This '70s Coupe Had Almost As Much Horsepower As A Modern Mustang V-8
In the Modern Age of American Muscle, there has been an absolutely insane horsepower war with supercharged V-8s hitting over 1,000 horsepower, propelling cars to single-digit quarter-mile times. On the naturally aspirated front, there has also been an escalation, though not nearly as dramatic, and so far it looks like Ford is the victor. The 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 of the 2025 Mustang harnesses the power of 480 ponies in the GT and dials it up another 20 for the Dark Horse.
We tend to think that performance technology is superior today, and for the most part that is true, but it's not like the Golden Age of American Muscle was in the Neolithic Period, and Detroit really did know how to build a kick-ass internal combustion engine. During the classic era of muscle cars, there was also a horsepower war, ultimately won by the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454, which was almost as powerful as the Mustang that came 55 years later.
In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources, including Mecum.
Blue Chevy Chevelle SS 454
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1970 Chevelle SS 454: Golden Age Champ
3/4 front view of 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS6
In the 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight bout, Muhammad Ali made the "rope-a-dope" technique famous by assuming a defensive posture against the ropes and letting George Forman tire himself out with harmless punches before unleashing hell. In some ways, that's how Chevy won the Golden Age horsepower wars. Prior to the introduction of the Pontiac GTO in 1964, which launched the classic muscle car craze, GM decided that none of its divisions could put a V-8 larger than 400 cubic inches into an intermediate-sized car. There was a special carve out for the Corvette, but all the rest of Chevy's line-up was SOL.
Golden Age Big-Block Monsters
- Chevrolet 454 LS-6: 450 HP/500 LB-FT
- Chrysler 426 Hemi: 425 HP/490 LB-FT
- Oldsmobile Rocket 455: 390 HP/500 LB-FT
- Chrysler 440 Six Pack: 390 HP/480 LB-FT
- Ford Super Cobra Jet 429: 370 HP/490 LB-FT
- Buick Stage 1 455: 360 HP/510 LB-FT
- Ford Cobra Jet 428: 335 HP/445 LB-FT
What this ill-conceived big engine ban did was allow Dodge and Plymouth to dominate the era with the 390-horsepower 440ci Six Pack and the 425-horsepower 426 Street Hemi. The best a Chevy could do was a 375-horsepower 396, but those were rare performance upgrades and most cars had the 325-horsepower version, which clearly wasn't good enough to compete with Mopar. There was a perfectly awesome 427ci Tri-Power V-8, capable of 435 horses, but it wasn't allowed in the Camaro or Chevelle. Actually, Chevy dealers found a loophole and were able to special order Camaros with a Corvette engine, but regular production cars suffered from severe power envy.
Banish the Ban
Mecum
Then, in 1970, just as the Golden Age of American Muscle was coming to a close, GM finally lifted its pointless ban and suddenly the divisions were awash in 454s and 455s. For the Chevelle SS, the base 454 produced 390 horsepower, which matched the 440 Six Pack, but still lagged behind the 426 Hemi. There was, however, an LS6 variant of the 454 that blasted out 450 horses and 500 stump-pulling pound-feet of torque. After spending six years on the ropes, absorbing a Mopar battery, the Chevelle came out swinging and landed a knock-out blow with the most powerful muscle car engine.
Horsepower Champion With An Asterisk
Link Image
The 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS 454 LS6 was the undisputed horsepower champion of the classic era, but it was kind of a hollow victory. First, the Golden Age was effectively over in 1971, because emissions mandates saw all the awesome classics get detuned into obscurity the next year, and second, despite the horsepower advantage, the Chevelle SS 454 wasn't actually faster than Hemi-powered Mopars. There are a ton of posted quarter-mile times on the Interwebz, but the general consensus is that the '70 SS was a high-13-second car, which could hang with the Charger R/T, but Hemi 'Cudas and Road Runners were low-13-second cars.
1970 Chevrolet Chevelle LS6
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2025 Mustang Dark Horse: Modern Age Champ
Ford
The awesome 5.0 Coyote engine of the 2025 Ford Mustang Dark Horse actually has its roots all the way back in 1969 with the Boss 302 V-8. Developed for competition in the Trans Am road racing series, the Boss 302 made a respectable 290 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque. During the Dead Power Era of the 1970s, the 302ci small-block was the biggest engine option for the second-gen Mustang II, though the power dropped as low as 122 horsepower. In 1978, the 302 went metric and became the iconic 5.0-liter, and it doesn't even matter that it's technically only 4.9 liters. Under the hood of the super-cool Fox Body Mustang "Five-O," the 5.0-liter started climbing back up the horsepower ladder and eventually got 235 ponies stampeding.
