Will the 2008+ Challengers (and other current Pony Cars) ever be classics?

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MRGTX

MRGTX

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I don't know about you guys but I'm in love with the current generation Challenger...and the only reason I don't own one is because it's too damn big for my garage.

The looks are just about perfect to my eye...but there's no denying that the looks were created 40 years earlier (and arguably done even better the first time around).

So what do you guys think? Will it ever be a classic despite living in the shadow of the original?

Likewise, what do you guess about the current Mustangs and Camaros?

I bought a Mustang with the new 5.0 and it totally blows my mind every time I drive it...yes, I'm a Mopar guy but as mentioned above, the Challenger just wasn't an option...and the Mustang GT was a damn fine alternative.

Personally, I think the 2009-current generation pony cars will be fondly remembered. Yes, they're derivative of a better time in muscle car history...but they are amazing in their own right. The Styling of the Camaro is iconic (love it or hate it) and it has been featured as a main "character" in three blockbuster movies. The '11+ Mustang has a great and somewhat original/fresh shape, beautiful lines and proportions...and goes like hell. The Challenger is just rolling gorgeousness...people are going to start craving these cars as soon as they're gone!

Thoughts?
 
i do like the new chally but they just have so much plastic. i love the interiors of the old mopars. i love the look of steel. i think they just have so much more personality. the funny part is that the new "muscle cars" out perform the originals hands down. modern technology is making serious horsepower and maintaining fuel economy. 425hp with 20+ mpg is unheard of in a conventional v8.
 
I'm sure they will be. Just gonna take a long time. The young kids of today will want that car they drool over but are not old enough to drive or own one.

The Shelby stangs, srt Chally and whatever camaro should be collectible sooner then the regular gt and r/t cars.
 
{Will the 2008+ Challengers (and other current Pony Cars) ever be classics?}

i think they already are
 
And just think... When I'm an old man I can listen to my grandkids ramble about how they can't believe they were only like 30k dollars new when I was younger.
 
I say definitely look at the Hurst Challenger all the specialty colors they put on the Challenger in '10. ZL1 Camaro. The new 392 motor already is collector status.
 
My new mustang just came in, I love it. I opted for the V6, just for gas mileage since its my daily driver, but I Do love the body lines and the retro feel of it, and for a V6....its got some pep, hell it could probably pull on my duster.

However I just don't think cars today are going to be considered muscle cars or collectibles, however....I'm sure people in the 60's and 70's thought the same thing about the cars they were driving back then. Time will tell.
 
I drove a 2010 Challenger rental for a couple of days. I was really impressed with how smooth and well-mannered it was. I would love one for a daily driver.

But I guess I have to put myself in the minority here - I just don't see any modern car today ending up with Classic Car status 40-50 years from now. Our cars were born during an era that is long gone. Street racing made them legends. Our ability to COMPLETELY rebuild them and make radical changes to them are what made them special. It was personal.

Driving a modern Hemi Challenger is certainly fun but it's not a hot, noisy, clunky, hang-on-to-the-steering-wheel experience. I think it's very possible that cars will never again be as historically significant as the Classic Cars you guys own today.

Just my take.
 
Yep yep yep. I own a 2007 mustang gt, and my 67 cuda im rebuilding. The stang i bought before i knew about the challengers. I love the heritage R/T with the cragar look mags, and r/t stripes. I think the stock performance and fuel economy of the top performance models rivals the old school stuff, plus they can handle and brake well too. I like the old school styling. They will be collectible. I love my gt. I dont ever use the stereo. Windows down, and good sounds from the flowmasters are all i need to hear.

And lets face it, when our beloved old muscle cars were new there were people who said they wouldent be classics. I can remember going to the junkyards looking for charger parts in 1985, and you couldent swing a deat cat without hitting some form of collectible mopar. The amount of A, B, and E body cars in the wrecking yards was insane. But this stuff at the time was just old used cars, or junk. Now its worth money because you cant find it anymore, people now look at the styling as timeless.

The new muscle cars will go thru this as well. They will get run hard, used up, wrecked, parted, junked. There will be an attrition rate, then at about the 20to 25 year mark people will want them again because they are exclusive.

Got a wrecking yard out here i frequent in west texas, back in the mid 60s it was filled w trifive chevys, in the early seventies it was full of early hot muscle like 409s, in the early 80s it had muscle cars. Talked to the owner Fritz Hodges at length. Said back then it was just business, couldent keep em all. Needed to pay the bills etc.

I was born in 1968, got my first car a 1968 charger 383 at 15 years old, did a cosmetic restoration. Im hoping my newborn son now 6 months old will love these cars. Maybe when he's 15 we can look for a used challenger R/T for him and i to redo together like my dad and i did way back in the early 1980s. We can junkyard crawl looking for some used challenger body and interior stuff like i did with my dad fixing the charger up. Lets face it when those hit 15 years old i doubt there will be any repop stuff for them yet. It will take a few more years and renewed interest in them for that industry to get started.

