[Hunt_chevs]

I Am Writing A Paper And I Need To Know What It Is About The Durablity,power, And Cost-efficency Of Muscle Cars That Makes Them More Desirable In Todays Market As Opposed To Compact Cars.

P.s.i Love Muscle Cars

I appreciate as much info that you can provide! Thank you.

[XectriK]

Muscle cars have lineage.

/paper

[Fluffy The Rhino]

Cost Efficiency is generally not a determining factor unless you're comparing a muscle car to a large truck. That is, if we're talking about stock vs. stock.

IMO, the appeal of a muscle car over a compact or ecomony car is that of power and looks. You don't see many angry looking compact cars or economy cars...

However, if one is looking for power, buying a muscle car can often times be cheaper than buying a compact and upgrading it just to the point of equaling the power of a stock muscle car. In that case it is more efficient to buy a muscle car.

I'm not sure about durability. I think that is rather subjective. For example, I have had certain problems with my vehicle... fairly minor problems over the past 5 years. Yet there are people with the same car I've got that have had major problems and have babied their cars. This is something I believe you will find with every kind of car out there. With that said, muscle cars are dsigned to be able to handle the power they have, just as a compact is designed to handle what it has. Other factors come into play here, such as the time the vehicle was manufactured. For example, a 2004 Mustang is probably "safer" to purchase than a 1999. The 99 was the first in line of the new edge. Your first run vehicles tend to have the reputation of being the buggiest. Again, some people have had problems, some haven't.

[Hunt_chevs]

thanks

[dude496]

What is the topic of the paper? Are you just writing on why you would chose a muscle car over an economy car? Or are you writing about why it is more practical to upgrade a muscle car versus an economy car?

[ReverendDexter]

Well, there're some things you have to establish first.

What are you definining as a muscle car? Any domestic car with a V8? Any American sedan using a large displacement engine that is designed to emphasize acceleration at the expense of handling? Something else?

What are you defining as a compact car? Is this merely a size/weight constraint? Do you mean so-called economy cars?

What exactly does "more desirable in today's market" mean? I would argue that sales numbers disagree with you, and that "compact cars" are outselling "muscle cars" in todays market. If you're not using sales figures, how are you quantifying desirability?


With that out of the way, my guess to why muscle cars are more desirable is that they are irresponsible. Owning one shows that you have the disposable income to own one in the first place, to not be concerned with fuel prices and it shows that you aren't chained down to the point of needing a more purpose-oriented vehicle (such as a minivan). It's expressly aimed at the youth market: no family, no mortgage payment, no worries They're just designed to go out and have carefree fun.

[dude496]

Question for you, ReverendDexter since you broke it down that far...would you consider a modern mustang, camaro, cts-v,challenger etc..a muscle car? or to even include with that, the nissan gt-r...

I don't know what it is, but when ever I hear muscle car I think nostalgia. Did they have the word "sports car" back then? Just wondering what your opinion on that is.

[XectriK]

Originally Posted by dude496 I don't know what it is, but when ever I hear muscle car I think nostalgia. Did they have the word "sports car" back then? Just wondering what your opinion on that is.

The old Jag's were commonly referred to as Sports Cars. Remember that scene from Vanishing Point where the Jaguar was trying to run Kowalski off the road.

[dude496]

Originally Posted by XectriK The old Jag's were commonly referred to as Sports Cars. Remember that scene from Vanishing Point where the Jaguar was trying to run Kowalski off the road.

So when did the muscle car name die and become a sports car? Was it the gas crisis of 74? Was it the introduction of EPA standards? Just seems like all cars since the mid 70s to present were introduced as sports cars instead of muscle cars. Please correct me if i'm wrong on that one.

[ReverendDexter]

Originally Posted by dude496 Question for you, ReverendDexter since you broke it down that far...would you consider a modern mustang, camaro, cts-v,challenger etc..a muscle car? or to even include with that, the nissan gt-r... I don't know what it is, but when ever I hear muscle car I think nostalgia. Did they have the word "sports car" back then? Just wondering what your opinion on that is.

There were definitely sports cars back then, Jaguar E-cars, the Toyota 2000GT, BMW 2002, Ferraris, the Lamborghini Miura, GT-40s... and then all the British roadster types, the MGs, Lotuses, Sprites and such. The only American sports car of the time that I can think of would've been the Corvette.

For your list of cars, I would say that there's definitely modern muscle, and within that modern muscle are modern pony cars. The CTS-V, G8 GT/GXP, Maruader, and '96ish Impala SS would all classify as muscle cars (that FWD Impala SS is an abomination and should be shot, lol).

Anymore I think of pony cars as a subgenre of musclecars, and the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger certainly all qualify. I think that this newest batch of them more resembles the bloated '71-73 cars than it does the hayday cars of '64-'69, and I fear our generation's 1974.

[dude496]

Originally Posted by ReverendDexter There were definitely sports cars back then, Jaguar E-cars, the Toyota 2000GT, BMW 2002, Ferraris, the Lamborghini Miura, GT-40s... and then all the British roadster types, the MGs, Lotuses, Sprites and such. The only American sports car of the time that I can think of would've been the Corvette. For your list of cars, I would say that there's definitely modern muscle, and within that modern muscle are modern pony cars. The CTS-V, G8 GT/GXP, Maruader, and '96ish Impala SS would all classify as muscle cars (that FWD Impala SS is an abomination and should be shot, lol). Anymore I think of pony cars as a subgenre of musclecars, and the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger certainly all qualify. I think that this newest batch of them more resembles the bloated '71-73 cars than it does the hayday cars of '64-'69, and I fear our generation's 1974.

Totatly agree about the FWD Impala, maybe thats why GM is filing bankrupcy lol jk.

It just seems like the term muscle car has been reserved to specific cars built 1973 and prior. If I called my 04 mustang gt a muscle car to some random person, they'd probably laugh...sames goes for a newer camaro etc... For some reason the term sports car melted overseas cars and american cars into the same class...when that happened companies like Ferrari, Lamborghini ect became "exotics".

Gotta love how the same word can mean so many different things lol

[ReverendDexter]

Originally Posted by dude496 So when did the muscle car name die and become a sports car? Was it the gas crisis of 74? Was it the introduction of EPA standards? Just seems like all cars since the mid 70s to present were introduced as sports cars instead of muscle cars. Please correct me if i'm wrong on that one.

I think what's defined as a "sports car" has to do with the motorsports that are popular in Europe versus what's popular in the US.

In the U.S we have drag racing and NASCAR. In Europe they have LeMans and Rally.

To compete in U.S. motorsports, you need a LOT of horsepower, and just enough handling to keep that power going (mostly) straight. Our "sports cars" are going to reflect that. You may not make it through the Nurburgring, but you'll hit the traps in 11 seconds doing 130mph! European cars are just the opposite - power is all well and good, but it's meaningless if you lose all your speed in the twisty bits... 'cause they're ALL twisty bits!

[dude496]

So I went on youtube and was looking to see if any advertisements in the 80s called the mustang a muscle car or a sports car...well I didnt find an answer, but I did find this and got a kick out of it....

YouTube - TV Ad Series 1987 Ford Mustang GT , Thunderbird Turbo Coupe

YouTube - TV Ad Series 1987 Ford Mustang GT , Thunderbird Turbo Coupe