The debate between the Big 3’s musclecars has raged on since the very first Mustang appeared on a showroom floor, followed closely by the Camaro in the late 1960s, and the Challenger arriving shortly afterwards. 

The Top Gear USA dudes – Adam Ferrara, Rutledge Wood, and Tanner Foust take a gander at which is the best muscle car by drag racing down the Los Angeles River basin, using a 1970 Boss 302, 1970 Dodge Challenger, 1969 Camaro SS – and the 2012 versions of those same cars. 

The Los Angeles River culvert is often dry and provides a great backdrop for this event to happen. Rutledge, a big fan of the movie Grease (which has a famous scene in the culvert) explains that he’s wanted to drive in the culvert since he was a kid, and now he gets his chance.

We find that the Challenger he’s driving outclasses the other two cars on the first leg of the race until he has to stop, which kills him for the return portion. There, the trio has to get out and switch to the late-model versions of each car, and the result is vastly different the second time around. HD video of drag racing in the infamous Los Angeles River culvert? Sign us up! We’re still partial to the Mustang, and don’t know how much driving skill contributed to the eventual result – or was it all staged for the camera? 

It’s an interesting informal view into each car’s performance, and we have to admit that we’re quite surprised to see the Camaro come out on top in this informal test. We’ll stop blabbing, and let you watch the video.