Modern Age Small-Block Assassins
- Ford Coyote 5.0-liter: 500 HP/418 LB-FT
- Chrysler 392 Hemi 6.4-liter: 470 HP/470 LB-FT
- Chevrolet LT1 6.2-liter: 455 HP/455 LB-FT
- Chrysler Hemi 6.1-liter: 425 HP/420 LB-FT
In 1990, Ford switched over to their Modular Engine Series, with a 4.6-liter V-8, but the Modern Muscle Car Era Horsepower Wars, dictated that they step up their game. The GM 6.2-liter LS3 and the Chrysler 6.4-liter Hemi made Camaros, Challengers, and Chargers so much faster than the Mustang, so Ford looked to its history for inspiration, and came up with a 302 for the 21st Century. The 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 was initially rated at 412 horsepower, which was competitive, but not dominant. In 2018, Coyote got a new intake manifold and throttle body, which increased the output to 480 horsepower. Then, in 2024, the 5.0-liter got a few more tweaks, including an improved exhaust system, and the mighty small-block blew up the dyno with 500 wild horses.
But What About The Corvette Z06?
Chevrolet
Many Corvette fans have probably been wondering why TopSpeed seems to be willfully ignoring the Chevrolet 5.5-liter Gemini engine in a discussion of the most powerful naturally-aspirated American V-8s. Made specifically for the C8 Corvette Z06, the Gemini is truly an astonishing piece of engineering that spews out a breathtaking 640 horsepower. This thing is more powerful than a lot of turbos and supercharged engines and is, in fact, is the king of the naturally-aspirated V-8s. The only issue here is we're talking about muscle cars and the 'Vette is a sports car, or more accurately, with the Z06, a supercar.
2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
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Classic Bowtie Vs. Modern Blue Oval
3/4 front of 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS 6
The baddest classic muscle car versus the baddest modern street machine is a battle that has been more than two generations in the making. The only way to settle this is on the track, so the 1970 Chevelle SS 454 LS6 is lining up against the 2025 Mustang Dark Horse for the drag race of the ages. To make things a little more fair, we're going to use the performance times of a slightly modified Chevelle SS that was test-driven by Hot Rod magazine in 1970. The car featured a hotter tune, different gears, and racing tires, so it wasn't entirely stock, but it also wasn't radically altered, and something an average Chevelle owner might do to get a bit more oomph out of the car.
Drag Race of the Ages
1970 Chevelle SS | 2025 Mustang Dark Horse | |
|---|---|---|
Engine | 454ci LS-6 V-8 | 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 |
Horsepower | 450HP | 500 HP |
Torque | 500 LB-FT | 418 LB-FT |
Transmission | 4-speed manual | 6-speed manual |
0-60 Time | 5.4 seconds | 4.1 seconds |
Quarter-mile | 13.44 seconds | 12.5 seconds |
Top Speed | 130 MPH | 166 MPH |
There are probably not too many muscle car fans who are surprised by these results, as the Mustang has so many modern performance advantages, as well as horsepower superiority. Still, the classic Chevelle held its own and ran the quarter-mile within a second of the Mustang. If this race was run with an ace behind the wheel of the SS 454 and a noob in the Dark Horse, the Chevy would for sure win. Also, a little extra customization, could definitely get the Chevelle over the line before the Mustang, but '70 LS6 cars are far too valuable to mess with, and must be 100 percent original to bring the big-money gavel drops at auction.
Muscle Car Price War
Speaking of price, that's one area in which the 1970 Chevelle SS 454 LS6 can kick the Mustang Dark Horse in the rump. A Dark Horse is worth exactly $68,875, which is its MSRP, and it will immediately start depreciating in value. The SS 454 LS6, on the other hand, is a six-figure car that will do nothing but go up in value as they are as rare as they are awesome. That beautiful white convertible in the video above sold for $600,000 at Mecum Indy 2024, and is just the beginning, as this is a ride headed for the Million Dollar Muscle Car Club. Decades down the road, the 2025 Mustang Dark Horse will be a collector car, but the only way it will ever be worth more than a half-million is if the economy completely collapses, and we have a 500 percent inflation rate.
1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda
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Old School is Still The Coolest
Mecum
While admittedly fun, comparing the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS6 to the 2025 Ford Mustang is kind of an exercise in silliness. It's like arguing that winning a huge jackpot on the progressive slots is better than scoring with a scratch-off lottery ticket: they both make it rain. Any muscle car fan would welcome the gift of either car, and never once look in the rearview mirror as they went screaming down the highway. That being said, the classic street cred and collectibility of the Chevelle make it more desirable.
An extra 50 ponies and a nearly one-second quarter-mile advantage make the Dark Horse appealing, but anyone with a six grand down payment and OK credit can have one right now. To get a '70 Chevelle SS LS6 requires great wealth or the luck and foresight to have hung on to one since the old days. The SS LS6 is an exclusive club in which membership must be earned, while the Dark Horse is an open-source collective in which anyone can get in, with no vetting. Again, this isn't to discount the incredible nature of the Mustang Dark Horse, but a classic Chevelle SS is way cooler.
