The Europeans do not get it. They never have. That's why all but 1 British auto manufacturer is foriegn owned. Do an in-depth study on that. I thought why don't the Brits do a show on the capabilities of the British muscle car, that's right they never made one. Go Mini Cooper!!!
@im1hecticwog even though i live in australia there is a large group of american car enthusiasts and they all own stock as a rock muscle cars and i had a ride in a dodge daytona and no matter what gear you were in you were thrown back in your seat as soon as you belted the throttle
@TVRnGTR i also live in Australia and i know a lot of the America Car clubs... yes that is true.. they do have loads of power... the daytona is great for oval circuits but like any muscle car, show it some curves and its not quiet at home...its what we love about muscle cars i suppose... we all know their handling capabilities are low but they are sure as hell fun...
@TVRnGTR gentlemen, the reason why people dont think highly of muscle cars, is because they are terrrible as soon as they have to change direction, therefore useless in any form of car racing with the exception of drag racing or as a road going car useless on a windy old back road which is the only place you wont get booked for speeding, BUT disregarding all this, they were designed to be fast in a straight line and do that briliantly.
this isn't topgear tho the America top gear didn't start to 2010 and the British topgear has been around since 1977 you can find old videos on youtube and tell the major difference between this video and top gear
without a doubt America knows about Muscle Cars, call our cars crap but almost everyone in the world has heard about our Muscle cars and can say they want one
@MaddDogg81 People don't realize how much cars have advanced and use the lesson learned from all the yrs of street & track racing. Most smaller, well motored imports can dust stock 'muscle cars'. I've seen it done again & again and you can see it on any number of videos and car shows. You'd be stupid to race your muscle car against these cars. However, they don't have the style and willy tingle factor of the cars of lore. Just sit in an old Roadrunner with a 426 hemi and turn the key.
oddly many of them could handle if you knew your way around the options list. if wanted a musclecar that handled, you bought a Boss 302, AMX or a Z-28. if you just cared about stoplight to stoplight, you ordered a Boss 429, S/S AMX or a Go-Pak equipped AMX, Camaro ZR1 or SS 396, GT500, Chevelle SS LS6 454, or a Hemi Dart/ GTS.
back then a hard working high school kid could afford a new musclecar. today a working HS student couldn't afford a Kia.
Musclecars have one thing todays cars don't. Soul.
@CamaroAmx So true... The muscle cars have the bad handling fame because everyone looks at Boss 429s, HEMI challengers, chargers and huge engined buicks chevys and pontiacs. A 351 powered '71 mustang, almost any javelin or AMX and T/A challengers as well as AAR cudas... All those had fairly big engines, with huge torque and power with little modifications needed, and with nice tyres, they could handle as well as any good car of the time for half the money, and beat anything in a straight line.
@machone7I i own a 73 AMX w/ a 304. its fast, handles just as well as any other regular car i've owned. it just takes a little more common sense to drive it, compared to a Civic. my AMX goes around corners as well as my 93 Z28. gets through snow good, too.
the sad part is my AMX is almost as long as my dad's 97 f150, but weighs less then 3000lbs (less then my Z28 which is alot smaller. All steel vs mostly fiberglass and plastic, and alot of electronics), which also helps the handling and speed.
@CamaroAmx I'd love to drive an AMX, they seem like so much fun... It's hard to find one here, though. And for a car that is that old, that's pretty good handling. And anyways, i'd rather be the slowest person around corners in an AMX that driving any of today's soul-less sports cars.
@machone7I I can tell you from street racing them, the AMX was never a real contender. Beautiful look though and unique styling. When Donohue was racing for AMC, that special addition Red White & Blue Javelin was spectacular to look at. AMC had the potential to make that car a bad-ass street racer, but came up short. "The Machine" (Rambler) was faster. Mark was the best of the best as a race car driver....RIP Be wary of self-made Red White & Blue Javelins-there are many.
@Real1shepherd back then it wasn't the fastest, but its fun to drive and unique.
I did a little street racing with mine. the only one that ever gave my any competion was my (late) freind's 351 cleveland powered Mustang II. but then again i never had opertunity to race any "real" performance cars, just some turbo daytonas and what not. half the time, the ones i raced against could drive worth a damned either (my on track racing experience helped a bit).
Ironic since muscle cars back then weren't powerful even today. The quarter mile was about low to mid 14's for the GTO which some V6's and even 4 cylinder Hondas do 10 year ago
@MaddDogg81 a majority of the reason for the slower time compared to today is back then tires were junk. even NHRA drag car would burn the tires nearly the whole 1/4 mile on drag slicks. most musclecars are well known for lousy traction. the rare ones were very quick. the Dodge Dart Hemi super stock would do a 1/4 in the 10 sec range.
many performance cars were slower even 20 years ago. my 93 Z28 did a 0-60 in 5.7 and a 1/4 in 14.2. a v6 camaro does that today. Tech has advanced over the years.
Gotta disagree with 1964 as the date for these. The Ford Starliner in 1960 was no bigger than the later muscle cars and was stuffed with a 401HP V8 in a sleek, fastback body. That was probably the first true muscle car that inspired DeLorean and company a couple years later.
@Psychlonic And let's not forget the 1963 Impala SS 409; with dual quad carbs and 425hp stock. To me, that's the true beginning of 'muscle cars' and then GM's ban on hp after that one of the dumbest things done in the auto industry ever. And if you wanted even less weight and more speed, there were 409's with aluminum front end pieces. And they weren't called 'muscle cars' back then, they were high performance of affectionately-high pro.
