Today Soul Revolver is going rogue and we’re going to talk about a passion of ours: Classic American Muscle & Pony cars. Now we get that not everyone is a car geek, so we’ll start by telling you that a muscle car basically describes an American automobile with lots of power, modest weight, blazing acceleration and great design. The Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as ‘any of a group of American-made, 2-door, mid-size cars with powerful engines designed for high performance driving’. These powerful muscle cars thrive on their large naturally aspirated V8 engines, as opposed to say a Japanese turbocharged engine of today. Really hope we’re not losing you here – for those that are scratching their heads, rest assured it gets more reader friendly! The engine is fitted in a stylish 2-door, rear-wheel drive, mid-size cars designed for four passengers. These cars were affordable, family-sized and eye-catchingly cool. They were the epitome of the 1960s hip era.

What makes muscle cars so alluring, in addition to their speed and power, is the whole rebel backstory that surrounded them in the 60s. These cars were completely ‘happening’ and dialed into the hip, fashionable, politically ambiguous 60s culture. These muscle cars were total eye candy with image being a huge component by which to attract these image conscious 60s youngsters. But what really struck a chord was what these cars began to stand for – a form of rebellion: against the government, against the politics, against what was considered the norm, what was expected. It was an era of do-your-own-thing and these cars were doing it with aplomb; bright colours, bold stripes, imaginative cool names, you name it – they had it going on. Colour names like Plum Crazy, White Knuckle & Octane Red gave these cars big personalities.

It was this image that appealed to youngsters, who drag raced on streets, defying the law, rebelling against the authorities in a way which was considered hip at the time. There was a whole muscle car street scene that helped propel muscle cars into folklore. ‘Detroit’s Woodward Avenue’ was one of the more popular spots for outlaw street racing – it became an unofficial proving ground for the enthusiast who had spent hours in their garage tinkering the car to push out a little more horsepower, to boost the performance wherever possible. Many of these ‘law-abiding’ automakers tacitly encouraged such ‘research’ and in fact some even participated! After-all everyone else was there, so why not see what you were up against? As for manufacturers who didn’t make the street-scene – well that also got around!

This underground support is part of the muscle car lore. In an era of Beatles, pop art, mod fashion, leather jackets, Rock n Roll, divisive politics; the ever-evolving car makers had figured out how to connect to this generation and era, via these cars, making the youth feel as if they had taken back some of the control and consequently helped to propel these muscle cars into history.

Sadly, in the 1970s, with the rise of federal regulations and a push to reduce vehicle emissions, the muscle cars popularity slowly waned, as political correctness and safety priorities took over. The once giddy automakers were having an impossible time keeping the power and getting rid of the smog and thus; the now touted, unreliable, dangerous and environmentally harmful muscle cars slowly started to go into decline and eventually all but disappeared.

But, happy thoughts, even though it took a while, a new golden age for Muscle Cars has arrived! And they are better than ever. Not only do they have the style of their ancestors, they have greater speed, better handling along with excellent safety, are more reliable and even have decent fuel economy! The new Mustang, for example, is more considerate these days with the ability to lower the exhaust decibels so as not to wake the neighbours. Aw, how thoughtful, not so rock n roll though. And that leads us into our choice of three of our favourite classic muscle cars that have returned with a vengeance;

Ford Mustang

Perhaps one of the most recognised and important car of the muscle car era was the Ford Mustang. If any deserved the ‘car of the year award’ it would be Ford’s Mustang. The Mustang within its first day on sale alone, sold to 22,000 orders! Within the end of the first year an eye watering 418,812 mustangs had been sold. A record that has yet to be equaled. In 1965 the Mustang became available as a new fastback model, the now iconic 1965 Shelby GT. The 120 horsepower, 200 cid 6 cylinder engine replaced the previous 170 cid 6 cylinder; the 289-2V, 200 horsepower V-8 replaced the 260-2V, the 289-4V was upgraded to 225 horsepower. Basically, the Mustang just got bigger, better, faster and more importantly more stylish with additional stripes. This new car attracted even more attention than before and Hollywood, which had already debuted the car in James Bond, soon came knocking again giving the Mustang a starring role in many big budget movies such as the now iconic Bullitt starring Steve McQueen. Its appeal was clear to see, it mirrored the stylish 60s and had an aura of cool that was now being associated with leading men in Hollywood.

The Mustang, although never completely gone away, was revived in its new reincarnated self in 2005. This redesign saw the Mustang return to its former glory with head-turning beauty. But let’s talk about today and, in particular, about where the Mustang is at, at this precise moment in time. Well a tribute to the original 1968 Bullitt Mustang has been launched in 2019, as a limited edition of the current Mustang GT. Steve McQueen would be proud of this beautiful green coloured Bullitt, with a 5.0-litre V8 engine from the GT, but with a power upgrade: the Bullitt Mustang has at least 475 horsepower (8 hp more than the GT) and 420 lb-ft (570Nm) of torque, for a, wait for it, maximum speed of 163 mph (262km/h). Some of its features include: white cue ball shift knob as a nod to the original, a combining Mustang GT Premium and performance package, black leather vintage style seats and amongst many other amazing features comes with a heated leather steering wheel and digital gauges. Need we say more. A car that actually cares about our well-being as well as making us look so much better than we are? Sold.

