10 Classic Muscle Cars Built On Shared Platforms – TopSpeed

While it seems like there were endless cool street machines from the Golden Age of American Muscle, there actually weren’t that many different cars. There were certainly dozens of killer nameplates, but because of platform sharing, a lot of these muscle cars were essentially the same. Plymouth had Dodge models, Mercury aped Ford’s cars, and GM shared platforms across all its divisions. There might be some slight sheet metal deviations and distinct grills, but most classic muscle cars had at least one doppelgänger at a sister company.

The second-gen Charger shared the B-body platform with the likes of the Coronet and Road Runner, but its styling was amazingly unique so it had no counterpart. Most other classic muscle cars, however, have a twin and, while it sounds kind of lazy, that’s actually a good thing. Instead of just one scorching ride of any particular design, enthusiasts have two or more to choose from. It’s simply not fair that someone should miss out on an awesome street performance just because they are loyal to Chevy. With that in mind, here are the best platform-sharing classic muscle car twins, triplets, and quadruplets.

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10

Chevy Super Nova Platform

Nova/Omega/Ventura/Apollo

The Chevrolet Nova’s third generation kicked off in 1968 and that was the last year for the Chevy II nameplate. This was by far the coolest styling the compact muscle car ever had, and it was a great budget performance car that could hang with the big dogs. Starting in 1971, GM’s other divisions demanded a similar car, so Pontiac got the Ventura, followed by the Oldsmobile Omega and Buick Apollo in 1973. Here’s where this drifts into The Da Vinci Code realm because if you take the first letter of Nova, Omega, Ventura, and Apollo, it spells “NOVA.”

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By 1971, the 396 V-8 engine was gone and, as we know, 1973 was deep into the Dead Horsepower Era, where engines were detuned to meet emissions and fuel economy standards, so the full-NOVA lineup wasn’t the most formidable street team ever assembled. In 1971, however, the Nova still had a decent 350 and the Ventura’s 307 didn’t completely suck. In defense of the ’73 NOVA platform, all of them had cool appearance packages, so nobody looked like a dork driving them, and everyone else had a neutered car that year, so it wasn’t an issue.

9

Mopar A-Body Anarchy

Duster/Demon

In 1968, Plymouth paid Warner Bros. Studios a $50,000 licensing fee, which is less than a half-million dollars in today’s money, to use the likeness of the cartoon Road Runner character on their car that bore the same name. In 1970, they tried to secure the rights to the Tasmanian Devil for their newly introduced Duster model, but the price was too high and negotiations broke off. The car, itself, was sufficiently awesome as a low-priced, reasonably powerful, compact with sick styling.

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The Duster was a gonzo success, so Dodge demanded their own version of it. This wasn’t a one-way deal, as Plymouth got the Valiant Scamp, based on the Dodge Dart Swinger. As for Dodge’s Duster clone, it became the highly collectible 1971 Demon, which ironically was badly outsold by the Plymouth. Dodge had originally wanted to name the car “The Beaver” for reasons unknown, but the marketing department learned that was slang for something naughty and went with Demon. There was some uproar from religious groups back then over the Satanic name of the car, and Dodge pulled the plug on it after just two years.

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8

AMC’s Muscle Car Jr.

Javelin/AMX

The American Motors Corporation built some great muscle cars in the classic era, but they were not on the same level as the Big Three. As such, they didn’t have the same kind of funds for R & D or design, so when putting together their entry into the pony car market, the Javelin, they didn’t have the dollars to make separate notch-back and fastback versions. Instead, they combined the styles, which ended up being fairly striking and unique. The 1968 AMC Javelin is easily the most overlooked classic muscle car that shocks casual fans when they realize how badass it is.

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The Javelin was built on AMC’s “Junior” platform, reserved for intermediate and compact rides. It started life as a pair of concept cars; a four-seater and a two-seater. In 1969, the two-seat version came to life as the AMX, because, again, AMC didn’t have a ton of development money. The Javelin and AMX were very stylistically similar, and built on the same platform, but the AMX was a few inches shorter and didn’t have any back seats. The Javelin was green-lit because it could easily be adapted to other vehicles and AMC was hopeful, though it never happened, that it would spawn even more cars.

