Muscle cars: Goodbye retro, hello efficiency

In 2004, Ford released a TV spot depicting a farmer hearing a voice from the heavens. The voice said, “If you build it, he will come.”

The farmer proceeded to lay down a fresh race circuit in the middle of his corn field. He then opened the barn to reveal the then-new 2005 Ford Mustang, and in an homage to “Angels in the Outfield,” Steve McQueen appeared out of the corn stalks, and piloted the retro-inspired muscle car — to the joy of viewers every year.

That ad helped ignite the retro muscle car craze, as American car enthusiasts swooned over the fifth-generation Mustang and its 19641/2-inspired styling. All manner of aftermarket mods enhanced the throwback looks and a 2010 redesign pushed that retro styling further. The popularity of the retro-inspired Mustang did not go unnoticed by GM and Chrysler, as they rolled out the Camaro and Challenger, respectively.

But with latest Ford Mustang and the 2014 update to the Chevrolet Camaro, it appears that the Big Three are leaving retro in the past, in favor of forward-leaning designs. It’s safe to say the retro craze of the 2000s is finally coming to a close. Here is what that means for the consumer.

With the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, GM designers took a different route from out-and-out aping its own past. Designers used the first generation 1967 Camaro as inspiration, but came nowhere near as close to adhering to the original design as the Mustang. Instead, the fifth-generation Camaro was a modern interpretation of retro. Like the Mustang and the Challenger, it was first met with resounding approval from muscle car faithful.

While the Camaro went for a modern interpretation of the past, the Dodge Challenger was arguably the most adherent to the past. It is big, beamy and looks straight out of 1972. The carbon copy looks, however, were met with a drab interior, wallowy handling, and a fuel-thirsty V-8– it was just like the original!

This retro muscle car war was taking place while the rest of the automotive market was looking to the future. New computer-aided design systems, rapid part prototyping and innovative new construction methods ushered in an era in vehicle design previously unseen. With this new styling renaissance, it might have seemed unnecessary to pull from our automotive past.

But the American performance vehicle market plays by a different set of rules. Different sensibilities drive trends in this corner of the industry. The muscle-car buyer cares more about heritage and history than the recent past. They could probably tell you the firing order on a Chevelle 454 SS, but couldn’t tell you the displacement of a Toyota Camry — nor would they want to! Yet, with the bailout years firmly in the rear view, the practice of looking to the past for inspiration seems dated.

One of the drivers of the retro movement — and its subsequent decline — is the change in buying power of baby boomers. Economists are looking at fluctuations in unemployment numbers as a product of the large number of boomers retiring. The buying power of the boomers has driven the decisions of automakers for decades. Their love affair with the muscle car has manifested itself in astronomical prices for 1967 Mustangs and Camaros, and was the prime reason for the automakers to go retro with their sports coupes. As these boomers retire, their buying power will decrease, opting for more economical and practical vehicles to stretch their retirement savings.

Another theory for the move away from retro-style was the fate of those original muscle cars. The mid- and late 1970s ushered in coupes devoid of style and performance. A general malaise fell over American car design as EPA regulations choked some of our favorite coupes, which became shells of their former selves. The vehicles that followed the muscle-car era are not the kind of vehicles you would want to resurect. Meanwhile, we are in a renaissance of performance and efficiency. Through direct injection, variable valve timing, engine stop-start and innovative new chassis designs, these vehicles are as potent and dynamic as possible. The Mustang, for example, was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the first car to achieve 30 MPG and 300 horsepower — for the V-6 model. We are entering an era where drivers can have their high-horsepower cake and eat it, too.

The retro craze has run its course — for now. There is always a vehicle genre and cult following to leverage an automaker looking to reignite passion in their brand. Nissan just unveiled a pair of concepts inspired by the Datsun 210, so like skinny jeans and the piano necktie, every fad — no matter how obscure — has a shot at a return to former glory.

George Kennedy is a Massachusetts-based freelance auto writer. He can be reached at George.Kennedy@Boldride.com. Follow him on twitter @GKenns101.