And I'm not bustin on the camaro or anything. I had one very similar to this all thru th '70,s.
But it wasn't a Z.. (sigh)
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.
Still the same old stupidity. At one time, the Japanese were granted the small-car market, because they wouldn't be credible with luxury cars. Same thinking for the Honda and Yamaha motorcycles, and now pickup and other trucks. The Japanese can and will follow into profitable segments, and will do so when they can out-shine the competition in some way. The Japanese do make high performance motorcycles, when they get around to it, and when they think it's not a flash in the pan market, they will make high performance cars but likely at a reliability level the US manufacturers can't (or do not seem to want to) meet.
If I had to wait in line for it, then I'd go crazy.
"Those are the cars that killed the Mustang mystique for me. "
Exactly. The new one has done a lot to bring it back.
"Kinda mustang looking aint it?"
I owned a 69 Camaro, and it has a lot of styling of a 69. I like it.
And I'm not bustin on the camaro or anything. I had one very similar to this all thru th '70,s.
But it wasn't a Z.. (sigh)
I ordered one of these in '73 ...Took 4 months to get it ...One big LEMON from day one ...Never bought another new American car after the Z-28 nightmare ...
(Warning - lots of yelling and caps to follow)
This is so typical.
The auto industry is going to become 100% foreign in the next 10 years.
The US auto industry is STUCK IN THE PAST. The design studios are in Michigan - and design based on where they live. They see guys in pickup trucks and midsize/large cars. They see lots of snow. They see boats being towed. And they see big corn-fed midwest drivers. What they don't see a lot of, is style conscious young drivers, or $3 gas.
(I'm not bashing Michigan - grew up there)
Meanwhile, Japanese, Korean and soon Chinese carmakers are designing in Southern Cal. They are SURROUNDED by every type of car on the planet every day on the freeway. They see what young people drive, and they make more of them. They redesign almost every year. They make small cars. Soon Daimler will be bringing a teenie car smaller than the Mini from Europe - and they'll sell a zillion of them.
Meanwhile, GM is laying off workers, is on the verge of bankruptcy, Ford is seemingly on a 10-year design cycle. It's SO FRUSTRATING!!
Detroit really needs to get with the program. They're losing.
That's right. I'll say it. LOSING.
They're going to go out of business.
They need to build small cars. Here. Not import them and put a "Chevy" on the back. Not import them and call them a "Festiva", or "Aspire". Not import them and sell them as a mini SUV.
We need to build small cars right here - lots and lots and lots of them. Cheap. Small. Stylish. And we better start RIGHT NOW.
WAKE UP DETROIT.
(rant off - and yes I have an American car)
Like. . .American's want if not 'deserve'. . . to recall and experience some automobile 'glory days'. . .while they look to return as well. ..to a safer. . .happier past. . .(before the 'terror' word had personal impact)
AND we want to flex our muscles as well. . .but not in Iraq or in Military service or just 'for' our Country. . .but rather by gunning our engines at the red light. . .
Leave it to Demrats to come up with a car solution that totally defies the other half of their own conflilcted story. . .and one that defies the real world as well.
I like muscle cars too --however Both Ford and Chevy are in financial trouble and neither has a decent high mileage auto.
I wonder if the muscle car idea is the wrong one with gas at $2.40 a gallon.
Why is Ford naming a muscle car "Shelby"????
I learned how to drive a stick in my ex-husband's 1971 silver Pontiac Firebird.
God, I could feel that engine rumble in my stomach!
I felt like I was driving a metallic Man O'War!
"...and Steve McQueen, who raced around San Francisco in a 1968 Ford Mustang GT390 in the legendary chase scene from "Bullitt."
If memory serves, it was a GTA. That Mustang did indeed have a 390 option. But I read long ago that McQueen had a 427 Chevy custom installed in that green Mustang.
What I wanna know is what handgun he carried in the film. My guess is a 2.5 inch Colt Diamondback in .38 Special. But maybe it was a short barrelled Python?
Semper Fi,
That is a great looking car! If they put that into production...I WILL get one....although I would change the rims and put some Cragar SS's on it!! LOL
Ah a Tigger. Here Kitty Kitty.
I'ld love to have one with a 351 Clevland block and four speed top loader. Hee Ya!!!!!!!!
I've go a red convertable "89. Standard, leather seats. It is in the garage with 7,000 miles on it. I plan on taking it out and driving it when I hit the Big 60. To heck with everyone at that age.
What some people will do is purchase a body kit that makes their base mustang to like a Shelby. Get a body kit, get bigger tires (and if one is willing to invest some extra, get some engine modifications).
Your son must be truly appreciative. Good call Clint. He must have been deliriously happy.
Bring back the 375 HP SS Chevelle !!
Don't care what you call it, I don't want this built anyplace in the world....
I'd rather see the Gremlin return, or the Camino for that matter.
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