7

A Torrent Of Ford Muscle

Torino/Cyclone

Ford is easily the most recognizable brand and best-selling automaker in the world of all time, but when it comes to classic muscle cars, people tend to only remember the Mustang, and completely forget how great the Torino was. Introduced in 1968, the Torino was sort of a bigger Mustang, but in 1970, for its second-gen, it adopted a Coke-bottle styling that put it in the same class as the Dodge Charger and Chevrolet Chevelle in terms of coolness. It also came with some powerful big-block options that gave it serious street cred.

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If the Ford Torino is overlooked, and it is, Mercury’s version, the Cyclone, has been straight-up ghosted by enthusiasts. Built on the same platform, which doesn’t have a nifty name, as the Torino, the 1970 Cyclone was every bit as kick-ass, and subjectively more aggressive looking with some unique sheet metal and styling. Both of these muscle car twins deserve a lot more respect from collectors nowadays but, in a way, it’s good that they’re obscure because they are generally the most affordable classic rides on the market.

6

O.G. G.M. A-Bodies

GTO/Chevelle/442/GS

The 1964 Pontiac GTO lit the fuse of the classic muscle car era that exploded into every other ride on this list. It was the first car to combine aggression, power, and affordability, as well as being marketed to a younger crowd, which were all the ingredients for the Golden Age muscle revolution. The GTO was an immediate success, which meant that all of GM’s other divisions wanted a piece of the action. Luckily, the GTO was based on the A-body Tempest and each of the divisions had their own versions.

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The Chevrolet Chevelle was an A-body, strikingly similar to the Tempest GTO, so they created a high-performance version with the SS. Oldsmobile had the A-body Cutlass, which was nearly identical, so they juiced one up as the 442, then stylized it as 4-4-2, which stood for a 4-barrel carb, 4-speed transmission, and 2 (dual) exhaust system. Then, in 1965, Buick transformed its A-Body Skylark into the performance Gran Sport, giving every GM division a muscle car. The GTO started things, but it was the GM A-body platform that laid the foundation for the entire Golden Age.

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5

Stampeding With The Pony Car Platform

Mustang/Cougar

Like the GTO, the Ford Mustang was also introduced in 1964, well, technically 1964½, and its impact was greater. It was not only a youth-oriented performance car, it brought genuine fun to the automotive world. It was the first accessible ride that had no other purpose than to be enjoyed. There had been big-bucks personal luxury cars and sports cars before it, but the Mustang had a consumer-friendly window sticker and was for the masses. It was also the biggest American overnight sensation since Elvis Presley.

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(Performance stats sourced from Car and Driver)

The Mustang was never slow, but in the early days it wasn’t a street assassin like the Max Wedge or Hemi Mopars, but then in the late 1960s, Ford started equipping them with monster big-block V-8s. Around the same time, Mercury got their version of the Mustang with the Cougar, which had similar styling, only with a distinct front fascia. In 1969, both the Mustang and Cougar reached their peak of performance excellence. Ford had the Mach 1, which was the first factory Mustang to run in the 13s, and Mercury was sporting the Eliminator, which was the Cougar’s finest hour.

4

F-Body F-Bomb

Camaro/Firebird

While the Pontiac GTO sent other automakers scrambling to produce muscle cars, the Ford Mustang had them whipping up pony cars to capitalize on the craze. In 1967, Chevrolet stormed the corral with the Camaro, which bested the ‘Stang in both styling and performance. The first-gen Camaros, as well as the second-gen, were some of the coolest-looking rides of the entire Golden Age and are among the most desired collectibles in the Modern Age. The only knock on them is that Chevy never offered a big-block with insane horsepower for the Camaro.

