Do the old school cars run in diesel?
 

especially the muscle cars? I'm planning to buy one

No, muscle cars ran on high octane gasoline. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find high enough octane gasoline to run a real muscle car without it "pinging". The old school muscle cars had a much higher compression ratio and the lower octane gasoline would "ping" or ignite before it was supposed to. Before you buy a muscle car, find out what octane rating is recommended for it and make sure it is available in your area.For those taking notes: The term "pinging" is used by most everyone who works on cars, it is not "a high school term". It is used by mechanics who have worked on cars for 20 years and it is used by 20 year olds. A 1965 Chevrolet 327 cid with 350 horse power had 11 to 1 compression ratio and ran best on gasoline with about 120 octane rating, which was available at Sunoco gas stations in the 60's... I don't think it is available at your local gas station now. A brand new Chevrolet "crate engine" has 9.1 to 1 compression ratio and has 350 cid and 330 horse power. The higher compression ratio made it possible for the engine to make more than one horse power per cubic inch. When the compression ration went down, it was no longer common for an engine to make more than one horse power per cubic inch. This space was supposed to answer the question if muscle cars ran on diesel, which I answered and gave a very brief note to find out what octane rating was needed for the particular car to be purchased and to find out if the gasoline was available in the area. If someone wants to answer a question, answer the question without trying to attack another answer, especially if the former answer is correct.P.S. I set the World Drag Racing Record for E/Stock Formula 2 in my 1965 Chevelle Malibu SS with a 327/350.

All muscle cares run on pump gas or high octane racing fuel. no diesels.

If you don't know what kind of fuel they run, you need to learn much more before you should be allowed to own a muscle car. A muscle car is a beautiful thing that takes knowledge and time to appreciate...especially a classic muscle car (the old ones). As far as what MK--whateverthehell said, a stock classic muscle car is not going to run much different of a compression ratio than a newer vehicle, and they are not going to preignite (ping is a highschool term) if you run them on pump gas if they are stock (unless specified). If you have an engine built for you, the shop or company that builds it will tell you what octane gas it will need to run. A mild motor can run standard 87, while a hot street motor may thrive on 93 octane (premium grade) gas. Something that spends as much time on the strip as it does on the street may run 104-110 octane race gas. My advice to you is to find someone, maybe a friend of the family, that knows about muscle cars to tutor you. He or she can then help you find one so you don't get ripped off (easy to do) and then help you appreciate it. Enjoy your project!