What happened to good ol' american muscle? :(?

Question

if gm chrysler and ford bought back all the classic cars with fuel efficient engines, safety, and luxury...wont it beat out the foreign cars? i mean i think this country is to wrapped up in foreign products... i miss the ol' classic american cars!!!! for crying out loud OLDSMOBILE WENT OUTTA BUSINESS! come on! whats going on here! can someone give there opinion?

Answer 1

Not everyone misses them. Some of them look as good or better. (Modern sedans, in particular, look better than most old ones)

Old cars aren't as aerodynamic, so won't be as fuel efficient. Some were just terrible. They had large overhangs, which adversely affect handling, and make them harder to park. Also, a lot of the shapes just do not lend themselves to making a safe car. Particularly the sharp edges and overhangs on the front. (They will **** up a pedestrian if they hit them...same reason you don't see pop up headlamps anymore)

Oldsmobile went away because GM had too many brands and they weren't all different enough. There was no way GM could separate Olds and Buick, and given their loss of market share (which STARTED during the era you're pining for, BTW...let that sink in) they just couldn't sustain both of them. Buick had more reliable and better-regarded cars at the time than Olds did...the choice was clear.

I don't think you're going to get much closer to your old muscle cars than the Challenger, the Mustang, and the Camaro. It just isn't practical. And even cars like that could be on the way out. Fuel economy could force performance cars all in the direction of handling. At least Dodge (a new roadster concept every couple years) and GM (solstice/sky) have been preparing themselves for it, and Ford can always beg Mazda for a platform.

Answer 2

The first gas crisis in the early 1970s, along with guys like Ralph Nader and the EPA, killed off the classic 60s and early 70s muscle cars. For the next several years, GM, Ford, and Chrysler tried to dump fake muscle cars like underpowered Corvettes, lame Camaros, Pinto-based Mustangs, and all-looks-no-go Dodge Aspen RTs on the American public hoping we would fall for them. Fortunately, we have a new crop of muscle cars like Mustangs and such that can actually outperform even the ones from the 1960s.

Answer 3

No foreign car in the world can compare to the classic
Hemi of old times. People now are more concerned with cup holders and entertainment systems for the kids. When I buy a car, gas mileage is not my top concern. I want to keep the Americans working. I will never own a foreign car.

Answer 4

I miss em too....the 08 Challenger may relieve some pains though. Even my 69 Charger RT 440 got 20 mpg on the highway at 55 mph if I kept my foot out of it....no lie. It had a/c, power windows, AM 8 track, rear defogger, those cool little blinker lights on the hood and console shift automatic...pretty well optioned. Just the styling was too cool....not like the cookie cutter cars of today or the ---ugh---new Charger or GTO. Yeah, they'll get your heart racing if you grab the plug wires maybe. And you could actually work on them yourself without too much trouble. Just have to go to old car shows and meets for now.

Answer 5

I know what you mean....I have a 1961 Pontiac Catalina with a 389 and 3 two barrel carbs and it gets better gas mileage than my 2006 Chevy Tahoe.

The reason....All the pollution controls put on a newer vehicle make the engine work harder resulting in less gas mileage.

I know what you mean...I never bought a Jap car and never will.

Answer 6

Good ol' American muscle lives and breathes today in the form of Nascar, Offroad racing, Drag racing, Demolision Derbies. American engines just got too fast and too extreme for the road to handle.

Answer 7

liberals are molding us to their evil wills... and not many cars could hang with my old chevelle, but it was a nightmare on a tight curve though, trade offs......sure do miss that ole car,

Answer 8

IT WILL NEVER BE THE SAME, NOWADAYS IS JUST ABOUT MAKING MONEY,THEY DONT REALLY CARE ABOUT THE NAME