Showing Some Muscle
One of my friends in high school once bought a 1970 Dodge Challenger. Most of these muscle cars contained a slant six engine capable of only 145 horsepower, but this orange monster must have packed a much larger powerplant, since I can still remember the loud rumbling noises that spilled out of its hood.
Once or twice a day, Steve would start up his Challenger in a parking lot located at the base of the hill where the high school was located. I swear that I could hear the car even if I was at the farthest end of the building. Since the vehicle only got about 8 miles to a gallon, he spent most of his time driving from gas station to gas station.
Over the last half of the 20th century, the muscle car may have been one of three most notable marketing innovations of the American automotive industry (the minivan and the sports utility vehicle would have been the other two). Whether you point its original lineage to the 1961 Chevolet Impala SS ("She's real fine....my 409," crooned Brian Wilson) or the 1964 Pontiac LeMans GTO, General Motors showed real genius in popularizing the idea of "souping up" basic sedans and making them powerful and sexy.
The teenage owners of those 60s and 70s hot rods have grown up (assuming they didn't wrap their cars around a tree), and their passion for automotive nostalgia appears to be growing. This week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit features three examples of muscle car deja vu--a Shelby Mustang, a Chevy Camaro, and an early hit, the new Dodge Challenger.
Retro cars don't automatically guarantee success (the recent 1950s inspired Thunderbird sold poorly before Ford finally pulled the plug), but in a world where US car makers lag in their ability to inspire excitement among car buyers, the "muscle car" triggers an emotional response that cannot be readily matched by Japanese competitors.
As Vance Packard might have noted, sex appeal can never be underestimated, especially when it comes to selling products. Datson B210s didn't have it, but a recent incident at the car show dramatically demonstrates that Dodge Challengers can still cause excitement. According to wire reports, someone managed to smuggle a woman into the exhibition hall early Monday morning; she was so inspired by the awesome macho design of this new automobile (or overcome by the heavy consumption of alcohol) that she flung off her clothes and posed nude for a few stunned witnesses before security broke up the impromptu exhibition.
A red-faced Chrysler PR man offered this accessment without any hint of irony. "We want people to love these cars, but not in that way."
Once or twice a day, Steve would start up his Challenger in a parking lot located at the base of the hill where the high school was located. I swear that I could hear the car even if I was at the farthest end of the building. Since the vehicle only got about 8 miles to a gallon, he spent most of his time driving from gas station to gas station.
Over the last half of the 20th century, the muscle car may have been one of three most notable marketing innovations of the American automotive industry (the minivan and the sports utility vehicle would have been the other two). Whether you point its original lineage to the 1961 Chevolet Impala SS ("She's real fine....my 409," crooned Brian Wilson) or the 1964 Pontiac LeMans GTO, General Motors showed real genius in popularizing the idea of "souping up" basic sedans and making them powerful and sexy.
The teenage owners of those 60s and 70s hot rods have grown up (assuming they didn't wrap their cars around a tree), and their passion for automotive nostalgia appears to be growing. This week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit features three examples of muscle car deja vu--a Shelby Mustang, a Chevy Camaro, and an early hit, the new Dodge Challenger.
Retro cars don't automatically guarantee success (the recent 1950s inspired Thunderbird sold poorly before Ford finally pulled the plug), but in a world where US car makers lag in their ability to inspire excitement among car buyers, the "muscle car" triggers an emotional response that cannot be readily matched by Japanese competitors.
As Vance Packard might have noted, sex appeal can never be underestimated, especially when it comes to selling products. Datson B210s didn't have it, but a recent incident at the car show dramatically demonstrates that Dodge Challengers can still cause excitement. According to wire reports, someone managed to smuggle a woman into the exhibition hall early Monday morning; she was so inspired by the awesome macho design of this new automobile (or overcome by the heavy consumption of alcohol) that she flung off her clothes and posed nude for a few stunned witnesses before security broke up the impromptu exhibition.
A red-faced Chrysler PR man offered this accessment without any hint of irony. "We want people to love these cars, but not in that way."
posted by msockol at 10:15 PM
1 Comments:
I cringe when I see some of the new model luxery cars all "bulked up" so to speak. In Cadillacs world, they've taken an elegant, streamlined vehicle and turned into something someone from a city gang would drive....
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