The muscle cars of the sixties and seventies are the stuff of legend, and every gear head seems to have his own tales about a Mustang Mach 1, a Camaro Z/28, a Chevelle SS or a Hemi ‘Cuda. Most remember these cars as wickedly fast in a straight line, but utterly terrifying to drive in the rain or when the road got twisty. The revived muscle cars of today, like the new Mustang, the new Camaro and the new Challenger, can’t hold a candle to their ancestors, can they? After all, the new Mustang GT gets up to 26 mpg on the highway, so surely it can’t be as fast as one of the legendary Mustangs of years past. To find the answer, Motor Trend recently ran a showdown between classic muscle cars (pony cars, actually) and their modern-day counterparts. Squaring off were a 2011 Shelby GT500 convertible against a 1969 Shelby GT500 convertible, a 2011 Camaro SS against a 1969 Camaro SS 396 and a 2012 392 Challenger SRT8 against a 1970 Challenger R/T. Who came out on top? See for yourself in the video below.
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Source: Motor Trend YouTube Channel
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
