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.