You see, the problem was, in the late 60s and into the early 70s the muscle cars were actually fast, and powerful. Very fun to drive, and consumed a lot of cheap gas. Then in 1974, Insurance companies were trying to kill performance cars, the EPA started choking them. gas prices more then doubled overnight, and we actually ran into a time when there were days we couldn't even buy gas, even at 2x the price it was 6 months before. Most family budgets couldn't fund feeding the muscle cars, the new car sales tanked, everyone that was buying a new car wanted something that got better gas mileage. Detroit (The center of the car industry at the time), responded, but it took a couple years before the response actually hit the show rooms. By that time, most of the muscle car problems were history, except the now powerful insurance industry, and the newly empowered EPA.. Unfortunately, all Detroit had to offer were choked down (thanks to the EPA), lower power cars that got slightly better gas mileage. Those new cars were not fun to drive, compared to the cars offered only 2-3 years before. New car sales still were pretty low.

Detroit, in their infinite wisdom decided that reviving the not so long gone muscle car names would bring people back into the showroom. It did to a certain level, but those new car buyers soon learned that the new version of the old muscle car name plates were not the muscle cars of recent history. Some were content with having a muscle car nameplate on a new car that got slightly better gas mileage, and were slightly more powerful the the non-muscle car name plate editions of the same car, but it was a hard sell to the real performance car guys. It took several years before Detroit could muster much more power out of the new era of performance cars, and most of those were downsized turbo charged versions with again revived muscle car name plates..

The real performance minded guys that lived through those times never really accepted the late 70s disco era name plate muscle cars, nor did many accept the 90s downsized turbocharged muscle car name plate cars. Its gotten to the point that every time the car companies revive the muscle car name plates, most of the guys that lived through the disco era think "Here we go again!"

Its kind of like the response from most of the guys here when some speak of the current name plate performance electric cars. Acceptance may never fully come from those that remember the original muscle cars, or those that enjoy the current Hell Cats and what ever durative they come as. If the current crop of performance cars disappeared next year, and it took 5 years before something came along at 1/2 the power, with the same revived name plate, how do you think the guys current owners would respond to the new version? Gene