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3 high-performance American cars

Bear with me as I go back in time to formulate what I believe are three magnificent American-made high-performance cars: the Ford Mustang, the Dodge Challenger, and the Chevrolet Camaro. Currently, only the Mustang is in production and the Challenger will return in 2009. GM has not yet committed to building the Camaro, but the company is likely to make a decision in favor of the car and its brother, the Pontiac Firebird. For this summer. So what is it about American performance cars that sets them apart from the rest? In a word: muscle. Read on as I compare and contrast these three vehicles and share with you my feeble attempts to explain the culture behind the cars.

So do you think I forgot the Chevy Corvette and Dodge Viper when talking about performance cars? No, I did not do it. Both models are high performance cars and race cars. On the other hand, the Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro are mass-produced, high-performance, high-power cars. There is a difference in the way a typical racing car handles, drives and performs vs. a muscle car.

Typically, a muscle car was a coupe version of some of the larger cars that predominated on American roads in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the Mustang and Camaro were designed separately. [although they both heavily borrowed parts from other models] and these “pony” cars were a category unto themselves. For the sake of comparison, they join the Dodge Challenger, a high-performance version of the Mopar cars of its day. All three were compared by critics at the time and all three will be compared again in a few years when production has increased.

Ford Mustang – Go back in time with me to April 1964, to an era when America was heavily involved in the space race, Lyndon Johnson was president, and General Motors ruled the autodom. Ford, for its part, had been on the heels of GM for years, but the failed Edsels of the late 1950s had cost the company dearly. Still, it was time for the New York World’s Fair and Ford used technology from the show and television to promote its newest offering, the Mustang. A 2 + 2 coupe that borrowed parts from the Fairlane and Falcon, the 1964 ½ model was the first to sell and is widely credited with being the best new vehicle presentation to date. With a standard V6 engine and an optional V8, the new Mustang quickly broke sales records and has been a great seller ever since. Indeed, with the introduction of the “retro” looking Mustang in 2005, the car has once again sparked interest in the muscle car segment, as both DaimlerChrysler and General Motors build their own competing models.

Dodge challenger – After the success of previous muscle cars, including the Dodge Charger and Plymouth Cuda, the Dodge Challenger was released as a 1970 model. The car borrowed a lot from the ‘Cuda, although the sheet metal was somewhat different and the wheelbase it lengthened a couple of inches. Because the muscle car era was in decline at the time of its introduction, the Challenger lasted only five model years before being canceled. The Challenger concept currently on display at many auto shows is based on the 1970s design and is the talk of blogging and message boards across the country. Look for Hemi-powered engines as preferred by many owners; The car is likely to share some technology with the current Magnum pickup and Charger sedan.

Chevrolet camaro – GM was asleep at the wheel when the Mustang came out. It took almost three years before the company could respond and when it did, the result was the Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird. Although both cars sold well over the years, neither could match Mustang sales levels and when the last cars were sold in 2002, production was reduced to a minimum. Still, the end of the Camaro after 35 years has sparked renewed interest in the name, and thanks to the retro Mustang, the entire muscle car category is growing once again. Look for a 2010 Camaro to be the first Camaro since 2002; A ragtop version is also being considered.

So who can you expect to buy a muscle car these days? People like me: middle-aged men who grew up on the original models. Also, a whole new generation of younger drivers grew weary of the “me too” aspect of many of the compact cars out there. Sports cars today are very different from the cars of the previous era, incorporating the look of the originals while taking advantage of current technology. So the fuel economy will be decent without sacrificing performance – a true win-win situation.

No, I can’t wait to see a Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro lined up at a stoplight waiting for the stoplight to turn green. A new era of muscle cars is approaching and that is why I am very excited.

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