Born to Perform: The Era of the Muscle Car

Location Larry and Earlene Baum Muscle Car Gallery
Exhibit Dates Permanent
# of Vehicles 23

Feel The Power

From Super Bees to Chevelles and everything in between, step into an era where the engines were big and their performance was bigger! Special thanks to our guest curators for this display – Dan Jensen, Gary Plowman, and Scott Tiemann!

Take A Peek Inside

A Taste of What You’ll See

1970 Ford Torino 429 Cobra Jet

The Torino was produced by Ford Motor Company for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. Most Torinos were conventional cars, and generally the most popular models were the 4-door sedans and 2-door hardtops. However, Ford produced some high-performance versions of the Torino by fitting them with large powerful engines, such as the 428 cu in (7.0 L) and 429 cu in (7.0 L) "Cobra Jet" engines, making them competitive in the era of the muscle car.

1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi

Introduced in 1970, the Challenger was Dodge’s response to the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. The Dodge Challenger and Plymouth’s Barracuda were both built on the new E-body platform and Chrysler designed the E-body to utilize any of their engines, from a Slant-Six to the massive Hemi.

1967 Shelby GT500 Prototype

Often referred to as a V738-2, this preproduction engineering prototype was completed on February 4, 1966 - a full 6 months before any 1967 production Mustangs were built. It was used by Ford for a variety of engineering tests before being shipped to California and transformed into a preproduction 1967 Shelby GT500 prototype.