Jeremiah 29:11

Yep, and we will be blowing past these car every chance we get.


The end of the line for muscle cars?

Danielle Boudreau, today at 11:26 AM EST



So what is the future of BMW’s revamped 2008 M3, all 414 horsepower of it? Ponder on that as you take in the car at the Canadian International Auto Show this week.

Gearheads, those with gasoline running through their veins, will be all over this car – which by the way goes on sale March 8 for $71,300 and $69,900, coupe and sedan respectively. And they should be.

This M3 is fierce, powered by the first eight-cylinder engine in an M3 ever. The original four-cylinder M3 of the 1980s looks pretty tame by comparison.
But this year’s Toronto show is very much dominated not by muscle cars like the M3 – and there are others such as the made-in-Canada Dodge Challenger – but a very broad array of less racy but no less interesting so-called “clean” or at least very fuel efficient vehicles.

Hybrids, diesels, more lightweight materials (not for performance but to improve fuel economy), cylinder deactivation systems, increasingly efficient engines... The car business is becoming more about how to go farther on a litre of gas – or diesel, or ethanol or hydrogen – than 0-100 km/hour times. The evidence of that is all over the convention centre and the Rogers Centre.

So have a look at that new M3, and it is an incredible car in a line dating back some two decades since the first M cars made their North American debut. BMW has, in fact, sold 180,000 M3s worldwide. Twenty years from now will there be another all-new M3? I wouldn’t bet on it.

1 Bad Mirada

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?

RoswellGrey

In a word, no. One thing you didn't note was that if nothing else, some people will always make their own performance cars -- just look at all the little 4-cylinder rice burners that tuners have altered into something semi-respectable. You gotta give those people credit for keeping the spirit alive.

Justinec101

"and people who were reluctant to buy an american car, now had an alternative, and it w(a)s exactly what they were being told by the media that they wanted.."

That's the thing. Once again the media is out here telling people there's a gas crises, muscle cars destroy the environment, there's new alternatives to V8s.

When they turned the mustang into the mustang II nobody could believe it (I'd assume, I wasn't alive). But the same thing is happening now, not a 4 cylinder, but there's talk of replacing the V8s with new types of V6s. Technology has changed but it's the same story. The cars you mentioned staying around are leaning towards the super-high performance end(Gt-r, corvette, M series). What will probably dissapear are the more mainstream V8s, the charger r/t, the mustang gt. . .

1 Bad Mirada

i would be amazed...it doesnt matter what taxes you impose on performance cars; people are still going to buy them....and if people are buying them, they will make them. might there be some sort of power set back similar to what we saw in the mid 70s?

possibly, but the fact that there are already 500hp cars that can get almost 30mpg, is proof that it can be done...

MGDMike

If you build it, they will come.. err.. by it. Look at the old Maverick, we actually bought that thing![&:]

RoswellGrey

Actually, I had TWO Mavericks -- a '70 and a '77. For the money, and for what they were intended to be, fine vehicles both.

66Cuda

I find it interesting that when there is talk of gas prices and increases it's always the muscle cars that are targeted. Let’s not forget about the big pickups and SUV's that are getting 12 miles to the gallon. I don't read articles on how the Hummer is going to die because of fuel issues (and I personally wish the H2 and H3 would die). I agree with what others have said, people will buy them no matter what. I think people forget that there are some states where you need a truck or SUV to get threw winters. Small economy cars just won’t cut it.

Yankee

I understand what you're saying 66, and to play a little "devil's advocate" here, people actually HAVE said how the large SUVs and trucks should die or be severly regulated (i.e. give them the same fuel regs as cars). The thing is, though, like you said, some actually have a real need for an SUV or a truck for whatever reason - large family, live in the northern climes, whatever - unlike a "muscle car", which is almost always an emotional need versus a practical need, which is why I think we're hearing alot of buzz about the supposed "death" of the modern muscle car.

Having said that, however... A small part of me honestly hopes that the muscle car market DOES tank and values plummet. Because that means that they're only going to rise again someday. I've always envied those that bought muscle cars back way back when when nobody wanted them, and look at them now - look who's getting the last laugh. I want to be one of those left laughing when the values rise again in the next few decades (assuming I have that much time left...)

RLSH700

You know something I just thought about. Have you ever considered how stupid D.C. would have to be to try to get rid of SUVs and our performance cars? They claim to be doing this for "our own good" to save us from "ManBearPig" (I'm so sick of the term, this is what I'm going to call it for now on), yet if they would actually stop us from driving what we want and turn our driving habits into European's cars (glorified golf carts everywhere with the mind set that a VW Beetle is a larger vehicle) what would happen to all their (or should I more accurately say our) precious gas tax revenue? Muscle cars were disappearing faster during the times of cheap fuel. Think about it. The demand for Camaros and Firebirds had dropped off when gas was much cheaper than it is right now. Logically, the shift must be from some SUV owners.

So your basically saying that if the Big Three and any one else fails to meet those unrealistic fuel economy standards, all that will happen is they will hit us all with more taxes? Hmmm, we'll see how many of these fools who supported this will be able to hold on to their precious seats. I think our "addiction to oil" is but a fraction compared to their "addiction to taxing and power."