Went for a cruise with friends last night, up some dirts roads and through chain of ponds. Was fun up until the point one friend decided to dump the clutch and spray a heap of rocks at another friends 6k vz commodore. Inspected the damage a while later and as expected, there were a shit-ton (literally) of small dents and chips on the bomnet and windscreen of the car. After that we all split up and I decided to drive up to gumeracha where i encountered a nice red fiat 124 spider, the one almost the same as the new MX-5, going 95-105 in an 80kph zone was fun (and a bit scary in my 175 wide tyres and factory suspension). I kept with it but only because it was slowed by an oldish mazda 6.
I have a question for the Europeans on here. Every time I hear much of anything about this latest rash of new pony cars, (Mustang, Camaro, Challenger) The Europeans can't seem to get enough of it, with dreams of flying down the Autobahn in a new GT350 or Z28, while over here they've become "just cars" Here's an example. I was bouncing around Youtube, and came across a German review of the new Mustang GT, and he was in love with "This big, loud, American beast" And I couldn't get my mind around that. Mustangs are cheerleaders cars. You rarely, if ever, see a grown man in a Mustang, and when you do, you get the same feeling that Suzuki Sidekicks used to give you. I can think of a late model Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro, and all three of them are owned by women. (This may not be true of everywhere, but in this general area, being the county I'm in an the three surrounding it, it's a solid majority.) Usually a family will have three vehicles, The husband will have a full size 4wd truck of some variety, the wife will have a pony car, (Mustang / Camaro / Challenger) and they'll have a shared car, usually a minivan or a Tahoe/Expedition, or sometimes a work vehicle, something small and really fuel efficient, like a Ford Focus or Chevy Cruze. The first Mustang, Camaro and Challenger that came to mind all belong to women. A good friend of mine's girlfriend has a 2012 Mustang GT, she got it as a graduation present Another friend's mom has a 2013 Camaro Z28, The wife of the guy who owns the local bar here in town has a white Challenger, and the vanity plate says "VANSHING" Why do you guys like these things so much more than we do?
For the same reason people outside of Australia seem to love utes. They don't see much of them therefore they are special and cool. Trust me seeing 20 tradie's utes pass me on a 2km stretch of road they get pretty boring. But if I see something like a Mustang or a big American truck it's interesting because I never see them usually.
Same goes for new sporty cars like the MX-5 not so much the 86's and their 16 counterparts but they are different compared to the crappy econo things that fill our streets. The main reason I kept going all the way to Gumeracha last night was because I thought i saw a Mercedes SLK55 but then heard a turbo and the car ended up being a fiat 124 spider.
Good thing you stopped. I've heard those thingies can be bad for the front of your driving thingy. The engine also makes a difference. V6 pony cars may have become kind of commonplace but a fast V8 is still pretty attention grabbing, at least to car enthusiasts. And the pony car being common is probably more true in the southern states because they aren't all that practical in the snow.
>has a mid 2000's V6 Mustang In other news, I drove the Ranger around some more today. I don't really think it even has a "clutch" anymore, just a couple steel plates that rub together which somehow translate into vague motion. It's so bad that for example, to put it into reverse, I have to shut it down, put it in reverse, then start it again. Otherwise it'll grind or refuse to go in at all. We've decided on an Automatic swap, which is a travesty. But if I can convince my dad to replace the stock Ford AOD transmission that would come with an Explorer 5.0 with, say, a GM 4L60E with a Ford bellhousing, we could do a B&M Megashifter, which would be fun.
I'll always love the Mustang GT as a car, but I see what you're saying. All our muscle cars have their 'real' versions though. The mustang has the GT or the GT350, camaro has it's z28 (or whatever the crazy new track package is) and the challenger has the hellcat. I really want a hellcat.
Speaking of Hellcat, what do you guys think of the Demon so far? I don't really like the widebody look on any car and especially not the Challenger but it is going to be lighter with more horsepower and a stronger drivetrain so still pretty cool.
The reason the mustang and challengers are so popular ocer here because of american movies and people here are like the design and engines as well. You dont know how much i get photographed when i drive here also everytime someone ask me something about my challenger they all say if it would be available her i would have one just because it looks awesome
Everyone loves to hate on the muscle cars. The real V8 ones are a blast to drive, and are ridiculously fast for the money. I've seen a ton of old guys here who have muscle cars, whether it be a Camaro, a Mustang, or a Challenger. The V6 and other cheaper versions are the ones you see being bought by people who don't actually care about cars and just immediately see "Camaro" or "Mustang" and want the attention they think comes with it.
Make it weigh 3k pounds and I'll buy one. Not driving an SUV that looks like a car. I'd take a c6 zo6 any day over any of those dodges. The z06 can absolutely get down in the corners. That's an American sports car.
Also, the challenger hellcat and the upcoming demon really needs AWD. It would launch waaaayyy better. Although the challenger does have that blocky and bulky look to it.
To be honest whenever I see any US car over here I get somewhat excited. For example I always turn to look when there is a Chrysler 300c around, they are just so rare over here. I guess the only exception is the Chrysler grand voyager mainly because it is generic and unexceptional in every single way. Even compared to its competitors it seems to look bland and boring. Then again France has been producing some really interesting looking "normal" cars over the past few years which is really neat.
