I am 55 yrs old and grew up with the 190hp or 220hp trans ams of the late 70's.
I used to dream about being of driving age in '69 or '70. Being able to walk into a car dealership and a buy a brand new superbird or hemi cuda. And today, luckily, I am living in a time where I can buy a brand new hellcat! The best of the best!
So in 10 or 20 yrs, we will all be remembering 2015 when the hellcats came out and we could walk into a dealership and buy one (subject to supply and dealer markup:laugh2.
I can't wait to get mine and start living history.
Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, Peyton Manning (possibly Andrew luck) Jeff Gordon and the Hellcat; all midwest ties and I've had a front row seat in the middle of it! Yes, good time to be alive
History started in 2008 IMHO, with the Challenger, Hellcats are a great upgrade and with GenIV (not counting 1958), update it is very cool to be a part of this especially us olders that were too young the last time! No Hellcat here but still enjoy the smiles of the owners!
I agree..i'm 61...I was on the tail end of the first muscle car craze..had used 60's and 70's cars like W30 Olds ss Camaro buick GS stage1...by the time I had a decent income..1976 I bought a new black 76 455 4 speed trans am...but a disappointment at 200 hp..next I bought a L69 Camaro at 190 hp..better car ,then a 85 IROC CAMARO TUNEPORT better but 15 sec 1/4... Then 20 yrs went by...only used classic muscle cars again...Buick gn..some fox body mustangs. ..2007 brought a new GT500..and now the Hellcat. ..For me this is the best time for enthusiasts. ..savor it ..won't last for ever!
I agree..i'm 61...I was on the tail end of the first muscle car craze..had used 60's and 70's cars like W30 Olds ss Camaro buick GS stage1...by the time I had a decent income..1976 I bought a new black 76 455 4 speed trans am...but a disappointment at 200 hp..next I bought a L69 Camaro at 190 hp..better car ,then a 85 IROC CAMARO TUNEPORT better but 15 sec 1/4... Then 20 yrs went by...only used classic muscle cars again...Buick gn..some fox body mustangs. ..2007 brought a new GT500..and now the Hellcat. ..For me this is the best time for enthusiasts. ..savor it ..won't last for ever!
"Dave G", great thread. I can't believe how similar our thoughts are, although I am not surprised. Many folks in our age group have gravitated to these modern day muscle cars.
"My Challenger", I too had a brand new L69 Camaro along with a couple of older muscle cars, and even though it was only rated at 190 hp. it was still one of my favorite cars.
I might have been a few years to young to buy a new muscle car back in the day, but I am smart enough now, not to miss this opportunity this time around ! I had to sell three of toys to get my money right, but I have a 2015 SP on order right now !
Cheers to the rest of you lucky, and smart folks.
The very appreicative DTB
Best of times for baby boomers in general. Look back to your youth and growing up. Look at todays youth and the current state of affairs. For me it goes well beyond cars. We truly grew up and lived in the best decades the world had to offer.
It's also a great time for a 32 year old millennial like me that fantasized about the long-gone muscle car era. I can't wait to be a part of this muscle car revival.
I would inform your grandson that he sucks because he only has one mouth to smack him in. I'm not a part of your generation. I was born in the 80s but even I know that our cars are dog's bollocks. I love my Challenger and wouldn't trade it for anything....well....ok anything that wasn't a 392.....with a 6-speed.
I notice you just joined this forum. For as long as this forum has been around I think the bulk of folks have felt this way. Since the first Challengers started arriving into customers hands we have been in awe of what these cars mean. The HP wars are on in a big way right now... Ford and GM as well. It won't last too much longer with stricter CAFE standards on the way. Yea.. they can have a very quick Tesla running on batteries but it just isn't the same. Gimme a gas powered V8 any day. That electric car won't have that V8 rumble.
Now I feel like I decided to cheer for the home team only when they got into the super bowl. All I can say is that Dodge really pulled it off... and yes, now i want a Dodge.. so I accept that I'm jumping on the the winning team's side after the fact. I have not been a loyal Dodge fan. But they have a lifetime member now. Huge Respect!
In high school (1973, during some OPEC gas crisis) I had a hemi roadrunner, then after college I had a 1979 400 trans am shaker. So now I am 57, my engine is a 5.7, and its a shaker! the planets did align!
