Top Muscle

Book excerpt: A muscle-car book unlike any other, featuring the rarest vehicles on Earth. In the 1960s, something explosive happened in the automotive world: the United States’ evolving V-8 engine technology was met by 75 million baby boomers, all with an extreme need for speed and all entering the auto market at the same time. The result was the golden era of factory muscle cars, brutish machines that were unlike any the world had ever seen or will likely ever see again—they truly embodied the “sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll” generation. But for some, even a factory muscle car wasn’t enough. Detroit automakers responded, secretly building outrageous muscle cars behind their superiors’ backs and ultimately creating some of the most powerful vehicles ever sold to the public. In Top Muscle, author Darwin Holmstrom chronicles the ultimate collection of these super-rare high-performance beasts. Captured by the lens of renowned auto photographer Randy Leffingwell, these cars represent the absolute zenith of the most valuable collector cars in existence, with fascinating histories that illuminate the wildest age in American automotive history. The Brothers Collection features over 600 cars, including such rarities as:- The very first Chevelle Z16 ever built, which was also the very first muscle car that Chevrolet ever built- The very first Chevelle SS454 LS6 off the assembly line- The only 1969 Mach I Mustang ever built with a factory sunroof- The very first A12 (440-6) Roadrunner ever built- The very last Hemi ’Cuda convertible Plymouth producedvOne of the eight convertible Trans Am Ram Air III Firebirds that Pontiac built in 1969