A friend of mine is totally eaten up with '54 Buicks, and he recently dragged home a pretty rare one. The 322 Nailhead first appeared in '53, it the big Roadmaster series. In '54, the Buick Special came with a smaller-bored 264 V8, while the other models (Century, Super and Road Master) had the 322. By the time John Q Public could afford a Buick, he was usually also checking off the option box for the automatic trans. The Specials, being the bottom rung of the Buick line, frequently came with a 3-speed manual box, but it's very rare in the others, and in fact a manual box wasn't offered in the RoadMaster. From what the guys on the Buick Club of America's website can determine, there were only about 200 Centurys built with the 322 backed by a manual trans (a beefier box than the Special's, by the way). My buddy has one of these. Of those built, I know at lease three were used in the '54 La Carrera Mexican road race, wearing Coca Cola livery. Several others surely were used on the NASCAR circuit. A slang slogan for the Century with the 3speed box was "The Banker's Hot Rod"--the only thing in the GM line that topped the Buick then was Cadillac. (remember, this was back when your social standing was clearly on display by whether you drove a Chevy, Olds, Pontiac, Buick, Caddy, Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Dodge, Plymouth or Chrysler) The Century shared the lighter Buick Special body, and had the bigger, more powerful Road Master engine. That's all well and good, but the addition of that 3-speed box makes it a factory performance car. Biggest V8 the company offered, lightest body style in the line, and a manual trans. In my mind, that makes it a muscle car! And it's a full year ahead of the '55 Chevy, with its smaller 265 V8. The '54 322 put out 195hp with the 8.0:1CR Synchromesh trans, while the Dynaflow got .5 more CR and another 5hp. In '55, the Nail made 188hp with 8.4CR behind the Synchromesh manual, while the Dynaflow got 9.0CR and 236hp. The now-legendary '55 265 SBC with a 4bbl (and no integral oil filter!) made 180hp at 8.0CR in the passenger car, 195hp in the 'vette. In '54-'56, the Buicks were tough to beat, with the '56 single 4bbl 322 putting out 255hp, compared to the '56 265's 2x4 carb 225hp, 210hp single 4bbl Corvette and 205hp single carb passenger car. Like their Tri-5 Chevy cousins, the '54-'56 Buicks shared a body platform, but with the new body platform in '57, even the small body Buicks were very big (making a 2x4 or fuelie '57 a much better performance vehicle). But horsepower-wise, the new 364 kicked the Chevy's ass with 300hp fed by a single 4bbl carb. So I ask you, is there any other car that can lay claim to being the first Muscle Car, as defined by having a "modern" body with quarter panels, the biggest V8 engine in the lightest body the factory offered, with a manual trans? I won't include the factory-backed racing heritage, though that can't be discounted. Discuss. -Brad
Olds,man. 303ci available in all models starting in 1949, even the small-bodied 88. Don't get me wrong, I love nailheads - I even have a 264 with a manual trans in the garage waiting on the right 40 ford coupe, but olds had the full-sized OHV in a small car thing available in 1949...
Ok, it's still a Buick. Think Oldsmobile, !948 with overhead valves. Sure it's still an older body stlye, but overhead valve technology was revolutionary as then as hybrids are now. These Buicks you speak of seem to be pretty few and far between. The Dynaflow trans that came in most of these cars seems to negate any of the performance benefits of the higher horsepower engines. Look at NASCAR results from this era, doubtful Buick had a lot of sucess, somebody help me out with this. Chevy had the right package in '55 hands down and it only got better fom there.
The nailhead was sweet for its own reasons - it had a cam with lift and duration that was bigger than anything that came from Detroit until the late 60s, but olds had it first. Well, olds and Cadillac, but that's another discussion...
Really neat post with some good info. My favorite saying about early buicks was a bit of buying advice "specials ain't special" lol. Anyway, back on topic. Not to discount your friend's rare & cool buick, but I'd say mopar beat ford & GM to the musclecar punch by about 3 years with the first hemi cars. OVH performance hemis and quarter panels in 51/52 (can't recall exactly). It was performance hardware in mid level passenger sedans that joe lunchbox could afford. That's a musclecar in my book.
sorry Shifty but a 49/50 Olds 88 with a 303 has to be it. Still wouldn't mind a Hemi if that makes you happier
All I know is that if a '55 3 speed Century 2 door sedan was good enough for Broderick Crawford on "Highway Patrol" in 1955, it was good enough for me. I love the way the 50's standard trans Buicks "whine" when running them through first and second gear..........Man, I'm old.....
All viable comments, But I've read that the first factory muscle car was the '38 Buick Century, smaller body/large motor. Truly an awesome car, especially for the time.
I remember an article back in the 70's debating which was the first true "musclecar" and when the dust had settled the '49 Olds Coupe with a 303 was the winner.
I give the nod to the 303 too. I don't know who's definintion of muscle car you would use. The Buick info is great and good read. Those engines were stout. I never had one but I did have a 303 with 56 heads and intake, it ran like stink. I also had a 56 cad and it was no slouch either. I have heard the 55 Chevys were very trouble prone when they first came out. Consider that the sbc was basically designed by Ed Cole, who designed the 303. The 303 was actually the first slipper piston engine mass produced. I suppose the Caddy was right on it's tail. Pontiac and Buick had to soldier on with the inline flattys for a couple more years. FWIW, I think the Chrysler 300 was the first muscle car.
55 Chevys were never considered muscle cars. One of the problems they had was chrome rings. They used a lot of oil. Small car big motor combo-probably the Olds for most of us, don't know anything about the 38 Buick, the 300 was a BIG car, big motor. Some one will come up with a 1921 whattzit with a v-16 and insist that was the first.
