“The GTO started it all!!”
It was the original muscle car. But the revival was in 2004. The T Bird was revived in 2002.
The GTO was a fantastic car.
Actually, I think the original “muscle car” was either the Chevy Bel Air SS or Impala SS 409ci or the Ford Galaxie 390ci. Can’t remember which, but the Beach Boys song immortalized the 409, even though the 390 was available first. It was around 1961 that the “muscle car” era began.
However, those were full size performance cars and some consider the definition of “muscle car” as being the intermediate size that came out around 1964. So, pick your definition.