Over the last weekend, the Hurst/Olds Club of America was more active than usual on its Facebook page. It posted dozens of pictures from an event in Lansing, Michigan, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hurst/Olds, a muscle car manufactured by Oldsmobile in collaboration with Hurst Performance. Offered in small numbers, mostly through the 60s and 70s, Hurst/Olds was based on Oldsmobile 442, but built to deliver greater performance.
Vintage- and classic-car restorer, CS Ananth, points out that the muscle cars of the time sought to put performance and power within almost every American’s reach. The cars were priced attractively, but many owners felt the pinch while running these machines, especially after the 1973 oil crisis. With stringent emission norms coming into effect and fuel efficiency gaining primacy over everything else, the first glorious run of muscle cars came to an end around the late 1970s.
Today, there are modern tyre-burners, markedly different from the ones that spiced up the baby-boomers’ youth. But to me, muscle cars from the 60s are the most stylish cars ever made — and they still mark the heyday of the muscle-car industry.
In the mid-1960s, the performance-car craze in America was at its zenith, and departments at automobile majors had to deal with both external and internal competition.
Special Arrangement
The 442 was a child of internal rivalry between the Oldsmobile and Pontiac divisions of General Motors, spurred by the latter’s introduction of the Pontiac GTO in 1964.
The Pontiac GTO was a rip-roaring success. In the very year of its launch, the rock band Ronny & the Daytonas produced ‘Little GTO’ as a tribute to it. Having barely arrived on the rock circuit, the band was just getting off the mark with this single, when it discovered overnight fame.
In production from 1964 to 1967, the first-generation Pontiac GTO was offered with the option of a 6.4-litre V8 engine or a 6.6-litre V8 engine.
As if in response to this, in 1968, Oldsmobile offered its Hurst/Olds with a 7.5-litre Rocket V8 engine. Decades later, the Hurst/Olds would be glorified in musicville through ‘455 Rocket’, a song by country-and-bluegrass musician Kathy Mattea. The title refers to the engine with its displacement specified in cubic inches.
Besides the Hurst/Olds, it is golden jubilee for the Ford Torino too. In 1968, through the Torino, Ford was making a new move in the intermediate segment, but also used the brand to cash in on the demand for muscle cars, kitting out a few Torinos with super-powerful 7-litre Cobra-jet engines.
Almost every American car major was making unexpected forays into the muscle car market, and there were cars in full-size, mid-size, compact and pony-car segments. Common features included a V8 engine, a two-door format and space enough to accommodate atleast four people.
Recently, after I had discussed the Chevrolet Impala in a column, a reader and owner of an early-1960s Impala pointed out that it had nothing to do with the muscle-car industry. However, in the early-1960s, Chevrolet had offered what it called an SS kit, which included a 6.7-litre Turbo Thrust V8 engine that Impala owners could use to modify and enhance the performance of their machines. Impalas with these engines (with a displacement of 409 cubic inches) were a hit and The Beach Boys came up with the still-popular song ‘409’.
How can I end without a mention of the Ford Mustang of the 1960s, which has launched many music projects, even one last year? Written by Johnny Rowlett, Dan Root and Aaron Krott, ‘Old Mustang’ is about the restoration of a 1969 car.
Unfortunately, they are not adequately represented on the Indian classic car circuit. Ananth agrees: “Yes, they are thin on the ground. Only in 2013, the Government allowed import of cars made prior to January 1, 1950. There is a request from antique car enthusiasts to allow import of post-1950 cars as well. There is a demand, particularly for cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s, because they are easily drivable and are in a halfway house between now and the vintage era.”
