What Makes A Hot Rod / Muscle Car?

Here is a philosophy question for all your gear heads, grease monkeys and torque jockeys.

What makes a hot rod or a muscle car?  What constitutes a "classic"?

As far as car history goes true Muscle cars came out of the 60's and early 70's.

Muscle cars offer speed, raw power and sex appeal.  In the turbulent 1960's and 70's this affordable joy rider's dream provided a few speedy moments of relief from the sobering realities of the day.  This was freedom personified; the classic paradigm of the American Dream shifted from the notion of a free roaming cowboy perched upon a loyal horse to a monster engine within a sleek vehicle that unleashed horsepower upon a blackened pavement.

The oil crisis of the 1970’s, too many, ended the era of the muscle car and hot rod.  But the mindset was never lost and special cars once again appeared.  Mustang GT/Cobra, Viper, Camaros and Trans Ams.  With high-performance suspensions, tires and engines the new breed could compete with the “classic”.

What takes this topic out of nostalgia and into the realm of philosophy is what the average person envisions when they think of a hot rodder.  Late nights, a do-it-yourself ethic, hand-done and a willingness to get dirty to create their own custom ride.  I call that the “pride of ownership”.  Anyone can buy a small car off a lot from some greasy-haired salesman but to work on and build up your own mode of transportation is to understand the nature of human and machine interaction.

So in that regard it is 2008.  As nations turn to alternative fuels and a “green-living”.  Where does that leave the classic grease monkey who loves to rod out and race his Nova?  Sports cars have the aura of speed and power but project the notion of class that is bought rather than earned.  Ultra-modern, hi-tech and sleek future cars such as the Tesla may end up being the sports cars of the future.  It has the power and speed to compete with a fossil fueled beast.  But the nature of technology is expense.

Could you envision a future, perhaps only 30, 40 or 50 years away, in which young-adults who want a speed thrill rod their…. Gasp… electric cars?!  Could that be an era of Neo-Muscle Car or Neo-Hot Rodding? For example; homemade and custom batteries, custom chassis and custom methodology to get more power from electricity.  Think of the ultra-modern Wrightspeed X-1 prototype.  After all, electric cars predated the gasoline combustion engine.  

By name a muscle car is a universal embodiment of power, Americana personified within pumping engines and excitement at your hands and feet.  It is visceral, it is ethereal, but is it anachronistic?

So what makes a muscle car or hot rod?  Is it the person who builds it, their skills, determination and dreams or is it simply an era in history and adherence to a classical “look”?  I may have posted this topic but I’m still formulating my own opinion.   This question was originally proposed by a friend of mine so I’m curious as to what reader’s responses will be.