Going to get into it with Mr.P-body on PY forums.
A formidable opponet.
I hate the turn "pony car"

Check todays posts;

WHAT HEADS ARE REAL RAM AIR HEADS?

I get into this at least once a year, and refuse to give up

Real RA heads are round port... like the Edelbrocks on my 67.... If you want to include D port, then the 16/62's on my 9 are RA III.

I can see the D-port vs R-port arguement, but there were RA D-ports before RA R-ports...

It's like 'RA car' versus 'RA engine' debate that we had here. I took the side of engines being RA against a pack that said that it's the cars/hoods that are RA. My point was that the engines are the 'meat' of the equation not the hoods/cars. Much more to an RA engine than an RA hood.... IMO

I've always considered the terms evolved from culture rather than the industry. As such, there tends to be more blurred definitions.

Big engine versions of mid sized cars from multiple brands and multiple manufacturers emerged and eventually got defined as muscle cars.

Ford developed the sports car-like compact Mustang and the name pony car eventually stuck on all the me-toos of the other brands and manufacturers. In this case the pony car name includes both big engines and more economical small engines.

I'm happy having a pony car with a lot of muscle.

I believe the 'stigma' attached to the term 'pony car' is due to the horse term and Mustang being a horse. And then all the 'pony' parts on a Mustang.... If you take the Mustang out of the mix, pony car doesn't seem bad at all....
Some people believe that 'pony car' is synonamous with 'Mustang'.

When Mustangs 1st came out in 64, all the tv commercials had horses in them.
Next thing you know, all the magazine's are call'n them pony cars.

My brother had a 65 with a Pony interior....

I had a 2 pony cars in 69 a 67 Mustang and a 68 Firebird...

the "pony" expression I think its because its not a fullsize horse...its a smaller car than the Mid size Muscle cars...I agree w Mr P Body if thats what he`s saying...Muscvle cars were typicallymid size cars with big engines...when pony cars came out with the same size engines as Muscle cars(Firebird 400 and GTO for example)the pony cars blew the muscle cars away! So nothing to fret about....it was just tough for GTO salesmen in 69-70 to sell a muscle car that was slightly slower and more expensive than the Firebird!

check out Wikipedias explanation...and history behind the name...yes, Mustangs started the pony car platform... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_car

Pony car is at least just a derivative of the name Mustang. Just be thankful that culture did not confuse the "Mustang" brand name exactly for our cars like it has for Kleenex, Ipods, Frizbees, Jello, Xerox, Scotch Tape and a number of other product innovators and market leaders.

Remember - there is another common styling theme with the "pony" cars:

Long hood, short rear deck.

Call them fish cars. Barracudas beat mustangs to the showrooms in 64.

My opinion is that I'd just as soon not hear Firebirds refered to as "pony cars". It just sounds kind of gay to me. And yes, it makes one think of a mustang as well.

if you have a 6 cyl firebird it could be a pony car

if you have a 400 firebird i think it is a muscle car

As my father would have said, "They are all shark cars."

guys, we need to get on the same page here... this is a perfect opportunity...

"pony car", and the recent, "not a muscle car" label on us is all frontier jibberish (read (censored) (censored) man)... the Firebird was the upgrade in both performance and luxury to not only our brother Camaro, but also the cheap (entry level/working mans) Ford...

I'm not suggesting the we start putting down the Fords and Camaros but we SHOULD tactfully highlight our breed was the shet..

WHAT???????????????????????????????????????????????

I resemble that remark.

Then what would the in betweener's (326/350 HOs) be called? Quarter horses...?

"Real" RA heads are the 670, 97/997 for 67 with the pads machined down for a taller installed spring height.

In 68, #31 D port and #96 Round Port.

In 69 #48 D port and 722 Round Ports.

You also had the #44 tunnel port RAV.

There is NO exclusivity as to which are "real" and which are not. "RA" was a sales ploy.


The round port RA heads were the rarest and highest performing head though.

Do not get caught up in that Ram Air BS. It was a sales ploy, jargon, rhetoric...etc.

Banshee, dont forget 12's and 13's. Both 70 RA.
And 16's and 62's where darn near the same.
But the 48's did use heavier duty springs.

Specifically left out all those you name above and all for a specific reason.

Or maybe it was the 12's that used the HD springs.

well if it has muscle i would call it a muscle car