[Dr. Sivana]

It can stop just as fast as it goes thanks to ceramic Brembo brakes at all four corners, and if things get really hairy, ABS, stability control and traction control keep the rubber side down. Oh, and air conditioning, GPS, Bluetooth connectivity and cruise control are all standard.

Half of what retro-muscle car fans like is fewer layers between you and the car. My '66 Dodge Dart had the puny 225 in it, but I could change the fuel pump in 15 minutes, the starter in 20, and the water pump in under an hour. Despite wretched suspension and brakes by modern standards, you KNEW when something was going to go, and you knew what the car was up to. Putting all of those toys in a muscle car kinda undermines some of the charm. Nothing against toys, but I'd rather have them in a full size luxury automobile, not a muscle car or even a pedestrian old driveabout like my Dart.

[Charles Martel]

Half of what retro-muscle car fans like is fewer layers between you and the car... Putting all of those toys in a muscle car kinda undermines some of the charm. Nothing against toys, but I'd rather have them in a full size luxury automobile, not a muscle car or even a pedestrian old driveabout like my Dart.

Absolutely correct. I don't mind the usual powertrain / brakes / suspension "restomod" upgrades which eliminate some of these older cars' shortcomings, but this goes too far.

A few years ago, Burt Reynolds worked with the DIY Network and Year One Restorations to build an upgraded "Bandit" '77 Trans-Am. They did a really good job with that project, enhancing the car in the right spots without taking anything away from its nature or numbing it with electronic gadgetry.

[krogers58]

I had an old Signet, which is a Dart derivative. I believe Plymouth made the Signet. It was a pile of junk after I drove it to college for four years. Wasn’t worth anything as it was so rusted out it would’ve cost a small fortune to get somebody to weld it properly. My friends and I decided to take it out and kill it. We drained the radiator, and the motor oil. We drove it around for hours and hours. After a couple of nights we gave up trying to kill it. The junk guy took it, and called me up later on that day and asked me if I knew that the oil plug was missing out of the oil pan. They don’t make many better engines than the old slant 6, 225.

[freedomlover]

My ‘66 Dodge Dart had the puny 225 in it, but I could change the fuel pump in 15 minutes, the starter in 20, and the water pump in under an hour.

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And you could do it with one leg on the ground inside the engine bay.

In all seriousness, I could do just that with my 66 Plymouth Belvedere station wagon.