Dwarf Killer

So I was thinking. It seems really unfair that out of the blue and without prior warning certain types of legislation were announced that would effectively make it impossible to continue with any further musclecar development and impugn manufacturers for those vehicles they have already spent millions to produce like the Camaro, Challenger and the Impala.

Aside from Mr. Bush's plan to implement unrealistic percentage increases in fuel mileage, we also have the Canadian government announcing a $4000 per car guzzler tax, no warning, no time to prepare.

It is my view that these attacks are not only unfairly detrimental to people working for the car manufacturers, but they seem to allow for no grandfathering in of cars currently going into production at great cost, and those planned for production to help certain ailing car companies.

While I realize that the current fad toward environmental fear and hysteria are a concern to politicians, it is important nonetheless to take a more sober approach to the perceived greenhouse problem than using an economic and social wrecking ball. We should also remember there are certain environmental groups who are directly profiting from the environmental doomsday hysteria and their stocks have taken a huge jump since this scare mongering began. "Summa" funds have been going skyward for the last two years. It lends to suspicion much of the political lobbying going on.

Environmentalists who are quick to point out polls showing the public is concerned about the environment, have played down a recent Canadian poll showing that though the public is concerned about the environment, they are not willing to sacrifice their large vehicle lifestyle to placate the scare mongers, who are likely to never be satisfied anyway.

Before too much damage is done in the auto industry it's time for the people who love their sports cars to get together and voice their indignation at the the overreaction to both the greenhouse effect and the fuel supply scaremongers.

If people want to keep driving fast cars the time to act is now.

Good Ph.D

"out of the blue" is not a term I would use to describe what you're talking about.

guionM

Dwarf Killer, don't you think you're hitting a little too many expresso shots, or something???

There is no attack on the muscle car. You are also jumping from ideas that leave me wonder what's got into you.

Camaro & Challenger ARE coming into production. There's no organized or other effort to derail the cars. Not from Bush, not from enviromentalists, not even from Gargamel from the Smurfs.

Your description of the Canadian plan to put a gas guzzler tax on cars is pure hysterics when you actually look at what's being proposed. Here's the highlights:

If you buy a Hummer, you get hit with a $4000canadian dollar tax.

If you buy a GMC Yukon, or Toyota Sequoia, you get a $2000 tax.

Yet, if you buy a Chevrolet Impala SS (complete with V8), or a Jeep Patriot, you get a $1000....REBATE!

A car like a Hemi 300C or Charger would probally be neutral. And THEY get worse mileage than the top Camaro and probally the Challenger Hemi as well.

The point of ire of enviromentalists isn't the car, it's the large SUV. The very same vehicle that destroyed the US auto industry by stealing funds from cars and allowing Toyota, Honda, and Nissan to make footholds and grow in the US market when our own makers stopped investing in keeping our cars competitive.

This same type of scheme is being considered in California. Under Cali's plan, you could even buy a loaded Ford Crown Victoria, and still get a rebate. So regular automobiles and muscle cars (which make up only a tiny sliver of the new car market.... barely enough to even notice) aren't even on the radar screen.

In fact, right now, muscle cars are more in danger of internal politics at car companies than they are from any organized, specifically aimed, external forces. There's no insurence companies lining up against them like there were in the late 60s and early 70s. There's no lead removal legislation killing high compression engines like in the late 60s and early 70s. You don't have power robbing smog controls and catalytic converters as you had at that time. And you don't have a zillion early baby boomers outgrowing muscle cars and wanting more luxurious rides as you had in the 70s.

Compared to the forces that converged to kill the muscle car back then, it's almost laughable to think there's an attack on muscle cars right now.

The US Zeta, the Chrysler LX, and the upcoming Ford D2C based RWD chassis are safe for the next decade or so, unless people simply stop buying them. High powered V8s are safe until gas becomes too expensive.

Put the caffene or whatever you're taking that got you riled up down. It was only a bad dream.

Dwarf Killer

GuionM, I don't believe they are actually finished legislating yet. I'm the kind of person who believes you should hit hard right off the bat. That scares your opponents. So it only applies to SUVs' this year (and I hate them just like any musclecar fan) but what will it apply to in 2-3 years?

The latest announcement by GM that the Impala SS is on ice along with the new GTO/Firebird is scary. It looks just like it did in 1971, when each year performance got progressively worse. I'm not trying to get everyone hysterical, at least any more than people are already over global warming. I just want people to phone politicians and voice their concerns so we stamp out the small fires before they get too big.