News Source: topspeed.com

Hey folks, it’s Father’s Day again and, as usual, we here at TopSpeed are celebrating by talking about automobiles. Since Father’s Day is about honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood and paternal bonds, we thought it would be appropriate to look back upon some vehicles from the past. Not because being a father makes you old, but because knowing your ancestors is an important part of life. In this case, we want to showcase the fathers of some of the most popular present-day car segments.

Our article covers muscle cars, mid-engined supercars, SUVs, all-wheel drive rally homologation specials, and shooting brakes. We basically take a glance at each segment’s history and then highlight the vehicle that invented the niche or turned it into a mainstream thing. Some were easier to cover, while others were a bit more difficult due to the lack of pre-WW2 information, but the article should give you a good idea about which car is responsible for each of the five segments listed above.

In case we forgot something, be sure to point it out in the comments box below. You can also tell us what segment we should have covered and why. Happy Father’s Day!

Muscle cars - Oldsmobile Rocket 88

Although muscle cars became popular starting with the mid-1960s and the muscle car Detroit war reached its peak in 1969-1970, the concept is much older than that. Studebaker, for instance, created quite a stir performance-wise with 275-horsepower Golden Hawk in 1956, while the Rambler  Reber arrived as the faster production sedan thanks to its 255-horsepower, 5.4-liter carbureted V-8 engine. However, most historians agree that the first muscle car was the first-generation Oldsmobile 88. Launched in 1949 as a replacement for the straigh-six-engined 76 model, the 88 used GM’s then-new Futuramic B-body platform and was made available in various body styles. What made the 88 special was Old’s brand-new 5.0-liter V-8 engine. Nicknamed the Rocket, it had hydraulic lifters, an oversquare bore-stroke ratio, a counterweighted forged crankshaft, aluminum pistons, floating wristpins, and a dual-plane intake manifold.

Although its 135-horsepower rating is far from impressive to today’s standards, the 263 pound-feet of torque available from as low as 1,800 rpm gave it unrivaled performance potential that no other car from the era was able to match. The Hudson Hornet  was the only automobile that came close, but its 1951 launch gave the Rocket 88 two dominant years on the market. Created in response to public interest in speed and power following the resurgence of hot-rodding after World War II, the Olds Rocket 88 dominated not only the newly founded NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 1949 and 1950, but the performance market as well.

The streamlined coupe inspired most American automakers to develop their own performance cars, which eventually led to the horsepower wars of the 1960s that gave us iconic models such as the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger, and Plymouth Barracuda. The 88 nameplate survived until 1999, five years before GM discontinued the Oldsmobile brand, but one of the following generations had a more significant impact than the original Rocket. And, while the 1949 model is no match for the muscle cars that followed, it dully deserves to be remembered as the father of America’s performance coupe.

Mid-engined Supercars - Lamborghini Miura

Much like the muscle car, the supercar began making waves in the 1960s, around the time the Ferrari 250 GTO was launched. However, the term dates back to 1920, when an advertisement for the Ensign Six claims that "if you are interested in a supercar, you cannot afford to ignore the claims of the Ensign 6." Pre-World War II examples of supercars include the 1910 Mercer Raceabout, 1912 Stutz Bearcat, Duesenberg SSJ, and the Bugatti 57SC, also known as the Atlantic. In the 1950s, the limited-edition Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR took over as the reigning supercar. All of the above have one thing in common: they feature a front-engined layout.