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In a world with hundreds of carmakers competing head-to-head with one another, it’s inevitable for some cars to melt into the masses. Unfortunately, more often than not, this results in some hidden gems never getting a chance to find their way into the well-deserved spotlight. That said, there’s another end to this analogy too.
While some incredible cars get overshadowed by their rivals, others are just widely misunderstood, and some were just too far ahead for their time. Take the Buick Roadmaster for example. During its first few years after release, the market overflowed with wagons left, right, and center, and no one cared for the Roadmaster in particular. In 2023 however, the Buick Roadmaster is a cheap and practical car somehow.
Hell, sometimes an entire car brand earn a bad wrap for just one hiccup along the road. After all, just because one of Dodge’s Hellcat engines blew up after 800 miles doesn’t necessarily mean they produce flimsy powertrains. Perhaps owners should just be more careful when breaking in their muscle cars.
So, to highlight some of the most unrightfully underloved vintage American cars, we’ve constructed this list. In no particular order, here are the most overlooked American classic cars that deserve infinite amounts of respect.
10 Second-Generation Ford Mustang
Hold your horses muscle car enthusiasts, we get it. The second-generation Ford Mustang is arguably the worst Mustang of all time. After all, the top-tier Mustang II, the King Cobra’s 5.0-liter V8 only generated 139 hp. We’re in no way trying to say that the second-gen Mustang or King Cobra are adequate muscle cars, but the entire generation sure deserves respect.
See, during the ’70s, the USA underwent the infamous oil crisis. As a result, most American cars had to inhabit laughably small engines, and some models even died out. Sure, the second-generation Ford Mustang was borderline sacrilege, but if it was not for this pitiful pony, the Mustang name would most probably not be alive today. And for that reason alone, it deserves the utmost respect.
9 Plymouth Prowler
Sure, the Plymouth Prowler is a unique-looking car, and it might not have a V8 engine or a manual transmission, but is that enough reason to hate it? The Prowler has a plethora of redeeming qualities – after all, it’s the most unique mopar ever built. Underneath the Dorito-shaped hood of the Prowler hid a 3.5-liter V6 with up to 253 hp and 255 lb-ft of torque, and 0-60 mph happened in just under 6 seconds.
But the real selling point of the Prowler was its design. Very few cars age as well as the Prowler, especially considering how ugly the public found it during its release in the ’90s. There really is nothing like the Plymouth Prowler; a retro-inspired topless hot rod character with exposed front wheels and old school numbers and a literal triangular figure.
8 AMC Rebel Machine
Overshadowed by the likes of Dodge, Ford, and Chevy, the now-defunct American carmaker, AMC, tried to challenge these massive muscle car brands throughout the ’60s and ’70s with some very rare cars – the Rebel Machine being one of them. Although not entirely successful, the AMC Rebel Machine remains one of the most underappreciated muscle cars ever built.
Underneath its hood was a 6.4-liter V8 co-developed by Hurst Performance Research with 340 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. In reality, this meant that the AMC Rebel Machine could do 0-60 mph in 6.8 seconds and dash down the quarter-mile drag strip in 14.4 seconds. But best of all though has to be its iconic paint job somewhat resembling the American flag’s red, white, and blue color scheme.
7 AMC Eagle
In all honesty, the AMC Eagle was a mediocre car. It wasn’t exceptionally quick, wasn’t remarkably talented offroad in comparison to SUVs, and didn’t sell like hotcakes. However, it’s hands-down one of the coolest cars very few people know of.
At first glance, the Eagle looks like something a madman in his garage put together because he wanted to take the family wagon offroad. But the truth is, the Eagle was essentially a purpose-built offroad-capable estate car that would suit the whole family wherever they wanted to go. The AMC Eagle has to be one of the most underrated American classic cars we’d love to own.
6 GMC Syclone
The GMC Syclone is the perfect example of an “If You Know, You Know” car, or IYKYK car for short. When a GMC Syclone drives by, normal people don’t even bat an eye because well… it’s just a black GMC pickup. What’s so special about that?
