Muscle cars got all of the ink in the '60s; those big engines in intermediate bodies captured the psyche of a car-crazed nation. But it’s easy to forget that all that talk about dropping a full-size-car engine into a midsize body meant that these engines also lived in roomier full-size cars. Not that much bigger than a midsize, all things considered, the full-size line often allowed greater comfort to mix in with the high-performance powerplant beneath that long hood. There was still plenty of performance potential, with a little less wear and tear on the driver to show for it.
By the early '70s, high-performance anything was thin on the ground, so big cars shedding their performance roots came as no real surprise. That leaves the late '60s as the high-performance full-size car’s last gasp in the muscle era. We’ve chosen three from our classifieds: A Chevrolet Impala SS, a Mercury Marquis coupe and a Dodge Monaco.
So, Hemmings Nation ... which one would you restore, which would you preserve, and which would you modify?
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