Muscle cars have a huge fan base. The trend began in the late 1940s, and the 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 is often cited as one of the first representatives of this type of vehicle. For David Newhardt, the author of the book "Ultimate Muscle Car", however, the real muscle car era only began with the Pontiac GTO from 1964.
A life between fashion, aesthetics and automobiles
David Newhardt is an expert on the scene and is both a photographer and writer. Nevertheless, for this book he drew on Peter Harholdt and his pictures, who traveled through the USA with his mobile studio to photograph the hottest representatives of the muscle car era.
Newhardt himself earned his spurs at "Motor Trend" magazine, among others, and has written for many other automobile magazines. He has also written several books as an author and photographer.
A picture book
How do you cover a rather broad topic and a period of around ten years in 240 pages? You limit yourself. Newhardt and Harholdt did this by giving priority to the pictures and offering the text as an accompaniment. But this is not to devalue the descriptive part, because it is written in an entertaining way and the newcomer to the subject in particular learns many interesting details and background information. And the car doesn't mince his words and he also points out the chassis weaknesses of the drag strip racers.
The pictures are given plenty of space in the book, some of them on fold-out pages, so that there are no annoying folds to interfere with viewing. They are almost exclusively studio pictures against a dark background, which brings out the contours and shapes of the pimped-up mid-range cars even better. Detail shots show the ingenuity and excesses of the muscle car era.
47 portraits
A total of 47 vehicles are portrayed, from the aforementioned Pontiac GTO from 1964 to the Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty 455 from 1974. The entire era is characterized by the almost 50 cars in three sub-epochs, which were baptized "Years of Innocence", "The Excessive Years" and "The Final Years".
Of course, one book can never cover all muscle cars, but the list of vehicles portrayed is certainly impressive:
- 1964 Pontiac GTO
- 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Z16
- 1965 Pontiac GTO
- 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396
- 1966 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 Convertible
- 1967 Dodge Charger Hemi
- 1967 Pontiac GTO Convertible
- 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396
- 1968 Ford Shelby GT500KR Convertible
- 1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO #9561 427/425
- 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396
- 1969 Chevrolet El Camino SS 396
- 1969 Charger 500
- 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona
- 1969 Dodge Super Bee
- 1969 Ford Mustang GT 428 SCJ
- 1969 Shelby GT500 Convertible
- 1969 Torino Talladega
- 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler Cale Yarborough Special
- 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler Dan Gurney Edition
- 1970 AMC Mark Donohue Trans-Am Javelin SST
- 1970 Buick Gran Sport GSX
- 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 RS
- 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS6
- 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Convertible
- 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A
- 1970 Dodge Charger R/T 440-6
- 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302
- 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429
- 1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W-30 Convertible
- 1970 Plymouth 'Cuda Convertible 440
- 1970 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda
- 1970 Plymouth Road Runner
- 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird
- 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Convertible Ram Air IV
- 1971 Javelin 401
- 1971 Chevrolet El Camino SS 454
- 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T 440-6 "Barn Find"
- 1971 Dodge Charger R/T 426 Hemi and 440 Magnum
- 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee
- 1971 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W-30
- 1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda
- 1971 Plymouth Road Runner Hemi
- 1971 Plymouth GTX 440
- 1972 Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds Convertible
- 1973 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty
- 1974 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty 455
Who is this book aimed at?
If you want to get an overview of the muscle cars from 1964 to 1974, the book "Ultimate Muscle Car" is perfect for you. The most important representatives are shown and you can find out about the number of units, performance, torque and weights of the classics. You can read about the history of their creation and their success on the market and admire the cars in large pictures.
If you are only interested in a few specific vehicles, you will probably want to pick up a more specific book, but perhaps add the universal work described here to your library. With its large and beautifully designed layout, the book is of course also suitable for the coffee table and for a quick browse in between.
Bibliographical details
- Title: Ultimate Muscle Car
- Author: David Newhardt / Peter Harholdt (photographer)
- Language: German
- Publisher: Heel-Verlag
- Edition: 1st edition 2013
- Format: 275 x 310 mm, 240 pages, approx. 350 color illustrations, hardcover with dust jacket, with fold-out plates and four photo prints
- ISBN: 978-3-86852-809-1
- Price: € 49.95
- Order/buy: From Heel-Verlag online or in bookstores
