As seen in this week Autocar

Also at...

Dodge Challenger

Camaro

oh yes..challenger looks awesome, camaro tasty too...gotta go...gotta have another look, WOW!!

Mmm, still not enough to make me like American cars.

The rear on both cars is lazy design, the challenger does not flow as well as the old one, the C pillars are far too steep - Ok so the wheels don't disappear under the thing anymore but its too slab sided

Not generally a fan of American cars, but the 60's and 70's Muscle cars are a big exception. The new Challenger looks seriously cool. Better than the Mustang.

Nice to see the Camaro looking like the 68 model. A retro styling trick that works.

Camaro, Mustang & other "pony" cars were all magnificent. Ive owned muscle cars & lots of my family have done & still do... Inimitable style and massive "bang for the buck" factor.

Uncle still has his 65 Mustang 289 GT that he bought brand new.

Much prefer the new challenger to the new charger, that's not even got the right number of doors. Some folk might think recreating the shape of the original challenger is lazy but if it ain't broke don't fix it. And can you imagine the sound that Hemi's going to make.

I like the new Mustang/Camaro/Challenger look as well as the 300C and even the HHR. And these cars usually look better in the metal than in a photo. Even taking into account the needs of modern safety regs, it makes the roads look a whole lot more interesting than all the bland Kia-lookalikes and all those crummy SUVs. There's a whole heap of Dodge Magnums driving around now too. Though I don't much like the Charger, Dodge missed a trick with that one. It probably says something about cars today that these cars are so popular.

It's not quite so obvious here in Europe because there are some European brands that aren't available in the US. I wonder how long it will be before we see the inevitable and butt-ugly Korean imitations.

when ya see a 300c on the road this side of the pond its jaw dropping...a stunning looking car with prescence and attitude..dunno idf its any good, but the looks are a1

raoulduke...hst fan?

300C 5.7 Hemi. Drove one quite recently. My kind of car, definitely.

quote:

Originally posted by biggbn:
when ya see a 300c on the road this side of the pond its jaw dropping...a stunning looking car with prescence and attitude..dunno idf its any good, but the looks are a1

A friend rented one for a month in the US came back saying it was crap. And he's a big Merc man but was unaware an E class lurked under that sinister coachwork.

quote:

Originally posted by finlo:

quote:

Originally posted by biggbn:
when ya see a 300c on the road this side of the pond its jaw dropping...a stunning looking car with prescence and attitude..dunno idf its any good, but the looks are a1

A friend rented one for a month in the US came back saying it was crap. And he's a big Merc man but was unaware an E class lurked under that sinister coachwork.

Yes the chassis is a W210 E-class. (1996 to 2002).

Motor is pure Hemi V8 though!

quote:

Originally posted by Palmira:

quote:

Originally posted by finlo:

quote:

Originally posted by biggbn:
when ya see a 300c on the road this side of the pond its jaw dropping...a stunning looking car with prescence and attitude..dunno idf its any good, but the looks are a1

A friend rented one for a month in the US came back saying it was crap. And he's a big Merc man but was unaware an E class lurked under that sinister coachwork.

Yes the chassis is a W210 E-class. (1996 to 2002).

Motor is pure Hemi V8 though!

I think he was more critical of the way it was screwed together not the motor.

quote:

Originally posted by finlo:
I think he was more critical of the way it was screwed together not the motor.

I got given a 300C as a rental upgrade in Dallas in 2004 a few weeks after they had hit the showrooms. It caused a lot of attention for its looks, but I didn't much like driving it. That was a V6 though. I'm not sure I want to drive one with more power because the thing seemed too big for its abilities even with the rental engine. In the wet, which it was a lot of the time, I felt real worried pretty well most of the time - although it never actually did anything bad. I think a lot of it was to do with the seating making me feel like I was sat on the car, not in it. It wasn't a comfortable car by any means.

quote:

Originally posted by Palmira:
Motor is pure Hemi V8 though!

Except it isn't a "Hemi" at all.

Another example of the dilution of classic

quote:

Originally posted by biggbn:
raoulduke...hst fan?

'Scuse the ignorance but HST?

quote:

Originally posted by raoulduke:

quote:

Originally posted by biggbn:
raoulduke...hst fan?

'Scuse the ignorance but HST?

*Slaps head like a thicko*

Sorry, thought HST was some obscure motoring term. Duh

Yup, big hunter fan, still working my way through his stuff but loved Hells Angels.

..one of my all time literary heroes...lived, and died, his own way by his own rules....read fear and loathing..hillarious. some of his more political works are fantastic too..tales of him interviewing nixon in the back of a limo and finding a common passion of american football with a man he thought he despised..his moral dilemma is clear on the pages..he hates everything tricky dicky stands for, yet found the man strangely engaging....explore all his many varied works mate, they are worth the effort....christ, just realised i'v never actually re4ad hells angels......things to do #149.....

...also kinda weird this crops up on a yank muscle car thread..hunter loved fast cars and bikes.....freak power!!!

that challenger, best looking american car i've ever seen in many years -- mustang's going to look pathetic beside this.
not so sure about the camaro - think the shape is a bit colour sensitive, probably much better in black or a bright colour

F&L was the first of his I read, loved it. Started On the Campaign trail twice and got distracted by various other things but really have to go back to it. I strongly recommend Hells Angels, really interesting read and gives a different perspective on them without being one-sided. Plus he chose a British bike over a harley

read two kinda 'diaries' type books, collectionds of letters etc...american highway or something..??..covering his early life and later years in the second...a great insight..the great shark hunt is good and i read an autobography recently..i'l find out the names of these books and post 'em up for ya..great reading

Nice one, cheers. My mate's got the Rum Diary, might need to nick that off him.

American cars are very good. I would rather have a late 90s Sedan De Ville than a Lexus or actually quite alot of things!! If you want a sport sedan there is the CTS-V which is PHAT, or the Lincoln LS which is very subtle and stylish, MUCH nicer than the Jaguar S-Type which is similar mechanically and shares the DEW98 platform. The S-Type is plug-ugly and dated whereas the Lincoln LS is sophisticated & cool.

As far as sportscars go, the vette is a wonderful car both as a race-derived sportscar, and a continent-crushing GT. Comfortable & easy when you want it to be yet earth-shattering when you want to have fun.

I had a Sedan De Ville (306bhp Northstar V8) in Tx and it was very good car indeed.