Like many hot rod enthusiasts, I have at one time, or another bought, driven, built, rebuilt, and raced many fine hot rods. Specifically preferring the lines of the American Classics over any other (nothing against the foreign jobs). Although I have never owned either one of these makes; my two absolute favorites just got to be the 1970 A-Body Dodge Challenger; outfitted with the mythological 426 cubic inch Hemi “Elephant,” engine and the Iconic 1967 Shelby G.T. 500 Mustang equipped with the almost spiritual 427 cubic inch all aluminum Mark-2 engine. Now, let’s fast-forward to the present day. Today’s muscle-car coterie are not like regular motorcar millennials (suckers). …show more content…
Thanks to modern designs and refinements, you can now pick your choice poison; as either gear-grabber setup will make full on boogie time at the track almost as comfortable as a leisurely cruise down the coast. With that said, these cars were made to misbehave badly! First, the Ford. A design and engineering partnership between Shelby America and Ford Performance has resulted in a well-engineered car with stunning performance capabilities. On pump gasoline (93-octane) alone and Michelin street rated tires, a fitly optioned Super Snake will scream from a standstill to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds; rocket through the quarter mile in only 10.9 seconds, while delivering an amazing 1.2g on the skip pad in cornering (hotrod.com). Now for the Dodge, a truly undeniable symbol of American muscle. Accordingly, with 707 horsepower on tap one can easily imagine being right on the edge of out of control, all the while having one hell of a good time being there. The NHRA has certified the heavy 4,500-pound Hellcat at a speedy 11.2 seconds in the quarter-mile when rolling on its 200 mile-per-hour factory Z-rated tires. On drag radials, the car is certified at 10.85-seconds in the quarter-mile offering a taste of what 707-horses can do in a full-on sprint (Wallace). To put performance numbers like these into perspective, picture yourself reaching speeds exceeding 130 mph in …show more content…
Where a first-generation idea meets the next generation’s tech. To that point, regardless of your choice, can we all agree that its F#%$ great that just as the large majority of “green piece,” car designers do continue to produce boring four-wheeled appliances that all tend to exude the exhilaration buildup of an insurance seminar; that we somehow get American auto stalwarts like Dodge and Ford whom without a doubt, still have the know how to conjure up from a mighty past modern first-rate fire breathers. A noble endeavor, which quickly brings one back to exactly why it was we all wanted to start driving in the first