Muscle Cars are back

Ford, Chrysler and GM are introducing updated muscle-cars at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show. The names will be familiar to most car afficionados.

On Sunday, the first day of media previews, Ford Motor Co. planned to introduce the Ford Shelby GT500, a souped-up Mustang, and Chrysler Group planned to unveil the Dodge Challenger concept, a revamp of its 1970 model. Later in the show, General Motors Corp. will take the wraps off its Chevrolet Camaro concept.

After years of focusing on sport utility vehicles, automakers were surprised by the popularity of the revamped Ford Mustang, which went on sale in the fall of 2004. U.S. sales of the Mustang rose 24 percent in 2005, according to Autodata Corp.

Erich Merkle, an auto analyst for the consulting firm IRN Inc., said Baby Boomer nostalgia is fueling the trend. Also, GM and Ford, who have been struggling with weak sales and U.S. market share losses, are eager to capitalize on something uniquely American.

I can't wait to see the new Camaro. I thought it was an enormous mistake for Chevy to discontinue the car a couple of years ago. I couldn't figure out what they were thinking. Sure, the Mustang was outselling the Camaro by about four to one. The last version of the Camaro was horrible. The body style had not been updated significantly since the early 1980s. It was big and heavy and ugly. But, the car didn't need to be trashed, it needed to be redesigned.

I don't know what the new version of the Camaro looks like, but I always thought they should have hired a design team away from Ferrari to rebuild it from the ground up. Make it smaller and more nimble, with tons of torque and a racing-grade suspension.

I used to drive a black 1978 Z-28. That sucker could howl. I doubt that a shiny, new Camaro would look like much with a kiddie seat in the back (oh, how our lives change), but I wouldn't mind being able lust after one, if they ever put it back on the market. Sigh.