Plymouth's little compact Valiant, with new skin and a huge rear window, became a hot item - once the 383s, 440s and 426 Hemi engines found their way under the hood. Its cousin from Dodge, the Challenger, was an upscale hot rod with as much luxury as performance.

The 1964 GTO is the one that started the whole Detroit Musclecar craze - but it almost never happened. GM's corporate policy wouldn't allow such a lightweight car with such a huge engine, but Pontiac "finessed" the rules by making the GTO an option to the Tempest Le Mans. The cost of this option? Oh, about two hundred bucks.