@Real1shepherd back then they weren't called muscle cars, they were refered to as supercars. not till the 80s were they called musclecars.
the Chrysler 300 series (the buisness man's hot rod as it was called) of the 50's has been pointed to as one of the 1st musclecars. it was advalible with a 1st gen Hemi and was the fastest american car in 56/7/8.
the GTO/ 409 impala are pointed at cause they cheaper then the 300s were. some say the roadrunner was, as it was the one of the cheapest when new.
@CamaroAmx Not exactly correct, as I lived through that period. "Supercar" was a term developed in the 60's that was generally thought to be the fastest Euro, top-end cars in the world. I don't know where you grew up but "muscle cars" of the 60's were referred to as High-Pro or High Performance in CA and the Midwest. Even MC's started out as family sleepers. It took Detroit well into the 60's to figure out the young male appeal exclusively. The Chrysler 300 sold for dads and older males.
@Real1shepherd in old films and shows from the time period, i've never heard them called "musclecar". while they did refer them to having muscle, they called them Super cars. the best example of it I can give is Car & Track (68?-75). but then again maybe the kids were calling them musclecars and the media) didn't catch on to it. the musclecar ear was cold in the grave for 10 before i showed up.but the first car i ever road in was a 73 Charger w/ a swapped in built 440 6 pack. thanks Dad.
@CamaroAmxI'm just telling you what we called them on the street and more often than not, we didn't call them anything as a 'group'....but referred to them as a 'stock' whatever or a 'built' whatever, by model name. When I was 17 I bought a '70 Hemi 'cuda NEW with a friend and we street raced the car for money and pink slips. So, I have a pretty good understanding of what was out there and what was actually fast. And for the record, NO a 440 six pack wasn't just about as good as the 426 Hemi.
@Real1shepherd you were a very lucky person to have grown up during that time period. my uncle had a 70 Boss 429 in the mid-late 70's that he bought for $700. he street raced the hell out of it and ran it at Englishtown and Maple Grove many times. wish he still had it. now he has a 64 1/2 289 fastback. my grandfather had a 49 Plymouth coupe w/ a Hemi in it. also gone
that Charger cost my Dad his liscence though (speeding mostly). it sadly burnt to the ground in 84. i still have the keys for it.
@CamaroAmx I don't know about being 'lucky'...a lot of my close friends died in cars. I raced a total of over 500 different cars on the street (excluding models of exactly the same stock designation). I never raced a 427 SC Cobra, SS/AMX, or 427 Yenko Camero-one in town but never sold. Raced every Mustang variant out there in my area and beat them all. In fact, they were real money makers.:-) So were the Cameros-everyone though they had something faster than mine. Ya gotta love young male ego.
@CamaroAmx There was also no shortage of knot-headed Mopar owners that always thought their 383 Roadrunner was the fastest. The '70 Hemi 'cuda was lighter, bigger engine, more torque, more hp...you do the math.;-) The front would pull slightly up in the air on a good night if the tires caught right. A real handful to drive..translates to; 'death sled' by today's standards. Brown cam, reworked dist, hooker headers, suspension tweaks, racing slicks. Few kids kept anything 'stock' in those days.
@Real1shepherd I completely agree, hell the 409 was originally based on a truck engine which this video mentions and the W goes back to 58. The Z-11 cars you were talking about were a perfect example, AND they had Cowl Induction. I myself am trying to get my 409 prepped for aftermarket Z-11 equipment. And the wheel base of these cars left plenty of room for handling. Shame no one really turns to the Impalas. I also agree Chevy should have never pulled the plug on racing either. What a waste.
Truck engines? Like what? The engines in pickups of the sixties were mostly six cylinders, usually with one small V8 option. Who coined the phrase "It don't handle but sure as hell goes." The need to put a narrative on the cars they had to film, so Chevy 'responds to Ford's success.' And then they immediately reference the GT350 which indeed did "handle" and raced successfully against XKEs.
Top Gear was a better car program before Clarkson took over and dumbed it down into a show about himself, but new Top Gear is a better program for today's audiences if the BBC is going to get anyone to watch it.
These guys ought to be shot for COMPLETELY leaving out Mopar. That Mustang guy is a joke. Best of the muscle cars? Hemi engine?! Why yes, the Boss 429 does have hemispherical heads, but the Hemi name is a Mopar phenomenon, for the famous 426 which debuted in 1964. Any uninformed viewer who saw this in Britain when it first aired would associate "Hemi" with Ford - and THAT is fucked.
At the end of the day, the ultimate American Muscle is a top fuel dragster, and they all run modified Hemis.
@JETZcorp the 1st street Hemi, the 331 Firepower (1st gen, 426/392 was 2nd gen, 5.7/6.1/6.4 are 3rd gens) debut the same year as the small block chevy, 1955, in the Chrysler 300 series.
@CamaroAmx Just a quick correction, the 392 was part of the first-generation series, found in big Chryslers of the '50s like 300s and Imperials. There were many variations of the first-generation, found in many different Dodge, Chrysler, and DeSotos of the day under different names (Firepower, Firedome, etc). The second-generation was exclusively the 426, and was completely started from scratch and debuted in 1964. Of course, aside from mixing up the 392, you were right.
Wait a second is that the top gear theme and logo? Is that the blond guy in this video? .........and is that Clarkson in the segment right after the intro?????
IGNORANT!
This is absolutely Top Gear from 1989! If you did a quick Wikipedia search you wouldn't look like a complete "cock" as James would say!
