Driving Sports

There are a few basic truths in the automotive enthusiast world. The first is that everyone likes engine power. We may praise our Miatas as momentum and handling cars, we may describe our Mini Coopers as comfortable, fun and rated highly in Grins Per Gallon, but there’s something special about a big gnarly V8 and its prodigious power output.

And unlike the mysterious appeal of a low-power car, anyone can tell you what’s great about a big chunk of cast iron delivering enough torque and horsepower to accelerate a battleship. It’s all about grunt - that feeling of being kicked in the small of your back when you lay into the throttle coming out of a corner on the race track.

The golden age of grunt happened in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Back then, it was all about the motor and the Big 3 battled it out to get there firstest with the mostest. Sadly, that market wasn’t built to last. OPEC and the EPA had their way with us and left us pedaling around in AMC Pacers by the end of the decade.

But by this decade, technology had caught up to the Clean Air Act and automakers could once again deliver a clean-running car with plenty of power. So the big three decided to take a page out of the history books and come up with a new line of powerful pony cars with styling cues drawn from the originals. Ford went first with the latest generation of the Mustang, followed by Dodge with the Charger and Challenger, and then GM with the long-awaited Camaro.

All three of the retro-Pony cars are designed to evoke Detroit’s glory days and pull the American automakers out of their recent funk. In the last few months, we’ve had the chance to spend time with all three, and now we’re ready to render judgment.

The Contenders

Here’s a brief look at each of the retro-ponies offered by the Big 3:

Ford Mustang/Mustang GT/Shelby GT500

We’ve spent time in several Mustangs in the last year, from the basic V6 ‘Stang to the V8 GT and the movie-inspired Bullitt Edition on up to the dominating Shelby GT500 with its blown V8. Most recently, we spent a week in the basic V6 and then a week in the Mustang GT Convertible. Both of these featured a 5-speed manual transmission.

The Mustang starts at $20,995 for the basic V6 coupe at 210 horsepower, and you can choose from a wide variety of models including the 315 horsepower GT hardtop at $27,995 and on up to the Shelby GT500 at $46,325 for 500 supercharged horsepower.

The base Mustang is a good car. You don’t feel any sense of being shortchanged by the 4.0-liter 6-cylinder engine. It sounds great and drives very nicely. The only drawback is when you get on the gas, the acceleration isn’t what the idle sound promised. Not bad, especially for the $25,440 price tag fully equipped.

And that’s not stripped down – this car included the comfort package with heated seats, the Shaker 500 audio system, the Ford/Microsoft Sync control package, leather interior, and all the modern conveniences you expect in a well-featured car. All for $25K, and it looks great, too. (18/26 MPG, in case you care)

Stepping up to the Mustang GT Convertible, you’re well into the lap of luxury and performance. This car booked out at $39,710, and included the 4.6-liter 3-valve per cylinder overhead cam V8 engine with a nice manual transmission. They even give you this sexy little machined aluminum gear shift knob!

Inside, you get leather heated seats, nice Shaker 500 stereo, air, cruise, tilt wheel, convertible top made of nice canvas, fog lamps, and best of all, this nifty little backup camera that displays in the rear-view mirror. That backup cam is worth its weight in gold. The Mustang GT Convertible starts at $35,995, but all the options to load it up add only $2865 to the price, so we say go for it. Live large and damn the recession. The V8 delivers fuel economy of 16/24, so you don’t even have to feel guilty about it.

Chevrolet Camaro LS/RS/SS

The Camaro certainly looks the part of a retro-pony. GM’s exterior designers went for the body lines and styling cues of the original. But they tarted up the bodywork with a pre-chopped greenhouse, muscular shoulders, bigger wheel and tire spaces, and generally patterned the new car after a Hot Wheels interpretation of the venerable ’67 Camaro.

The Camaro starts at $22,245 for the V6-powered LS with 304 horsepower, through the 1LT and 2LT package levels ($23,880 and $26,580, respectively) and then on up to the SS V8-powered models. The top of the line 2SS starts at $33,430, delivering a 426 horsepower V8.

The car we drove was the 2LT edition with the RS appearance package. This car uses the 304 horsepower, 273 pound-foot V6 engine, mated to GM’s 6-speed automatic transmission. Interestingly, that’s about the same as the most potent Camaro available in ’67 – the Z-28 option offered 290 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque. However, GM enthusiasts are quick to point out that the 290 horsepower number was nominal for insurance purposes, and the cars really produced about 400 horsepower. That would put the original Z-28 more in line with the new Camaro SS, which produces 425 horsepower in the manual transmission tuning and 400 horsepower with the automatic transmission.

Inside, the feeling is once again back in the 60s, from the little bank of square gauges in front of the shifter to the classic design of the seats. Of course, the retro look has been applied to a fully modern car – your stereo and cruise controls are mounted on the steering wheel, and you’ve got every modern convenience. The biggest downside on the Camaro is the visibility. Tight parking spaces are a challenge, and you want a clear field to back this car up.  That’s the price you pay for ultra-bitchin styling.

The new 2LT Camaro starts at $26,580, and that’s a good deal - you get the 6-speed manual transmission, USB/CD/satellite stereo, air, cruise, heated leather seats, and power everything. Our test car had a lovely, sexy and ultimately ridiculous 21-inch wheel package costing a whopping $5,000!  We think most buyers will leave that option on the shelf.