Yes we are living in days of high HP and tire melting factory beasts. I'm 45 so I obviously missed growing up in the 60s. I had nothing but stories of those days and dreams of 65 4-spd Tri-Power GTOs. It's truly a time to rejoice for all of americans...whatever their choice of beast may be.
sitting in a barber chair in key west fla when pres. kennedy was shot,in 64 spent time in the coffe shops of the village in nyc when the beatnicks ruled.went through the suez canel spent time in the middle east 1965. may of 67 walked the streets of height&asbury in san Francisco.feb 68 back on the streets but this time hue city for tet 68 in viet nam. feb 69 first new muscle car 69 superbee lot of history there in 6 years
I still like the muscle cars from around 1963 to 1972 better than the new ones they more made in the US not all over the world like they are made now they may be faster but not that look like they made back then. I guess I like the old school better. Even if I do have a new challenger.
These are good times. Other noteworthy times were the late 90's/early 2000's. Then again around '05+. I'd call it more sporadic back then though.
Now, the last 4-5 years really, it's been manufacturers continuously one-upping the other.
Thing is, in my opinion, the cars have gotten so powerful that it's more about bragging rights than actually getting the power to the ground for those that aren't road racing or drag racing (with appropriate traction mods, etc). There are exceptions like the Z28 and the upcoming GT350(R). They have around 500hp and ~11" wide tires...
65 to 72 no one felt like losers if they didn't have a yenko or a hemi todays low option 5.7 rt are probably more representice of what we had then when in 70 it got crazy we were brought back to reality
I'd agree from hearing my father's Vietnam era, come home and get a '70 Road Runner, take it to Mickey Thompson's speed shop in California...stories. Ran 11's from a 383 4 spd after that. My dad was a little off his rocker in taking chances when he got back and he'll tell ya the same. Dad went back to Vietnam again and his brother stole the keys to race a camaro and ran it off a bridge into the tops of trees. My uncle survived and the insurance company took the car, with mods, and parted it out.
Yes, these are awesome times to be a car enthusiast. In my case, I am 50 and just caught the last of the cheap 10 to 15 year old Muscle cars. I always liked them, but I was poor and my first car was a 70 6 cyl 3 speed challenger and the only option was a AM radio. I paid 400 in 1981 for it and it was green everywhere! Dash, Seats, Body, Carpet.....but it got me somewhere. I forget where, but I was there.
The newer cars are so much better structurally, braking etc. than the old cars were. Just my .02
Not to start a new versus old thing, but since we're comparing and this is a somewhat nostalgic thread... I see a parallel between cars, especially muscle cars, and guns.
I'm almost as old as the OP so I too remember a time when things were different, and yet appreciate that today we can still own some of the same. Take the 1911 and Smith & Wesson revolver, two types of weapons considered obsolete by many and that still exist in a slightly different form. There are classics, there are replicas and there are modern iterations. But nothing matches the class and the aesthetics of the originals.
And I see the same discussions about how newer is better because it performs more or is better made, and they are as misguided. Technology and manufacturing have improved, but craftsmanship and pride in one's work have gone down. With cars everyone's a racer wannabe and with guns it's tactical teddy time. So the old stuff is both highly valued by collectors and ridiculed for its performance by most.
But if you put aside the BS the old more than holds its own. Most of us can only afford the new, however, especially to use daily, and it has to do. It's not half bad: faster, yes, more reliable, maybe, only without the soul and the character.
1911 pattern guns are probably more popular today than ever.
The only issue with them in shooting sports like IDPA is their limited magazine capacity, unless you're using a double-stack or racegun in an open class, or wherever it's legal.
I shoot a CZ P-09 myself... was never too interested in polymer guns before. Still lust after a Dan Wesson Valor.