@dankebuddha Wikipedia is not accurate? It's not like i am constructing a preamble for my thesis or anything. We are talking about a TV show and where would you have some one go quickly to view cited information about a pop culture topic????
"Not saying that your wrong but the website you used that is correct and has citations does not pass muster for me"!!! Kinda fucks up your credibility doesn't it
I bet your the type of person who cares about MLA vs APA citations!
not all of them handled that badly, for the time. but in a way, having a massive engine in a sloppy-handling car is more fun in the twisties than a porsche simply because you have to be more engaged in the driving experience to get good speed.
@dogsaremykids >----> You are right about the 396(actually a 402 C.I.) being pretty big. I like all big blocks, it's just that I wish they had featured the biggest, most powerfull muscle cars in this video. That's all.
i just love cars fullstop. american, european, japanese, they all have there jems. V8s, rotary, turbo and superchargers doesn't matter if you truly love cars.
That's not for you to decide. Fact of the matter is, this IS Top Gear, as how it was in 1989. Ignoring a fact is just silly, how much you may disagree with it.
@VikingAmcar Yes you are correct, this is top gear, but it is Old top gear, and you may have noticed that all the other Old top gear videos are uploaded as "Old top gear" so please comply and don't waste our precious time ;)
and it has sync, that will give me weather forecasts, fuel prices, movie listings, and search for reastauraunts or whatever for me while reading me an incoming text message out loud
also, ford has the highest interior quality of any domestic automaker, surpassing toyota in quality. dodge, im afraid, is still lacking in plastic materials and build quality. hae you ever been in a king ranch or platinum? they are pretty f-ing nice
of whom became famouse with ford and are now back where they belong, with ford. if the hemi is so great, why does thier 5.7 make less power than fords new 5.0? the challenger is a slow, heavy pig and the "new" charger is an abomination of a great name, a sell out to make a uick buck by people that are bankrupt and owned by italians
The female narrator here is so fucking BORING. No passion or enthusiasm in her voice. I swear that kind of crap talk can be used when you're reporting on Toyota's and overpriced Toyota's (Lexus) but not on American muscle cars! Who is this bitch? Beki Adams!?
She was a UK car journalist in the 1980s early 90s who did magazines, a couple of books and the odd bit on Top Gear. She was quite into her classic and customised cars although not always as technically accurate as she could have been. Shame she sounds so bored here, probably pissed off that she had to narrate this in a studio somewhere rather than getting to go to the USA and drive the cars.
Last thing I heard she'd stopped journalism and become a nun.
er,cooper's been giging from the early '60s,and the band'alice cooper'since '68.first album released in '69.what'poison',from '89,is doing on here is anyone's guess! love those cars!
I still can't believe there's no Mopar in this video. How in the flying fuck can they talk about muscle cars without even mentioning the Charger? If someone in France were watching this and didn't know anything about muscle cars, they'd think "Hemi" was a Ford phenomenon! Ridiculous.
this chow is shit, "the rather mundane mustang" wow the mustang was WAY lighter and had More power than
Most of the competition from the start up until 1970. it wasnt till the boss 427, it was more like all the others, 56% weight front wheels adn it was overratedin overall performance and under rated in power... anywho
The base engine in the Mustang was at first a slant six at around 100 Hp, and its underpinnings was based on Fords cheap car, the Falcon. It was indeed quite mundane compared to the more serious muscle cars. When Carroll Shelby himself was given the opportunity to test the Mustang to see if it could be used in racing, his verdict wasn't very favorable. He said the GT was most suited for shopping trips, but hardly as a racer. But as we all know, that got better in the next couple of years.
I love these cars!! I don´t care if they don´t handle as a F1, I just love their style, power and sound. I would love to have a garage filled with all of those 60´s/70´s beasts.
Not a single mention of a Mopar car in this whole thing. How can you POSSIBLY talk about muscle cars without mentioning the Charger? What about the 426 Hemi?!
no mopar :(
tat3r0sal3d 3 days ago
@CamaroAmx the first hemi was in a tank and airplane used in wwii come on man it was old news in 55
The71boss351 2 weeks ago
The Europeans do not get it. They never have. That's why all but 1 British auto manufacturer is foriegn owned. Do an in-depth study on that. I thought why don't the Brits do a show on the capabilities of the British muscle car, that's right they never made one. Go Mini Cooper!!!
reefblue331 1 month ago
@reefblue331 Go Aston Martin!
BritishArmyPfc 2 weeks ago
Video for me was over when he talked about a 64 GTO while showing us a 65.
fmckadoo 1 month ago
@fmckadoo oh no! its a tragedy! get a life...
megaspeed2 1 month ago
"They didnt handle but they sure as hell went" - i think that sums up most if not all American cars...
im1hecticwog 2 months ago
@im1hecticwog well we have big roads, so we don't need cars with precision handling...
mmmmhonda 2 months ago
@im1hecticwog even though i live in australia there is a large group of american car enthusiasts and they all own stock as a rock muscle cars and i had a ride in a dodge daytona and no matter what gear you were in you were thrown back in your seat as soon as you belted the throttle
TVRnGTR 2 months ago 7
@TVRnGTR i also live in Australia and i know a lot of the America Car clubs... yes that is true.. they do have loads of power... the daytona is great for oval circuits but like any muscle car, show it some curves and its not quiet at home...its what we love about muscle cars i suppose... we all know their handling capabilities are low but they are sure as hell fun...
