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Muscle Rebound
America's Love affair with performance machine Cruises back onto the new-car market
Paul A. Eisenstein
From the Print Edition:
Tyson vs. King, Jan/Feb 04
(continued from page 4)
Like its crosstown rivals, Chrysler plans to target more mainstream buyers with an assortment of modern muscle cars. It recently revived the legendary Hemi V-8 in its big pickups, and a passenger car version will soon start rolling roll down the assembly line in a variety of vehicles. At the January 2002 Detroit auto show, the automaker showed a version of its new Dodge Magnum wagon featuring the Hemi. This Euro-themed five-door will definitely not be your father's station wagon.
Chrysler underscores the dramatic changes that have swept the new-car market since the days of the original muscle car. Today, light trucks account for half the overall American market, and, capitalizing on the trend, the SRT-10 will stuff the outrageous Viper V-10 engine under the hood of the full-size Dodge Ram pickup. At the low end of the price spectrum, Chrysler offers the Neon SRT-4. It gives a 230-hp turboboost to the automaker’s little subcompact, and can turn 0-60 times in under 6.0 seconds. Not bad for $20,000.
Of all the new muscle cars set to hit the street, few
are generating more interest than the 2005 Ford Mustang. Unlike the GTO,
this
classic “pony car” has never gone out of production,
but the current model just isn’t quite the same as the original. With
the ’05, Mustang will return to its roots, with the classic long
hood, short deck and even the traditional pony on the grille. But inside,
it will reveal the very sophisticated interior styling theme that Ford is
adopting across its lineup. To Ford’s chief of design, J Mays, the
new Mustang is “more than just another retro car. It’s a
timeless statement.”
A show car version punches out a hefty 400 horsepower, its functional hood scoop feeding a supercharged, 4.6-liter V-8, which features aluminum heads and a liquid-to-air intercooler. To handle all that power, the prototype rides on 20-inch wheels and uses 12.8-inch vented Brembo disk brakes.
In production, there’ll be an assortment of Mustang models. Ford has no intention of abandoning the base six-cylinder model that has buoyed sales and kept the line alive. At the other extreme, the carmaker recently announced plans to put the classic Shelby name back on one of the top-line models. If history offers some insight, Carroll Shelby is intent on outmuscling the old Mustangs that used to bear his signature.
The new Mustang could reach showrooms just in time for the 2004 Dream Cruise, setting up a classic grudge match with the new GTO. Of course, they’ll have plenty of company. Sure, another oil crisis could quell the rebirth of performance, but it would take a lot to convince American motorists to go back to those stone ponies they had settled for in the ’80s. Muscle is what it’s all about these days, and Detroit’s intent on pumping itself up. v
Paul A. Eisenstein publishes an auto magazine on the Internet at www.TheCarConnection.com.
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