Friday Fun Thread: Retro-Cars!

Today's Top Ten list was suggested to me by friend, commenter, and all-around mensch Brad_in_MA. He was out and about and came across the new Dodge Challenger, and was remarking at how well they transitioned the muscle car into the 21st century.

So in that spirit, here's the Top Ten American Retro vehicles:

1. 2009 Dodge Challenger. Okay, I'll admit to a big bias for the Hemi-powered Challenger... I've got the 5.7L Hemi in my Ram, and that moves my big-assed truck like nobody's business. The Challenger has the 6.1L Hemi, and is both lighter and geared for speed. I can only imagine how many speeding tickets I would get in a Challenger...

2. 2010 Chevy Camaro. I like the looks of the new Camaro. I just wish GM hadn't ceded the muscle car business to Ford for seven years to get to it. It does like like they got the "retro" part down, with the new Camaro having strong visual cues to the '67-'69 body style.

3. 2005 Ford Mustang. The latest restyle of the Mustang does a passable job of fusing the breakthrough style of the late 1960s that made the 'Stang such a hit with a more modern feel to it. The "Bullit" option is a campy throwback to the Mustang's past, and there's even a Shelby option for full nostalgic points.

4. 1992 Dodge Viper. Arguably the start of the "retro-cool" movement, the Viper was an unapologetic throwback to the days of the AC Cobra and sheer, raw, brute-force displacement power. A V10 motor at a time when anemic 4-bangers, lackluster V6s, and detuned V8s were under American hoods helped power the Viper to the top of the "gotta have" list.

5. 2002 Ford T-Bird. Ah, if they only hadn't overpriced the new 'Bird, Ford might just have had a real winner on their hands. They phased the Thunderchicken out in 1997 (just after getting the body style right again, of course) only to bring it back five years later as a "boutique" car selling for about what a new Corvette cost. It wasn't comparable to a 'Vette...

6. 1999 Plymouth Prowler. The Prowler is another one of those "coulda/shoulda/woulda" cars. It could have had a better motor and a standard transmission for more power. It should have sold better, given the red-hot styling and super success of its bigger Mopar brother, the Viper. It would have stayed around longer, but Mopar decided to cut its losses and drop the Prowler rather than fix what was wrong with it.

7. Chevy HHR. The HHR is an interesting vehicle. It's got styling oddly reminiscent of a late 1930s panel truck, but in like 5/6th scale. Here's where GM did something right - rather than make a full-blown retro wunder-car and asking boutique price for it, they made it a compact and made it affordable. Sadly, it's still a GM under the hood, so sales have been less-than-stellar.

8. Chrysler PT Cruiser. The PT Cruiser was the American response to the VW New Beetle, the first in a line of retro-throwback cars introduced not as a "specialty" marque but as a daily driver. Performance was lackluster; even the turbocharged GT versions offered little in the way of driving excitement; however the car's low pricing and favor amongst the "red hat" set kept it in Chrysler's line past 2009, when it was supposed to be discontinued...

9. Chevy SSR. Ah, the SSR. Everything that GM does wrong, and right, wrapped into one package. Killer styling? Check. Underpowered? Check (even though they had a 300 HP V8 stuffed under the hood of a mid-sized, lightweight body, the 0-60 times for the SSR were more along the lines of a Jetta TDI...). Overhyped? Certainly. Killed just as they were getting it right? For GM, that's an axiom...

10. 1994 Dodge Ram. (1996 shown, the first year of the extended cab). The Dodge Ram as restyled in 1994 took the truck world by absolute storm. A bold, new look from the boxy Rams of the past, the style blended both the "big rig" styling of Kenworth with the look of trucks from the '40s and '50s, and helped catapult Dodge's truck line into a true contender. Whereas Chevy and Ford hadn't even considered Dodge a competitor in the '70s and '80s, the 1994 restyle changed everything...

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Thus concludes this week's Top Ten List. It's chock-full of both hits and misses; with some of the retro-throwbacks certain winners, some losers, and some struggling to gain a footing in an unsure world. Coming out with "retro" styled car is fraught with danger for a maker - for every New Beetle success story, there's a Prowler or T-Bird failure to keep them in check.

This list is pretty comprehensive for the American car retro-scene, so I'll ask: "What models would you like to see re-made as modern cars?"

That is all.