im1hecticwog 2 months ago
@TVRnGTR gentlemen, the reason why people dont think highly of muscle cars, is because they are terrrible as soon as they have to change direction, therefore useless in any form of car racing with the exception of drag racing or as a road going car useless on a windy old back road which is the only place you wont get booked for speeding, BUT disregarding all this, they were designed to be fast in a straight line and do that briliantly.
keza4win7 1 week ago
this isn't topgear tho the America top gear didn't start to 2010 and the British topgear has been around since 1977 you can find old videos on youtube and tell the major difference between this video and top gear
DeathTripp666 2 months ago
without a doubt America knows about Muscle Cars, call our cars crap but almost everyone in the world has heard about our Muscle cars and can say they want one
superkryp13 2 months ago 10
I know technology has advanced over the years
MaddDogg81 3 months ago
@MaddDogg81 People don't realize how much cars have advanced and use the lesson learned from all the yrs of street & track racing. Most smaller, well motored imports can dust stock 'muscle cars'. I've seen it done again & again and you can see it on any number of videos and car shows. You'd be stupid to race your muscle car against these cars. However, they don't have the style and willy tingle factor of the cars of lore. Just sit in an old Roadrunner with a 426 hemi and turn the key.
Real1shepherd 3 months ago
oddly many of them could handle if you knew your way around the options list. if wanted a musclecar that handled, you bought a Boss 302, AMX or a Z-28. if you just cared about stoplight to stoplight, you ordered a Boss 429, S/S AMX or a Go-Pak equipped AMX, Camaro ZR1 or SS 396, GT500, Chevelle SS LS6 454, or a Hemi Dart/ GTS.
back then a hard working high school kid could afford a new musclecar. today a working HS student couldn't afford a Kia.
Musclecars have one thing todays cars don't. Soul.
CamaroAmx 3 months ago
@CamaroAmx So true... The muscle cars have the bad handling fame because everyone looks at Boss 429s, HEMI challengers, chargers and huge engined buicks chevys and pontiacs. A 351 powered '71 mustang, almost any javelin or AMX and T/A challengers as well as AAR cudas... All those had fairly big engines, with huge torque and power with little modifications needed, and with nice tyres, they could handle as well as any good car of the time for half the money, and beat anything in a straight line.
machone7I 3 months ago
@machone7I i own a 73 AMX w/ a 304. its fast, handles just as well as any other regular car i've owned. it just takes a little more common sense to drive it, compared to a Civic. my AMX goes around corners as well as my 93 Z28. gets through snow good, too.
the sad part is my AMX is almost as long as my dad's 97 f150, but weighs less then 3000lbs (less then my Z28 which is alot smaller. All steel vs mostly fiberglass and plastic, and alot of electronics), which also helps the handling and speed.
CamaroAmx 3 months ago
@CamaroAmx I'd love to drive an AMX, they seem like so much fun... It's hard to find one here, though. And for a car that is that old, that's pretty good handling. And anyways, i'd rather be the slowest person around corners in an AMX that driving any of today's soul-less sports cars.
machone7I 3 months ago
@machone7I I can tell you from street racing them, the AMX was never a real contender. Beautiful look though and unique styling. When Donohue was racing for AMC, that special addition Red White & Blue Javelin was spectacular to look at. AMC had the potential to make that car a bad-ass street racer, but came up short. "The Machine" (Rambler) was faster. Mark was the best of the best as a race car driver....RIP Be wary of self-made Red White & Blue Javelins-there are many.
Real1shepherd 3 months ago
@Real1shepherd back then it wasn't the fastest, but its fun to drive and unique.
I did a little street racing with mine. the only one that ever gave my any competion was my (late) freind's 351 cleveland powered Mustang II. but then again i never had opertunity to race any "real" performance cars, just some turbo daytonas and what not. half the time, the ones i raced against could drive worth a damned either (my on track racing experience helped a bit).
CamaroAmx 3 months ago
Ironic since muscle cars back then weren't powerful even today. The quarter mile was about low to mid 14's for the GTO which some V6's and even 4 cylinder Hondas do 10 year ago
MaddDogg81 3 months ago
@MaddDogg81 a majority of the reason for the slower time compared to today is back then tires were junk. even NHRA drag car would burn the tires nearly the whole 1/4 mile on drag slicks. most musclecars are well known for lousy traction. the rare ones were very quick. the Dodge Dart Hemi super stock would do a 1/4 in the 10 sec range.
many performance cars were slower even 20 years ago. my 93 Z28 did a 0-60 in 5.7 and a 1/4 in 14.2. a v6 camaro does that today. Tech has advanced over the years.
CamaroAmx 3 months ago
Jeremy Clarkson Meat head!
algarragonz 3 months ago
Pizzapacman poison
ElManique 3 months ago
what is that song by alice cooper?
Pizzapacman 3 months ago
song???
NITRoTALPUr 3 months ago
@NITRoTALPUr Alice Cooper - Poison
rubenick 4 weeks ago
THE WOMANS VOICE! She's on autocar now, i think!!
jumentino 3 months ago
Mundane mustang?...................... BULLSHIT!
TheBobafett13 3 months ago
theres NO Replacement For Displacement!!!!!!!!
addyshinobi 4 months ago
The 1961 model even more so. And they didn't need Shelby or anyone else to pull it off.
Psychlonic 4 months ago
Gotta disagree with 1964 as the date for these. The Ford Starliner in 1960 was no bigger than the later muscle cars and was stuffed with a 401HP V8 in a sleek, fastback body. That was probably the first true muscle car that inspired DeLorean and company a couple years later.