Brad was specific as to his definition of a muscle car - a "modern" body with quarter panels, the biggest V8 engine in the lightest body the factory offered, with a manual trans. If the biggest engine V-8 they offer is the ONLY V8 they offer, it doesn't friggen count. The senior car engine in the junior body. I like this definition of muscle car also, think the formula that created the GTO. I think the Buick Century fits the bill. Don't discount the 56 Studebaker Golden Hawk, though. Little Stude stuffed with the big Packard (same company)motor. Exactly fits the definition.
The "big engine in a small car from the factory" idea was about 18 years old in 1954 !! The Buick 'Century' was introduced in 1936. It had a shorter wheel base than the 'Special' (112" Vs 118" for the Special). It also had a 320 cubic inch (versus the 233 cu. in. mill in the 'Special'), straight eight with aluminum pistons that pushed the car over a hundred miles per hour, hence the 'Century' name. I'd call the '36 Century the first "muscle" car or factory hot rod.
Guy in my neighborhood has a '54 Century 2dr sedan with a 322 in it. I think it's an auto, not really sure. Wants $2k for it.
If we're going to use the "big engine in a small car from the factory" model to define a muscle car, then I vote for the 1932 Ford V8 coupes and roadsters as the first muscle cars, and maybe I'd even throw in the V8 PU's and RPU's as the first "muscle trucks". The "first muscle car" varies with definition of muscle car. It's next to impossible to pin down.
Muscle cars??? where's the muscle in those early cars? I don't think you can count anything before 61... like the 409 Impalas, or 421 Pontiacs. or cross ram plymouths and dodges and big block tri power Fords.... 57 chrysler had a stout motor... but I wouldn't call it a musclecar. 303 olds?? faster than a chevy 6, but still a slug when compared to a GTO or other muscle car. that's how I look at it anyways.
i vote 1955 chrysler 300. 300hp from factory 331 ci solid lifters a bunch of torque and a body that wasnt a tank. yet. solid running motor. revs like a bastard.
The 57 Olds J2 was no slouch ether I had one in my Merc in 58 <br> remember it was Tri-Power <br> my Merc ran like a Raped Ape!
OK your ALL wrong... HUDSON was whipping up on OHV 8's with a flathead six @ 308 inches. Not a musclecar by my definition but a Q ship for sure.
Manual or automatic trans? If I remember correctly, the Hemi cars all came with automatic transmissions, but Keikefer's Mercury-sponsored 300s had a special manual 3-speed manual trans (pont-a-mouson, I think was the name...been a while). They were technically available through Chrysler dealers, but along the same lines as the Buick "export" adjustable rocker arms--race pieces, with a factory part number, a wink and a nod. In my mind, the factory offering the manual trans for performance reasons makes it a muscle car. The Olds is a great argument, and I thought about it as I was writing. I'm perhaps a little biased toward the Buick )), but Buick made a point of building a car with the bigger engine in the lighter body. The Century was the smaller, "cheaper" car, with a little higher trim level than the Special. The Super shared the body with the top-of-the-line Road Master, but had lesser trim. They could have easily stuck the Special's 264 in the Century--or done away with the Century all together and offered the Special, Super and RoadMaster. In fact, from 46-'53, Buick did not have the Century nameplate in their line up. They re-launched it in '54 specifically to put he bigger engine in the lighter body. Tell us more about the Oldsmobiles with the Rocket. -Brad
What? revolutionary? you actually mean it took 'em 55 years to start using OHV's. I think Buick built a copy of the 40 hp Pope-Hartford motor in 1910 and used it for 3 years. Can't think of an Olds that has OHV off the top of my head.
I don't know if I'd go as far to say that they were the first true "Muscle Cars" ... but IMHO, the '55-'57 Chrysler 300's were really America's first "Performance Sedans" ... and one could argue that they were the impetus that started the Detroit "Muscle War": * The 1955 C300 (with its 300hp 331ci HEMI) eclipsed all of the other V-8 competition for that model year ... Packard: 275hp, Cadillac: 270hp, Lincoln: 225hp, & the Corvette: 195hp. Most C300's had 2-speed PowerFlite automatic transmissions (with shifter protruding from the dash), but later in the year, a 3-speed PowerFlite was made available. * The 1956 300B [with its 340hp (or optional high compression, big bore exhaust 355hp) 354ci HEMI] cranked out 35-50 more horses than the Caddy V-8 ... & 115-130 more than the 'Vette! A much desired 3-speed manual transmission was first made available on the '56 300B's. * The 1957 300C [with its 375hp (or optional high compression, hotter cam 390hp) 392ci HEMI once again had the distinction of being the most powerful American car on the road! Then again, I might just be a tad biased ... here's a few pics of our 1957 Chrysler 300C Coupe (now owned by John Lazenby): ... and a photo of Ken Brody's '55 C300 (l), Gary Meadors' '56 300B (c), & Lazenby's '57 300C (r) at last year's Goodguy's Del Mar event: Image courtesy of Dave Lindsay (SoCalCarCulture)
I'm thinking back to the early sixties out at Saugus Raceway in what is now known as Canyon Country (So Cal)........to make the trophy dash you had to be driving a 49-50 Olds. Sure, there were a couple of Hudsons still hanging on and even a Dodge with a little hemi that ran pretty good. The Tri-Five chevys were still a little new, the Fords weren't competitive and the occasional Buick might have been seen. Overall though.......the Olds was the car to beat. I guess what signaled the end of that era was when the "Allied Box" Studebaker showed up with a Traco small block Chevy in it and Ron Hornaday Sr. started campaigning his 1957 Ford coupe with a rather large motor in it. The sanctioning organization deemed those to be legal and my ol' pals Oren Prosser and Ron Hornaday proceeded to kick everyone's tail.....Oldsmobiles included.
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