The saying, they don't make em like they used to certainly applies to the so-called power cars of today. And while there performance may be impressive, there was simply nothing like the powerful muscle cars of the 1960's, particularly those considered the best muscle cars ever made,  the 1969 Pontiac GTO, the 1969 Dodge Charger RT, and the 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
 
What is a muscle car you may ask? Generally speaking, it's a term used for an American made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines that are designed for high-performance driving. Usually the engines were the large, V-8 variety and were used quite frequently for drag racing, given the muscle car's ability to accelerate at a very high rate.
 
The development of muscle cars as we know them started in the early 1950s and progressed through a series of designs that reached their peak in the late 1960's with the aforementioned Mustang, Charger, and GTO models. These weren't cheap muscle cars, but their performance, power, and speed became legendary.
 
1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500: The popular Mustang line is still in production today, but the legendary 1967 Shelby GT500 is still one of the most sought after cars by collectors and sport car fans alike. The term Shelby comes from the plant in which this particular Mustang line was manufactured.

 
This particular model benefitted from the previous two, highly success years where the Ford Shelby was considered one of the best muscle cars ever made. The 1967 GT500 was introduced featuring a 428 police interceptor and became the ultimate Mustang model. By the following year, Ford had moved production of the Mustang line away from the Shelby plant.
 
1969 Pontiac GTO: The GTO had initially hit the market one year earlier and was highly successful. The 69 model kept the 350hp, 400CID V8 engine stayed for the economy models, while the 360hp was upgraded to the Ram Air II, which featured a high-rise aluminum intake manifold, and many other powerful features.
 
However, most fans remember the introduction of The Judge GTO in 1969, which featured all the gimmicks to make it a somewhat more expensive, yet highly sought after muscle car. The name was based on a popular skit from Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in which the phrase, Here come the Judge became a standard in pop culture.
 
1969 Dodge Charger R/T: This muscle car carried a distinctive front end and is still today a very recognizable vehicle. Perhaps it's most famous for being the main car in the popular 1970's series The Dukes of Hazzard in which every week the Duke boys would race, jump, and get away from the authorities thanks to their Dodge Charger.
 
The rapid decline of the manufacturing of muscle cars began in the early 1970's when a combination of safety concerns along with the OPEC oil embargo of 1973. Americans turned away from the gas-guzzling muscle cars to vehicles with better mileage performance.  But for many, the American dream could be typified by owning and driving a powerful muscle car down the highway, like the Pontiac GTO, Dodge Charger, and Ford Shelby Mustang.