Thread: Muscle Car Comeback

As I'm sure you've all noticed, the Muscle and Pony cars are back. Ford got it started with the Mustang, then Dodge made a lukewarm attempt with the Charger, so Ford came back with a better Mustang. Chevy wanted back in and is doing it with the Camaro. Dodge realized its blunder and pumped the Challenger out in record time. Now Ford is back with a cooler Mustang.

What are your feelings about these cars and the "comeback"? Have you had any seat time with them?

Personally, I like it. I was getting tired of all the SUV crap and lackluster vehicles being pushed out of the factories. I like that American muscle is finally coming back, and this time it's even got decent gas mileage. It brings with it a spirit of competition for both manufacturers and owners that just doesn't seem to exist between mini-vans and SUV's.

As a lifelong Chevy fanatic, this pains me...I think Ford has got it right and is finally operating like they should. I'm beginning to have enormous respect for them as a company. They got their act together before anyone else did, and to me, the Mustang proves it. They saw, or possibly created, the trend and got out there with a solid car. Every iteration of the new Mustang has been awesome, and the new 2010 is pretty damn cool. I can't wait to take one for a test drive.

The Challenger looks fantastic. I think that Dodge has captured the muscle car style better than any of the other manufacturers have. That's not such a good thing for aerodynamics, but when you're pulling 450 horses, who cares? I was very impressed with how fast Dodge got the Challenger out, but after looking at the interior, I can see how they did it. It's very generic and is almost exactly like all their other interiors. I think for what they're charging for it, they could have done better.

And now the Camaro. Oh boy...let's just say I went to see Transformers just as much for the Camaro as I did because I love Transformers. My only gripe is that it took Chevy so damn long to get this car on the road, but it looks like it might have been well worth the delays. I haven't driven one yet, but from what I can tell, I already love everything about the car.

So, what think you?

EDIT: I left the Charger out because I honestly think it's a half-assed attempt that only gets good in the SRT range. My Caliber looks the same as a Charger on the inside and can almost keep up with one. Great for my Caliber, not so great for Charger.

Personally, I think the day of the muscle car is gone and with good reason. Sure rich guys can buy high performance jobs and feed them gas no matter how high it gets but with newer technologies you can get great performance with small cars and powerplants so you don't need these big 8 cyl engines anymore. Heck you can get 4 cyl engines with 350 H.P. I think the day will come when you will only see these cars at auto shows and when people drive them on the road others will lean out the window and make nasty comments. It may not happen for many years but it will happen.

In the meantime I'm going to buy me a Kenworth Tractor with a 500H.P engine so you better watch out for me on the road.

In the modern world, I see muscle cars as cruisers and nothing else. They used to be decent street racers and dragsters, but these days other cars are better in both areas. Sure, they (usually) look great, make nice noises, and their large engines may give great torque to go with the power all across the rpm range (which smaller engines can't always match), but I can't imagine the new ones drive any better than the old ones.

And muscle cars always raise one key question, which Jeremy Clarkson once elegantly asked "How do they get so little power from such a huge engine?"

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Personally, I think the day of the muscle car is gone and with good reason....... I think the day will come when you will only see these cars at auto shows and when people drive them on the road others will lean out the window and make nasty comments.

What he said.

'I coulda been a Contender'
--Charger

I do agree with efficiency issues. The only of these vehicles I've driven was an automatic, 6 cylinder 05 Mustang. I was very impressed with its power and responsiveness, especially as a 6 cylinder. As much as I'd want the GT, I think I would be happy with only the 6. It is very surprising to me that the big 8's don't put out more power.

Part of the advantage that the aforementioned 4 cylinders have, however, is a turbo. If they didn't have that, they would be far more tame.

Ideally, we would get these cars with big blocks that put out some serious and efficient power. Since that won't happen for a while, I think I'd like to see something along the lines of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8. Put that engine in any of these muscle cars, make it sound like an American vehicle instead of a ricer, and that would be a winning combo.

I like the design of muscle cars, but I think they are utterly pointless for people who actually need a car to drive distances. They guzzle gas like a hummer, and there is really nothing for which you can use 450 hp if you are not towing a large trailer or a big u-haul.

So imo, muscle cars are as useless to the general public as hummers.

Here in OZ, Ford and GMH have never stopped offering v8, rear wheel drive performance cars.But these are generally allways four door sedans.

If you want a two door performance car, the GMH Maloo ute below is your only choice, the Aussie tradesman,s pick.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think the day will come when you will only see these cars at auto shows and when people drive them on the road others will lean out the window and make nasty comments. It may not happen for many years but it will happen.

After they lean out and finish ranting, I'll smile contentedly back.

If we're talking about 60's-70's era street-driven V8's, efficiency is definitely not particularly impressive. Power is not usually THAT impressive either.

Modern performance V8's have both excellent power and far better gas mileage than many give them credit for.

Case in point, the LS series of motors produced by GM since ~1997.

Sky's the limit on HP with these things, and it's easy to do 30mpg highway with a reasonable right foot. Turbo LS7 anyone?

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

In the modern world, I see muscle cars as cruisers and nothing else. They used to be decent street racers and dragsters, but these days other cars are better in both areas."

Really? Have you been any drag races lately? If not, head down then come back and tell me which cars are the ones to beat.