Blog

Colorado Pole Buildings to Serve Automotive Hobbies

Sapphire Construction keeps company with an array of industrious clients.  On the whole, these are get-up-and-go kinds of folks.  During the course of designing a sampling of Colorado pole buildings for them, we have developed a bit of an interest in their hobbies and pastimes.  Take muscle cars.  Our clients have taught us quite a bit about the care and restoration of muscle cars.

Muscle cars are back in vogue.  Dedicated enthusiasts take great pride in their handsome muscle cars.  They care about the automotive shops and storage facilities for these cars.  Sapphire Construction has recently talked about the oversized Colorado pole buildings used for automotive shops.  Recently, we read a little about the history of muscle cars.

Where did the Muscle Car Movement Get Started?

American muscle cars include a range of high-performance vehicles built between the late 1940s and the mid-1970s.  For the half-century leading up to the 1960s, entrepreneurs and automobile manufacturers were concentrating on improving other aspects of the cars.  All cars had manual transmissions and were big and heavy.  Yes, the old Model-T was pretty slow and those vintage cars were also uncomfortable.

Enter the muscle car.  The Designers of these powerful, fast cars concentrated on performance.  As individuals began souping-up cars in the 1940s, major car companies put their research teams on task.  The Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was introduced in 1949.  It featured a high-compression overhead valve V-8 engine.  The Rocket 88 could easily generate 135 horsepower at 3600 RPM.  It left other cars in the dust.

Then manufacturers rolled out power-packed cars one by one: the Chrysler C-300, Dodge Dart, Plymouth Sport Fury, Pontiac GTO, Dodge Polara 500, Ford Mustang, and many more 2-door cars with powerful V-8 engines.  The 1955 Chrysler C-300 boasted a 300 horsepower engine.  Within 10 seconds, the car could reach 60 miles an hour and continue on to 130 miles per hour.

Where did Muscle Cars Go??

One may ask why people today are restoring older muscle cars instead of buying new ones.  Simply put, manufacturers phased out most of them.  It was in the 1970s that safety concerns changed the attitudes about powerful cars.  Young drivers were drag racing down main boulevards, freeway drivers were putting the pedal to the metal.  The automotive safety lobby raised concerns, insurance companies raised rates, and the 1973 oil crisis raised fuel prices.  Those were the days when the now-common safety belt got there beginnings.

Contact Sapphire Construction, Inc.

For information about Colorado pole buildings, post-frame buildings, pole barns, and metal buildings for Storage, Hobbies, Farm & Ranch, Livestock, Equestrian, and Commercial uses, contact Sapphire Construction, Inc. at (303) 619-7213.  Our team custom designs each building using high-quality, engineer-tested materials from Lester Buildings.