I have some books and magazines about muscle cars. Most of them are from 1964 to 1972, but I have never seen Starsky and Hutch´s car (Ford Torino). It seems a very fast car from the late seventies but it is never mentioned in any book or magazine.
shareNo, it was just a mid-sized sedan (or two-door coupe) in it's time. Huge, by today's standards, but a full-sized car back then would be those enormous Galaxy 500s used for the police cars. The Torino used for the show had no special engine and was not so great going up hills and such. It was just a fancy stripe and wheels with a slight rake to give it a sporty look. Any enthusiast can turn such an ordinary car into a muscle car with a better engine, but it was no Mustang in reputation back then.
Be sure to keep up with http://www.starskytorino.com/ for all the Torino goodies.
My family has owned one of these cars since 1976 and I just drove it two days ago so trust me when I say I know A LOT about these cars.
I would say Torinos, depending on the model and how they were equipted, could definitely be called muscle cars. I would say the 1972 and 1973 Gran Torino Sports were the last Torinos you could consider muscle cars. These could be ordered with a Hurst 4-speed shifter, a functional Ram-Air hood (extremely rare and only in '72), a 351 or 429 cubic inch V8, and Magnum 500 wheels. These are the same body style as the Starsky and Hutch cars, the main difference being the front and rear bumpers and grille. These cars were not as hot as previous models like the '71 Super Cobra Jet with the drag pack, or the made for Nascar '68 Torino Talledega, but I would say the '72's and '73's are still muscle cars.
I drove a bone stock '76 Gran Torino with a 400 cid engine, and I have to say it was way disappointing. These are heavy cars, it takes a lot to get them going. If you work on them and throw a lot of money into performance parts, ya you can be fast. But, to answer your question, I would have to say stock '74-'76 Torinos are not really muscle cars.
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Starsky's car was just another case of Hollywood not knowing what the hell they were doing. While there was nothing particularly wrong with a mid '70s Torino in its day, even most Ford guys picked something else if they wanted performance. The '70-'71 Torinos were better looking, and more performance oriented. Jim Rockford's Firebird Formulas were closer to the mark.
shareIf you asked PMG, he'd say it was the worst car ever. He hated it and tried to wreck it every chance he got. However, the ones used in the Stiller/Wilson film were very superior to the TV cars. Upwards of 600HP and sport tuned suspensions. Had they had the budget & technology in the '70s to customize the cars, I'm sure PMG would have enjoyed driving them much more.
shareNo it's not a muscle car. For starters, acceleration was a joke. If you look closely at Starsky's car peeling out, they couldn't even smoke the tires. Those noises were pure sound effects.
I have a 1974 issue of Motor Trend that tested a fully loaded Gran Torino Brougham 4 door with the 460 c.i. V-8. It did 0-60 in 9 seconds, though they said it had nice torque. Admittedly it probably weighed a few hundreds more than the S&H car.
Still, you get the general idea of how bad things had gotten by 1974. There were a few other GM and Chrysler products that were still considered "muscle cars." But big Fords -- any Fords, even the Mustang -- had stopped being performance vehicles by then. Ford power steering in the Seventies was awful. They were heavy and the suspensions were mushy and set for a nice ride. Big tires and air shocks only did so much.
Nowadays you can do all kinds of amazing things with engines and suspensions to turn those old boats into muscle cars, which is why there are so many nice Striped Tomato replicas. But back then, there were good reasons Glaser hated that car. My 10-year-old, 4-cyl Nissan Altima with 110K miles could outrun the Torino on a straight or twisty road. And a real modern performance car would just kill it.
If you look closely at Starsky's car peeling out, they couldn't even smoke the tires. Those noises were pure sound effects.I remember reading a magazine article in the '70s about the show (I think it was TV Guide). It mentioned that they deliberately underinflated the tires so it would be easy to make them squeal at low speeds.
It certainly looked like one, so I think it was. Plus it was a Ford and they had some bad ass engines back in the 70s
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