The last muscle car

sfgate ^

[JoeProBono]

Sexy as a swollen porn star on meth, twice as useless: Have you seen this thing? This sexy macho bloated Hot Wheels fantasia dreamgasm of a car-like drunken child's funbot crayon sketch? No? Because it appears to be a vehicle that at least some across the Big Autosphere are still secretly praying, despite the sudden overthrow of -- despite the deadly ultimatum for -- General Motors, might yet prove to be a savior.

[CholeraJoe]

At least they didn’t do what Pontiac did in 2004 when they wanted to issue a 40th anniversary GTO. They went to Australia, pulled a production Holden Monaro off the line, gave it a left-hand drive and slapped “GTO” on it.

Like a fool, I bought one and had nothing but trouble with it. Bad suspension threw the front end out of alignment and ruined two tires. Blew the radiator, twice. Sucked down 93 octane like a drunken sailor in port. Traded it in last June.

[bygolly]

My parents had a '67 LaSabre, a great car. It looked almost the same except I seem to think the '67 might have had more of a "fast-back", but maybe not. It was the same color.

I loved driving that "sled"!

[norton]

Sorry, much of the lure of a muscle car is being up close and personal with it, see post 15.

I'm hard pressed to get excited over "I changed the chip", or "just listen to those Bassani mufflers"; or bragging up a $7,000.00, 21 inch, wheel and tire display.

I was lots more interested in the link (no pun) to "Linkvolt" that the author provided:
A ray of hope for my '57 four door(?)

[Martin Tell]

I had an original '89 SHO. A cop stopped me when I was driving it home just so he could look under the hood.

Great car, but I burned out three clutches. Not my fault, I swear! I did get Ford to replace them all at their cost.

Sold it when I moved overseas.

Have you heard that Ford is bringing the SHO back next year? Unfortunately, it will not have that beautiful Yamaha boat engine.

[Cuttnhorse]

Good looking car!!

[BlueNgold]

Yeah, but ... it’s still a Ford...

;-)

[JoeProBono]

The Yamaha's a mover alright and it's only a six!

[Kenny Bunk]

Why is this car anymore or less obnoxious than any over-powered Lexus coupe, Audi Cabrio, Mercedes 500 series, etc? Granted from the front and rear it looks like an ugly fat thing, but it's got a nice profile. Of course, they could work on a small displacement (under 3 liter) High Output Engine, or buy one.

Lately, American cars even handle very well. Where's the problem? Hope they sell'em like hotcakes with government backed loans.

[Trod Upon]

Yikes—keep her away from open flames!

[irishjuggler]

Ditto. When I saw "SFgate" and read the first few sentences, I thought, "This could only be the half-assed handiwork of Morford."

BTW, I predict that this Camaro will be GM's first real hit in years.

[JoeProBono]

"Yeah, but ... it’s still a Ford..."

Yeah, but with the soul of a Samurai

Most of the interest in this car is due to the V6 engine. It is a Yamaha and Ford designed 183ci 24 valve dual overhead cam naturally aspirated power house. The heads and intake are aluminum and the shortblock is iron, the intake being the eye-catcher. The intake is huge by any standard. Other than the studs, bolts and hoses it is all aluminum. The dual stage runner design is set for the long tubes to intake air during standard operation but once the car hits around 3950 RPMs the butterflies open and the powerband shifts to the right for another surge of power.

[JoeProBono]

I was hoping you wouldn’t notice;-}

[AFreeBird]

Yamaha built engine. Very nice. Have a friend who still has his too.

[doodad]

Actually, Holden was foremost in the design team and the body unit is the lite version of Xeta.

[JoeProBono]

You bought the SHO "prototype". They evolved into powerful “Wolves in Sheep's Clothing”.

A little bit of info on why an SHO is not "just a Taurus," since SO many people feel the need to just yell to me that I am driving JUST a Taurus. The SHO was produced from 89-99. The 89-95's came with a YAMAHA built NATURALLY ASPIRATED V6 in manual or automatic trim (auto introduced as an option in 93). I don't know as much about the Gen 3 SHO's (96-99), but their engines were V8's, only automatic, and I believe were built either completely by YAMAHA or by YAMAHA and Ford combined (YAMAHA heads, Ford block or visa-versa). Many people seem to think that the Gen 1's and 2's had V8's or superchargers, or they are just different looking than regualar Taurii. Just all the more reason why this car is one of the best production sleepers out there. The V6 engines can also last for many miles IF they are well-maintained

[OBXWanderer]

I had a 94 SHO from about 2001 to late 2003. Bought it at 72000, and let it go at 175000. That was about 50k a year. 5 speed manual. Never had a clutch problem. 32 miles to the gallon with 93 octane. With that tank, I remember over 500 mile range, but that last 50 miles was close. Right after I had put some Portenzas on it, one morning about 3am out on I64 somewhere in Kentucky on a trip from Kansas to Virginia, I put it up to over 130 for a few seconds.

Got some great comments on it, (it was that dark blue), some of those comments from cops telling ole "war stories" about some of their SHO's in the early 90s. And at 175000, you could STILL balance a quarter on edge on that Yamaha, with the engine running. That car was fun to drive and own. And a whole lot of fun "popping the hood".

[Made In The USA]

Ghost Stripes are a really subtle treatment of stripes, such as a dark gray on a gray car. It says sports car without screaming it. I’m scheduling a mid-life crisis for next year and thinking a lot about these things.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

The real question:

When is the last issue, of the leftist San Francisco Chronicle?