America’s love for speed, drag racing, huge cars, and powerful engines gave birth to one of the most iconic and beloved categories of sports cars ever: the American muscle car. Although its roots stretch back to the late 1940s, these cars flourished during the 60s and 70s and remain a very serious sector of the sports cars market today.
Muscle cars are designed to go fast in straight lines, so they normally have massive long bodies with pronounced curves and a big V8 engine to provide the necessary juice for drag racing. This combination made them extremely popular during their rise and have kept them relevant ever since, which means there have been numerous efforts by other carmakers to steal some glory and perhaps market share by making cars that looked and felt like muscle cars.
Here is a list of those who made it and those who did not.
20 1978 Volvo 262C (Failed)
Bet you didn’t expect to see Volvo’s name on our list, but here it is. After being impressed with an American luxury car brought to them by Ford, Volvo decided it was time they had one of their own. The result became known as 262C which intended to be a luxury coupe with muscle like qualities but achieves none.
19 1973 Nissan Skyline GT-R KPGC110 (Came Close)
The second generation of Nissan’s iconic Skyline GT-R performance cars had rear-wheel drive and a compact muscular body design fitting of its era that truly represents what muscle cars stand for. Plus it’s a GT-R so you know it has the speed and acceleration necessary to compete with much bigger American muscle cars.
18 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300SD (Failed)
Creating a muscle car isn’t only about the looks since performance is the most important aspect of such vehicles. The 300SD had serious problems with its turbo-diesel power plant and the mere 119 hp developed by the engine couldn’t drive it fast enough to even be considered a muscle for the sake of its looks.
17 1965 Opel Diplomat V8 (Came Close)
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a GM car made in Germany made it to our list of successful foreigner muscle cars. Diplomat’s design is elegant and bold, as muscle cars should be. Plus, it has the trusty Chevy small-block V8 engine so there are no problems should an unexpected drag race occur.
16 1992 Jaguar XJ-S (Failed)
Jaguar was in a pretty bad shape during the 90s and the final generation of the XJ-S, which wae also called XJS later, is a good example of that. A powerful machine with a powerful engine, handmade chassis, and good performance but lacking the soul required to form a dedicated fan following.
15 1985 Ford Sierra XR8 (Came Close)
This European Ford has a lot in common with the legendary Mustang, though it may not seem so at first glance. The powerful XR8 is an extremely rare beast, powered by the legendary 5.0-liter Cosworth V8 engine and looking badass enough to be considered a muscle despite its rather small body.
14 2010 BMW 5 Series GT (Failed)
Another example of a lost product that can never be all its designers had in mind for it. A fastback with muscular bodywork, legroom of the 7 series and the backseat headroom of an X5, the 2010 model of the 5 Series GT doesn’t know what it wants to be, and maybe that’s why it wasn’t very successful.
13 1968 Holden Monaro GTS (Came Close)
There’s no doubt that Holden designers drew a lot from contemporary Chevrolet designs such as Camaro and Nova, but if you look close enough, you see the minute details showing off the Australian manufacturer’s original efforts in creating a proper muscle car. It’s also notable that this generation of the Monaro won Wheels magazine’s award for the car of the Year.
12 1999 Ford Falcon Fairmont Ghia (Failed)
The only thing this unattractive egg-shaped luxury sedan has in common with muscle cars is the V8 engine found in some of the trims. The Australian Ford division wasn’t supposedly very invested in making a good looking car since the Falcon has been selling for ages, and the result is something you rather had never seen.
11 1970 Ford Capri Perana V8 (Came Close)
An affordable, compact, and powerful muscle car from Ford of South Africa that embodies all the qualities expected from a high-performance vehicle. It used the same engine as the Ford Mustang, despite being smaller and lighter, so it’s no wonder it could reach 62 mph in just 6.7 seconds and touch the top speed of 141 mph.
10 2002 Volkswagen Phaeton (Failed)
There are many good-looking 4-door modern muscle cars out there and the Phaeton is surely one of them, it’s just that it doesn’t really remind people of muscle cars. However, this high-end full-size luxury sedan has the specs and performance of a high-performance vehicle and is not actually that bad if you consider it a German sedan and not a muscle wannabe.
9 1997 Jaguar XK8 (Came Close)
The XK8 which replaced the XJS series was successful where its predecessor failed, offering a high-performance car with just the right body proportions you want to see in a muscle car. It also had the newer AJ V8 engine series and was capable of reaching 60 mph in just 6.6 seconds.
8 2008 Lexus LS 600h L (Failed)
Although the LS 600h L is menacing and bold, it really doesn’t give you the impression of a muscle car when you see it going in the street. It’s big, heavy and powerful but too quiet and streamlined to be considered a muscle, especially considering the fact that the “h” in the name stands for hybrid.
7 1970 Alfa Romeo Montreal (Came Close)
Derived from a concept model first shown in Expo 67 held in Montreal, this is one odd-looking Alpha for sure. Far from the usual design philosophy of the Italian carmaker, the only thing that keeps you assured this is an Alpha Romeo is the distinctive 4 headlights and the company logo on the front grill.
6 2000 Jaguar S-Type (Failed)
This four-door notchback saloon has the V8 engine and an interior design worthy of its executive car category, but when you open the doors and look at it from outside you see why it was discontinued long ago. It looks good from the front, but that’s about it because the S-type just looks awful from every other angle.
5 1968 Jensen Interceptor (Came Close)
The 1968 Interceptor is a compact GT car that delivers formidable performance thanks to its 6.3-liter Chrysler V8 engine. It looks aggressive and powerful just like a muscle car, despite being so small. It is also capable of reaching 62 mph from standstill in 7.5 seconds and achieving a top speed of 135 mph.
4 2003 Maserati Quattroporte (Failed)
The fifth generation of Quattroporte has a 4.2-liter F-136 Ferrari-Maserati engine delivering 395 hp, capable of launching this heavy luxury sedan to 62 mph from standstill in just 5.2 seconds. This car actually looks good, but fails to bring out muscle car vibes mostly due to its stretched saloon and lengthy rear doors.
3 2008 BMW M3 (Came Close)
This charming sports coupe is a true modern muscle car, even though it may not look like the new generation of American muscle cars it entered the market with. The good looking German sports coupe has a real muscular body design and packs a 4.0-liter V8 engine that could get the M3 to top speed of about 155 mph.
2 2003 Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG (Failed)
This is perhaps one of the most muscular Mercedeses in existence with pronounced body curves and a menacing look, but that doesn’t mean it’s a proper muscle car. This sporty coupe has plenty of horsepowers to accelerate like a bullet on a straight line, but it’s way too round on top and edges to be mistaken for a muscle car.
1 2008 Mercedes C63 AMG (Came Close)
The German luxury sedan was never intended to be a muscle car, but might have been able to define a new class of muscle cars with its aggressive looks, stretched bold lines along the whole body and the option for a 6.2-liter V8 engine that can produce up to 451 hp when the driver pushes the pedal to the metal.
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