think about the mid 1970s...where there was a looming fuel shortage, NO alternative fuel vehicles, and the "foreign cars" with their four cylinders were invading, as their ultra low power, but even lower fuel cost, was appealing...do you think that the writers back then thought that we would see a market, ever again, where there are multiple 500+ horsepower cars, from an OEM lineup? i can guarantee that when the mustang went from being a 1973 V8 model to the 4 cylinder 1974 mustang II, everyone thought that the performance car market was dead and gone...that had to have been viewed as the final blow to the performance car era....the mighty mustang with only a 4 nd 6 cylinder option? lets not forget that the corvettes were starting to plummet in hp numbers.

look at the advantages now, of the performance car market., thanks to engine technology.

the high powered cars of the 70s were not friendly to drive. they were often rough running, brutal engine setups, such as the hemi...easing it around town would load it up, and there was no such thing as fuel economy in any car that ran in the 13s, stock. the cars were not driver friendly, they were very inefficient, and for the first time, the market was flooding with economy cars, as well as the fuel crisis. the new economy cars, primarily from japan, were "a fad". also, you had cars tht were comfortable and had the cutting edge items like an 8 track player...or, you had power. the original horsepower war combatants had ALOt going against them. in the most simple terms, think of it this way. a great many americans were worried about the looming fuel crisis, so they were hesitant to buy a high powered car, so the market was already slow...then, there ws this huge influx of japanese cars, and people who were reluctant to buy an american car, now had an alternative, and it ws exactly what they were being told by the media that they wanted..so a declining market, plus a large portion of the market being pulled out from under them.

lets look ahead, to a modern hemi car, the 300C. they are capable of running in the high 13s, stock, although its rare. they are capable in the real world, of getting up around 30mpg. the interior optons offer pretty much anything that you could ask for in a luxury car. you dont have to choose between comfort and performance, and you can go one further and have luxury and performance. there is no fuel shortage, its just prices going up. the prices of everything goes up, constantly...the performance market isnt slow, the entire market is slow, nd this time, there is no new competition, as formidable as the 1970s wave of japanese models, to tear down the already weak market. the big concern is CAFE? CAFE should be called "horsepower tax", as that is ALL that it is. there will still be performance cars, but we will pay more for them..and thats life. might we see a temporary decline in the number of high powered cars? possibly, but to think that high powered cars are just going to "go away" is naive, and foolish.

these writers just stir the pot to get published...feeding off of the media-fed fears...but no one looks at the flow of the market. chevrolet has released two of the most powerful and fastest production corvettes EVER MADE. does that seem like a sign of certain doom? do you honestly think that ford is going to make the mustang an economy car? or how about a 4-cylinder automatic vette that gets 30mpg? how about this, i know a z06 owner, who made something like 550 wheel HP, and on highway runs, he gets around 28mpg.

i see the market growing, even though companies are struggling..look at the new gtr from nissan...the new M series...i can go on and on. does anyone honestly think that because of a slightly increased government name with a cute catchy name, the performance cars are just going to vanish?