Psychlonic 4 months ago
@Psychlonic And let's not forget the 1963 Impala SS 409; with dual quad carbs and 425hp stock. To me, that's the true beginning of 'muscle cars' and then GM's ban on hp after that one of the dumbest things done in the auto industry ever. And if you wanted even less weight and more speed, there were 409's with aluminum front end pieces. And they weren't called 'muscle cars' back then, they were high performance of affectionately-high pro.
Real1shepherd 4 months ago
@Real1shepherd back then they weren't called muscle cars, they were refered to as supercars. not till the 80s were they called musclecars.
the Chrysler 300 series (the buisness man's hot rod as it was called) of the 50's has been pointed to as one of the 1st musclecars. it was advalible with a 1st gen Hemi and was the fastest american car in 56/7/8.
the GTO/ 409 impala are pointed at cause they cheaper then the 300s were. some say the roadrunner was, as it was the one of the cheapest when new.
CamaroAmx 3 months ago
@CamaroAmx Not exactly correct, as I lived through that period. "Supercar" was a term developed in the 60's that was generally thought to be the fastest Euro, top-end cars in the world. I don't know where you grew up but "muscle cars" of the 60's were referred to as High-Pro or High Performance in CA and the Midwest. Even MC's started out as family sleepers. It took Detroit well into the 60's to figure out the young male appeal exclusively. The Chrysler 300 sold for dads and older males.
Real1shepherd 3 months ago
@Real1shepherd in old films and shows from the time period, i've never heard them called "musclecar". while they did refer them to having muscle, they called them Super cars. the best example of it I can give is Car & Track (68?-75). but then again maybe the kids were calling them musclecars and the media) didn't catch on to it. the musclecar ear was cold in the grave for 10 before i showed up.but the first car i ever road in was a 73 Charger w/ a swapped in built 440 6 pack. thanks Dad.
CamaroAmx 3 months ago
@CamaroAmxI'm just telling you what we called them on the street and more often than not, we didn't call them anything as a 'group'....but referred to them as a 'stock' whatever or a 'built' whatever, by model name. When I was 17 I bought a '70 Hemi 'cuda NEW with a friend and we street raced the car for money and pink slips. So, I have a pretty good understanding of what was out there and what was actually fast. And for the record, NO a 440 six pack wasn't just about as good as the 426 Hemi.
Real1shepherd 3 months ago
@Real1shepherd you were a very lucky person to have grown up during that time period. my uncle had a 70 Boss 429 in the mid-late 70's that he bought for $700. he street raced the hell out of it and ran it at Englishtown and Maple Grove many times. wish he still had it. now he has a 64 1/2 289 fastback. my grandfather had a 49 Plymouth coupe w/ a Hemi in it. also gone
that Charger cost my Dad his liscence though (speeding mostly). it sadly burnt to the ground in 84. i still have the keys for it.
CamaroAmx 3 months ago
@CamaroAmx I don't know about being 'lucky'...a lot of my close friends died in cars. I raced a total of over 500 different cars on the street (excluding models of exactly the same stock designation). I never raced a 427 SC Cobra, SS/AMX, or 427 Yenko Camero-one in town but never sold. Raced every Mustang variant out there in my area and beat them all. In fact, they were real money makers.:-) So were the Cameros-everyone though they had something faster than mine. Ya gotta love young male ego.
Real1shepherd 3 months ago
@CamaroAmx There was also no shortage of knot-headed Mopar owners that always thought their 383 Roadrunner was the fastest. The '70 Hemi 'cuda was lighter, bigger engine, more torque, more hp...you do the math.;-) The front would pull slightly up in the air on a good night if the tires caught right. A real handful to drive..translates to; 'death sled' by today's standards. Brown cam, reworked dist, hooker headers, suspension tweaks, racing slicks. Few kids kept anything 'stock' in those days.
Real1shepherd 3 months ago
@Real1shepherd I completely agree, hell the 409 was originally based on a truck engine which this video mentions and the W goes back to 58. The Z-11 cars you were talking about were a perfect example, AND they had Cowl Induction. I myself am trying to get my 409 prepped for aftermarket Z-11 equipment. And the wheel base of these cars left plenty of room for handling. Shame no one really turns to the Impalas. I also agree Chevy should have never pulled the plug on racing either. What a waste.
KoDBeast 2 months ago
i think u should put the change the title into "old top gear"
KPKaccountt 4 months ago
Truck engines? Like what? The engines in pickups of the sixties were mostly six cylinders, usually with one small V8 option. Who coined the phrase "It don't handle but sure as hell goes." The need to put a narrative on the cars they had to film, so Chevy 'responds to Ford's success.' And then they immediately reference the GT350 which indeed did "handle" and raced successfully against XKEs.
mustangcharger1 4 months ago
What song by alice Cooper is it?
WizBeef 5 months ago
@WizBeef Poison, make sure to look for the "Uncut" version of the video ;).
FirebirdKnight 5 months ago
No substitute for cubic capacity.
junit483 5 months ago
top gear is Clarkson!
oLoGoS 5 months ago
seriously, who is she kidding? truck engines?
uyesu 5 months ago
do some research, fools...look up Top Gear on wikipedia... it has been around for quite a while, through different formats and presenters...
casualboy454 6 months ago
Top Gear was a better car program before Clarkson took over and dumbed it down into a show about himself, but new Top Gear is a better program for today's audiences if the BBC is going to get anyone to watch it.
MrSonicAdvance 6 months ago
The old presenters were not really to my liking, I like the current three they have now. Old Top Gear is a bit lacking.