My wife wants that so much for me. She likes the old cars, but wants to see me and my son working on them and enjoying them together. I hope he loves the old cars as much as i do.
 
I'm not sure whether 30 or more years from now it is going to be much fun replacing all the expensive sensors and computers and keeping all the complicated electronic systems working....
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
Maybe in 25 to 30 years.
Hmmm, time for a bigger garage.
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IMO, some of the new Mustangs look OK but the new Camaro does nothing for me.
The new Challys look great to me. Even the 6 cylinder ones. I would say if buying as an investment, looking back and learning from past history, the high performers will be worth the most. SRT with manual trans, mostly stock.

In 25 years, the hot swap might be electric motor conversions because President Chelsea Clinton will have gas at $24.99/gal. :mrgreen:
 
My new mustang just came in, I love it. I opted for the V6, just for gas mileage since its my daily driver, but I Do love the body lines and the retro feel of it, and for a V6....its got some pep, hell it could probably pull on my duster.
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Those v6 stangs are impressive. Rented on while in fla last year man that ghing moved.

Guy on moparts has a new v6 stang 6 speed and its going 13.8@ 102 mph spinning the tires. That's awesome. And it gets like 29 mpg.
 
jabdusty57 said:
Our ability to COMPLETELY rebuild them and make radical changes to them are what made them special. It was personal.
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That's actually a point I hadn't considered before. Many people love the restoration aspect just as much as owning a finished old car. That's not going to be feasible for the average tinkerer 30 years from now. Depressing.
 
Ahhhh. Kids that are motor heads today come up with the computer stuff. That won't be a problem for them down the road.

What radical changes can't be done? Have ya been to the track and see how they can run? Some are insane.
 
abodyjoe said:
Ahhhh. Kids that are motor heads today come up with the computer stuff. That won't be a problem for them down the road.

What radical changes can't be done? Have ya been to the track and see how they can run? Some are insane.
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Oh, there'll be people who can do it. But it won't be the average people haha. When I started on my duster, I had no mechanical background at all. I've learned as I went.
 
And they will do the same. You underestimate today's kids. By the time the can afford one (which will be just another old car) they will know how to do everything we do to our old junk. It's not rocket science to them. They have been brought up with computers and will never really know any different.
 
we will see if we can even drive the damn things in 30yrs. the way they are adding all the **** to the gas and cramming hybrids and elec. cars down our throats. i think we will be lucky to drive them in another 30yrs.
 
abodyjoe said:
And they will do the same. You underestimate today's kids. By the time the can afford one (which will be just another old car) they will know how to do everything we do to our old junk. It's not rocket science to them. They have been brought up with computers and will never really know any different.
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You do have a point there...
 
"Classic" or "Collectable"? I think anything over 25 years old is considered a classic car here for insurance purposes and license plates. As for being desired and restored, I figure they will be done. As it's been said the kids today will figure out how to repair and restore them. I am playing with the cars I grew up drooling over as I was too young to drive, they will do the same. I have a 2010 "RT Classic", hopefully I will have it forever.
 
abodyjoe said:
And they will do the same. You underestimate today's kids. By the time the can afford one (which will be just another old car) they will know how to do everything we do to our old junk. It's not rocket science to them. They have been brought up with computers and will never really know any different.
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Haha. Maybe so. Even though I arguably /am/ one of today's kids. Just cause I know how to use a computer doesn't mean I know how it does what it does ^^.
 
abodyjoe said:
And they will do the same. You underestimate today's kids. By the time the can afford one (which will be just another old car) they will know how to do everything we do to our old junk. It's not rocket science to them. They have been brought up with computers and will never really know any different.
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I fully agree.

I remember when electronic ignition came out and people said they will never be able to work on their cars again. Now look at what we are doing today and we think it is easy.

Same thing happened with the Model T guys because it had no gearshift at all and that was a major change for that generation.

Times will change and things will evolve with the times.

Think about the way the phones have changed in your lifetime and then you will have an idea of what will happen with vehicles.
 
NOPE ... belly button cars ... IF they do ... we will be six feet under by then ...
 
goldfish65 said:
I'm not sure whether 30 or more years from now it is going to be much fun replacing all the expensive sensors and computers and keeping all the complicated electronic systems working....
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How about the guys putting the modern engines in their older mopars. What are they going to do? I think if this stuff is popular the aftermarket will support it, just like the aftermarket supports our old cars. Who would have thought you could get brand new steel tri five chevy bodies, or camaro bodies , mustang bodies, and now E body barracuda bodies. The market drives this. Money talks.

As long as people want to rebuild and modify them, there will be a market to support it. Sensors, computers and all. The way i see it history will repeat itself. It already has numerous times in our hobby.
 
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