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In the mid-1960s, Pontiac came up with the awesome Banshee concept car that would have challenged the Corvette for sports car supremacy. GM nixed the project and gave the design to Chevy, where it went on to be the third generation C3 Corvette, so as a consolation prize, Pontiac was given their own version of the Camaro. Released months after the Camaro in ’67, the Pontiac Firebird dropped an F-Bomb on its F-Body cousin, with a sharper look and better power options. The 1969 Firebird Trans Am was the first 13-second car for GM, while the Camaro always ran in the 14s.

3

Chrysler E-Body Executioners

Barracuda/Challenger

Mopar was late to the pony car game, and when they finally got off the bench in 1970, the Golden Age of American Muscle was nearly over. That, in no way, detracts from the inherent awesomeness of the third-gen Plymouth Barracuda, which is arguably the perfect classic muscle car. More specifically, the 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda, which, as its name would suggest, was packing a 426 Street Hemi V-8 engine. The Hemi ‘Cuda was the quickest factory ride in the classic era and its design is so gorgeous, that it’s hard to stop staring at it.

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The 1970 Dodge Challenger was also a thing of beauty, as well as a doom-bringer on the streets, but for reasons that don’t quite make sense, just a few clicks slower than the Hemi ‘Cuda. Since both E-Body rides were introduced at the same time, it’s not a situation where one division got the other’s leftovers, and really, both were spectacular. Each car has its own unique sheet metal, and yet they look so similar that they could be mistaken for each other, like human identical twins. Trying to figure out which one is the “evil” twin is pointless because they are both so wicked.

2

Mopar’s B-Body Bad Boys

Coronet/Super Bee/Road Runner/GTX

The Mopar B-Body cars really were the muscle of the classic era. The intermediate platform had always hosted the baddest Dodge and Plymouth rides, from the Max Wedge Dart to the Hemi Belvedere, but in 1968 the B-Body cars got a major facelift to be the most intimidating rides of the Golden Age. We’ve already mentioned why the Charger is in a class of its own, but the Coronet Clan had numerous members. ’68 was also the year Chrysler decided that the 426 Street Hemi wondermill could only be equipped in dedicated muscle car nameplates, and for the rest of the decade, that was B-Body cars.

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The Coronet is the foundation for this amazing series of cars and the 1968 R/T was the quintessential Mopar muscle car with an aggressive stance and terrifying power. In a mid-model year update, Dodge introduced the Super Bee, which was a stripped-down version of the Coronet, and in 1969 the A12 package came with the legendary 440 Six Pack engine. Plymouth got its own version of the budget bruiser with the Road Runner, which got its equally legendary 440 6BBL V-8. On the other end of the spectrum was the upscale Plymouth GTX, which was marketed as the “gentleman’s muscle car”. Aside from the hoods and grills, the B-Body Quadruplets were all the same kind of awesome.

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1

GM’s Next-Gen Omni-Muscle A-Body Platform

Chevelle/GTO/GS/442

GM’s A-body cars were the backbone of the early classic muscle car craze and in 1968 they got a major refresh to finish out the Golden Age in killer style. GM had issued an edict banning its divisions from equipping engines larger than 400 cubic inches of displacement but mercifully rescinded it in 1970. While the first-wave GM muscle cars were no match for the Hemi and Six-Pack/6BBL Mopars, the post-ban rides were suddenly competitive. This, of course, begs the question as to why GM purposefully handicapped its vehicles for most of the Golden Age and conceded the streets to Dodge and Plymouth.

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With the ban lifted, all the GM divisions went bonkers with powerful big-block options. The 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS became the Horsepower King with the 454ci LS6 V-8 that cracked out a Hemi-topping 450 ponies. Also in ’70, the Oldsmobile finally got some cubic inches that exceeded its nameplate with a 455 V-8, while the GTO Judge was not only able to hold court but lay patches all over it with the Pontiac 455 V-8. The 1970 Buick GSX Stage seized control of the Torque Throne with a 455 that produced an apocalyptic 510 pound-feet. Like the Mopar B-bodies, the GM A-bodies were the cars that flexed their muscles the most during the Golden Age.