A child's Pony Car education essential

My No. 2 daughter is still young enough -- 12 -- that she doesn't mind holding hands with her dad. I reveled in this as we walked through the Detroit Auto Show last month. As a father who happens to be an automotive journalist, I had already spent days at the 2008 event attending press conferences, so the purpose of our trip was not for me to see anything new, but to confer upon my girl all that was cool and important. And to eat some Ryba's fudge.

Our immersive educational experience began in the Ford display talking about the elegant lines of Lincoln MKT concept; funny how a design can be so attractive even when its grille looks like the baleen of a Blue Whale. Then we headed over to the GM exhibit to ogle the 620-horsepower Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1. A discussion ensued on how much horsepower was too much. Being a fan of Tim Allen, I maintained that one can never have too much power. My daughter responded with, "So that explains why you're putting the Chevy V-8 in your Z3?"
Historically hooked on V-8s

Her ability to quickly connect the dots made me smile, and lent credence to my current 1996 BMW project car. As I lauded her deductive skills, I presented additional (but questionable) support for my position with some ancestral history: For most of the 1970s, the Roy Family owned five Chryslers powered by high-horsepower 440-cubic inch (7.2 liters) V-8s. We seem to have a pathological need for power, and yes, we have sought forgiveness for the role we played in both Arab Oil Embargos.

Even more important than passing on our family's politically-incorrect record of consuming tankers of Sunoco 280 Premium was informing my progeny on the definition of a Pony Car. As we strolled by the Chevrolet Camaro (due in another year or so) and the Dodge Challenger (available this spring), she was unaware of the designation. I had failed as a Detroit father.



We quickly headed back to the Ford exhibit to study the emblems on the various flavors of Mustang they had on display. I explained how back in the day, Lee Iacocca and his team at Ford conceived the idea of an all-American, small, practical, and affordable sporty car. (Yes, this would have been decades before Lee did the lamentable 2005 Chrysler commercial with Snoop Dogg.) The Mustang debuted on April 13, 1964, at the New York World's Fair, and Ford took 30,000 orders the following week.

General Motors, Chrysler, and even American Motors responded to the Mustang with the Camaro, Firebird, Barracuda, 'Cuda, Challenger, and AMX. These cars were all about the same size as the Mustang, and each wore a variation on that car's long-hood/short-deck design that the public liked so much. The pony car descriptor for this class was coined early on, and paid homage to Ford's leading role.
Powerful engines are crucial

For the record, Pony Cars are an expressly American creation, so don't expect one from Toyota or BMW. Additionally, while the bulk of Pony Cars were practically-powered with efficient engines, powerful V-8s are integral to the true Pony Car equation. This explains why the entire 2008 production run of the new Dodge Challenger will be the 425-horsepower SRT8 high-performance edition.

Pony Cars are part of our Detroit Car Culture because of their genesis here, and because we're about to see history repeat itself. It will be exciting to have the Camaro and Challenger back again. And now my daughter knows what to call them.