Have we lost our site of Performance
I love performance cars. They come in so many shapes and sizes, and over time they have changed so much. This is evident after looking at our two previous "New Car" issues. The vehicles of yesteryear are not quite what we see being built today. This debate could include many attributes, but we are here to talk about performance. To many of us, performance cars haven’t existed since the early 1970's. That was the end of the Muscle car era. When we look at the premier muscle car crop from this time period, there are some cars that are pretty hard to touch, including the Hemi Mopars, COPO GM products, Boss & Shelby Mustangs, to name a few. The list is a mile long because performance was an attitude you had to have then.
These cars made real horsepower, and many were not even advertised correctly, because they created so much. Then came the fuel crisis and production of these "cars on steroids" ended. Many models remained but as compression ratios declined so did performance. This was the beginning of the end for many. The technology of auto manufacturers has improved immensely. New cars are safer, more efficient, more aerodynamic, and more comfortable to drive. Many ask, will we ever get the performance back? This is a question that has remained unanswered for quite some time. It has been difficult to achieve these performance levels, while keeping the vehicles not only technologically efficient, but also environmentally friendly. This is, as a society, what we want isn't it, to be able to drive a performance car with all kinds of power without filling the tank several times in a calendar day? We are close.
Everyone's idea of performance is different, but probably the most common performance measure is horsepower, so we'll stick with that. We must remember that vehicles built prior to 1972 were measured in Gross Horsepower, measured at the crankshaft rather than Net Horsepower, which is measured at the drive axle. The latter accounts for not only the driving power but all of the power required to operate accessories such as alternator and air conditioning to mention a few. In a time period when the motto, "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" was by no means a myth, it is safe to say that a muscle car rated in the 400-450HP range was fairly close to the top of the scale and could be found in fairly large production numbers. Cars are different today. When we look at today's muscle cars we will not find as many performance cars being built as there used to be, but I will show you that performance has not been lost.
The manufacturers are back into racing, they know that we want the power again and if it can be delivered, it can be sold! The Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Ford Mustang Cobra, and Dodge Viper are the modern cream of the crop. Power ranges from 320hp up to 400+hp. Not bad on unleaded fuel, running through catalytic converters. When we turn these numbers into Gross HP figures, these cars are not only competitive, but also above and beyond performance levels of sixties and seventies legends. These cars are a technologically advanced Muscle Car breed with all the gadgets and toys we have come to love, by far more comfortable, user friendly and efficient than their ancestors.
To answer my question, NO we have not lost our sight on performance. The scale is not as wide as it once was, but if you crave the power and have the income to match, it is there for the taking.