WindwolfBlog 6 months ago
These guys ought to be shot for COMPLETELY leaving out Mopar. That Mustang guy is a joke. Best of the muscle cars? Hemi engine?! Why yes, the Boss 429 does have hemispherical heads, but the Hemi name is a Mopar phenomenon, for the famous 426 which debuted in 1964. Any uninformed viewer who saw this in Britain when it first aired would associate "Hemi" with Ford - and THAT is fucked.
At the end of the day, the ultimate American Muscle is a top fuel dragster, and they all run modified Hemis.
JETZcorp 8 months ago
@JETZcorp just a fyi chevy invented the hemi head in the 60's years ahead of dodges and fords
dankebuddha 8 months ago
@dankebuddha Chrysler was using hemi-head engines in WWII, and introduced them in their road cars as the first Chrysler V8s in the mid-50s.
JETZcorp 8 months ago
@JETZcorp the 1st street Hemi, the 331 Firepower (1st gen, 426/392 was 2nd gen, 5.7/6.1/6.4 are 3rd gens) debut the same year as the small block chevy, 1955, in the Chrysler 300 series.
CamaroAmx 3 months ago
@CamaroAmx Just a quick correction, the 392 was part of the first-generation series, found in big Chryslers of the '50s like 300s and Imperials. There were many variations of the first-generation, found in many different Dodge, Chrysler, and DeSotos of the day under different names (Firepower, Firedome, etc). The second-generation was exclusively the 426, and was completely started from scratch and debuted in 1964. Of course, aside from mixing up the 392, you were right.
JETZcorp 3 months ago
You should be more clear if you don't want comments! You should call the video, old shitty top gear, well before it ever got good!
ADAMROCKS5 8 months ago
x-rated? was it owned by a porn star?
malevolenceXXXensues 9 months ago
Comment removed
brenjunior 9 months ago
intro = goosbumps
brooklyntheredone 9 months ago
this is NOT top gear. Clarkson has been hosting since before 89.
MisterPeetBull 11 months ago
@MisterPeetBull watch?v=a_DgKvc3l0w
Wait a second is that the top gear theme and logo? Is that the blond guy in this video? .........and is that Clarkson in the segment right after the intro?????
IGNORANT!
This is absolutely Top Gear from 1989! If you did a quick Wikipedia search you wouldn't look like a complete "cock" as James would say!
Pick1980a 11 months ago
@Pick1980a not saying your wrong but you look like a complete ass when you cite wikipedia as a reliable reference
dankebuddha 8 months ago
@dankebuddha Wikipedia is not accurate? It's not like i am constructing a preamble for my thesis or anything. We are talking about a TV show and where would you have some one go quickly to view cited information about a pop culture topic????
"Not saying that your wrong but the website you used that is correct and has citations does not pass muster for me"!!! Kinda fucks up your credibility doesn't it
I bet your the type of person who cares about MLA vs APA citations!
Pick1980a 8 months ago
cool car but that driver looks like a bag of farts
ShitCrap 11 months ago
why there are not charger and chellenger????
demondevid 11 months ago
Wheres the superbird :(
MrFredHoogendoorn 1 year ago
why is that chevelle not an ls6 454????
gandhi199 1 year ago
wow, this is better than current UK Top Gear.
alexander1485 1 year ago
@alexander1485 no shit. r u from 1485// i guess, otherwise u wouldn't say such a thing lol! muffo !!
SergeyVA 1 year ago
@SergeyVA You type and use grammar very intelligently.... thank you for for your response. Thank you and come again.
alexander1485 1 year ago
@alexander1485 sorry but this is YT not a spelling contest///
SergeyVA 1 year ago
@SergeyVA you are what you type.
alexander1485 1 year ago
@alexander1485 that's what your wife told you//
SergeyVA 11 months ago
@SergeyVA better than "your mom" props
alexander1485 11 months ago
@alexander1485 huh?
SergeyVA 11 months ago
They definitely need 2 things in the current Top Gear. 1- a female host. 2. a real muscle cars episode.
BumbleBeeGS 1 year ago
@BumbleBeeGS no to bitches and who gives a shit about muscle cars//
SergeyVA 1 year ago
They forgot the Oldsmobile 442
TheKleptoDragon 1 year ago
old top gear yes....this IS top gear...but without Clarkson's stupid yet often hilarious comments not really considered top gear anymore...lol
herambbarve 1 year ago
It doesn't handle but its sure as it goes FUCK YEA
morderca95 1 year ago
I wish they made cars that look like this. Today's cars look all the same boring crap.
garagecrap 1 year ago
wrong, muscle car era started in '56 with the chrysler c-300 and dodge d-500
pmmulhol 1 year ago
@pmmulhol Pontiac GTO is regarded as the first muscle car in the narrow meaning of the words.
Mmaesstrro 1 year ago
@pmmulhol No, totally wrong! First muscle car, GTO!!! Thats when it started. Ask around, people will set you straight!!
surf403 1 year ago
nice rides, you can get some to handle like a 87 camaro wiyh suspension parts
tabese1000 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
long live USA
hussein124 1 year ago
You should say OLD Top Gear in the title
alex14469 1 year ago
that woman has the most unattractive voice i've ever heard
benknowsbest1 1 year ago
0 to 60,25 sec with that fat dude at the wheel
deano8718 1 year ago
top gear = clarkson ....so this is shit not top gear
maika0staretza 1 year ago 2
the song is poison by alice cooper one of the best of all times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
th3Bl00dfu3l3d 1 year ago
Where is the Mopars?
sspat1976 1 year ago
Its awesome
razer440 1 year ago
mustang boss best muscle car? fuck that my dads 1970 challenger rt beat the shit out of the boss
Ji99i3 1 year ago
not all of them handled that badly, for the time. but in a way, having a massive engine in a sloppy-handling car is more fun in the twisties than a porsche simply because you have to be more engaged in the driving experience to get good speed.
