I feel like im growing up in the age of muscle! I love this, I'm 19 and im really into cars. I feel like growing up in my dads age. Muscle cars ripping up the streets. 500 hp on a production car... Thats just insane! I love this! Soon those guys with 9 second muscle cars are gunna be watching out for factory vettes aka blue devils! oh man... I cant wait till im done with college and making a lot of money ill have to have a bunch of collector cars from this era. This is probably going to be a sought after era just like 1965-1972 is. 1998-2008 Is what im predicting. I think they will have to cap the horsepower at about 600 hp for a super vette. I really dont think they can take it up any higher than that and still be safe. But this is wondeful, its like growing up in americas golden age all over again for some of you! and for some of us its our first time growing up in the horsepower wars

GOD SAVE THE NEW HORSEPOWER WARS

 

87-On has been the return of any real kind of power, and it has only gotten bigger every year since. It all started again with the L98's, the 5.0's, the GN's, the TTA's, 92 SLP Formula FH, ZR1, LT1, LT4, LS1, S/C 4.6, LS6, and so on. (Early 305 TPI's, 4BBL 5.0's, and the L69 get little mentions too)

And it would actually be comparable to the early 60's to be accurate, since that's when it all started the first time. These modern performance cars are also just better overall cars all around.

 

actually i do love this new-age war. its really exciting to see these numbers. too bad i can't afford them.

 

After reading this, the first thought that came to mind.....

To Music....

 

Sorry that's too far back for me I was only a Year old.

 

Yea, 1969 with cars that actually steer, brake, don't pollute and are reliable.

AND

Contrary to popular believe, all these wonderful modern Musclecars are every bit as affordable as they were then!

Infact, they're easier to own since everyone now buys cars on credit. Credit was not so easily available then.

 

i feel ya ohhiitznik
i'm 18 and am amazed at the power we have today (not to mention everything that ronssito mentioned )
this will absolutely be a collector car era just like early 60's to 75 or so
i can't wait to atleast get my hands on one car from this era...if not more because i know i might not be able to resist them

 

:raises hand:

I'm only 20 and this is so exciting. I can't imagine what it was like back in the 60's.

 

There's too much rice on the streets to for it to feel like the 60s

 

I'm all about some horsepower wars, but to play devils advocate, I hope this one doesnt end how the last one did with fuel and emissions shutting us down, leaving us in ruin with nothing but junk and import cars (o wait I already said that one )


otherwise, let the HP and TQ war continue

 

I'd say it's more like 1965 or so... the muscle market is heating up, the Ford boys have Mustang, and we're still waiting on our Camaro and Firebird.

 

Actually, you can trace the start of the new musclecar wars to the 1983 Ford Mustang GT. That was the 1st car to have unique cams and heads from mainline Ford engines, and had performance improvements every single year of the 1980s (and always staying a step ahead of contemporary Camaros of the day).

GNs and then GNXs were simply outreagous in their day, and Corvettes became relevent again in the mid 80s as you point out (Mustang GTs could actually out accelerate Corvettes for a couple of years ).

But as far as variety of very quick cars (and we don't even need to refer to 400 or 500 **** monsters) nothing in history beats what we have available today across the board. Even a Mitsubishi or Honda that we consider a slug today is quicker than all the "near-performance" rides of the muscle car era (Nova SS w/350s took nearly 9 seconds to get to 60).

Non-LS6 Chevelle SS454s ran upper 6s to low 7s to 60... something any current Cadillac can do and any current Grand Prix GTP can beat!

 

Not true. At least for most of us, cars are significantly more expensive now than they were in '69.

It feels a lot like the late 60s, and I am indeed waiting to see what causes our generation's 1973. I just get this feeling of chronic nearsightedness in the industry.

 

Two points:

1. I get the feeling that our 1973 is one of two things: gas prices or lawsuits.

Prices: I know I drive my 8-10 MPG '66 less and the 20-30 MPG '98 more when the prices spike.

Lawsuits: In this sue-happy brain-dead money-hungry no-responsibility society, it's only a matter of time before a 425 HP Camaro takes out a congressthing's son, and they start agitating the general public (via the media) to start a class-action suit against "too-powerful" cars.

2. Cars are NOT lower-priced. Do the math: a 1965 base Corvette was about $24,000 in today's dollars. Yes, today's cars have more electro-BS and padded-*** features, and are (typically) more reliable and (may) last longer, but CAN YOU BUY A NEW CORVETTE FOR $24,000? No. No matter how many options you leave off, no matter how much you whine at the dealer, no matter how much you WANT to.

 

Let's not forget CFI. M*stangs might have started out ahead but the 5.7 helped fix that.