“Best Ever” lists are usually 100-percent subjective 100-percent of the time. So when we stumbled across muscle car registry site Musclecar Club‘s massive list of the “50 Fastest Musclecars” we had to take it with a grain of salt. There are a lot of these kinds of lists, usually penned by wholly biased persons who would like nothing better than to see their favorite brand come out on top.
This time around, the MusclecarClub has backed up their “definitive list” with some references, and some pretty irrefutable ones to boot. Citing the testing numbers from nearly a dozen car enthusiast publications who conducted plenty of testing during the 1960’s when these machines were new as well as some contemporary ones who’ve done their own testing with “100-percent restored” examples, the list includes titles like Car Craft, Car and Driver, Car Life, Hi Performance Cars, Hot Rod, Muscle Car Review, Mopar Muscle, Motor Trend and Super Stock magazines.
All the entries include the model year, a standing quarter-mile E.T. and mile per hour, what engine the example was tested with, it’s advertised horsepower, transmission, rear gear and the source material.
While we think of some prime examples that are notably absent from this list (including the ’70 GSX Buick and the ’69 H/O 455 Oldsmobile), do think this is pretty thorough and doesn’t show any glaring errors. Is this list perfect? Not at all. Please don’t think that we think that.
# | YEAR/MODEL | ET/MPH | ENGINE | HP | TRANS | GEAR | SOURCE |
1 | 1966 427 Cobra | 12.20@118 | 427 8V | 425 | 4-Speed | 3.54 | CC 11/65 |
2 | 1966 Corvette 427 | 12.8@112 | L72 427 | 425 | 4-Speed | 3.36 | CD 11/65 |
3 | 1969 Road Runner | [email protected] | 440 Six BBL | 390 | 4-Speed | 4.10 | SS 6/69 |
4 | 1970 Hemi Cuda | [email protected] | 426 Hemi | 425 | 4-Speed | 3.54 | CC 11/69 |
5 | 1970 Chevelle SS454 | [email protected] | 454 LS6 | 450 | 4-Speed | 3.55 | CC 11/69 |
6 | 1969 Camaro | [email protected] | 427 ZL1 | 430 | 4-Speed | 4.10 | HC 6/69 |
7 | 1968 Corvette | 13.30@108 | 427 6V | 435 | 4-Speed | 3.70 | HC 5/68 |
8 | 1970 Road Runner | [email protected] | 426 Hemi | 425 | automatic | 4.10 | SS 12/69 |
9 | 1970 Buick GS Stage I | [email protected] | 455 Stage I | 360 | automatic | 3.64 | MT 1/70 |
10 | 1968 Corvette 427 | [email protected] | L72 427 | 425 | 4-Speed | 3.55 | CD 6/68 |
11 | 1969 Charger 500 | 13.48@109 | 426 Hemi | 425 | 4-Speed | 4.10 | HR 2/69 |
12 | 1968 Charger | 13.50@105 | 426 Hemi | 425 | automatic | 3.23 | CD 11/67 |
12 | 1970 Plymouth Superbird | 13.50@105 | 426 Hemi | 425 | ? | ? | ? |
14 | 1968 Road Runner | [email protected] | 426 Hemi | 425 | automatic | 3.55 | CD 1/69 |
15 | 1973 Trans Am | [email protected] | 455 SD | 310 | automatic | 3.42 | HR 6/73 |
16 | 1969 Corvette | [email protected] | 427 L88 | 430 | automatic | 3.36 | HR 4/69 |
17 | 1969 Super Bee | [email protected] | 440 Six Pack | 390 | automatic | 4.10 | HR 8/69 |
