American Performance at Keenland

American Performance is what the people at the Keenland Concours d'Elegance call muscle cars, those high powered, kick ass machines that rolled down the highways between 1960 and 1975. Included in that class was a beautiful 1972 Dodge Charger SE. While the Charger was based on the Chrysler Cordoba body, what was under the hood was very different. The Charger sported a 440 cubic inch Magnum V 8 that churned 375 horse power.

When most people think of Detroit muscle they don't think of American Motors. But the AMX Javelin was one powerful piece of heavy metal. This 1972 SST model for example sported a 402 cubic inch V 8 powering a fairly light and nimble body. These cars could run.

New for Plymouth in 1970 was the Barracuda. It came with a wide variety of options including five different engines, two transmissions and two differentials. This convertible came with a 340 cubic inch four barrel V 8 motor, four speed manual transmission and 8 3/4 Sure Grip differential. Oh, the AM/FM radio was standard.

This is a prototype Ford from 1970, the Torino King Cobra. The car's real purpose was to put enough on the road to allow it to be raced. But when NASCAR changed some of the rules the entire project was cancelled since this machine would have been ineligible to race.

The hit movie Smokey and the Bandit featured a car like this one, a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am that ran circles around one particular Texas sheriff. That's easy to understand when you see the 15x7 all aluminum wheels spinning from the power of the 400 cubic inch V 8.

Another Pontiac on display was this 1966 2 Plus 2 convertible. This early piece of muscle had a 121 inch wheelbase and weighed just a touch over 4000 pounds. Hurtling it along was a 421 cubic inch V 8 that growled out 378 horse power.

Named for famed driver Don Gurney, this is one of only 218 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II cars that came with that package. In fact, it is the only Don Gurney Spoiler II that was produced as a heater delete car.