cars still under production. It has been around since 1992 and has been available in an amazingly wide range of variants. This muscle car even had its own hour-long action/adventure TV series appropriately titled "Viper."

As with any car produced by Cadillac, buyers of the 2004 XLR can expect to ride in extreme comfort. This includes temperature-controlled seats as well as wood and leather trim. These internal creature comforts complement the XLR's seamlessly elegant exterior.

This extremely rare version of the 1970 Ford Mustang had a Boss 429 engine installed. It is often referred to as simply the Boss 9 and fetches a very high price whenever one happens to make its way onto the market.

As a muscle car, the 1964 Pontiac GTO already had a high-performance rating. That was given quite a boost, however, in the option package which included the Tri-Power engine. The GTO Tri-Power was rated at 348 horsepower, compared to 325 on the standard package.

The official description of the Z28 option of the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro is "Special Performance Package." It is, however, widely known simply as the Z28 (its order code). Muscle car enthusiasts have come to equate the code with high performance.

Stephen King used a custom 1958 Plymouth Fury as the demon-possessed antagonist in his 1983 bestseller, Christine. Fans of the Plymouth Fury will quickly realize that although King describes Christine as red and white, the 1958 was sold only in buckskin beige with gold trim.

The Pontiac Tempest was introduced in 1961 with the LeMans upgrade offered in 1962. By 1963, the popular Tempest LeMans was a completely separate series with the GTO package available in 1964. Before long, the Pontiac Tempest LeMans GTO became known as the most significant of the '60s muscle cars!

The AMC AMX sports car/muscle car was produced from 1968 to 1970. It was an affordable, powerful award-winning record-breaker which set the world speed record in 1968. The 1970 AMC AMX is of particular importance since its styling differs significantly from the previous two models.

When Ford began selling the 1965 Mustang, it had hoped to see sales in the region of 100,000 units. The Mustang blew that figure right out of the water by ending up with over half a million (559,451 to be exact) units sold in the U.S. alone!

There were times when automakers went all out to put the "muscle" in muscle car, and Mercury's design of the 1969 Cyclone Spoiler II was one of them. As one of the cars from the legendary Aero Wars, it was built for speed. Nowadays, it is highly sought after but a rare find, indeed!

When Pontiac released the Firebird in 1967, it gave buyers plenty to choose from. For example, each of the five Firebird engine options was accompanied by slightly modified interior and exterior trim. Horsepower values of the engines ranged from 215 to a respectable 325 with the Firebird 400.

The 1968 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500KR is named in honor of racing driver and automobile designer Carroll Shelby. It often goes by the name Cobra GT500KR among muscle car aficionados in recognition of its factory-installed 355 horsepower Cobra Jet engine.

During its 1928 to 2001 operation, Plymouth specialized in offering affordable vehicles to buyers. When it brought out the iconic 1970 Road Runner, there were no fancy features and trim — just the basics. It was a formidable street car with an awesome design, real power and pure muscle!

The very first Camaro went on sale in 1966 and production continued up to 2002 when it was canceled by General Motors. The Camaro roared back to life, however, with the 2010 model which was styled to be reminiscent of past Camaros but with a distinctly modern twist.

Pontiac released the first GTO in 1964 but did not unleash the affordable Judge until 1969. The soon-to-be-legendary Judge served as direct competition to Plymouth's pocket-friendly Road Runner which had started the trend of low-priced muscle cars and was still a force to be reckoned with!

The 1971 AMC Hornet SC/360 came along close to the end of the classic muscle car era. It had just one production year in which less than 800 were built. Today, fewer than 150 remain, making the SC/360 one of the "rarest of the rare" when it comes to collectible muscle cars.

If you love the color yellow, then the 1970 Oldsmobile Rallye 359 is definitely for you! Its bright Sebring Yellow body was complemented by its similarly yellow bumper and wheels. Oldsmobile added orange and black accents for one of the most distinctive finishes in muscle car history.

The Chevrolet Chevy II (aka Chevy Nova) was introduced in 1962 and became a popular compact muscle car with good sales figures. When sales began to decline, the company tweaked the design for the 1976 model and saw a jump of over 60,000 in the number of units sold.

The 1969 Dodge Charger R/T-SE was a limited Special Edition offer whose features included leather and vinyl bucket seats and a sport steering wheel. The R/T-SE can be seen in action as one of the cars used as the General Lee (driven by Bo and Luke) on the hit '80s TV series Dukes of Hazzard.

The Plymouth Barracuda first hit the market on April 1, 1964, making it a veteran of the pony car class. Its production ended exactly 10 years later on April 1, 1974. Muscle car aficionados often rank the '74 Barracuda below earlier Barracuda models, but it is still a much-loved model.

Ford produced the very first Thunderbird in 1955. When 2005 came around, the company celebrated by offering customers the chance to opt for a silver hardtop instead of the traditional black. Sadly, the 2005 model would prove to be the T-bird's last, since plans for the 2006 model never materialized.

Buyers of a Malibu trim to the 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle could upgrade to the Super Sport (SS) version. If they had another $1,501 to spare, they could further upgrade to the ultimate level, the Z16 SS396, which had practically everything included! Two-hundred buyers opted to go for it.

Although it had previously released the 1982 Regal Grand National, Buick released the 1984 Grand National to further celebrate its Buick Regal winning the 1981 and 1982 NASCAR Grand National Series. Only 215 of the 1984 Grand National were produced, making this GN a true collectors gem.

The Mercury Cougar was designed as a pony car, but buyers could take it into muscle car territory with the Eliminator option. One Eliminator package even offered the choice of a powerful Cobra Jet engine. Color choices were Bright Blue Metallic, Bright Yellow, Competition Orange and White.

The 500 began as a trim level of the Ranchero but later became the standard. The Ford Ranchero has been out of production for nearly half a century, but there have been some reports that this muscle car is set to make a comeback.

The ZL1 engine option for the Chevrolet Corvette was only available for the 1969 model. It was a costly package which caused the price of the car to almost double. It's no surprise that only two were ever ordered — one white and one yellow.

The 1969 - 1970 Aero Wars are legendary among muscle car and racing enthusiasts. It was a time when the Ford, Mercury, Dodge and Plymouth tried to outdo each other by creating the perfect blend of speed and raw power. Plymouth's contender was the Road Runner Superbird, complete with Road Runner graphics!

Optimal use of aerodynamics was at the heart of the design of the Ford Torino. The Talladega version of this muscle car figured prominently in Ford's NASCAR efforts as the very first of the Aero Cars in the 1969 to 1970 Aero Wars.

The 1971 AMC Matador is unique in that it was the only model year to offer the option package called The Machine. Only 50 Matador Machines were made, and currently, only one is known to still be in existence.