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Muscle Cars Make Comeback at Detroit Show
AP ^ | January 8, 2006 | DEE-ANN DURBIN

Posted on 01/08/2006 1:36:56 PM PST by NCjim

Automakers will be flexing some muscle at this year's North American International Auto Show, with a slew of performance cars that harken back to the V-8-charged glory days of the 1960s and early '70s.

On Sunday, the first day of media previews, Ford Motor Co. planned to introduce the Ford Shelby GT500, a souped-up Mustang, and Chrysler Group planned to unveil the Dodge Challenger concept, a revamp of its 1970 model. Later in the show, General Motors Corp. will take the wraps off its Chevrolet Camaro concept.

Lamborghini is joining in, bringing out the Miura concept, an update of the 40-year-old supercar that was last produced in the early 1970s. And Hyundai Motor Corp. will have its HCD-9 Talus, the latest in a string of concept sports cars designed in the South Korean automaker's California studios.

But only Detroit automakers can lay claim to the tradition of muscle cars, the All-American vehicles that first appeared in the mid-1960s and faded out when the oil embargo and stricter pollution laws hit in the early 1970s. These are the cars made famous by the Dukes of Hazzard, who wreaked havoc in a 1969 Dodge Charger, and Steve McQueen, who raced around San Francisco in a 1968 Ford Mustang GT390 in the legendary chase scene from "Bullitt."

After years of focusing on sport utility vehicles, automakers were surprised by the popularity of the revamped Ford Mustang, which went on sale in the fall of 2004. U.S. sales of the Mustang rose 24 percent in 2005, according to Autodata Corp.

Erich Merkle, an auto analyst for the consulting firm IRN Inc., said Baby Boomer nostalgia is fueling the trend. Also, GM and Ford, who have been struggling with weak sales and U.S. market share losses, are eager to capitalize on something uniquely American.

"It's a place where the Japanese can't follow them. The Japanese couldn't do a Mustang. It wouldn't be credible," Merkle said.

The 2007 Ford Shelby GT500, in coupe and convertible versions, is the only one of the muscle cars at the Detroit show that is going on sale this year. Ford says the car will appear in showrooms in the summer of 2006.

The Shelby GT500 is the latest product from Ford's partnership with Carroll Shelby, a race-car driver turned designer who first began refashioning Mustangs in the 1960s.

The designers of the Dodge Challenger concept brought a 1970 Challenger into the studio for inspiration.

"For me, that car symbolizes the most passionate era of automotive design," Micheal Castiglione, principal exterior designer of the Challenger concept, said in a statement.

Chrysler hasn't said whether the concept will reach the market.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: automakers; conceptcars; musclecars
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To: Unfrozen Caveman Engineer
'Shoot, just re-do the 89 mustang exactly how it was. I would buy one in a heartbeat. They would sell them so fast, they couldnt keep them on the lot, I promise. I like the old ones too, but nothing beats the fox bodies. I have a '91 that is fun. I need another 85 with its quasi futuristic 4-headlight having looks." You serious? The 89 Mustang looked like a boring economy car. I know it was quick but it lacked style. A generic looking late 80's car that was basically 1970's tech. Nobody would buy them today with the better choices out there. If you want to go Mustang, the last two generations of Mustangs have been much better looking and have looked like Mustangs, not Caviliers. The new one is stunning and joins a good crop of neo-muscle cars led by the Chysler 300, Dodge Magnum/Charger, and the upcoming Dodge Challenger.
21 posted on 01/08/2006 2:01:59 PM PST by SmoothTalker
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To: NCjim

I'd like a 60's Chaparral 2D with a Plymouth 2.2L FI please.


22 posted on 01/08/2006 2:02:05 PM PST by Old Flat Toad (Pima County, home of the single vehicle accident with 40 victims.)
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To: Chi-townChief
Is that a Seneca?


23 posted on 01/08/2006 2:04:10 PM PST by MarkeyD (Cowards cut and run. Marines finish the job. I really, really loathe liberals.)
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To: SteveMcKing

Agreed. I was excited when I heard they were bringing back the Charger, and then, well, look what came back. A friend of mine had a '73 440 Magnum R/T Charger that screamed, and was an attractive coupe to boot. I wouldn't say the same about the new Charger. If that 'Cuda (originally a Plymouth brand name, the Dodge moniker was the Challenger, remember?) concept comes to pass looking as close as it does to the original, I think they'd have a winner on their hands...unlike the Charger.


