Episode
Modern Marvels: Muscle Cars
Overview
Pop open the hood, check out the carbs, and hear the engines roar as we journey back to a time when gas was cheap, emission controls non-existent, and all that mattered was acceleration and speed. During the 1960s and ’70s, GM, Ford, and Chrysler competed to create high-performance cars at prices teenage baby boomers could afford. Featuring interviews with John DeLorean, creator of the Pontiac GTO, and his marketing partner Jim Wangers, we go behind the scene of the muscle-car wars.
Details
- Series
- Modern Marvels
- Season
- Season 9
- Episode
- Episode 22
- Air date
- 2002-06-11
- Runtime
- 44 min
Episode context
Muscle Cars is Episode 22 in Season 9 of Modern Marvels. It aired on 2002-06-11. The runtime is 44 min.
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Episode 21: Fire and Ice.
Who could imagine life without our "man-made weather"? On cold winter nights and hot summer days, we are forever grateful to the visionaries who took two basic elements–fire and ice–and turned them into true modern marvels. Fire warmed the caves and primitive dwellings of mankind for centuries, yet the technology of keeping cool lagged far behind as we learn in this chronicle of heating and air conditioning that covers advancements from the home and industry to outer space and beyond!
Episode 23: Axes, Swords and Knives.
Blade implements have been a part of civilized man's arsenal since the Paleolithic Age, when sharp tools were chipped off of flint or obsidian. But with the discovery of metallurgy, people were able to forge stronger, more versatile blade implements. We visit an axe-throwing contest in Wisconsin for an introduction to the least subtle of the blade tools. Then we visit a swordsmith and an experienced swordfighter who work in traditional methods from ancient sources, and review the history of knives.
More episodes from this season
Episode 20: Ice Breakers
They are the toughest ships in the water, plowing headlong into one of nature’s hardest obstacles. Modern icebreakers can smash through 10-foot thick ice sheets without stopping, allowing scientists and commercial shipping access to some of earth’s most inhospitable spots. Join our bone-chilling journey as we patrol the Great Lakes on the USCG Cutter Makinaw and traverse the infamous Northwest Passage on the maiden voyage of the USCG Healy, the newest Polar Class Icebreaker in the U.S. Fleet.
Episode 24: The World's Biggest Machines.
Join us for a look at the biggest, heaviest, tallest, longest, meanest machines on the planet! We'll see what these monsters do and how they operate, and how they're designed and assembled. Machines investigated include the largest draglines, excavators used in mining; the biggest dump truck; a front-end loader with an 80-ton bucket and the largest tires of any vehicle; the cruise ship, the Voyager of the Seas; a 240-foot tall wind generator; and a fusion reaction machine the size of a football field.
Episode 19: Star City
Star City, the Gagarin Center for Training Cosmonauts, was established by the former Soviet Union in the 1960s as a school for the future conquerors of space. Today, it’s where Russian cosmonauts and international guests train on Soyuz rocket simulators and the MIR complex simulator. We join cosmonauts as they undergo grueling ground training in survival courses and parachuting, and face some of Star City’s toughest challenges–G-Force simulators, space orientation, and rescue training.
Episode 25: Drag Racing
Legendary drivers lead us on a record-breaking race through a century-long search for sheer acceleration that began before World War One, when hot-rodders modified Model-T Fords to see how fast they could go. Today’s dragsters can cover a quarter-mile from a standing start in 4.5 seconds, hitting top speeds above 330 mph. Top driver Gary Clapshaw shows us how to put together a modern dragster and revolutionary designer Bob Norwood unveils his newest car.
Episode 18: The Wheel
Spinning your wheels isn’t just going around in circles. In fact, it’s revolutionary–literally. The history of civilization has turned on the wheel, and we have traveled as far as we have because of it. One of the six simple machines and perhaps the most important invention in the history of mankind, the wheel has been essential in all aspects of life–from farming to fighting, traveling to trading. Features interviews with scientists, historians, philosophers, millers, potters, and spinners.
Episode 26: The Manhattan Project.
At 5:30 a.m., July 16, 1945, scientists and dignitaries awaited the detonation of the first atomic bomb in a desolate area of the New Mexico desert aptly known as "Jornada del Muerto" (Journey of Death). Dubbed the Manhattan Project, the top-secret undertaking was tackled with unprecedented speed and expense–almost $30-billion in today's money. Los Alamos scientists and engineers relate their trials, triumphs, and dark doubts about building the ultimate weapon of war in the interest of peace.
Episode 17: The Magnum
It’s known as the most powerful handgun in the world, made famous by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies. But its origins stretch back more than a century to the Indian Wars of the American West and African safaris, where hunters stalked big game. Join us for a review of the history of the biggest, baddest gun available today–unlimited firepower at the pull of a trigger!
Episode 27: The Tackle Box
From ancient Egyptian fishing parties to today's high-tech bass tournaments, we untangle the fascinating technical history of man's quest to seduce creatures of the deep out of their watery world and into the frying pan. We trace the evolution of the basic rod and reel, from crude hickory poles with braided horsehair to ultra-light graphite wonder-rods with space-age nylon line, and examine the angler's glittering arsenal of spinners, spoons, plugs, and flies
Episode 16: Engines
Story of the development of engines and motors, with particular emphasis on the ones that have profoundly changed society. Beginning with the steam engine, we see how it was created, how it works, and how it led to the Industrial Revolution. We review the electric motor, internal combustion engine, jet engine, and rocket engine, and conclude with a look at futuristic engine technologies, including hydrogen-powered cars and microtechnology engines so small that they fit on the tip of a finger.
Episode 28: Hunting Gear.
They are lethal tools that ensured our survival, altered our evolution, and maintained our dominion over other animals. Though hunting technology is the backbone of a multi-billion-dollar sports industry, current cutting-edge gear is a far cry from prehistoric man's rudimentary tools. From the crude knife to 24-hour digital cameras that monitor animal movement and earmuffs with microphones to amplify outside noise while blocking gunshot sound, we examine the development of hunting weapons and gear.