1969 AMC SC/Rambler. All photos from www.wikipedia.com

Anytime we see a list of the top ten musclecars of all time, we have to pause and take a look. For the most part, top ten lists of anything are worthless and generated by the media simply to create debate. We don’t play that game most of the time but when it comes to musclecars, we can appreciate a different view and we love that kind of a debate.

Before we point out where we think Best Social News is wrong in their top ten list, we need to say that we respect them for publishing a list that they know people are going to disagree with. It takes a lot of SAE steel 12-point nuts to put out a list for the public to judge. Having said that, let’s get on with the debate.

We can see the 1963 Chevrolet Impala being on the top ten list. Yes, even the convertible version, but not the Z11 optioned version.

Best Social News opened with their #10 best, the 1963 Impala Z11 427. Their justification for including it on the top ten list? It was popularized by the Beach Boys. It is truly a great car but inclusion on this list is not justified because there were only 57 Z11 optioned Impala’s produced. Of those, only seven are thought to be in existence today. It’s hard to be a top musclecar when only seven people can own one. If music groups were the determining factor in deciding what cars were the “best,” every Bruce Springsteen fan would be driving a “Pink Cadillac,” and everyone would have been driving “Little Red Corvettes” in the 80’s.

#9 on the list was another exclusive racecar with only 100 copies that saw the light of day; the 1964 Ford Thunderbolt. Another really powerful factory car, which is not debatable. What we have a problem with is listing a car on a top ten list that was produced in such a small volume. Scarcity should not determine inclusion on any top ten list except top ten “rarest” lists. Nice musclecar, just not a top ten musclecar for the everyman.

1969 Plymouth Roadrunner.

The 1969 AMC SC/Rambler is listed in the #8 spot. The SC/Rambler was another special production car, but we can actually get behind this one. For the usually quirky AMC company (yes, quirky. Look at the Matador, Gremlin and Hornet), this collaboration with Hurst Performance produced over 1,500 copies of this model. Designed for drag racing, the Rambler actually provided competition for the more popular Hemi and Cobra Jet powered cars. This AMC is worthy of inclusion on anyone’s Top Ten Musclecar list.

The next three on the list are staples in this category, the 1968 Dodge Charger R/T, 1969 Ford Fairlane/Torino Cobra, and the 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner registering in the seventh, sixth and fifth spots respectively. No arguments here. These are “must-have” musclecars on the list.

The fourth spot is held by another unicorn, the 1966 Oldsmobile 442 W30. It’s hard to include a car whose production numbers were only 54. We agree that the stock production Olds 442 deserves to be on the top ten musclecar list, however.

Listed as the third greatest musclecar of all time is the 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T and Super Bee. Justification for this selection was strictly limited to comments on the Super Bee version. Yes, this was another limited production car, but in 1969 there were 27,800 versions with the 383 engine and 1,907 with the famous Six Pack. These two have production numbers that legitimately earn them a spot on the list. The 426 equipped model saw only 166 factory versions made and are too rare for inclusion.

1966 Chevrolet Chevelle.

Chevrolet’s most popular mid-sized car, the 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396, holds down the #2 spot. This is the epitome of what the 1960 musclecars were. As such, we cannot find fault with its inclusion or place on the top ten list. Likewise with the top selection. We applaud Best Social New and their choice of the 1967 Pontiac GTO as the number one musclecar of all time.

John Delorean’s brainchild, the Goat was aimed directly at young street racers, and it succeeded. By 1967 the increasingly popular GTO saw a larger bore (from 389ci to 400ci) and the larger four barrel Quadrajet carb added to the engine, making it the high output version. The GTO should be in the top five on anyone’s top ten musclecars list.

The 1967 Pontiac GTO is a winner on anyone’s list.

We are interested in hearing your top ten musclecars of all time list. Feel free to put your list in the comment section below this article. We especially want to hear from anyone that doesn’t agree with our assessment above.