Pontiac has the strongest claim to inventing the category. Ford has the sales records by an enormous margin. Dodge and Plymouth have what collectors are willing to pay today, which is a completely different ranking. Every camp is quoting a real number and reaching a different answer, because they are all using different measuring sticks. Read on for what each one actually proves, and which one settles it.
Ask ten enthusiasts which company built the best muscle cars and you will get ten answers, each delivered with more certainty than the underlying argument can support. Some go straight to Pontiac, because the 1964 GTO is the car most historians credit with starting the whole thing. Others reach for sales figures, and those numbers tell a story enthusiasts almost never repeat correctly. A third group points at what these cars fetch today, and that ranking inverts the second one almost completely. The interesting part is that all three groups are quoting accurate information. They are just measuring different things and assuming everyone else is measuring the same one.
Three Camps, Three Accurate Numbers, Three Different Answers
It is worth naming the three yardsticks explicitly, because most arguments about this collapse the moment somebody does. The first is invention: which company created the category and set the template everyone else copied. The second is commercial success: who actually sold the most cars to real buyers while the era was happening. The third is present-day desirability: what collectors are willing to pay right now, decades after the fact. These three questions have three different answers, none of them is wrong, and almost every disagreement on this topic is really two people answering different questions at each other.
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Pontiac Broke the Rule That Created the Category
The historical case belongs to Pontiac and it is a strong one. General Motors had an internal policy capping engine displacement in its intermediate cars, and Pontiac got around it by offering the 389 as an option package on the Tempest rather than as a standard model, at a cost of roughly $296. The GTO was not supposed to be a big seller and the division was authorized to build only a limited run. It sold far beyond that immediately, GM abandoned the policy for 1970, and every intermediate performance car that followed from Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, and Plymouth was in some measure a reaction to what Pontiac had already proved.
Ford Won the Only Contest That Happened at the Time
If raw popularity is the standard, Ford wins and it is not close. The Mustang sold in numbers no competitor approached, moving hundreds of thousands of cars in its first year and past a million within two, and the Camaro managed to outsell it only nine times across more than fifty model years of direct competition. Ford also had the broadest performance program of the era under the Total Performance banner, which put the company simultaneously into NASCAR, drag racing, Trans-Am, and Le Mans, and produced the Boss 302, the Boss 429, and the Shelby cars along the way.
Chrysler Built the Engines Everyone Still Talks About
Chrysler’s argument is engineering, and it is the argument that has aged best. The 426 Hemi was a genuine racing engine sold to the public, rated at 425 horsepower on the gross scale in street trim, a figure that everyone at the time understood to be conservative. Before it came the Max Wedge program, and alongside it the 440 Six Pack and the 340 small block, which was one of the finest high-revving small displacement engines Detroit ever produced. Chrysler also invested in the aerodynamic wing cars for NASCAR, which is not something a company does unless it takes competition seriously.
Four GM Divisions Fighting Each Other in One Model Year
GM’s internal rivalry produced arguably the deepest single-year lineup the era ever saw. In 1970, once the displacement cap lifted, Chevrolet offered the Chevelle SS 454 with the LS6 rated at 450 horsepower, Oldsmobile had the 442 W-30 at 370, Buick fielded the GSX Stage 1 with 455 cubic inches and a torque figure of 510 pound-feet that was the highest of any American production car at the time, and Pontiac had the GTO Judge. Four divisions of the same corporation competing against each other as hard as they competed with Ford is a large part of why 1970 is remembered the way it is.
The Underdog That Did It Without the Money
American Motors deserves more credit than it usually gets, because it did all of this on a fraction of the budget. The company put the 390 into a Rambler Rogue to create the SC/Rambler, built the two-seat AMX, campaigned the Javelin in Trans-Am successfully enough to win the championship, and sold the Rebel Machine. None of these were volume cars and AMC never had the dealer network to make them into one, but the engineering was serious and the survivors are now among the more interesting things to show up at a cruise-in precisely because so few people brought one.
