The Important Modern American Muscle Cars

By Mike Stone

What makes American muscle cars important today? What's the best American muscle car in turns of power, price, and legend?

The car world is dominated by German and Japanese made cars. That's not a bad thing, but real American engines are still around. You just have to look for them.

There are always good American cars, but the problem has been options and keeping car lines continuing. If you want American muscle cars that are both affordable for the average person, loud and fast too, this article will detail three of the more important American modern muscle cars available.

Before we go there, what do modern American muscle cars need to be considered important? American muscle cars of quality should have some "amp" to them, roar loud like the corvette, and be fast, going from 0-60 in no time.

It used to be American muscle cars were V-8 engines with nice paintjobs. You put a big engine in a small car. It's evolved. Now they're even more affordable, go from 0-60 even faster, and make a heck of a lot of noise.

The Pontiac GTO has always been in the running for American modern muscle cars, but newer additions like the highly rated Cadillac CTS-V and the Chrysler 300 Hemi are definitely to be considered too.

In terms of the most affordable American muscle cars, there are still some options if you want to race a bit over the speed limit. These three have varying price ranges, but are high value for what you get.

Let's consider the Cadillac CTS-V. The pros here are the modern muscle cars' incredible power. It's got a supercharged 6.2 V8 engine, with some incredible horsepower numbers pushing 550. And you can go 0-60 in 4.3. The only clear con to this modern American muscle, if you could call it a con, is the basic seats and the price tag, nw at $60,000.

The Chrysler 300 Hemi is another one of those horsepower killers, with a nice and big grille, but the engine and price are the real stories for this baby. She clocks in around 5 to 5.5 in 0-60 with her 340+ horsepower, and is one of the more affordable American modern muscle cars available, starting at about $23,000.

Next on the list would be the Pontiac GTO, the car that started it all. Again, story was a car designer, sick of driving family sedans from work to home, decided to put a big engine into one of his smaller cars. Hence, we have the creation of the muscle car. Throughout its history, the Pontiac GTO has been top 5 in American muscles cars. And the modern Pontiac GTOs are no exception. It actually has some non-American flavor to it, but an American engine with 400 and up horsepower. While changing sometimes in horsepower, and a bad production run started and stopped over the years, the price is right here, with most models being sold for fractions of the stated value.

The best modern American muscle car is? It's a tough call. For history, the GTO might get it. For sheer power, the winner is the Cadillac CTS. For a combination of price and power, you've got the Chrysler 300 Hemi. It's almost a draw. For modern muscle cars, even with the high price tag, the Cadillac CTS-V is a winner. - 21392

About the Author:

Modern American muscle carshave always interested Mike Stone, a former auto journalist who likes to lend is ideas and automotive thoughts for Streetside Auto.com.