The latter half who is in a frantic freakout when the Syclone passes by knows it has a 4.3-liter turbocharged V6 engine under the hood. The engine in question develops 280 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque, and since all of this power gets sent to all four wheels, the Syclone can do 0-60 mph in just 4.3 seconds and covers the quarter-mile in 13.4 seconds. The cherry on the cake however is the fact that 2023 is a great year to buy the GMC Syclone pickup truck.
5 Buick GNX
Just as the aforementioned Syclone is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the Buick GNX is too. GNX stood for Grand National Experimental, and while the so-called Darth Vader mobile had its fair share of love, many people were skeptical as well and eventually forgot about its existence entirely.
Initially, muscle car fans were completely caught off-guard by the GNX when they heard this normal-looking performance-built Buick muscle car only came with a V6 engine. Little did they know that the V6 fitted to the GNX would undergo fine-tuning by McLaren, and as a result, this 3.6-liter turbo V6 spat out 276 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque. And how fast was the Buick GNX? Well, it clocked in a 0-60 mph time of as little as 4.3 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 13.4 seconds – proving the Buick Grand National can compete with classic Italian supercars! And they said muscle cars without V8s are weak.
4 Chevrolet Corvette C3
Often referred to as the least-loved Corvette generation, the C3 deserves much more respect. Sure, the base model C3 Corvette was big, heavy, and underpowered, but when compared to its period-correct rivals, it wasn’t that bad considering it was also an oil crisis-ridden muscle car.
Despite that, the granddaddy C3 ‘Vette ZL1, in particular the 1969 model year, was a proper performance machine. Underneath its hood was a 7.0-liter V8 engine that churned out a claimed 430 hp, but in reality, the V8 put out closer to 460 hp. After knowing this, its 12.1-second quarter-mile time makes much more sense. Maybe the C3 Corvette isn’t that bad after all.
3 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler
Much like AMC, Mercury was also a classic American carmaker who took the bull by the horns and built some adequate muscle cars throughout the years. One of the third most prized, yet still underappreciated creations is the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler. Although quite a few different model years of Cyclone Spoiler exist, we’d argue the coolest is the 1970 Cyclone Spoiler.
Apart from its distinctive front end with an almost fan-like nose and flip-around hidden headlights, there’s one more distinctive feature of the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler – its engine. Powering the vicious Cyclone is either the 370-hp 429 Cobra Jet V8 engine which came as standard or the slightly more powerful 375-hp 429 Super Cobra Jet V8.
2 Dodge Rampage
On paper, the Dodge Rampage sounds like a smash hit: A compact unibody pickup truck with a fuel-efficient engine and a unique look. Unfortunately, one hurdle stood in the Rampage’s way, the Chevy El Camino. Because the El Camino inhabited a V8 engine, most people preferred it over the Rampage’s 2.2-liter inline-four.
Despite its puny maximum power output of 99 hp and 119 lb-ft of torque, the Rampage remains a cool utility vehicle. Sure, it might not be the ultimate American pickup truck, but considering it went head-to-head with unique pickups like the Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup and Subaru Brat, the Dodge Rampage remains a one-of-a-kind vehicle that you don’t see every day. Seeing a Rampage in the wild would be such a nice breath of fresh air, especially considering that the 2024 Toyota Tacoma’s release is around the corner.
1 Vector W8
No, you’re eyes aren’t deceiving you. You’re not looking at an uber-expensive Italian concept car, this is the proudly American-built Vector W8. With less than 20 models ever made, and each one with at least a $450,000 MSRP when new in 1991, the Vector W8 was never expected to be a massive sales success. But unfortunately, it was such a sales flop, that people forgot it existed entirely!
That’s especially sad when remembering the Vector W8 was far ahead of its time due to its futuristic cockpit and twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter small-block V8 that produces 625 hp and 630 lb-ft of torque. Essentially, this meant that the Vector W8 could run from 0-60 mph in just 3.8 seconds and only run out of breath once reaching a top speed of a claimed 218 mph.
Sources: MustangSpecs Motor Trend, Auto Evolution, Car and Driver, Hemmings
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