18 | 1969 Boss 429 Mustang | 13.60@106 | Boss 429 | 375 | 4-Speed | 3.91 | HC 9/69 |
19 | 1970 Challenger R/T | [email protected] | 440 Six Pack | 390 | automatic | 3.23 | CC 11/69 |
20 | 1970 Torino Cobra | [email protected] | 429 SCJ | 370 | automatic | 3.91 | SS 3/70 |
21 | 1968 Biscayne | 13.65@105 | 427 L72 | 425 | 4-Speed | 4.56 | SS 4/68 |
22 | 1964 Polara 500 | [email protected] | 426 4V | 365 | 4-Speed | 3.23 | HC 2/64 |
23 | 1969 GTX | [email protected] | 440 4V | 375 | automatic | 4.10 | MT 1/69 |
24 | 1969 Dart 440 | 13.71@105 | 440 4V | 375 | automatic | 3.55 | CC 5/69 |
25 | 1971 Road Runner | [email protected] | 440 Six BBL | 390 | automatic | 4.10 | CC 1/71 |
26 | 1971 Cuda | 13.72@106 | 440 Six BBL | 390 | automatic | 4.10 | SS 4/71 |
27 | 1971 Corvette | [email protected] | 454 LS6 | 450 | 4-Speed | 3.36 | CL 8/71 |
28 | 1971 Super Bee | 13.73@104 | 426 Hemi | 425 | automatic | 4.10 | MT 12/70 |
29 | 1968 Hurst/Olds | [email protected] | 455 W-30 | 390 | automatic | 3.91 | SS 8/68 |
30 | 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda | [email protected] | 426 Hemi | 425 | automatic | 4.10 | MT 9/69 |
31 | 1968 Firebird | 13.79@106 | 400 HO | 335 | 4-Speed | N/A | HR 3/68 |
32 | 1967 Corvette | 13.80@108 | 427 6V | 435 | 4-Speed | 3.55 | HR 5/67 |
33 | 1965 Catalina | 13.80@106 | 421 6V | ? | 4-Speed | 3.42 | CD 3/65 |
34 | 1969 Super Bee Six Pack | [email protected] | 440 Six BBL | 390 | automatic | 4.10 | CD 7/69 |
35 | 1971 Boss 351 Mustang | 13.80@104 | Boss 351 | 330 | 4-Speed | 3.91 | MT 1/71 |
36 | 1966 Satellite | 13.81@104 | 426 Hemi | 425 | 4-Speed | 3.54 | CD 4/66 |
37 | 1969 Coronet R/T | [email protected] | 440 4V | 375 | 4-Speed | 4.10 | SS 4/69 |
38 | 1968 Cyclone GT | [email protected] | 428 CJ | 335 | automatic | 4.11 | MT 8/68 |
39 | 1969 Nova SS 396 | [email protected] | 396 4V | 375 | automatic | 3.55 | HR 7/69 |
40 | 1969 Shelby GT-500 | [email protected] | 428 CJ | 335 | 4-Speed | 3.91 | SS 9/69 |
41 | 1969 Cyclone Cobra Jet | [email protected] | 428 CJ | 335 | automatic | 4.11 | MT 1/69 |
42 | 1970 Olds 4-4-2 W-30 | [email protected] | 455 W-30 | 370 | automatic | 3.42 | CC 11/69 |
43 | 1962 Corvette | [email protected] | 327 FI | 360 | 4-Speed | 4.10 | HR 1/62 |
44 | 1969 Barracuda | [email protected] | 440 4V | 375 | automatic | 4.10 | SS 8/69 |
45 | 1962 Catalina | 13.90@107 | 421 4V | ? | 4-Speed | 4.30 | MT 5/62 |
46 | 1969 Mustang Mach I | [email protected] | 428 CJ | 335 | automatic | 3.50 | CL 3/69 |
47 | 1967 GTO | [email protected] | 400 RA | 360 | automatic | 4.33 | CL 10/67 |
48 | 1970 Trans Am | 13.90@102 | 400 RA | 345 | 4-Speed | 3.91 | HR 2/70 |
49 | 1970 Torino Cobra | 13.99@101 | 429 4V | ? | 4-Speed | 3.91 | MT 2/70 |
Legend: CC=Car Craft, CD=Car and Driver, CL=Car Life, HC=Hi Performance Cars, HR=Hot Rod, MCR=Muscle Car Review, MM=Mopar Muscle, MT=Motor Trend, SS=Super Stock |