What was the point of "raking" a muscle car

[myusername]

I even remember I had a Hot Wheels car with an adjustable rear plastic piece so you could adjust the angle.

At any rate, I was thinking about this on the drive home from work yesterday for no reason and thought I would post here ... and then I forgot until now, for some reason.

When I was a kid, someone told me it was so that the car would get better traction when it squatted under acceleration - or something like that...

Anyway, my guesses are:

1. Alters the weight transfer during launch so that there is more or longer weight applied to the rear axle.

2. Allows larger rear tires without tubbing the body.

3. Purely cosmetic, much like the mullet.

What's the real reason, and unless it's #3, why don't you see it any more?

Edit: Like this abomination

more subtle

 

[mercanucaribe]

Purely cosmetic... business in the front, party in the back.

 

[Gillbot]

Weight Transfer, it's an old hot-rodder trick. Some also did it for clearance to run slicks.

 

[J Heartless Slick]

It made the car look cool and you could fit larger tires in the back.