MaximusRelaximus 1 year ago
that gt500 would go for around $180,000 now
jomurdo92 1 year ago
chevelle ss, best american muscle car ever :)
ClownHouseProduction 1 year ago
WHY! OH WHY! DID THEY SHOW THAT GUY WITH THE 350 HORSE 396 SS! THEY SHOULD HAVE SHOWN THE 454 LS6 450 HORSE CAR(THE KING OF THE MUSCLE CAR)!
extremedrivr 1 year ago
@extremedrivr The 396 is pretty big though
dogsaremykids 1 year ago
@dogsaremykids >----> You are right about the 396(actually a 402 C.I.) being pretty big. I like all big blocks, it's just that I wish they had featured the biggest, most powerfull muscle cars in this video. That's all.
extremedrivr 1 year ago
@dogsaremykids Ah but who could forget Chevy's 427. Truly one of Nature's finer offerings to this world :)
firebat42 1 year ago
Using an Alice song from the 80's and saying it's an image of the 60's?
Haha.
mgdth502 1 year ago
No Mopar, this video is total bullshit, except for the part about insurance companies and the EPA ruining everything.
Kainiswatchingyou 1 year ago
DAMN YOU EPA!!!!!!!!!!
Jaket2000 1 year ago
that guy looks like the mayor of london o.0
gf1989 1 year ago
amazing looking cars! thanks for the upload!
Moreb0 1 year ago
i just love cars fullstop. american, european, japanese, they all have there jems. V8s, rotary, turbo and superchargers doesn't matter if you truly love cars.
MrBigGinger 1 year ago
whear are all the second gen muscle cars ?
bubub56 1 year ago
3:27 how the hell is that an automatic?!?!
TheTunerClub 1 year ago
The shelby at 2:21 is my favorite muscle car in the world.
PandehPropaganda 1 year ago
THIS ISNT TOP GEAR THIS IS OLD TOP GEAR! lol jk ahhahahahah
aaronchungrulez 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
THIS STILL ISNT TOP GEAR... THE OLD ONE DOESN"T COUNT
gfromtha713 1 year ago
@gfromtha713
That's not for you to decide. Fact of the matter is, this IS Top Gear, as how it was in 1989. Ignoring a fact is just silly, how much you may disagree with it.
VikingAmcar 1 year ago 32
@VikingAmcar 1989? really? are you sure? i didnt know they had mazda miatas in 89........
DrRyoko 1 year ago 8
@DrRyoko
Introduced to the US in May 1989 as a 1990 model.
VikingAmcar 1 year ago 9
@VikingAmcar Gotta love people who don't let facts get in the way of a perfectly ignorant comment!
This is Top Gear; a quick trip to Wikipedia would tell you that!
Pick1980a 11 months ago
@DrRyoko That is when they first came out...1989 to be exact certain markets..Florida, Cali, Texas,,to name a few
stoughton1 1 year ago
@DrRyoko top gear is an old show u idiot
finnsia 11 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@VikingAmcar no no no no this is not top gear!
poepneukerobotjes 1 year ago
@poepneukerobotjes
Hehe, despite the evidence to the contrary? Sorry, but this IS Top Gear, as it used to be many years ago.
VikingAmcar 1 year ago 6
@VikingAmcar its old top gear
TheMarkus248 1 year ago
@VikingAmcar dude.. what theyre saying is this IS NOT top gear... as in we want clarkson, hammond, and may.. our 3 lovable goobs
irun12s 11 months ago
@VikingAmcar Prove it!
nutzw1 11 months ago
@VikingAmcar Yes you are correct, this is top gear, but it is Old top gear, and you may have noticed that all the other Old top gear videos are uploaded as "Old top gear" so please comply and don't waste our precious time ;)
Lukeisonutube 8 months ago
@poepneukerobotjes
read the description!
tjmick1992 1 year ago
@tjmick1992 i dont want to!
poepneukerobotjes 1 year ago
@poepneukerobotjes this is old top gear
SSC3034 6 months ago
@gfromtha713 This is REAL Top Gear, not the wimpy one on now!
DdlyHeadshot 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@gfromtha713 lol, who said so?
wildbloodydragon 1 year ago
@gfromtha713 if u see ur mom on film when she wasnt yet married ud still call her ur mother wouldnt u? dumbo.
its still top gear no matter wat u say
adheesh 1 year ago 2
Thanks for looking. If you've got any 1990 to 1993 Mx-5 Miata reviews I'd love to see them. I'm sure others will love to see them too.
renewer 1 year ago
@renewer
Found it and uploaded it. It's unfortunatly very short, but I hope you'll enjoy it none the less.
VikingAmcar 1 year ago
Do you have that Miata feature that was at the beginning of this video?
renewer 1 year ago
@renewer
Unless it has been deleted by an accident, yes I think so. I'll take a look for it later today, and get back to you when I find out more.
VikingAmcar 1 year ago
Poison by Alice cooper! What a great song!