24 posted on 01/08/2006 2:06:54 PM PST by john drake (roman military maxim: "oderint dum metuant, i.e., let them hate, as long as they fear")
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To: SteveMcKing
I have thought the same thing for a long time...here is my pick;
25 posted on 01/08/2006 2:07:26 PM PST by oxcart (Remember Bush lied.......People DYED... THEIR FINGERS!)
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To: MarkeyD

A Royal Lancer; interesting, though, my dad had a '60 Dart like the one in your picture except it was the Phoenix and a turquoise four-door. I always liked the big smiley grille, round taillights, dash-mounted rearview mirror, and, of course, the push button Torqueflight trans.


26 posted on 01/08/2006 2:07:36 PM PST by Chi-townChief
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To: NCjim

I really hope the muscle-car never dies. I really like them. You don't have to use your muscle car as a daily driver, for god's sake! Damn the gas mileage you only live once...


27 posted on 01/08/2006 2:07:57 PM PST by The Worthless Miracle
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To: oxcart

28 posted on 01/08/2006 2:10:03 PM PST by al baby (Father of the beeber)
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To: SmithL

The wheels suck, big time. Can't they come up with Rallye wheels again?


29 posted on 01/08/2006 2:12:21 PM PST by JoJo Gunn (Help control the Leftist population. Have them spayed or neutered. ©)
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To: oxcart
Nice...

They should build 70,000 of these -- but no, they might actually SELL.


30 posted on 01/08/2006 2:14:26 PM PST by SteveMcKing ("No empire collapses because of technical reasons. They collapse because they are unnatural.")
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To: Cobra64
>When Shelby was born, they broke the mold.

Right... All of those cars had motors made to do 140 while the entire rest of the car was safe to about 65 or 70. They say they don't make cars like they used to, thank God. People are driving faster now than they ever did in the 60s or 70s because the cars now are safe at those speeds and the people know it.

31 posted on 01/08/2006 2:14:47 PM PST by darkocean
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To: NCjim
The rear looks like an old Thunderbird.


32 posted on 01/08/2006 2:18:38 PM PST by JoJo Gunn (Help control the Leftist population. Have them spayed or neutered. ©)
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To: Clint N. Suhks

Well, you know your son the best, but I think it, ummm, unwise to give a 16 yo male a brand new sports car. A used econobox on its last legs, which he has to spring for the insurance on would be my choice.

Two men I work with have a total of 7 sons. Three of those have totaled their first car.


33 posted on 01/08/2006 2:20:51 PM PST by LexBaird ("I'm not questioning your patriotism, I'm answering your treason."--JennysCool)
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To: darkocean

This will drive the eco people nuts! hahahahaha! They thought the American people had *finally* come to their senses and ditched the gas hog suv. But the jokes on them as we turn around and buy muscle cars again! Hahahahahaha


34 posted on 01/08/2006 2:27:18 PM PST by SSR1
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To: NCjim

Pics of concept 2009 Camaro here.......

http://www.camaroz28.com/index.shtml


35 posted on 01/08/2006 2:33:29 PM PST by Names Ash Housewares
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To: al baby

nice car. 260 block Ford engine?


36 posted on 01/08/2006 2:33:52 PM PST by moonman
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To: darkocean
This time, there's no excuse.

I wouldn't blame you. Even though I love the old asphalt-shreddin'
muscle cars.

The inoperability of human short-term memory concerning
oil dependency is pretty amazing, isn't it?
37 posted on 01/08/2006 2:37:42 PM PST by VOA
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To: SmoothTalker

Ugh.
Those are the cars that killed the Mustang mystique for me.

The newer models are definitely the best Mustangs in the past 30+ years.


38 posted on 01/08/2006 2:38:25 PM PST by SJSAMPLE
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To: Rodney Dangerfield

LS6


39 posted on 01/08/2006 2:39:38 PM PST by j_tull (Happy New Year!)
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To: Names Ash Housewares
"Pics of concept 2009 Camaro here......."

Kinda mustang looking aint it?

40 posted on 01/08/2006 2:42:53 PM PST by pandemoniumreigns
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