Over the past few years the steep incline in gas prices has just about killed the big SUV market. No one wants to roll into a gas station and see a bill for $200 in that price window. Even if you have a state of the art car radio with a car navigation system that directs you to the cheapest gas in town. This trend has now even followed suit with trucks, while the truck may be a staple in American society the sheer price of gas has knocked sales down to an all-time low. There is one type of car that would not lay down and give in to the trend of the auto industry. These are the muscle cars, the cars with huge V8 engines just because they can.
Muscle cars are the cars that people buy, not because they want a car to get from A to B but because they want a muscle car. The idea of a muscle car is simple, big car and even bigger motor. In the last few years many of the classic muscle car name plates have seen a rebirth into modern models. The muscle car is designed to get the driver there in style and have that sound that will rumble the earth around them. 2012 may be the last year of the muscle car though, in 2014 most of the current models will roll out with smaller lighter bodies and smaller motors too. While the smaller motors will be turbo and make plenty of power it just won’t be the same. The new mustang is set to be about 3/4th the size of the current range and sport a twin turbo V6 in the GT models. Now from seeing the Nissan GTR which makes 500Hp from a V6 we all know it can be done but it just seems wrong for the muscle car.
There are a few positives that will come from this new idea of the muscle car, one is safety. With smaller lighter cars there is less energy released in a crash hence less danger and of course better fuel economy. Another factor that will hopefully come into play is restoration and maybe those people who can’t buy a muscle car at the dealer anymore will set their minds on restoration. Let’s hope because seeing a rusted from of a classic in a junk yard is kinda sad.
