The trend continues in the first quarter of 2019 despite the fact Challenger sales are down 24 percent and the Camaro is up. According to The Detroit Free Press, these babies sold 13,431 and 12,083 units from January through March. As ever, the Mustang leads with 16,917 sales so far.
“People have speculated about the death of the American muscle car since the mid-1970s, but the golden age of American muscle is happening right now in terms of horsepower and overall performance,” commented Jonathan Klinger, spokesperson for Hagerty. The oil crisis of 1973 and 1979 are gone, and considering that gas is fairly affordable, the speculators might be wrong.
Even with stricter emissions legislation, the good ol’ pushrod V8 is still around. Even the C8 Corvette has one, packing 6.2 liters and close to 500 horsepower. As for collectability, nameplates such as the GT350 and GT500, Demon and Hellcat Redeye, as well as the ZL1 1LE are prime candidates.
Chevrolet isn’t willing to let things go in the favor of Dodge. “It is a niche segment and we’re determined to compete,” said Lauren Langille, spokeswoman at General Motors. “We’ve made significant gains with our more affordable options and have maintained share with our high-performance models.”
In ascending order, the Chevrolet Camaro retails at $25,000 excluding destination. Ford Mustang kicks off at $26,395 and the Dodge Challenger completes the circle with a suggested retail price of $27,295. Only the full-size model comes with a V6 as standard while Ford and Chevrolet decided to go with four-cylinder turbocharged engines.
Leave a Reply