In 1964, General Motors had a strict rule: no engine bigger than 330 cubic inches in its mid-size cars. Yet that very year, Pontiac stuffed a monster 389 V8 into the Tempest LeMans and called it the GTO — the car that kicked off the muscle car era. How did Pontiac get away with it? They got a special waiver from GM's board The rule only covered base engines, so they sold the 389 as an option package They built it in Canada, outside GM's American rules They lied about the engine size on the paperwork None On April 17, 1964, Ford unveiled the Mustang at the New York World's Fair, and dealerships were mobbed before the day was out — roughly 22,000 orders in the first day alone. Ford had hoped to sell 100,000 in the first year. How long did it take the Mustang to hit ONE MILLION? Under 2 years About 4 years About 6 years Just over 8 years None Chevrolet needed almost three years to answer the Mustang, and when the Camaro finally arrived for 1967, reporters had one question: what does "Camaro" even mean? What did Chevrolet's product managers famously tell the press? It's Spanish for "champion" It's a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs It was the code name of a secret test track It means nothing — a computer generated it None At the 1964 Daytona 500, Richard Petty unleashed Chrysler's new 426 Hemi — an engine so massive that racers nicknamed it "the elephant" — and led 184 of 200 laps while Hemi-powered cars swept the podium. What did NASCAR do next? Gave Chrysler a trophy for engineering Made every team switch to the Hemi Banned the Hemi for the 1965 season Shortened the races so the Hemis would overheat None In October 1973, the Arab oil embargo hit America, gas lines stretched around the block, and stations pumped dry — the beginning of the end for the big-block muscle car. In the months that followed, how did many states decide which drivers could buy gas on a given day? By the last digit of your license plate — odd or even By the first letter of your last name By your zip code By the color of your car's registration sticker None Stumper. When "Smokey and the Bandit" roared into theaters in 1977, Burt Reynolds' black-and-gold Pontiac Trans Am became the most wanted car in America. But the movie's Trans Ams were hiding a secret. What was it? They were actually Chevrolet Camaros with Pontiac badges They were 1976 models dressed up with 1977 front ends They were powered by diesel truck engines for the stunts There was only one car, repaired after every crash None Time's up
