Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high performance automobiles. The term generally refers to American 2-door rear wheel drive mid-size cars, and sometimes full-size cars equipped with large, powerful, V8s, and sold at an affordable price for street use and both formal and informal drag racing.
As such, they are distinct from two-seat sports cars and expensive 2+2 GTs intended for high-speed touring and road racing.
Building on the American phenomenon and developing simultaneously in their own markets, muscle cars also emerged in their own fashions in Australia, South Africa, the UK, and elsewhere.
According to the June 1967 issue of Road Test magazine, a "muscle car" is "Exactly what the name implies. It is a product of the American car industry adhering to the hot rodder's philosophy of taking a small car and putting a BIG engine in it. The Muscle Car is Charles Atlas kicking sand in the face of the 98 hp (73 kW) weakling."Author of the book Muscle Cars the quote is drawn from, Peter Henshaw, furthers that the muscle car was designed for straight-line speed, and did not have the "sophisticated chassis", "engineering integrity" or "lithe appearance" of European high-performance cars
However, opinions vary as to whether high-performance full-size cars, compacts, and pony cars qualify as muscle cars
