Time machine time: What five muscle cars would you take for your own?

Sometimes it’s illogical to think about things like ‘time machines’ but we have all contemplated the possibilities if they existed. Let’s just propose for one moment that you could turn back the clock. What five muscle cars would you grab the keys to?
One a special Friday edition of Time Machine Time, I’m giving you my chosen list of the five cars that I would go back and make my own, given the possibility of time travel of course.
I was raised in a house full of muscle car lovers. My dad owned GTOs and my mom owned everything from a Super Bee to a Charger. I remember going to car shows and working on carburetors early in life. My first car was a modern day muscle car (fox-body Mustang)  and for as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of hitting that big ticket lottery number to be able to purchase the rides to fill my dream garage. My dream garage would have A LOT of ‘muscle cars’. The classic style and performance of those certain cars built between 1960 and 1974 are still yearned for today.

5. 1969 Dodge Charger R/T-SE
During the early-1960s, all automakers were scrambling to try to perfect the line between luxury and performance. Dodge wanted to create a car to compete with Ford’s Mustang and Thunderbird. In mid-1966 the Charger was introduced and the fastback roared it’s way into fandom. The Dukes of Hazzard TV show only fueled the later popularity of the Charger. Much like the General Lee, my Dodge Charger would be High Performance Orange.

4. 1966 AC Cobra 427 aka the Shelby Cobra

The automotive mastermind Carroll Shelby took a AC Ace two-seater roadster and paired it with a Ford small block V8 engine to produce a completely new performance vehicle that caused the people in the Corvette department at Chevrolet to sweat.

3. 1968 Oldsmobile 442

Read all about the Oldsmobile 442 on  Wolverine’s Wednesday Whips: 1960s Oldsmobile 442.

2. 1967 Pontiac GTO

The GTO is an award winning muscle car which started the trend of offering a variety of competing models amongst the big four auto manufacturers. This aspect of the company made the Pontiac GTO a huge hit. The Pontiac GTO came in a hardtop, convertible and a sports coupe body style with a 400 0r 455 CID V8.  The V8s well over 300  HP unleashed their fan base to enormous proportions. My dad owned a 1967 Pontiac Lemans, which was one of the optional packages available at that time. I grew up hearing of how my dad wished that he had never sold his LeMans and I really wish that he had not as well.

1. 1967 Ford Mustang GTO-500

From 1965 to 1968, Carroll Shelby (yes the same guy that created my number 4 choice) modified the already popular 1960s Mustangs. He took the already beautiful car and modified almost everything about the car. I was always in love with Mustangs but a certain car in Nicolas Cage’s movie Gone in 60 Seconds, made me completely go gaga for the classic muscle car. One look at the car and you’ll be in love too.

So what muscle car would be in your garage if you could go turn back the hands of time?