The Return of the Muscle Car

Opinion Journal ^ | 04/23/03 | COLLIN LEVEY

[Pokey78]

Horsepower and martial valor couldn't have come at a better time.

The French semiologist Roland Barthes once said he considered cars "almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals

[B-Chan]

Heh. I remember when the Judge hit the streets. Mopar even hired Paul Revere and the Raiders to cut a recording of the car's theme song:

Judge!
The brand new Great One
From Pontiac
GTO!

[Servant of the Nine]

Basic bottom line reality: A Honda Civic or Accord, an Acura, or a Dodge neon with a 135 - 160 hp motor will easily go as fast as it's possible to go in all but a few places in America today while getting 35 mpg and still feeling tight and new after 150,000 miles.

Bleah.

It will get there eventually. A muscle car will accelerate fast enough to complete any block in half the time without ever breaking the speed limit.

A muscle car will do it with panache and make you feel good about the trip. A honda will only make you feel like a self righteous weenie.

So9

[farmfriend]

Ask rdb3 about my car. It's so pimp we call it the pimp mobile.

[wardaddy]

Thank You...I feel better....but assuming I'm not dirt napping...my three year old and his little brother now all of 5 months will be probably wanting to go to the likes of Duke or Stanford.....

Damn....having more children in your mid 40s is not for sissies or erstwhile Porsche enthusiasts is it?

Mrs. Wardaddy already has dibs on any new pleasure car addition...she wants a cream colored 60s Mercedes coupe covertible like Audrey would have driven...and of course..she is the boss.

[mylife]

olds 442 ragtop.....the BEAST!!

[Dan Zachary]

To post a photo, img src="http://www.source.com/filename.jpg" inside of brackets <...> and of course the proper link.

[bigbadfont]

Thanks let me give it a try

[arm958]

It will get there eventually. A muscle car will accelerate fast enough to complete any block in half the time without ever breaking the speed limit.

Give me a twisty road and I'll get from point A to point B quicker in my 150 HP Dodge Neon than just about any muscle car. And I'll have plenty of fun doing it.

[LisaAnne]

I have one daughter, she is now 22. I was not brave enough to have more than one.

I have been looking for vintage cars, Mercedes are very nice; but I think I want American... one with lots of chrome.

[merak]

Then again, if you really need to drive fast, you have modern fast cars like the SRT4, which is basically a Neon with a 2.5 liter turbocharged engine and running gear and what not to match, about 220 horses in a machine which probably doesn't weigh more than about 2600 lbs. Performance should be roughly similar to that of a Maserato Merak in a $20,000 car which is generally more refined than either the Merak or any muscle car, is tall friendly and can seat four adults comfortably.

[PianoMan]

It looks like this:

img src="(insert picture's web address here)" height="(pic height)" width="(pic width)"

put that between brackets as an HTML instruction

[jayef]

Nice Kitty!

[Dan Zachary]

A Koenigsegg CC 85 at the Gumball Rally, a Swedish car that cost about $600,000.

4.6 liter supercharged V8, 655 hp, 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds, Top Speed of 240 mph. Chassis-Carbonfiber semi-monocoque, Body-Carbonfiber, Kevlar.

Unbelievable!

[bigbadfont]

This the Tomahawk. Made by the boys at Chrysler

[DennisR]

My brother had a 66 Chevelle Supersport--396/four-speed/four-barrel. I believe it had 365 horses. Rear end was geared rather low, so when you jumped on it, you had better be hanging on! That was one fun car. Yahoo!

[Servant of the Nine]

Then again, if you really need to drive fast, you have modern fast cars like the SRT4, which is basically a Neon with a 2.5 liter turbocharged engine and running gear and what not to match, about 220 horses in a machine which probably doesn't weigh more than about 2600 lbs. Performance should be roughly similar to that of a Maserato Merak in a $20,000 car which is generally more refined than either the Merak or any muscle car, is tall friendly and can seat four adults comfortably.

Anyone who buys a high performance front wheel drive car has a deathwish. They make the notoriously squirrely handling of the rear engined Porche look civilized.

So9

[BenR2]

super pic! Thank you!

[Dan Zachary]

You used the webpage address. You need the photo's address.

A V-10 crotch rocket, how cool is that?

[bigbadfont]

What would an appropriate height and width be