So, as decked out with the whole option book and the RS package, our test car carried a sticker price of $38,540. That’s too much for a V6 Camaro. But the basic Camaro 2LT is one hell of a beast for $26,580. A V6 Camaro gets 18/29 with a real-world average of 22 MPG. You won’t feel cheated by the V6, either – it’s got plenty of get up and go.

Dodge Challenger SE/RT/SRT8

Dodge chose the Challenger for their pony car resurrection. Like the Mustang and Camaro, the Challenger was designed as a Hot Wheels interpretation of the original, and like the others, it looks fantastic.

Starting at a base price of $22,220 for the 250 horsepower 6-cylinder SE version, and climbing through the $30,000 V8-powered R/T edition with 372 horsepower, all the way through to the ultimate SRT8 edition with a 6.1-liter hemi V8 engine with 425 eager horses and 420 pound-feet of torque at a $40,220 price tag.

The performance of the Challenger SRT8 is breathtaking. Zero to sixty in about 4 seconds. More to the practical side, the 20-60 acceleration that you use to get on the freeway is pretty nearly instantaneous.

We had an R/T V8 Challenger out for hot laps at Laguna Seca raceway last year, and I expected it to be big, ponderous, and fast. It turns out that the Challenger drives like a much smaller car than it is, and it has light and nimble handling. And it’s fast. Real fast.

In the SRT8 trim, you don’t sacrifice luxury for speed. Dodge gives you some nice performance seats, though I wanted a little more lumbar support. Plus you get all the usual modern conveniences - Navigation, cruise, air, nice stereo with full accessory capability, heated seats, power everything, remote keyless everything, car alarm, and blutetooth for your phone.

The Challenger SRT8 starts at $39,820. But if you add the 6-speed manual option, that adds $695, but you get a better rear axle ratio along with your stick. One thoughtful addition that Dodge put in is a “hill-holder” clutch. That means that if you stop on a hill, you can take your foot off the brake and the car will hold for about 3 seconds, which is enough time to give it a little gas and make a smooth start. That’s important with all that horsepower because you could easily stall the engine or lay a patch on a hill.

Other options on the test car included $890 for the GPS navigation, and Dodge deserves big credit for being among the first automakers to charge a reasonable price for the optional navigation system!

The SRT8 Challenger also dings you $2,000 for gas guzzler taxes and destination fees, bringing our total to $44,475 for this mighty orange road machine.

Do We Really Have To Pick Just One?

We hate it when the boss tells us it’s time to do a hard-edged ranking of cars. He never makes it easy by saying “Hey, could you do a brutal comparo of an Audi R8 against a Smart Car?”

But now we have to pick just one of these cars to drive, rain and snow and shine, city and highway, fast and slow.

Each of these pony cars has its strong points. All of these cars start their pricing in the very low $20,000 range. The Camaro gives you the most base horsepower for $22,245, and delivers the best price ($33,430) by several thousand dollars for the top of the line 2SS 426 horsepower model.

The Mustang gives you the best base price at $20,995, over $1,000 less than the Camaro or Challenger, and ultimately offers you the highest-power model: 500 horses for the highest price of $46,325. The Challenger splits the difference with a 250 horspower base for $22,220, and offers the SRT8 with 425 horsepower for $40,220.

Looking at desirable features, the cars are also comparable. All of the contenders offer navigation, a nice stereo, traction and stability control, choice of transmissions, and every modern feature you could want.

The Envelope, Please

This decision has to come down to the ineffables ­­– the subjective response that says “I like this one best.” You just can’t find a clear winner among these cars by the numbers.

But enough beating around the bush: It’s the Mustang that won our hearts.

We ranked the Mustang first primarily because of the driving experience. The Mustang is simply a more well-rounded car for your day-to-day life. It’s the least flashy of the three, but offers the best visibility and interior ergonomics. The Mustang offers great power and handling, great layout and interior comfort, enduring good looks, and good value for your money. Our favorite pick in the new Mustang lineup is still the 2008 Bullitt Edition at $31,075, but at $27,995 we’ll gladly take a 315 horsepower GT hardtop. In the final analysis, Ford kicked off this retro movement with this car, and in our opinion, it’s still in the lead.

A close second place went to the Challenger. This car could have been more comfortable, but we enjoyed every minute of our Mopar experience. On track, the Challenger drives like a much lighter sports car, and that’s a huge achievement for a car of this type and size. The pistol-grip shifter and hemi power went right for the nostalgia zone. We once had the chance to drive an original Plymouth Road Runner, and the Challenger evoked that experience, but with a modern, responsive suspension suitable to a road course.

Unfortunately, there has to be a third place finisher, but don’t take it to mean that we didn’t like the Camaro. The 304 horsepower in its V6 is comparable to the 315 horses in the Mustang GT, so the Camaro starts off with Mustang GT performance and goes up from there to 426 horses for $33,430, which is a whopping $13,000 less than the Shelby Mustang and a full $7,000 less than the comparably powered SRT8 Challenger. If it was all about price for power, the Camaro would have finished first. What dropped the Camaro behind the Challenger and Mustang was visibility and the driving experience. The Camaro is without a doubt the most aggressively styled of the three contenders, and visibility paid the price. The Camaro is not easy to manage in parking lots or backing up. The Camaro has a raw feeling compared to the Challenger and Mustang, which is fantastic if it’s your getaway car, but not so much if you have to take it cross-country.

Your Turn

There's no way we can rank these cars without generating some strong reactions - so why not tell us what you think? Use our comment feature below and tell us why we're wrong, why we're right, or why you like your Smart Car better than any of these.