Even though muscle cars “officially” were born in ‘64 with the GTO, the 421 Super Duty Catalina is still a member of the club. Here’s why.

In the olden days at GM, there were many attempts to build and offer to the public high performance cars. But unless they were carefully disguised, they were shot down. Performance options were often called a “towing option,” “police option,” “off road,” or “marine option.” The ‘62 Super Duty Catalina was one such car. This would have made for one heck of a police car or tow vehicle!

Here’s what was packed into the Super Duty 421 Catalina. Under the hood was an under-rated 405 hp 421 cid engine with 2-4bbl carbs, 13:1 compression, aluminum intake and exhaust manifolds. There was no heater unit or radio, and the car had a Hurst Shifter for its 4-speed gearbox. Aluminum body parts included the hood, inner and outer fenders, nose piece, valance, and various brackets. The suspension was “heavy-duty everything.” Some cars even had weight-saving holes drilled in the frame rails (like an airplane) and puffed out rear fenders for extra-wide tires (cheater slicks?) needed for “towing” down the quarter-mile. Dragsters and gassers need strong tow cars. Or if you’re “vacationing” with your Airstream trailer, you need a strong tow car. RIGHT?

It all added up to a large, 3,700 pound Pontiac that could run low 12s in the quarter-mile at over 116 mph! And it was available at your local Pontiac dealer.

It was heavy hitters like this and the lightweight Z-11 409 Chevy that set the stage for the “official” birth of the muscle car in 1964.