Lets start with the absolute obvious and tell you that a car like this deserves you to make a little bit of effort in how you look too. Its style can carry you through but why not look like you deserve to be in such a car and put on our olive green Wesley leather jacket: a beautiful construct, made with our signature Italian lambskin leather. This 2019 version Mustang is a beautiful car - but stand out for more than one reason.

Dodge Challenger

The ‘Challenger’ saw the light of day in 1970 and was designed as a response to the Ford Mustang, the best-seller of the time. It was a worthy opponent with Dodge muscle cars coming at the top and winning regularly at America’s dragstrips, showing off their Muscle car prowess to the fullest. The Dodge Challenger had the full-on muscle car treatment being offered with every performance engine in their arsenal (look away if engines and stats are not your thing): 340 four-barrel, 340 six pack (three two-barrel carbs), 383 Magnum, 440 Magnum, 440 Six pack and 426 Hemi V-8's. As well as the immense power the car offered, it also led in the style stakes – coming in an array of flamboyant colours, stripes and trims. There was no way that driving this baby wouldn’t get you noticed! We believe the 1970 Dodge Challenger is the epitome of muscle car design, a work of art.

The Modern Challenger hit the market back in 2007 and unlike its notable opponents, the Mustang and Chevrolet who seem to update their cars more regularly, there isn’t too much difference between the current 2019 version Dodge and the ‘07 version. Then again, why mess with perfection? The Dodge depends on the sheer power it offers to attract sales. The Challenger offers more power than its competitors with many different engine choices. Check out the Hellcat Redeye for example with its 6.2L supercharged Hemi SRT V8 with 797hp. This is no less than a Nascar on the road. The Challenger presents the old powerful 60s inspired power-performing muscle car, for today. What you have is a new car, with new technology, comfort and gadgetry but with the essence of what made the Dodge so amazing all those years ago, with unique retro lines and the absolute distinct muscle car feel of yesteryears.

This is the very principle by which we at Soul Revolver design our jackets on. Jackets of the 1970s had great style but so many of them didn’t fit great, the leather wasn’t high quality or the lining had perished. At Soul Revolver we design jackets that share this classic ethos but our Italian leather is of a much higher quality, it is softer, more beautiful and made to last. Our jackets, much like the cars, are timeless - they could belong in any era. Well ok, maybe not any era, not sure the Elizabethans and Victorians would warm to our jackets. But from the 50s onwards our jackets could grace and compliment just about anyone. If you’re inspired by the flamboyance and sheer power of the Dodge, then consider our racer jackets: The Hybrid or Frankenstein. The Hybrid comes with subtle red sleeve bands and comes in three different shades so that you can stand out from the crowd. Or for something different, be bold and go for the striking Frankenstein, with stripes running vertically down the front of the jacket – emulate the flamboyance and confidence of the Challenger!

Chevrolet Camaro

The Chevrolet, made in 1966, was another car, designed to be competitive with the ever-popular Mustang. It had been code-named Panther, cool right? Then a change of heart later, a few phone calls and press conferences later, the Panther name was put to bed and the now newly named Camaro was introduced. When the press asked what a Camaro was, Mr Chevrolet responded: ‘A small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs.’ This first generation Camaro was introduced in 1967 and was available with multiple engine choices (again look away if this is painful), including, a 6.5-litre V-8 engine. This car wasn’t a show pony and it came into existence with much less fanfare and drama than the Mustang and Dodge. But it won the crowd over with beautiful aesthetics and its excellent performance. The Camaro survived for three generations until it was discontinued in 2002.

But it was back with a bang in 2007 when the hero’s car in the movie ‘Transformers’ was based on the Chevrolet Camaro concept. As the years have travelled, so too has this car – and it’s no longer playing catch up to the Mustang, but now stands shoulder to shoulder in its own right. The latest edition is a modern classic.

If you want to match this new Camaro vibe, then try one of our Soul Revolver deep red leather jackets. Go for the red version of the Cyclops leather jacket, it has a natural vintage feel with subtle 60s minimal detailing and a vertical black racer stripe. On the other hand, if you want to emphasise the vintage look, then the red Wraith leather jacket may be more your style. With this jacket, just like the new updated Chevrolet Camaro, you’re getting the full-deal: slim-fit, 70s influenced collar and great detailing with the angled seams.

If you’ve made it this far, then well done – we're incredibly impressed and thank you. Perhaps you’re a car buff whose sheer enthusiasm kept you going or perhaps you were just wanting to know what on earth cars had to do with leather jackets. The answer is nothing and everything. We love vintage in all its forms and have a true love of vintage cars that is only ever so slightly second to our love of leather jackets. We love cars and we love leather jackets – it was just that simple.