American muscle cars were once the benchmark for all performance cars, through the 1960s and 1970s few carmakers could match their powerful engines and performance.
How times changed with the new decade! US carmakers were still in recovery from the fuel crisis swapped performance for better fuel economy, installing less powerful engines in existing designs. Once famous muscle cars now lagged behind their rivals, in some cases performing worse than normal cars.
Many of these brands still exist today, some will never be able to shake off their predecessor's joke level of performance.
8 1984-1988 Pontiac Fiero - Iron Duke Strikes Again
Much maligned, Pontiac's Fiero wasn't a bad car, its basic design and construction process on par with any other maker at the time, just very badly executed. At launch, the only US-built mid-engined sports car had all the markings of a successful design, unfortunately, safety issues and recalls would tarnish the model irreparably.
While not a bad car overall, the Fiero is a terrible performance car. Iron Duke base-models lacked power from their 2.5-liter engines, just 92hp resulting in 103mph flat out. Pontiac, in fairness, did partially rectify the problem with more power, but even then the Fiero lagged behind its rivals.
7 1980 Ford Mustang - From Thoroughbred To Pony
Early 80s Mustangs are commonly referred to as Fox-body models referring to their common shared fox chassis, one of the lowest points in Mustang history. Sadly design is not the last of the bad news, Ford offered three engine options from 88hp through to slightly less depressing 118hp, Mustangs wild nature had well and truly been tamed.
Following the fuel crisis, many American carmakers changed their product lines seeking better fuel economy, Mustang even with turbocharged engines could barely make 108mph, one of the slowest muscle cars ever produced.
6 1980 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am Turbo - Low Boost = Low Power
Another fan favorite, Pontiac's Firebird Trans-Am joined the turbocharged engine club in 1980 with mixed results. Featuring Pontiac's 4.9-liter V8 turbocharged to produce 210hp, although torque received a more useful increase to 345lb-ft, by comparison, previous normally aspirated engines offered more horsepower.
Combining large capacity V8s with turbocharging really should have produced more power, 210hp possibly the result of low boost resulting in 130mph flat out, and just scraping under 9 seconds to 60mph.
5 Chevrolet Camaro (3rd Gen) 1982 - Economy Engines
From the very start, 3rd generation Camaros shipped in standard spec with the famously underpowered Iron Duke 4-cylinder engine, output a dismal 90hp, at least Chevrolet saw sense and offered larger V6 and V8 options. Top of the pile, 5-liter fuel-injected models fared better with 190hp available, performance still nothing to get excited about.
Chasing improved fuel economy, detuned engines found their way into US muscle cars, Chevrolets 5-liter engine producing 39hp per liter resulted in a maximum speed of 124mph.
4 1987 Dodge Daytona - Faster But Still Lacking
Daytona hints at performance from the Daytona race-inspired name if only Dodge engineers had read the design brief instead of turning out another sub-par performing car. Refreshed in 1987 with optional Shelby Z time levels, engine updates also included the Turbo II Chrysler 2.2-liter K series rated at 174hp produced a top speed of 135mph, slower than the previous 1986 model.
By 80s American standards, Daytona was actually pretty quick and powerful. Only when comparisons between Dodge's offering to a well known European carmaker using the same engine format producing 300hp does the lack of performance strike home.
3 1987 Oldsmobile 442 - More Weight And Less Power
When the first-generation Oldsmobile 442 launched in 1966 sporting 350hp 7.2-liter V8 engines, successive generations would see power diminish. Well and truly losing its muscle car status with the launch of the fifth-generation models arriving in 1985 packing 5-liter V8s pushing out 170hp.
Unsurprisingly with barely half the horsepower of the original, the outright performance had dropped significantly, barely reaching 120mph. Once a successful muscle carmaker, Oldsmobile disappeared in 2004.
2 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am - Even KITT Would Be Embarrassed.
Sporting a completely new design for 1982, Pontiac's Firebird Trans-Am sought to revive the once successful brand, like many other US muscle cars of the era missing out on actual muscle. Coinciding with the new launch, cult TV series Knight Rider aired featuring the star of the show KITT, a heavily modified 82 model, capable of 200mph+.
In reality, even with a V8 engine, power output was bordering on the pathetic, 145hp from 5-liters lagged way behind other carmakers, if the TV show had been accurate KITT would have struggled to reach 130mph.
1 1980 Plymouth Volare/Road Runner - Poor Choice Of Name.
The Volare is a perfect example of a model that should really have been discontinued earlier, 1980 would be the final production year, selling over 90,000 units. Possibly one of the most confusing engine options ever, the previously top-performing 5.9-liter was dropped while the next most powerful 5.2-liter underwent detuning to 120hp, only for Plymouth to offer 4-barrel versions at 155hp. Even entry-level models underwent confusing engine changes reverting to single barrel carburetors, 6-cylinders remaining the base model with 90hp, these are best ignored.
Larger more powerful engine options were reserved for Roadrunner models, although dismal performance makes the designation redundant, a maximum speed of 110mph is bad by any standards, 13 seconds to 60mph is unforgivable.
October 17, 2020 at 03:30AM
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These American "Performance Cars" From The 80s Were A Joke - HotCars
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