I grew up in the era of the first muscle cars. There definitely was a horsepower war on then with all the BIg 3 one upping each other evry year. I started with Ford, switched to GM and had a fling with Plymouth. Dodge was mostly the dominate cars for street and tracks back in the late 60's early 70's. I wanted a 1970 Plum Crazy Purple 440 six pack Challenger R/T with the pistol grip shifter. I test drove that car and speed shifted it so hard it would leave rubber in all but fourth gear. I couldn't buy that car then because of my military commitment, but it didn't stop me from having horse power in my life. I made the most of all the rest of the cars I bought by making them what I wanted. Engine swaps were on my agenda almost as soon as the new car hit the garage. Since I was in the Army at the time, they had "Craft Shops" to facilitate my need for speed. V8-Vega swap in 74, swapped out a 307 to a 396 in a 69 Camaro and cloned it to a 396 SS. The list goes on and on. I have three cars currently under construction and updating them with the latest technology to make the old classics even better. I am glad I was able to live long enough to be able to get that Challenger even if it wasn't Plum Crazy Purple. It is much faster now than that 440 six pack car. >
Gasoline HP for sure, but I see the day coming where electric cars with 200 ft.lb. of torque going to each wheel will be common, that would smoke a Hellcat!!!
Well I am 48 and missed the first Muscle Car era. My brother . 9 years older, had a 70 Cuda when I was young. My dream car was a 71 Hemi Cuda, red with black billboards. Therefore in 2009 my first Challenger was the Classic in torred with black stripes. Then I upgraded to an IE392 in 2011 white with blue stripes. I was never going to get rid of that car. What I didn't know is that Dodge would make the Hellcat, and that they would make it in a price range I could afford. I went back to torred and it is now in the garage. The only thing better would be if Spring was here so I could drive it. BTW, this one will not ever leave my possession!! Thanks Dodge for making something I couldn't even dream of when I was a kid!
I have been fascinated with Mopar (mostly B-bodies) since about 5 years old when I first saw a 69 Charger go down the street. I had no idea what the car was at the time, just that it was somehow special & unlike anything else. This was before the Dukes of Hazzard, and I was too young for really any influence. My family did not even own a car. The first thing I did when I was 17 was buy a vintage 70 Charger 440 RT. (Traded it for a 69 which I liked the looks of better, & still have as a weekend car, among others).
Anyway in regards to the thread topic, the point is that I never thought there would ever be any new car that I would like enough both in terms of attitude and looks. The 2008-14s Challengers were nice but the rear end bumper was just too tall and flat and looked weird to me so I could never commit, but said 'one day'. They fixed that finally in 2015. So for the first time in my life there actually is a new car that I think looks good enough and has enough attitude. HP has always been fine so the Hellcat is just icing on the cake to make it more irresistible. I've been waiting over 40 years for this and they finally got it completely right in 2015. So yeh, this era really is history in the making and all the 'vintage only' guys like me are finally coming out of the woodwork to buy one, which might be part of the reason why Dodge is overwhelmed by demand. The Gen X-er's are young enough to keep this going for a good while. I don't know what will be after that with how so many of the Millenials I know under 25 not even having a driver license let alone wanting a performance car.
I have always been a MOPAR fan. My first car was a 1968 Dodge Charger (383) and my second, and favorite, was a 1971 340 'Cuda. I, unfortunately, had to sell that car for something "practical" when my daughter was born. We needed a car with AC and a big trunk for the portable high chair, playpen and crib. The saddest day of my life was when I watched the new owner of my car drive away from my house.
In 2006, I was reading Motor Trend and couldn't believe what I was reading. Dodge decided to build a retro version of the 1970 Challenger! I felt like my 'Cuda was reborn. Although I missed out on the 2008 model run, I was able to buy a 2009 Hemi-orange SRT in December 2009.
I will NEVER make the same mistake and sell it.
I think we all have to give Dodge a big thank you for making such a great car.
For those who haven't seen it, here is the first of a series of interviews with the designers of the 2006 Challenger concept car- Michael Castiglione and Allan Barrington.
I think we all have to give Dodge a big thank you for making such a great car.
For those who haven't seen it, here is the first of a series of interviews with the designers of the 2006 Challenger concept car- Michael Castiglione and Allan Barrington.
I've said it before, Mustang and Camaro are alright, but what Dodge did is a miracle to me. A second chance for those who barely missed the first era. Those interviews betray a lot of passion in the middle of an uncertain future for Chrysler and of budgetary constraints. A miracle, I tell you. I can be critical of the car at times, but I always feel like a spoiled brat for not appreciating its very existence more.
I was also very excited when, already alert to what was happening at Chrysler a decade ago, I first heard of a Challenger project. Had to have that one. :yesnod:
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