US
10 OF THE HIGHEST HORSEPOWER MUSCLE CARS EVER MADE
BY AZZIEF KHALIQ AUG. 1, 2024 9:30 AM EST
Ford
The modern age of the muscle car as we know it is over. That much is plain to see. Chrysler’s ending production of the iconic third-generation HEMI V8 — and with it, the Challenger and Charger as we know it — to replace it with six-cylinder and electric power in cars like the Dodge Charger Daytona and Sixpack, while rival Chevrolet is putting the Camaro on ice before a potential return as an EV. The Corvette arguably isn’t much of a muscle car anymore, either, after it went mid-engined in 2020.
In fact, it looks like Ford will soon be the only one of the Big Three still building traditional muscle cars after CEO Jim Farley ruled out an all-electric coupe Mustang in a 2024 interview. But even he wouldn’t rule out some level of electrification, stating that hybrid powertrains might be the way forward for high-performance driving.
With all of these changes in the cards, there probably hasn’t ever been a better time to look back and celebrate all the crazy high-horsepower production muscle cars that have graced the streets over the past couple decades. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and appreciate some of the greatest fruits of the horsepower wars.
Ford Mustang Dark Horse — 500 hp
Ford
Ford’s Mustang Dark Horse is the latest addition to the Mustang family, and the highest-horsepower version of its seventh-generation 2024 Mustang. The Dark Horse takes the latest Mustang’s updated engines, digitalized interior, and refreshed styling to the next level.
The sixth-generation Mustang topped out — at least, in solely Ford-badged guise — with the limited edition Mustang Mach 1, which made 480 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. But the Dark Horse one-ups the Mach 1 with 500 hp and 418 lb-ft of torque coming from a tweaked version of Ford’s legendary 5.0-liter Coyote V8. Ford took a page out of the sixth-gen Ford Shelby Mustang GT500’s playbook for the Dark Horse, reusing the piston connecting rods from that 5.2-liter V8. The Dark Horse’s Coyote V8 also sports a dual throttle-body intake, which allegedly helps the engine breathe better.
The 500 hp helps 60 mph come in 3.7 seconds, while the quarter-mile passes by in 12 seconds at 118.4 mph, according to MotorTrend’s testing. Not the quickest car on our list, but other upgrades such as MagneRide suspension, a Tremec six-speed transmission, an optional Handling Pack, and carbon fiber wheels make it a capable car on twisty tracks as well.
The Mustang Dark Horse is one of the few cars on this list still in production at the time of writing. Prices start at $60,365, and Ford also sells an even more expensive, track-only Dark Horse R for the well-heeled Mustang fan.
Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 (fifth-generation) — 505 hp
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The fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro bowed out with a resurrected Camaro Z/28, the first time that Chevrolet had used the model name since 2002. The Camaro Z/28 was only available for the final two years of fifth-gen Camaro production — 2014 and 2015 — and was second in the horsepower stakes only to the 580-hp fifth-gen ZL1, with 505 hp and 481 lb-ft of torque coming from a 7.0-liter LS7 engine — one of the best LS engine generations ever.
But while the Camaro Z/28 may have lost out in pure horsepower, Chevrolet engineers were chasing a very different goal. The Z/28 was conceived as a track monster, with weight-saving measures allied to components such as Multimatic Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve dampers, extra-wide Pirelli PZero Trofeo R tires, Brembo carbon ceramic brakes, and a new aero kit for increased downforce. It didn’t have the raw power of the ZL1, but the changes made the Z/28 the better car to drive — it was even good enough to win MotorTrend’s Best Driver’s Car award in 2014.
The Camaro Z/28 was still plenty fast, too. 0 to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds is impressive even in 2024, and its quarter-mile time of 12.3 seconds at 117.2 mph — both as tested by MotorTrend — competes with all but the highest-horsepower versions of Dodge’s Charger and Challenger muscle cars. Sadly, Chevrolet opted not to bring the Z/28 back for the Camaro’s sixth generation.
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 (sixth-generation) — 650 hp
Ominae/Wikimedia Commons
Out of all the Chevrolet Camaro trim levels or models to ever exist, the ZL1 has to be the king of the hill. While it started life as a semi-official COPO Camaro in 1969, Chevrolet would eventually embrace the ZL1 brand for the fifth and sixth-generation Camaros, resulting in some of the highest-horsepower Camaros to ever hit the streets.
The fifth-generation ZL1 already had an impressive 580 hp thanks to a supercharged 6.2-liter LSA V8, one of the most powerful engines ever put in a Camaro. Chevrolet didn’t stop there, though, and took things a step further when it debuted the sixth-gen Camaro ZL1 in 2017 with a supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8 — an improvement over the already-powerful LT1 used in the 1SS and 2SS Camaros — rated at 650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque under the hood.
Chevrolet claimed a 0 to 60 mph time of 3.5 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 11.4 seconds, with the sixth-gen ZL1 crossing the finish line at an impressive 127 mph. The ZL1 wasn’t all brawn, though, with features like a Magnetic Ride suspension, Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires, an electronic limited-slip differential, and high-spec Brembo brakes all contributing to create a well-rounded car — one that contemporary reviewers compared favorably to hoity-toity continental sports cars from the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
The Camaro ZL1 is still in production, although 2024 is the last year you can buy one in its current form. Prices start from $72,100.
[Image by Ominae via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]
Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing — 668 hp
Cadillac
General Motors’ supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 — which first debuted in the 2015 Corvette Z06 — did wonders in the Camaro ZL1’s engine bay, so it’s not surprising that it turned to the engine again for the 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. But Cadillac didn’t just drop the exact same engine into the CT5-V’s engine bay: Instead, the CT5-V’s LT4 makes 668 hp and 659 lb-ft of torque, putting it ahead of the Camaro ZL1 and earning it the title of the fastest and most powerful production Cadillac ever when it debuted.
Cadillac claimed 0 to 60 mph and quarter-mile times of 3.4 and 11.3 seconds, respectively — impressive results that were echoed in MotorTrend’s tests. But Cadillac wasn’t just after straight-line speed with the CT5-V. To prove the car’s on-track credentials, Cadillac Arabia strapped current F1 Academy driver Amna Al Qubaisi behind the wheel in 2022, asking her to send it around the famous Yas Marina circuit. The Blackwing earned another accolade in the process, its 2:20:98-second lap making it the fastest production sedan to ever lap the circuit.
It’s a record that still stands, as far as we can tell — although that may just be because no other company has felt the need to challenge it. Still, the CT5-V Blackwing’s lap isn’t anything to sneeze at, especially considering it has four doors and weighs over 4,000 pounds. The Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is alive and well, with Cadillac announcing a mostly aesthetic 2025 refresh in early 2024; you can make one yours starting from $93,495.
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C8) — 670 hp
Chevrolet
The modern Corvette is a big departure from its forebears, with a mid-engined layout that arguably places it in the same rarefied atmosphere as the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the world. Muscle cars, after all, don’t do mid-engined layouts. But to deny the Corvette muscle car status would be a disservice to the heritage of iconic Chevrolet Corvettes like the C3
