The reason some folks get in a twist over the subject of muscle cars is a misunderstanding of the definition of a muscle car.
By definition a muscle car must be:
-An intermediate body with a large displacement engine.
-The body/engine must be part of a package.
-The car must be badged.
I, too, believe that many cars with lots of muscle preceded the '64 GTO but they don't fit the qualifications stated above.
If you choose to ignore the contemporary definition, any car with excess power can be called a muscle car.
To my knowledge, the first use of the word "muscle" to describe a car was in an article written by the automotive writer Tom McCahill. Writing in Popular Mechanics after a road test of the '55 Chrysler B300 he stated "at last Detroit has produced a car with true muscle."
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