Muscle Cars Make Comeback at Detroit Show

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.

"They say they don't make cars like they used to, thank God."

That is in reference to style. At least, when I make that statement, I am referring to style. For the past 10 years atleast, they have been cranking out silver belly buttons. Everywhere you look, there goes another silver belly button. You can't even tell who makes the car or what model it is until you are close enough to read the medallion on the trunk lid. There has been a severe lack of creativity in the low to middle range market.

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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.
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I agree with almost all that you have said. If the SUV fashion trend ever ends like the trend towards two mile long cars eventually did, Detroit is in even more trouble than they are now. Already there are signs that the fad may be ebbing and that the market for big trucks is slowing. Detroit has banked on those huge profit margins and if they dry up things become dire.

I also agree with you that responsiveness is a huge problem for the American companies. The old Chevy Cavalier was out for eleven years for instance. In that lifespan Honda and Toyota redesigned their small cars three times or so each. The Taurus was out pretty close to that. Hard to convince someone to buy a more dated design.

Chrysler seems to get it now though. Its a shame it took a merger with a foreign company for them to get it, but they now seem to understand that simply offering huge discounts isn't enough to drive sales anymore. You need to offer a compelling product that people really want to drive, not that they settle for. Three decades of putting out mediocre cars that weren't up to the quality of the Japs and didn't offer the same driving experience of the Japs and the Euros won't be overcome overnight. Chrysler has made some huge steps at doing that, but it'll take GM and Ford some time. From most of the reviews i've seen, the new Ford 500 and the new G6 won't be the cars to do that. To get back those former customers (like myself) who are now loyal Honda and Toyota customers you'll have to build something that is demonstrably better and at least as reliable reliable and gives them a real reason to want to switch back.

Another big issue for me is resale value. After five or six years, a Honda is worth about the same as a something American that cost about double new. To me when I look to by a car thats something I look at. Just peering at the blue book value gives a good example of that. A 2002 basic V6 Accord and a 2002 basic Taurus were simarly priced cars. An Accord LX V6 of that vingtage with 60k has a retail value of $14530. A Ford Taurus SE of that vintage is worth $8685. Thats a pretty big difference and one that only widens with age.

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