What Collectors Actually Chase Now
Then there is the market, which produces a ranking almost nobody predicts from the sales charts. Recent analysis of collector demand puts Dodge at the top of the list for sought-after muscle cars, with Chevrolet close behind, followed by Plymouth, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Ford, Mercury, and Buick in that order. Ford, the company that outsold everybody by an enormous margin when these cars were new, sits sixth on the list of what people chase hardest today. That inversion is the single most useful fact in this entire argument.
Why Selling Badly in 1970 Pays Off Today
The explanation is scarcity doing what scarcity always does. Fewer Mopars were sold new because buyers of the day overwhelmingly preferred Mustangs and Camaros, so fewer survive, and the ones that do are competing against a demand base that has grown far faster than the supply. A Hemi car was expensive and impractical in 1970 and almost nobody ordered one, which is precisely why one is worth what it is now. Ford’s problem in the collector market is that it succeeded too well at the time, and Mustangs are simply not rare.
So Which Measuring Stick Actually Settles It
So which measuring stick wins? Honestly, none of them, and that is the actual answer rather than a dodge. Pontiac has the strongest claim to inventing the category. Ford has the volume, the racing breadth, and the only nameplate that never stopped. Chrysler has the engineering and the collector market. Chevrolet has the depth of catalog and the aftermarket that keeps these cars on the road. Whichever one you pick, you are choosing which of those four things you value most, which is exactly why the argument has survived sixty years without anyone conceding an inch.
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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What’s your pick?
Caption this!
The First Corvette — 1953 Corvette (Vintage: Announcement Promo)
I favor Chevys, but all of them came out with some decent musclecars.
GM
The Best, or WAS the best? IS? MOPAR, no question. Was? GM. Pontiac was their performance division.
MOPAR…………BY FAR………………EASY !!!!!!!!!!!!
Gm
All of the above
G.m.
MOPAR OR NO CAR !
Pontiac 67 GTO my dad has one
And I got a 65 F250 a muscle truck 352 4 on the floor
I have a 66 F100 with a 410 FE … great truck, never failed me in my 30 years of ownership.
Up till 1970 all 3 had something … now… not so much
All
Mopar
Ford baby all the way
Sorry! But the best all round off road truck is the PowerWagon! It can go places a raptor can’t even think of! Sorry but it’s a fact!
Nice try
But the raptor will get there so much faster
Pontiac.pre 72 before they joined gm
Healy Nash!
Pontiac
Mopower..momotor..and momoney…….mopar!!!!
FORD!!
Oldsmobile!
I had a 68 goat, built it up alot…bad ass. . but I would have to say overall Mopar
wtf you think GM i’m ridin in chevys i’ll walk on foot before i get anything but
Ford
Dodge hands down
Kia
Chrysler from its conception. First V8, first disc brakes, first autotransmission, first and longest record holding hemi engine, producer of the Power Wagon that pioneer all wheel drive technology and on and on.
Like Molars, but Chevy had the first OHV V8 in 1917-18, 288 cu. In.
oldsmibile had the first automatic transmission. hydramatic in 1947. chrysler had fluid drive.
Stan , I was a track vehicle mechanic in the US Army in 1973. I and another mechanic refurbished an M-24 Chaffe tank for the Brigade Commander. It was built in 1942 and had twin Cadillac flat head V8’s with twin Hydramatic transmissions, the nameplate was on them.
According to the web, Oldsmobile and Cadillac started in 1939 for the 1940 model year!
All have great cars .
GM has always been the best and always will be.
the one in the middle WHY
Chrysler! The dodge brothers built the drive lines for ford four years before they left and decided to build a better car! In 1914 Mopar or no car. In NHRA Chrysler rules in all classes except pro stock. The HEMI is the design most teems use no matter what is stamped on it.
That’s why they were absent from NASCAR for 30 years and why they are absent now?
