OK, excuse me for getting back tot topic: "Era of the Muscle Car is over?". I don't think it is. The only difference will be: forced induction over "cubic inches". We already see it with the 370Z, 330hp from a high revving 3.7L compared to Fords 210 HP from a 4.0L?. Next step will be forced induction... Look at what is going on in Europe. VW for example, a 1.4 with turbo replaces a 1.8 N/A. (both 125 hp). Next generation BMW M3 will be turbocharged... Or look at Ford Eco boost, twin turbo V6 instead of a V8. So the muscle car will live on, just with less capacity :-)

about 300lbs. more and supposedly 100hp more--> 432hp at ~3600 lbs.
Nissan to Launch Hybrid 370Z sports car in 2011! > 370z.com > 370z.com - Magazine

Wow - if this does go to production and it turns out the numbers Nissan is claiming this will be a Historical marker in automotove history. It will just like when Nissan brought Japanese sports cars (and really the whole Japanese auto market) to the lime light in North America (and the rest of the world) with the 1970 240Z...

:iagree:

Didn't read through all the posts in this thread so forgive me if I say anything that's already been said.

If the end of the muscle car era means no more dated, overweight, poorly engineered and designed RWD "pony" cars then that is fine by me. In my eyes the current muscle car crop defines what's wrong with the domestic auto industry: wrong product at the wrong time dated in the past. Take the new Camaro for instance...it's HUGE compared to the Z and weighs what I imagine to be several hundred more pounds. At the least the Z appears to have been designed with the foresight of changing environmental conditions that produce concerns for what and how we drive, and to boot changing consumer tastes influenced by this awareness. Granted the Z does not have miserly fuel economy you'll fare better than in a Camaro SS, albeit not by much. Even something as superfical as physical presence is enough to convince the average consumer in a time where fuel economy is of great concern whether or not to buy one car over the other, because lets face it "downsizing" is the new trend in the automotive market.

Muscle cars don't have to die they just have to change. New sources and ways of developing and harnessing power must be realized and utilized if these cars are not only to survive but become more efficent, which is the guiding principle for the entire auto industy moving forward. This means smaller engines, lighter build materials and other innovative technologies geared towards increasing efficency. And while the electric car is a great idea it's got a long ways before it becomes truly viable. There are still issues of cost and even efficency before the electic car can truly become some sort of panacea for the global auto industry. Fear not the combustion engine is here to stay.

Overweight....agree.

Dated....Disagree. The muscle cars are not dated. They are a second muscle-car generation and possess contemporary design and styling. And they are exacly what saved Ford and doomed GM and Dodge only because they did not jump in on the 2nd-gen MC era quick enough.

Poorley engineered....Disagree. A person is more likely to walk away from a race crash alive in one of those "poorly engineered" cars than in the new epxerimentally "green" crackerboxes that are on the market today.

Haha, I live on those roads. I love driving them.

The green cars are a fad for the most part (wait till they are hit in one), the new muscle car is now the sports muscle car that will be 4 and 6 cyl turbos for the most part that get good hp and good mpg. Just look at how many turbo charged 4 cyl and 6 cyl cars there are now compared to about 5 yrs ago. IMO you get the best of both sides except maybe the size of the car.

I fear that the petrol rwd manual cars are going to become harder and harder to come across. Esp ones with smooth v6's and v8's... Don't sell the 370z, the next iteration may well be hybrid only... =( I hope it isn't but you just don't know... esp if the petrol prices mega spike in the next economic boom... expected in 2012-2014 period.

Also it would be prudent for people of this forum who plan to never sell the z to get some oil stocks of some sort to hedge the expected movement in energy commodities.

yep, i too think (or fear) that this might be my last gasoline-only powered RWD and MT hobby car...

I wasn't ever a fan of muscle cars. I like power but those big bloated porkers are a Timex watch in a digital age. They are only good in a straight line and are like crap going down the toilet in the twistses. May they Rest In Peace.

Good days inhabited by a good generation of cars and guys and girls. I know---I was 18 in 1965.

I say no, too.

What goes around comes around! The Z will be in the same category in the future!

Come with me and have some "Tea," if you get my drift!