Are Muscle Cars dead???

[The Shape]

With Dodge bringing back the Hemi, Ford with the retro Mustang and GM with the GTO there are some fast new cars to be had on the market. But do you consider them Muscle Cars? When I think Muscle Car I think rough suspension and very low on options. For me the muscle car died when you could no longer order a Mustang or Camaro without power windows and A/C. Whats your opinion?

[PULSE]

I would agree for the most part... Not that I don't like the new stang, and the Magnum or appriciate the GTO (Holden!). But yea your right they dont really fit the muscle car mold..

[The Shape]

Yep forgot about the charger. Not much on the looks of it though. First thing I thought when I saw it was that Bo and Luke must be turning over in there graves, and there not even dead yet!

[rockatansky4073]

They're sure as sh*t dead in AUSTRALIA.


... though COMMODORE boguns, wil try and tell ya different.

[Biker]

In a word; Yes.


The longer reply is that since juice is so expensive why should the car companies build such huge cars. The last real muscle car that I could think of is the Humvee now that IS a muscle car but not in the sense you're asking about.


Nope, just like the Dinosaurs and full fashioned stockings they're things to be looked upon with nostalgia and fondness.. not that a T-rex chasing after you while you're racing away in your speeding jeep should be regarded with fondness. (I had white knuckles during that scene)


Biker

[Bronze21]

Greetings.


IMO, yes. True muscle cars are dead. Muscle cars were those monsters built from the early 60's through 1972...with a few examples like the 77/78 TA still lingering on in the US...Australia still continuing a few years longer (like the XC/Cobra). The true muscle cars were aerodynamic bricks with more vinyl than a cheap hooker, and more metal and chrome than you could shake a stick at. Engine cubes and horse/torque ratings kept on climbing every year, without remorse for gas usage or price. They could go like a raped ape in a straight line and go fast on the big circles, but failed dismally on the road courses until the late 60's with the mid-size pony cars in the SCCA. Paint schemes were a kalideoscope of wild colors like Big Bad Green, Plum Crazy Purple, Torrid-Red, Hemi-orange, Sassy-grass Green and several others. They even smell different from todays cars.


What we have today are more of what I consider "Performance-tuned machines." They not only go fast in a straight line, but they can turn left and right and go 180mph with the A/C on (Corvette). Everything is computer controlled with sensors on almost everything. Homoligation standards and cost-reductions have cut/blended/distilled everything down so much so, that one part from one car will fit on at least three different cars, with only the bumpers, badges, color and interior trim levels the only differentiators. Some of the names coming back are simply bastardizations of the originals...Charger, Daytona, SS, GTO. They were glorious in their day, but are being forced to fit on a vehicle that shares nothing with it's breatheren other than a sense of twisted nastolgia from young designers and older executives trying to market a modern past. Don't get me wrong, I like the new Mustang, the 9 year-old GTO/Monaro and a few others in the new generation line-up of "retro-performance", but "Muscle cars" they aren't.

[mfpmax]

The defination of a muscle car has been twisted out of whack since its orignal introduction. Techincally they are dead.





Are powerful cars dead? By no means, but they will come and go depending on the general populations wants.

[Mad Max 2050]

Suppose you can just go for the best of both worlds.............

[mfpmax]

The RS isn't exactly the best from the far east

[OverheadCam]

"Shape" is right...when it comes to Muscle Cars .....less is more!


Ford Aust. proved they don't get "it " when they released a 'premium model' "GT" and called it a "GT-P"........that's sacrilegeous!.....


In Australia there are only 2 letters that can appear after 'GT' and they're 'H' and 'O'.


They'd better make sure if they make a new HO it's more than a trim pakage!


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