I like that muscle cars are making a comeback... but I don't like that they are 4,000+ lbs!

Shelby GT500, Charger, Challenger, all close to 4,100 lbs!

When I found out the Shelby wasn't going to have IRS and STILL weighed over 400 lbs more, it cemented the fact that I would be happy with my '03 Terminator Cobra for a long long time.

And those prices defeat the whole idea of muscle cars: bang for the buck. The highest end model should be 30-40k to compete with the Cobra and SRT8 and Camaro
SS with 400-500 HP, while the lower end V6 automatic models should be in the 20s.

Oh and the front and back of the new Challenger just does not look right, it's way too fat.

Needs a chrome bumper or black cutout or something.

These vehicles for there size don't seem to have very much usable space. Most of the extra power they have is used to get that mass of iron moving, A car with 2000 to 2500 lbs could get by with a much smaller motor with similar performance and interior room. Plus be as lot more emviromentally friendly.

Yeah its crazy the cost and weight these cars are getting now.

I guess you can blame all the stupid amounts of technology they keep adding.

I just want a car, not a mobile home theater or something that is so paranoid about safety it has 8 airbags or whatever.

They should make airbags optional instead of standard for those of us that prefer not to pay for all that redundant sh1t.

What was the point of a muscle car in the first place? It was to take the engine of the upper line model (the larger, more powerful engine), and put it into a lower end model (a smaller, lighter car). The only cars that still are muscle cars are the Corvette and the Viper. All their doing (Ford, Chevy, Pontiac, ect.) is putting a big engine in a big car. It defeats the whole purpose of a muscle car. They wheren't made to look nice, they where made to go fast.

Why don't they stop trying to bring back muscle cars of the past and make a new type of muscle car? Take a Vette or Viper engine and put it into a Cobalt or Avenger. That would be a muscle car (with a bit of body work and Not much else, especially the interior).

If I wanted to have a Challenger, GT-500, or GTO, I'd go find one to rebuild (or have someone do it for me), I would NOT go buy a "remanufactured" one. I'm tired of our car manufactures looking at past successes, and trying to re-invent them. I want something new that will make me want to say "I don't want a [BMW, Porsche, Lotus, ect.] I want a(n) [well built American car]!"

Biil:

No, you don't need to ''get by'' with a smaller engine with similar performance by having less weight. The point is to cut JUST the weight and keep the big engine, and getting even MORE performance.

The only real people (that I can think of) who are making "muscle" style cars are BMW and Porsche. The new M3 is a lighter car with the old M5 engine (a V8 - vs the old I6 - that is lighter and more powerful than the older version). And Porsche is releasing the GT2, a lighter version of the Turbo and far more powerful (500+ hp).

Why is it that the "muscle" style is actually having a better execution in foreign countries, and not here in America?

Then again Germany invented the jet engine and America has made it better...

Larry,

If you think that Porsche or BMW makes musclecars. You need to leave the country right now. I will give you a ride in my '70 Chevelle SS 454 and then you will know what a musclecar is! And no, none of these cars are it. There has not been a Musclecar(Or real cars for that matter) since 1971 when the government stepped in where their noses did not belong and legislated them out of existance.

Sorry, but the $31-50K is going to kill the Challenger shortly after it gets off the ground. There will be a brief sprike in sales when it comes out, but I won't be surprised when the next year's model has a heavy incentive on it. The perfect storm: $3/gallon gas, CAFE increase on the horizon, and a starting price through the roof. I thought the base Challenger was supposed to have the V6 in it. There's no way people will shell out that money for a V6.

I've owned a real 1970 Challenger R/T in my life and I am amazed that the new Challenger is so much BIGGER! It's longer, wider and heavier too. While my big block Challenger weighed in at only 3400 pounds, this thing weighs over 4100! At 30 to 50 grand I don't see the incentive for buying one. You can buy a nice (#2 cond.) 383 1970 R/T Challenger for 25 grand and have money left over to buy an econo-box for daily commutes. Trust me, when you roll into a car show, the original R/T will draw the bigger crowd... (maybe not initially, but soon after the buzz has died) Oh, and the original will only appreciate in value, where the new one's value will fall like a garbage truck dropped off the Empire State Building.

Oh, and furthermore, Dodge missed the mark when they failed to further develop the Venom V-6 (6-speed) concept coupe from a few years back. It had a muscle/sports car flavor, rear wheel drive and a more practical V-6. They also tarnished the great Charger mark by slapping it on nothing more than a Magnum 4 door sedan that has been sentenced to a life of Police Patrols with a Taxi Cab retirement.

Hell yeah! This post sounds really good. Reading your blog is useful and interesting. Keep it that way.