It was 15 years they came back in 2001 to NASCAR . As for speed they where the fastest of all time.243MPH fast lap in 1969 ! But of course NASCAR Band them just like the HEMI ! There’s definitely favoritism in certain brands in NASCAR!
All three because have some models that I like.
GM, bowtie power has won at more tracks across the country scene 1955 then any other, dirt tracks , 1/4 mile ETC”
Hemi was so bad in the sixties it was outlawed because all the fags in bowties were crying
We use to beat them with small blocks, sorry”
Molar…
Eleanor
vette aka supercar which competes with Europe’s super cars,can’t say that about the other 2 Manufacturers ,(was and in the past dosen’t count)
66 cobra and dodge viper are way better than a vette
66 ac cobra and dodge viper are way better than a vette
Ford GT
MOPAR !!!!!!!!!!!
Plymouth
Mopar!
MOPAR has always been the one everyone else has been chasing! Good to see somethings just don’t change!
How many know Chevy had an OHV V8, 288 cu in in 1917-18! It was not accepted by the consumers, so it was put on ice until 1955 with the 265, then came the 4 bbl and power pack heads.
HEMI has dominated every form of racing its ever been in! Till they ban it so others can win a race!
back in the day, hemi owners had a rough time picking up street runs. they’d have to go to the track.
Ford all day
GM Chevrolet Corvette and this which is sitting in my garage waiting for summer 72 Camaro
Ford all day better cars period
America without a doubt! Mustang! Camaro! Charger! America rocks!
Chevy
AMC ?
GM ! All day long !
M O P A R
By far, definitely GM.
Chrysler
Chrysler owned the sixties with their 426 Hemi.
Easy Ford build animals like the falcon hardtop
Dodge 440 6 pack
Nobody’s built a real muscle car since 1970 IMO
that’s because uncle sam wanted to build cars. low compression, emissions, cat convertors. i was a 60’s gearhead and a parts man for over 40yrs. i saw the decline firsthand.
If you consider Tupperware and tinfoil a muscle car
Mopar
MoPar !!!
as a former gm man and currently a ford owner, i have to say chrysler had it. back in the 60’s, the hemi was feared. the torqueflite tranny was awesome.
Depends. Chevy Ruled small blocks chyster ruled big blocks.. for did their best, but did make some beautiful cars
Chrysler had it then and still has it now.
Molar baby!
Chrysler
Chrysler,,hell cats,,,nuff said
Sanyam Aggarwal Tanmay Arora
I own 2 Ford’s and 2 dodges but for some reason the Chevy can’t stay running
GM lately has been kicking butt as far as JD Power & associates is concerned. More awards than Ford and Chrysler!!!!
They pay to get that award
Well they must pay a lot, they got the award several years in a row.
Mopar! If you like torque, horsepower and low e.t. !
I’m a Chevy guy but Mopar ruled the late 60’s. Super light cars with insane engines
I am happy we have them all
Chevy. More HP for less $$$. (Better mpg doing it too, but who cares about mpg?)
gt500
DODGE!!!!Period
Ford all the way
Depends on the year, they all had their days at the track… Not always the car but the people who built them after the factory sold them…
413 W/Torqueflite tranny ruled the road in 63.
You just as well ask what’s the meaning of life. LOL
They all built great cars, just a personal preference
Gary Grotz, let’s remember all top fuel, funny car, and monster trucks run 572 hemi
Never seen a ford motor in a camaro…seen many Chevrolet motors in mustsngs!
Like Ford man! Esp. remember the late ’40’s and early ’50’s when the Ford Flathead engines were rippin’ everyone a new one at the drag strips. My dad and I built 2 of them for my brother in laws that raced them. Ford also rule the dragstrips in the ’70’s until some ass or as’s decided to pull out of drag racin’ :(
Who ever built the 03-09 camaro
None of those
Toyota
All 3
Dodge
GM is the best auto maket
What decade, generation or century?
They all make to many 4 door Mary Kay cars with no future value
ok
GM hands down!