Short answer= no
long answer= no I wouldn't classify it as a muscle car. While the evo may keep up with and/or smoke a muscle car its the original theory and "soul" that classifies a car I think. The muscle cars were in their day the form of tuner cars where it was just car companies, and aftermarket enthusiasts, cramming the largest engine they could into the smallest car they could. Whereas the evo by no means has a large engine, but does create a large amount of power. I guess an easier way to look at it would be in the form of a hot rod, I could take an old 50's chevy 5 window and build it to not only have power, but through the use of a 4-link suspension and coilovers, and carbon fiber body panels , handle like any proper evo with enough work. Hell I could even drop in a 4g63 and get it screaming but it would never be a tuner car. Vice versa, I could rust out my body panels, and the evo would never be called a ratrod. It's all about the spirit that each category of car was designed with. With all that said, I fully maintain that in 20-30 yrs the evo will be the same as any 60's muscle car as it goes like stink, and is becoming increasingly rare each year. That's why I keep mine, I have no intentions of selling it, but in 20 years maybe I'll be able to sell it for 100k on Barret Jackson haha.


P.S. The Buick Grand National is kinda the f*$# you on muscle cars as it has a v6 and turbos, and isn't from the 60's but is still considered a muscle car. And as for the wheelie bit, I've seen Honda's pop wheelies, and those will never be a muscle car.

 

Never seen a better description of muscle vs evo (not saying tuner as the category is too broad).

I believe that there is nothing compared to the feeling of a turbo.

 

Herb Adams, engineering the second generation Trans Am, was the first person to try to make Detroit iron handle. The fact that he could be so successful at this, with the crude parts made back then, shows that nobody else had tried, it was a new concept. So, muscle cars were whatever buggies were coming off of the assembly line with huge engines shoehorned in.

 

My own opinion. In reference to Muscle car vs Athletic car (Evo), there is no comparison based on my own track experience

Wiki clarification pasted here:

Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles.[1] The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving."[2] A large V8 engine is fitted in a 2-door, rear wheel drive, family-style mid-size or full-size car designed for four or more passengers. Sold at an affordable price, muscle cars are intended for street use and occasional drag racing.[3][4][5][6] They are distinct from two-seat sports cars and expensive 2+2 GTs intended for high-speed touring and road racing. Developed simultaneously in their own markets, muscle cars also emerged from manufacturers in Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

Full read here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_car