This document summarizes the history of vintage and muscle cars from the 1950s through the 1970s. It describes the evolution of popular models like the Chevy Bel Air and Impala, Ford Mustang, and Dodge Charger through each decade as engines and designs grew more powerful. The muscle car era peaked in the late 1960s with iconic high-performance variants but then lost popularity in the 1970s due to gas rationing, ending around 1974. The document encourages capturing another era or time period through digital photography to tell its story.

1. A digital photographer’s view of
Vintage & Muscle Cars of the
‘50s ‘60s ‘70s
Vintage Cars of the Years Gone By

2. In the ‘40s and ‘50s the flathead V-8 was the king of the road

3. In 1955 the hottest car that came off the assembly line was the
55 Chevy Bel Air

4. The next year...
56 Chevy Bel Air

5. … And the next year
57 Chevy Bel Air

6. The 57 Chevy was indicative of the Atomic Age era
with the addition of fins

7. 1959 was the last year for the fins
59 Chevy

8. Muscle Cars
of the
‘60s
The 1960s were about to get fast and loud!

9. Chevrolet’s answer to the 1960s was the Impala...

10. ...And The Beach Boys made the car famous with
“She’s So Fine My 409”

11. The first recognized Muscle Car was the
64 GTO
Stands for Gran Turismo Omologato

12. Most popular and the largest production of any car was the…
64 Mustang

13. Chrysler got it right with the most powerful motor, the
426 Hemi...

14. ...But they put the motor in the ugliest of cars.
However, they were the FASTEST on the street!

15. Dodge and Plymouth started creating attractive cars with the
68 Hemi Roadrunner
Meep Meep!

16. ...And the
68 R/T Hemi Charger

17. Chevrolet’s answer to the competition was the
68 Chevelle Super Sport 396...

18. ...And the
68 Camaro Super Sport

19. Ford’s answer to the competition was the
68 Mustang Fastback GT
The car that made Steve McQueen famous

20. ...And the
Torino Cobra

21. Muscle Cars
of the
‘70s
With the gas rationing of the 1970s
Muscle Cars gradually lost its momentum and popularity

22. Chevrolet had one last go with the
1970 Chevelle SS…
Can you say 454!

23. ...And the
1970 El Camino SS...

24. ...And the
1970 Nova SS...

25. In 1970 Ford introduced the
Ford Mustang Mach 1

26. With the introduction to the 70’s the new
Dodge Challenger
wooed the masses

27. ...And so would the
1974 Dodge Dart Demon
One of the last production Muscle cars of this era

28. The Muscle Car era
ended in 1974...
...But they are not forgotten.
Now it is your turn to capture an era or time period of either:
• Art movement
• Vintage objects
• Anything you can capture with a camera that can tell a story

29. Digital Photography by
Greg Andrade 2014©
Dr. George Vintage Car Show
La Quinta, California
Special Thanks to:
YouTube
American Muscle Car©
Ford, Chrysler, Chevrolet
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