We recently published our list of 11 Great Muscle Cars. As we expected, some Vehix readers agreed with our choices; others thought we were out of our minds. One item jumped out from the reader feedback: Muscle car purists don’t want contemporary muscle cars to sully a list of classic muscle cars.
Although we believe that many of today’s muscle cars can hang with the classics in terms of raw horsepower, styling and ability to turn heads, we also agree that modern muscle cars can be categorized on their own. Consider it a separation of church and state.
We’re offering up this list of 5 Modern American Muscle Cars – plus a few bonus vehicles that aren’t traditional muscle cars but pack ridiculous power and striking good looks inside and outside their stylish sheet metal.
A modern American muscle car must meet the following requirements:
- It must have a big engine (400 horsepower or larger)
- It must be fast (0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds or less)
- It must sound good (a low growl that turns heads is a bonus)
- It must feature a front engine and rear-wheel drive
- It must look cool (racing stripes and flashy paint jobs are encouraged)
- It must make the driver look cool (if the car doesn’t make bystanders stare at you with envy, it doesn’t make our list)
- It must be brash (these vehicles will irritate in-laws and thoroughly practical people)
So let’s jump in with a quick look at five vehicles that rock the modern driver’s world.
Good lordy-mama, this is a sweet ride. Great road manners and a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.6 seconds is superb for a 3,849 pound machine. It’s no surprise that the Camaro’s (view photos) body gets the most attention. It’s a great design. When driving, however, many folks have a hard time seeing out through the crop-top-like windows. So, there’s a bit of a sacrifice of form over function. But we’re not complaining too loudly, especially when a car looks this good. Only the Dodge Challenger turns as many heads.
Specs:
- Horsepower: 400 @ 5,900 RPM
- Torque: 420 lb-ft @ 4,600 RPM
- Engine: 6.2 liter, V8
- MSRP: From $30,945
