3 Fastest Muscle Cars of 1966

The top 2 cars on this 1966 list ran the same quarter-mile time. But one crossed the finish line faster—and it wasn’t the Hemi. At number 3, the Mercury Comet Cyclone GT. Its 390 V-8 was rated at 335 horsepower, and the test cited here recorded a 13.98-second quarter-mile. At number 2, the Plymouth Hemi Satellite. With a 426 Street Hemi rated at 425 horsepower, it ran 13.80 seconds at about 104 miles per hour. And at number 1, the Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W-30. It also ran 13.80 seconds—but its reported finish speed was 105.2 miles per hour, giving it the edge in this countdown. These results came from different tests, so they don’t prove one car would always beat another. But they show just how serious the 1966 muscle-car battle had become. Which one would you take: the Cyclone, the Hemi Satellite, or the W-30 Oldsmobile?