«Europeans» with «biceps»: how purely American cars appeared in Europe

«Muscle car» - the very word breathes something American. A class of cars from America in the 60s and 70s, which was born to attract attention and destroy rubber. Brakes are purely nominal, the steering wheel is only to hold on to, comfort and practicality are for the weak. The roar of a voluminous engine, the shine of chrome and hair back - this is the philosophy of the ideal muscle car, a car with muscles. But was there anything similar in the more restrained Old World? Small, quiet European streets would seem to be no place for wide and deafening cars, but their interesting specimens appeared there too. Let's take a look at some of them.

1. Jensen Interceptor

A thoroughbred Briton, with all the pros and cons that come from this fact. The car met all the criteria of a muscle car, except for one - price. The British, as usual, did not look at a wide audience, but from the start decided to conquer the powers that be and relied on luxury and comfort. And indeed, the car initially interested many wealthy celebrities, but at a price comparable to the Porsche 911 and Jaguar E-Type, it quickly faded into the shadows. The creators managed to make a muscle car, but they forgot about one of the main ingredients - the price.

2. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Flashy - that's how you can describe this car in one word. Controversial but attractive design, roaring exhaust with cutoffs and the famous «gullwing» doors - with such a set it is simply impossible to go unnoticed. And the supercharged V8 with 571 hp, 3.8 seconds to hundreds with a maximum speed of 317 km/h complemented the image of a wild beast. And yes, it also cost a lot at the time, but Mercedes-Benz is not Jensen Motors, you don't need to look closely at their brainchild, you need to take it while others haven't snatched it up.

3. Ford Capri

A model authored by the European division of Ford. After the «Mustang» sold over 2 million cars, Ford decided that Europe needed its own version. Not as rough and brutal as the original, but still able to show everyone around who's the bad guy here. The history of the Capri came to an end with the advent of «hot hatches», however, until 2015, the Capri remained the dream of «blue collars».

4. Aston Martin Vantage V600

A great example of the slight madness of engineers in pursuit of horsepower. The original GT car with 330 hp received 2 powerful superchargers, resulting in a poorly controlled monster with 600 horsepower under the hood. At that time, everyone except the McLaren F1 could envy such figures. Of course, the rear-wheel drive could not realize the full power of the engine, the idea was initially dubious, but the car produced its 4.6 seconds to hundreds, while even having some kind of rear row and trunk.

5. Mercedes-Benz 300E 6.0 AMG

Another brainchild of German engineers, but it got into the list precisely because of the AMG version. Strictly speaking, AMG became the «court» studio of Mercedes after working on this car. The car is as unlike a muscle car as possible - a four-door heavy E-class sedan. But after the AMG modification of the 6-liter V8, which is already rare for Europe, in 1984 the car was able to accelerate to 296 km/h, which even supercars of that time could not do. This Mercedes earned the nickname Hummer and the glory of a car in which «it is cramped in the city, and scary on the highway».

And these are not all the cars that could be mentioned. There was also De Tomaso Pantera, Jaguar F-Type R, Aston Martin Vantage V12, and many others, you can't fit them all into one article. It's a little sad that nowadays the formula «rear-wheel drive + huge power + low price» is a thing of the past, and the market has been captured by crossovers.