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Do muscle cars still exist, or did the breed die with the 1970s? The orange 1969 Pontiac GTO in the photo, wearing the stripes and spoiler of the short-lived Judge package, is the perfect place to start that argument. Pontiac built just 6,833 Judges that year, and the Ram Air IV cars could run the quarter in the low 13s. Read on to find out how the definition was born, why it collapsed, and whether today’s V8 coupes deserve the name.
The term “pony car” has nothing to do with horsepower, it describes a specific formula the 1964½ Ford Mustang invented and every Detroit rival scrambled to copy. Fifty years later, the Mustang’s 2015 redesign broke from that formula for the first time, adding independent rear suspension and a turbocharged four-cylinder. Read on to find out what actually separates a pony car from a muscle car.
Tesla’s original two-seat Roadster picked up serious upgrades between 2010 and 2012 — a hand-wound stator for more efficient power delivery, adjustable suspension, noise-damping body panels, and a genuinely upscale leather interior. A mid-cycle refresh added new wheels, a touchscreen, and hot-climate hardware before Tesla’s Lotus-based chassis supply ran out for good. Read on to find out how a Silicon Valley startup’s first car built a case for electric performance long before it became mainstream.