EJL2004 1 year ago
Alice Copper FTW!!! This suits soo bad to chevelle!
morderca95 1 year ago
and it has sync, that will give me weather forecasts, fuel prices, movie listings, and search for reastauraunts or whatever for me while reading me an incoming text message out loud
EatmyDust1311 1 year ago
also, ford has the highest interior quality of any domestic automaker, surpassing toyota in quality. dodge, im afraid, is still lacking in plastic materials and build quality. hae you ever been in a king ranch or platinum? they are pretty f-ing nice
EatmyDust1311 1 year ago
of whom became famouse with ford and are now back where they belong, with ford. if the hemi is so great, why does thier 5.7 make less power than fords new 5.0? the challenger is a slow, heavy pig and the "new" charger is an abomination of a great name, a sell out to make a uick buck by people that are bankrupt and owned by italians
EatmyDust1311 1 year ago
Ford 4 Life and Long Live the Mustang
EatmyDust1311 1 year ago
First
On
Race
Day
EatmyDust1311 1 year ago
Poor
Old
Ninny
Thinks
Its
A
Cadillac
EatmyDust1311 1 year ago
Cracked
Heads
Every
Valve
Rattles
Leaks
Oil
Every
Time
EatmyDust1311 1 year ago
The female narrator here is so fucking BORING. No passion or enthusiasm in her voice. I swear that kind of crap talk can be used when you're reporting on Toyota's and overpriced Toyota's (Lexus) but not on American muscle cars! Who is this bitch? Beki Adams!?
jakemiller5000 1 year ago
@jakemiller5000
She was a UK car journalist in the 1980s early 90s who did magazines, a couple of books and the odd bit on Top Gear. She was quite into her classic and customised cars although not always as technically accurate as she could have been. Shame she sounds so bored here, probably pissed off that she had to narrate this in a studio somewhere rather than getting to go to the USA and drive the cars.
Last thing I heard she'd stopped journalism and become a nun.
CycolacFan 9 months ago
"The don't handle" Anyone who says that doesn't know how to drive...
10blood 2 years ago
Compacts? Wtf. More like Intermediates.
pwkid 2 years ago
@pwkid At the time these were small
srcej6 2 years ago
Mustangs and other cars like the Camaro were small i think. But a-bodies and other cars were intermediate and full sized no?
pwkid 2 years ago
i love that buick GSX (the yellow one). it's good to be the BOSS
americantorino 2 years ago
er,cooper's been giging from the early '60s,and the band'alice cooper'since '68.first album released in '69.what'poison',from '89,is doing on here is anyone's guess! love those cars!
musicmansixty7 2 years ago
Dodge Challenger was the ultimate muscle car IMHO, if only because of the movie 'Vanishing Point' with Barry Newman -- sod the crap TV remake.
noushitaisa 2 years ago 2
Where is Jeremy?????!!!
TPNEWYORKER 2 years ago
I still can't believe there's no Mopar in this video. How in the flying fuck can they talk about muscle cars without even mentioning the Charger? If someone in France were watching this and didn't know anything about muscle cars, they'd think "Hemi" was a Ford phenomenon! Ridiculous.
JETZcorp 2 years ago 2
this chow is shit, "the rather mundane mustang" wow the mustang was WAY lighter and had More power than
Most of the competition from the start up until 1970. it wasnt till the boss 427, it was more like all the others, 56% weight front wheels adn it was overratedin overall performance and under rated in power... anywho
fatharmonix 2 years ago
The base engine in the Mustang was at first a slant six at around 100 Hp, and its underpinnings was based on Fords cheap car, the Falcon. It was indeed quite mundane compared to the more serious muscle cars. When Carroll Shelby himself was given the opportunity to test the Mustang to see if it could be used in racing, his verdict wasn't very favorable. He said the GT was most suited for shopping trips, but hardly as a racer. But as we all know, that got better in the next couple of years.
VikingAmcar 2 years ago
Yeah shall we mention the 428 Cobra Jet?
EMHbelmonte 1 year ago
What the hell. Alice Cooper wasn't performing in the 60's.
hiho2121 2 years ago 14
@hiho2121 but it suits so badly maan
morderca95 1 year ago
@hiho2121 Alice cooper the band peformed in the late 60s
axe456 1 year ago
@hiho2121 actually, he was. He's an old dude.
LillaKrisu 1 year ago
@hiho2121 Alice cooper started in 1963
gislibesti13 1 year ago
@gislibesti13 my bad.
spxmet 1 year ago
@hiho2121 In the late, late 60's, but not "Poison." Apparently they could only lease the first half of the song.
spxmet 1 year ago
@hiho2121 Alice Cooper did form in '68, but you're right in the sense that they hadn't broken through into the mainstream yet.
5150UK 1 year ago
@hiho2121 Alice Cooper started recording in the late 1960's
Raith83 1 year ago
muscle cars are coming back, if you can't find one, import one today!
hardcore4republican 2 years ago 2
3:49 - just hear that sound!!! Great era!
jileao 2 years ago
I love these cars!! I don´t care if they don´t handle as a F1, I just love their style, power and sound. I would love to have a garage filled with all of those 60´s/70´s beasts.
jileao 2 years ago
I LOVE AMERICAN CARS I HAVE ONE:D
Hollandden 2 years ago
is that boris johnson?!?! :D
MilitantOldLady 2 years ago
William Wollard.
kazimann 2 years ago
separated at birth :D
MilitantOldLady 2 years ago
Not a single mention of a Mopar car in this whole thing. How can you POSSIBLY talk about muscle cars without mentioning the Charger? What about the 426 Hemi?!
JETZcorp 2 years ago 2
Yep, they could've shown a charger,challenger, or road runner instead of the Buik, but still, these cars are sick!
Abe4racing 2 years ago
Mostly
Old
People
And
Rednecks
EatmyDust1311 1 year ago